Floor’s Lava! Lava Beds National Monument
Lava tube caves you explore on your own in far northern California — flashlights, no timed tickets, and five kids underground at the best cave stop of our trip.
Crater Lake: 50 Feet of Snow and a 4000-Foot Hole
Crater Lake buried in spring snow — the bluest water in America, what is open before July, and how deep the caldera really is.
Pacific Coastal Giants: California Redwoods to Tasmanian Swamp Gums
Walking among the world’s tallest trees on California’s foggy coast — how the coastal redwoods compare to the giant sequoias, seen with five kids and a dog.
Volcanoes, Fault Lines, and a Junior Ranger Oath at the Gate: Pinnacles National Park
Towering rock spires and the slow drama of the San Andreas Fault — Pinnacles’ quiet east side, Ranger Joe, and a duct-taped visitor center, with five kids.
Scorpions, Bears, Rainbows and Waterfalls: Easter at Yosemite
Easter morning at Yosemite with five kids — a chapel service in the valley, waterfalls and rainbows, and the scorpion sting that nearly derailed the day.
Kings Canyon: But Where Is the Canyon?
Kings Canyon in spring with five kids — the General Grant Tree, the longest dead-end road in America, and how far up Highway 180 the snow still closes it.
Into the Cloud: A Chilly Climb to Sequoia Giants
Climbing through a cloud to the General Sherman Tree — the largest tree on Earth at 6,500 feet — on a misty spring day at Sequoia with five kids.
Rascal Rangers: 200 Badges and Climbing
How our five kids earned 200 Junior Ranger badges across 40 national parks — the free NPS program that became our family’s favorite way to experience America.
Whales, Wildflowers, and the World’s Smallest Fox: Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands with five kids takes planning — the ferry books out weeks ahead, the dog goes to daycare, and then the boat to California’s wild isles.
From Tasmania to California: Same Ocean, Different World
Two Pacific coastlines, one family — the empty squeaking beaches of eastern Tasmania set against California’s crowded shore, and how travel with kids compares.
Wedged In: A Slot Canyon Scramble in Utah
A blue-sky morning in a Utah slot canyon with five kids and a spaniel — narrow walls that keep everyone moving one way, and the scents that overwhelmed the dog.
Inventory Flow Meets Hoodoo Magic: Bryce Canyon National Park
Hiking Sunrise to Sunset Point with nine people spanning seventy years — a first day in Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos that became a lesson in family logistics.
From Canyon Rim to the Narrows: Zion National Park
Zion top to bottom in a single day with five kids — the steep Canyon Overlook climb, icy river wading, chatty chipmunks, and bighorn sheep on the way out.
The Five-Star Rolling Resort: Now Open for Children (and One Very Pampered Dog)
Running a full-service mobile resort for five kids — how we choose where to stay every few nights on a cross-country road trip, and what actually matters most.
Cliffs, Courage and Compassion: Sand Cave Surprises
A one-mile hike to wind-carved sandstone caves near Kanab that went sideways — twisted ankles, a hospital trip, and the strangers who helped, with five kids.
Capitol Reef: Peach Pie à la mode in the Desert
Our fourth snowy park in a row — Capitol Reef pelted with Dippin’-Dots hail, the historic orchards, and peach pie a la mode in the desert, with five kids.
Canyonlands: Four Lands, Two Days, Zero Lost Children
Canyonlands’ four districts in two days with five kids — Newspaper Rock’s ancient petroglyphs, the Needles, and Island in the Sky, and zero children lost.
Hailstones Under the Arches: A Cold, Wild Day at Arches National Park
Arches with five kids on the first day of timed entry — the steep, windblown climb to Delicate Arch, 60-mph gusts on the ledge, and hail before day’s end.
Mesa Verde: Snowflakes, Telescopes, and Stone Palaces
Mesa Verde with five kids at 8,000 feet — snow-dusted mesas, hundreds of ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, and a scale that dwarfs the canyons before it.
Four States, Four Limbs, and Forty Bucks: Navajo Nation and the Four Corners
The only place in America where four states meet — the classic one-body-four-states photo at Four Corners, and why $40 for twenty minutes still felt worth it.