You know the place. It’s the iconic landscape of the American Southwest. It’s where Forrest Gump stopped running.
We were only here for an overnight stop between Moab and Flagstaff, but we were graced with a herd of grazing sheep that wandered through our campsite, and shortly thereafter one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen – so I figured I’d share the pictures.
Rylan learned, during our stop in Moab, not to play in the dirt at RV parks. He came down with a nasty stomach virus that kept him confined to the camper for several days.
To fill the void, the rest of us took an unscheduled trip to Goblin Valley State Park, and we were not disappointed. Other than the heat, this place was a wonderland of natural history and great hikes.
We were unable to secure a reservation into Arches National Park, so we had to wait until after 6pm to get into the park. This meant we didn’t have much time to explore or do any long hikes. We did make it to the Delicate Arch trailhead and we were able able to see it from a distance, at least.
For sure, the arches are pretty cool. But even more beautiful was just the scenery inside the park. I’d love to spend some more time in the park during the off season sometime. The number of people in the park made it quite miserable.
At the top of the list of places that I personally wanted to go on this trip was the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. There’s beauty in the barren wilderness and the heat of the desert, and in the multicolored sandstone slickrock formations. And there are few better places to experience that beauty than here.
Since the Needles are pretty far South in the park, it was a long drive from Moab, and an even longer drive from Thompson Springs. Nevertheless, the crew managed to sit for a few more hours in the truck while we made our way down there.
After the hair-raising experience of towing the camper across the Rocky Mountains, we found ourselves in the beautiful town of Moab, Utah. Or, rather, a thirty minute drive North in Thompson Springs, Utah, since all of the campgrounds in town were fully booked.
There were a ton of things to do in and around Moab, and I will share many in separate posts. For now, here are some of the more interesting activities we did.
While exploring Sego Canyon, we found some petroglyphs:
The kids (and a few adults even) went rock climbing in the park:
And of course, there was plenty to do in the eclectic town of Moab:
On day three of our experience in Estes Park, CO, we were able to secure a reservation into Rocky Mountain National Park, where we hiked the duration of the Emerald Lake trail. This was a beautiful hike that I highly recommend. It’s moderately difficult for the kids, but most relatively fit adults should have no problem at all. Watch out for ice and snow on steep parts of the trail, even at the height of the summer.
Estes Park is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the most spectacular national parks in the United States. We were here for four days, camping at the Jellystone camp.
It was here that I officially started my sabbatical, and signed off from work for three months. On days one and two, we explored some of the non-national-park trails after work.
There’s also plenty to do around town, including touring the Stanley Hotel, riding bumper boats, and just hanging around the campground.
Next on the list was our first NPS destination of the trip, the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. This is a beautiful little place with some very impressive natural history features. Tina and I took some photos and the boys completed the Junior Ranger program books as we explored the park.
We left Texas on a rainy Saturday, bound for the high mountains West of Colorado Springs, in the small mining town known as Cripple Creek. We didn’t do the whole trip in one day though, and we found a KOA in Amarillo, TX, to spend the night at.
On the next day, we adventured up for the first time on our trip to over 10,000 feet in elevation. The truck and camper made it without a hiccup. The family, however, was feeling the altitude. But the campground was beautiful and had a few nice hiking trails and a playground on site.
After a few days of acclimatization, we set out to see the town’s (few) attractions, including an old mining history train tour.
11,000 miles in 49 days. It sounds pretty enormous in retrospect, and it’s not what we set out to do. But that’s how it happened.
It all started with an opportunity – perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime – that Automattic offers. A sabbatical. A silly word describing a huge offering. Three months to do whatever I choose, like a summer vacation for adults.
In late 2020, I proposed the idea of a countrywide camping trip. Tina, Rylan, and Roman didn’t take much convincing.
In March, we spent some money. A brand new Ford truck. A few-year-old tow-behind camper with room for the family (and don’t forget Kai, our beloved family dog).
And then in June, we left Florida, bound for Texas, not to return for nearly two months.
This is the first post in a series documenting our adventures.
Our first stop was a quick overnight in Perry, Florida, at the Perry KOA Holiday. This was a lovely campground and I think the kids enjoyed the playground, fire pits, and gazebo. I personally spent the entire stop working out the “day 1” issues with the camper and truck, and thus have no photos and few memories of this place.
Day two took us out of Florida, through Alabama, and into Mississippi (the state that kids love to spell). This was another one-night stop on the road to Texas, but I booked a neat campground with some amenities to break up the monotony of the road for the kids.
We stayed at Yogi On The Lake in Pelahatchie, MS. This was a really neat campground with a waterpark, evening festivities, and of course a lake. This would have been a neat place to spend more time.
Dallas is a place our Family has spent some time in the past. But on this trip, while visiting with family and friends, we also made time to have some adventures. Among other things, we visited the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The kids really enjoyed it and I think they all learned a few things.
Tina and the kids visited the Fort Worth Stockyard for some up-close-and-personal time with some animals.
But some of the best times in Dallas were spent at the camper, surrounded by family and friends, tossing around a volleyball and having a few drinks.
