national parks Archives

02/21/2018

Muir Woods National Monument With a Toddler

Muir Woods National Monument

When we booked a last-minute weekend trip to the Bay Area recently, we had only two must-dos on our list besides seeing our family. One of them was visiting Muir Woods National Monument. We’ve been fans of redwood trees for a long time as nature lovers, so we couldn’t wait to see them in person.

Muir Woods recently enacted a new parking and shuttle service, which means you must make a parking or shuttle reservation BEFORE your visit. I am glad my great aunt told me about this new rule, because I was able to log on the website and book a spot for the earliest slot available, 8 a.m. You must arrive during your 30-minute arrival window but you can stay in the park as long as you’d like until the park closes at sunset. The drive from where we were staying in the Union City area was about 45 minutes. Tip: Print or screenshot directions to the park and your reservation ahead of time because service is limited in the area.

The lot attendants will scan the barcode on your reservation (which you can show on your phone) and then you are free to park and enter Muir Woods. You can add an alternate name to your reservation. Admission to the national park was $10 per adult in addition to the $8 parking fee. Tip: Arrive early to explore the woods with few people around. It gets more crowded as the day goes on and the lots fill up.

We took the Hillside Trail loop around the park and it was easy enough for pregnant person and 3-year-old to do. Take your time and admire the views of the majestic trees. Note: This is a quiet trail. If your toddler can’t be quiet for long enough, it may not be the best idea, although we encountered plenty of adults who couldn’t abide by this rule, while V could.

In the middle of the loop we branched off to check out the beginning of the trail into the adjacent Mount Tamalpais State Park. We ventured too far into the state park because we were starting to work up an appetite, but it’s worth a side trip while at Muir Woods. Next we went to the cafe for lunch. The choices were a bit limited (most of the salads were sold out), but I we chose from what was left, ordering an egg salad sandwich, a PB&J and a hot dog. Most (if not all) of the options are organic, grass fed and made with local ingredients, though. We also made a pit stop in the gift shop to continue our tradition of picking up an ornament on our travels.

You can easily spend an entire day here, but we decided to also check out nearby Muir Beach. It’s only 3 miles down the same road as the park. We were told we’d have to circle around looking for parking, but we lucked out and found a spot immediately. It was super full and a line was forming by the time we left, though, so arrive early! V enjoyed playing at the edge of the water. A man nearby was blowing bubbles for the kiddos, and she also really liked that. It was a nice little day trip.

Have you visited Muir Woods National Monument or Muir Beach?

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02/14/2018

Toddler-Friendly Visit to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

There’s plenty for families to do at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. You can still take in the sites and explore with a toddler. We recently spent a day visiting the park for our second time. (Our first trip to the island of Hawaii was in 2014 on our honeymoon.) You could spend days here, or you can squeeze in quite a bit of adventure in just part of one day.

What we did at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park with a toddler:

Thurston Lava Tube. Though the walk is somewhat dark, it was easy for V to walk through it. It isn’t long at all. (You can find other lava tubes to visit, but they might not be suitable for toddlers.) Hold your toddler’s hand in any wet areas. Rain boots wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Admire the craters/views from the viewpoints. Bring snacks and water!
Drive to sea arch and grab ice pops from the stand next to the ranger station. Along the drive you can stop and see the craters and lava rocks. At the end of the drive you park and walk toward the sea arch. It isn’t a long walk. You have to keep an eye on your children here because the barrier wall does not extend all the way. Then grab some popsicles for $6 each (It’s worth it on a hot day.) for the drive back. There are restrooms here as well.
Lunch at Volcano House. We admired a view of the volcano from our table. Our toddler loved looking out the window at the smoke.

Have you been to the Big Island or Hawaii Volcanoes National Park?

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06/19/2017

Celebrating Canada’s 150th Anniversary & a Giveaway!

I recently read an article listing Canada, which is honoring its 150th anniversary, as one of the best places to travel in 2017, which sparked my interest in finally setting dates for our trip. Because we can’t take a major vacation until winter, we’re instead looking at places to explore that aren’t too far of a drive from Chicago and have lots of activities to do as a family, especially outdoors. I’ve written about my desire to go to Toronto, Ontario, on this blog before, but now that trip seems more like a possibility. I’m eyeing an extra-long weekend in September to celebrate our third anniversary, and I can’t wait!

I’m finding that the trip is a lot more affordable than I initially thought. Radisson makes it easy to book a Toronto hotel room within our budget. To get the best bang for your travel buck, you can also join Club Carlson, which lets you rack up points that can be easily redeemed for hotel nights. I know this based on personal experience: When I redeemed my Club Carlson points in January I had no trouble at all finding available rooms. I was able to use the rewards at a variety of hotels, including Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, and Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.

Club Carlson hotel rewards points allowed us to take a family vacation during the dreaded Chicago winter while saving us some cash. We had two of our hotel nights accounted for, which left more in the budget for Orlando and Clearwater, Florida, fun! We stayed at the Radisson Resort Orlando-Celebration in Kissimmee, which was nicely decorated and conveniently located for all the activities we wanted to do on our road trip. We also stayed at a Radisson-Carlson hotel in Atlanta on the drive back, and the room was similarly comfortable, clean and nicely appointed. On this particular trip, we will be staying at the Radisson Hotel Toronto East (shown below).

Radisson Hotel Toronto East

For our Canada road trip, we plan to take advantage of a new Radisson rewards redemption option with Petro-Canada. With just 18,000 points, we can get a Petro-Canada gas card to use on our drive, and we’re already on our way there with the points we have left over from our last family road trip. Plus, Radisson has a free interactive map feature on its website where you can visualize your road trip and plan your things to do.

15 places to explore in Ontario, Canada:

Our upcoming Canada road trip from Chicago will be an 8-hour drive, which is nothing compared to the distances we have covered in the past. We have a list of family-friendly places to go that reflect our love of the outdoors and family-friendly fun. These attractions are all located either on the drive to Toronto from Chicago, in Toronto or close enough to make a day trip from the Radisson Hotel Toronto East, where we plan to stay.

Point Pelee National Park of Canada: Exploring the trails and seeing the wildlife. It would be a pit stop on the way to Toronto.
Niagara Falls: Taking in the views of the waterfalls on day and night cruises. Victoria was intrigued by photos of the colorfully illuminated falls at night.
Skylon Tower Observation Deck: Getting another view of the falls.
Toronto Botanical Garden: Taking one of the free weekly tours of the grounds.
Toronto Blue Jays game: Crossing off another MLB ballpark.
CN Tower in Toronto: Checking out the views from the building.
St. Lawrence Market: Strolling and grabbing lunch.
Harbourfront Centre: Admiring the visual arts installations or just walking along the Boardwalk.
Toronto Zoo: Saying hello to our animal friends.
Royal Ontario Museum: Getting lost in the museum that contains more than 6 million specimens, objects and artifacts.
Canada’s Wonderland: Riding the amusement rides and eating too much food.
Casa Loma: Touring the majestic castle.
Clifton Hill Skywheel: Riding Canada’s largest observation wheel!
Hershey Chocolate World: Treating ourselves to too much chocolate.
Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada: Our toddler would love this place!

I am not sure if we can get to all of these amazing attractions in just one trip, but we will sure try to cross off as many as we can.

We are excited about going on a Niagara Falls boat cruise!

Finding more affordable things to do in Canada this year would be no problem: Canada’s parks, historic sites and national monuments are free in 2017 in honor of the country’s 150th anniversary. While researching our trip we found more than 40 national parks, monuments and historic sites in Ontario alone. We could easily swap out a stop at one of those free sites if we wanted to save some cash.

To help you plan your own getaway, Radisson is giving away a one-night stay certificate to use on your Canada trip! See details below to enter. You can also save on a two-night stay (12 percent off) with Radisson’s Summer Promotion.

Are you a member of Club Carlson? What’s your ideal Canada vacation? Use the interactive map feature and let me know where you would go!

Enter the Radisson Giveaway!

Victoria was captivated by photos of all the fun offered at Niagara Falls.

One reader will receive a one night stay certificate. The winner will be picked at random on July 7. To be eligible to win, you must:

1. Share my Facebook post.
2. Tag @Radisson.
3. Comment below!

Note: Winner will have 48 hours to claim the prize or another winner will be chosen. Winner will be asked for an email address to send the certificate. Hotel certificate may be used in U.S. or Canada.

Click here to learn how to travel to Canada on its 150th anniversary.

12/14/2015

Visiting Arches National Park, Utah

Arches National Park has been on my bucket list for years. Seeing those sunset-colored arches has been the cherry on top of a sweet 2015. You can take in the splendor of the park even if you don’t have time for much hiking, but schedule some time for exploring if you can. Now that I’ve had a taste, I need more. I plan to return to Arches for more hiking as soon as Graham and I can.
Arches is outside of Moab, Utah, a cute town with tons of dining options. It’s easy to incorporate Canyonlands and Newspaper Rock State Park into your Arches trip, too. The scenic drive starts at the visitor center, where you’ll pay a $25 entrance fee per car. You can see the impressive rock formations as soon as you drive into the park. The park map shows points of interest and trails, along with information about the length and difficulty level of each hike. We were pressed for time so we only went on the shortest hikes. If you look to the north, you can spot the snow-capped La Sal Mountains.

Give yourself time to stop often to look out and reflect on the age of the rocks your are seeing. It made me feel small, much like my recent trip to the planetarium. You could easily fill your camera memory card with photos. I tried to force myself to put down the camera at times and really look around, although I almost had no choice but to only take mental photos. When we started our drive through the park, I asked Graham to stop so we could take a picture of us with the beauty of the land behind us. I carefully set up my tripod, changed my lens, and set the self-timer. The screen read the last message I wanted to read: I didn’t have enough battery life to use the self-timer. I had forgotten to charge the battery the night before. After years of talking about Arches, I finally had made it, but my camera wouldn’t work. I could have cried. Instead, we went back to the visitor center so I could plug my camera charger in for a while and get at least some of the pictures I wanted. Sorry, Graham, for throwing a mini tantrum!

You can see many of the arches on the drive, but to see the more famous and large spans, you’ll need to hike. You could do some yoga, too! I couldn’t help myself.

I’m sure Arches is beautiful year-round, but we liked that the park wasn’t crowded in the late fall. Stay for sunset to capture amazing photos.

And here it is: my favorite photo taken with my tripod.

Graham and I checked out the campgrounds, too, and I definitely want to return. (We won’t be taking Taylor and Capone, though, because most of the park is off-limits to dogs.) I can only imagine what it’s like to wake up, climb out of the tent and see the morning light illuminating the rock formations. Sounds like a dream!
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12/11/2015

A Quick Stop at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

We almost didn’t make it to Mount Rushmore. It wasn’t part of our loosely pulled-together road-trip plans. But we had just left Badlands National Park, and I kept seeing signs for Mount Rushmore. It can’t be too far out of the way, I said. Graham wasn’t convinced it was a good idea. He wanted to get back on the road, but I insisted. This is what road trips are for, after all. Plus, who knows when we’ll ever go back to South Dakota. Graham wanted to take an alternate route to our next destination and I wanted to visit Mount Rushmore National Park. He thought I was agreeing to his alternate plans, but I actually thought I was agreeing to drive to the park. This miscommunication worked in my favor, because I typed in the park name in Google Maps and directed him there. We discovered we hadn’t been on the same page quickly but he came around to my way of thinking.
You drive through the Black Hill National Forest to get the Mount Rushmore. You also pass through a tourist destination town called Keystone that was nearly empty that December day. When we hit one of those switchbacks, I looked up to see Thomas Jefferson’s face. We drove to the parking entrance and stopped to get a better look. Admission to Mount Rushmore is free, but you have to pay to park there. It’s $11. We decided we got a good enough view from where we were so we kept driving. The surrounding area has campgrounds and plenty of places to picnic. You can get a profile view as well. I had no idea this type of terrain could be found in South Dakota. It’s a beautiful state. Even if you don’t have time to take a short walk toward the monument, add a stop at Mount Rushmore to your road trip list!

We pulled over for a look at a frozen lake, too. As an Arizonan, I haven’t seen much of this.

Have you been to Mount Rushmore? Was a stop along the way or the destination?

12/09/2015

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the past few years thanks to yoga has been to be open to the possibilities. I am typically the planner, but for our most recent road trip I left the route decisions up to Graham. He chose a route that took us through Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. He had a stop in mind: Badlands National Park. Other than seeing a few images of the landscape, I knew nothing about it.
The plan for the first day was to drive from Chicago to Rapid City and rest for a night in a hotel. In typical Flora fashion, we got a late start, so we instead drove to just east of Rapid City. We awoke around 7 to continue the trek. In about 15 miles, we arrived at the park entrance; there was no one at the ranger station. We drove on to the viewpoint for our first look.

This is actually at the exit of the loop, because I missed the Badlands National Park entrance sign.

Driving into Badlands National Park

We continued driving into the park, and within 2 minutes, we spotted bighorn sheep and deer. I snapped picture after picture of the animals, which didn’t seem spooked by our presence. We drove on, stopping frequently to take more photos of the geologic formations. The wind has shaped the rocks into peaks in many places. Snow was spread throughout the land and the park was peaceful and quiet. We saw maybe two cars the entire scenic loop, and one of them was a ranger’s truck. Again, we spotted bighorn sheep. As we drove away, I said, “I want to see a ram on a cliff!” About 10 seconds later, that’s exactly what we saw. (Is ram the correct term?) I was elated to see so much wildlife. I have never seen that many animals at a national park. We kept driving to see even more deer. As we left the park, I saw prairie dogs scurrying about. It was a nice little sendoff before we continued on our road trip.

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Bighorn Sheep

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, deer

More bighorn sheep.

Ram!

One last view before leaving Badlands National Park.

Prairie dogs.

Whether you are passing through the area or camping at the Badlands, the park is a must-see. Add it to your list!

11/19/2013

Cloudy day at the Grand Canyon

I finally experienced the wonder that is a cloudy, rainy day at the Grand Canyon. It even started sleeting for a few minutes at a time. We soaked in a completely different view of the Grand Canyon National Park than I’ve ever seen, with ever-changing shadows and random rays of sunlight.

Desert View watchtower.

Pinyon jay, I think.

Cellphone shot of elk at the Grand Canyon.

Such a cold, windy day called for a bowl of vegetarian chili from the Desert View snack bar. It warmed me up before running over to the watchtower in the snow/sleet.

Have you been to the Grand Canyon?

Helicoptering out of Havasu Falls

03/21/2013

How to pack for camping on Maui

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I am always up for camping, especially when I came up with the idea of camping during our trip to Maui. Once I figured out where to stay (Wai’anapanapa State Park) and where to rent our gear, the next challenge was to figure out what clothing to pack. The east side of Maui was rainy and windy, a stark contrast to the dry, sunny west side.

To accommodate both climes, here’s what I packed for camping on Maui for two nights, plus the rest of the trip’s adventures:

Three bathing suits or more. (This gives you enough time to dry your suits. Save yourself the discomfort of wearing a wet bathing suit all day under your clothes.)
Shorts and jeans. I hiked in the jeans and wore the shorts on the beach on the west side of the island.
A hoodie or jacket. This was enough to keep me comfortable when it was windy or rainy in Hana. This was also a must at Haleakala’s summit. I also wished I had gloves at the summit, though I am from Arizona.
Yoga clothes and long socks to sleep in. That’s just my preference. Plus, I went to an oceanfront yoga class in Kihei one of the days.
Wet wipes and hand sanitizer. These come in handy so often, but especially when camping or going to the beach.
Water backpack. We went on a hike to Waimoku Falls, staying hydrated with a water backpack, which we also used to store snacks for the journey, along with our cellphones, camera, car keys, etc.
A watersafe box. Protect your valuables on waterfall hikes, at the beach, or on rainy days.
Beach towels.
Underwater disposable camera, GoPro or digital camera. Save some cash by buying a few ahead of time. It will likely be cheaper. Or get a digital underwater camera to capture breathtaking shots while snorkeling.
Sunscreen, sunglasses, chapstick and hat.
Extra ziplock bag (or a few) to keep your camping permit dry if you camp at the same park. It must be displayed outside your tent.
Headlamp or flashlight. This was included in our rented camping package, but the flashlight didn’t work as well as we would have liked. It’s best to bring your own.
Lighter or matches and charcoal if barbecuing at the park. Stop at a local grocery store to get them, as you’ll need food for camping.
Flip flops, hiking shoes, and comfortable walking shoes.
Snorkeling gear. While snorkeling-trip operators offer them and you can rent or buy them on the island, if you plan to do a lot of snorkeling or would like to have gear for the future, consider bringing it.
Beach bag.
Pillow, if you can somehow fit it in your luggage.
Car charger (and regular charger) for your cellphone.
Hammock and rope, if you’d like to lounge. It’s only handy if it doesn’t rain.
Water shoes.

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