With gas prices continuing to stay relatively low and the cost of air travel continuing to climb (think baggage fees etc. plus the hassle of airport security with children) many families are turning to road travel for their annual vacations. Beyond the typical visits to amusement parks and well-known landmarks like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, families can discover some…
Category: Family Travel
Welcome to Alberta
Returning home to Alberta after a recent road trip, we decided to stop at the Travel Alberta Milk River Visitor Information Centre for a quick break after crossing the U.S./Canada border at Sweetgrass/Coutts. This wasn’t our first visit but it was the first time we took the time to look around. ‘Rock formations’ in the parking lot EJ loves to…
Beignets and Brown Feathers – An Afternoon in New Orleans
Pelicans swoop in and scoop up brackish water with their sagging beaks. A lone seagull snatches up a sardine from the sand. A quiet spot except for the cawing of ocean birds and the occasional blaring horn of a passing barge. I love this time of day. I watch as runners sprint along the sea wall that separates the downtown…
Thirty Days at Disney World on a Budget
Our family is crazy for Disney so when we decided to take a nice long vacation this year, Walt Disney World was a natural choice. Spending this much time at the Parks allows us to be flexible with our days. We can do our schoolwork in the morning and spend the remainder of the day at a Park or we…
An (almost) Perfect Mother’s Day
My husband knows me well. I guess after 35 years of marriage that should be a given but…well…ok maybe not. He understands I have a weakness for all things French; wine, perfume, pastries, you get the picture. So for Mother’s Day he decided we should have a late lunch at one of my favorite spots at Epcot, Les Chefs du…
Murphy’s Law and Family Road Trips
Have you ever had the feeling that no matter how well you plan a family road trip, it’s inevitable that something is going to go wrong? Over the years, I’ve almost come to expect that Murphy is going to come along for the ride but I’ve also learned that being flexible and ‘rolling with the punches’ can turn many of…
Four Famous Faces – A Rainy Day at Mount Rushmore
I like to make plans and reservations well ahead of time for our family vacations…and then find myself changing them at least three or four times before our departure. I think the early planning and booking makes me feel secure that we will at least have a place to rest our heads as we travel along. Our current vacation was…
Packing for a Six-Week Road Trip with our Grandson
I have vague memories of a time when packing for a vacation could be accomplished by opening a couple of drawers and the closet and picking out a number of outfits equal to the number of days we would be away. Add in a few toiletries and a good book, done. The entire process could be completed in under 40…
A New Junior Ranger at the Casa Grande National Monument
My parents were great fans of road trips and they always tried to be sure there were opportunities along the way. Once I had a family of my own, I continued to find museums and historic sites to visit during our vacations. Our girls loved to get the auto club books and mark the pages for places they wanted to…
Sad Goodbyes and Exciting New Beginnings
It sounds like things are moving along with the plans for the new Star Wars Land at Disneyland with the Orange County Register reporting that coffer dams are in place to prepare the Rivers of America to be drained for the construction. Screens and fences have been put in place to hide the mess and noise of building from park…