Lilah at Glacier National Park

Summer 2012: Travel Tip #2

My hubby and I have learned the hard way that pushing hard for very long distances in the van for 2 days or more results in very grumpy children, frustrated adults, and a road trip where no one is having much fun.  Since the idea of road-tripping is to actually see sights as you drive through the U.S., we decided to make more frequent stops this time around.  After leaving Southern Oregon, we stopped in Portland for a brief visit with my sister-in-law, a quick walk up to Multnomah Falls after leaving Portland, and also a short walking tour of a fish hatchery along the Columbia River Gorge where we saw some sturgeon that were over 50 years old and bigger than many sharks.  That night, we camped in  a National Forest in Idaho.  And the next day we reached our destination of Glacier National Park and camped there for two nights, as well.  So, the lesson we’ve learned is to make frequent stops, plan in several extra days for camping and sight-seeing en route to the destination, and make intermediate destinations between the start and end goal to break things up and keep everyone happy.   

National Forest camping stop-over.

Isabella enjoying the beauty of Glacier National Park.

One of the many old-time tour buses that makes the trek back and forth on the Goind-To-The-Sun-Road.

One of the many waterfalls being diverted through a waterway in the road.

More Oregon Adventures

My plan to keep blogging this summer has so far been thwarted by lack of internet access.  So, a digital record of our summer adventures is going to be more difficult than I anticipated, but nonetheless, I’ll try and do what I can.  Here’s a little recap of our last few days in Oregon.  My hubby and I went on our yearly date to Ashland, OR, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  We stayed at a lovely B&B in the hills above Ashland and saw a excellent production of Henry the V in the outdoor Elizabethan theater. 

Hubby on the beautiful grounds of the B&B.

Downtown Ashland.

At a local winery.

The next day, Augustus, Isabella, Arianna, and I went on a hike past Galice (an area where raft trips are launched on the Rogue River) to Rainie Falls.  The other girls stayed home with the grandparents.  We hoped to see the salmon jumping up the stream, but to no avail.  We were probably a week or so too early.  The great excitement came when we saw an otter swimming in the river and then saw him jump and play with yet another otter.  They then went to their den where we spotted at least 4 baby otters in a little cave by the river. 

Rainie Falls behind me.

A view of the Rogue River from above.

Our last big event was attending the annual Rooster Crow celebration on Saturday in Rogue River.  The girls always love attending the parade and walking around afterward to see the goings-on.  We were just beginning to watch the rooster crowing contest get underway (with actual roosters), when it started to rain.  Needless to say, we didn’t stay to see the rest, and I can only imagine that the roosters were not crowing to the best of their abilities in that wet atmosphere.  As much as we didn’t want our Oregon fun to end, we had to get on our way because we had places to see and go, so after packing on Sunday, we hopped in the van on Monday morning en route to Glacier National Park in Montana. 

Little D, cheering at the Rooster Crow parade.

The fam.

Summer 2012: Travel Tip #1

Traveling with small children in a crowded vehicle for many miles at a time can be quite a challenge.  One of the biggies is finding good places to stop where they can get a nice break, stretch their legs, and get some energy out.  Rest stops usually just don't cut it for us.  There isn't a lot of space to play, play equipment is non-existent, and even the dog walking areas are pretty limited.  Instead, why not stop in a town off of the highway and find a local park to chill out in for an hour or so.  We did just that on Thursday in a suburb of Sacramento.  We just looked for a developed community, drove down a few main boulevards, and ran right into a small community park with two playgrounds, picnic tables, and lots of grass for walking the dog around.  The girls ran around like crazy, were able to eat their sandwiches, tumbled on the grass, and exclaimed over the beauty of our stop (which rarely happens when stopping at rest stops).  This turned out to be the perfect solution to our kids-going-bonkers-in-the-car problem. 

Finally . . . Vacation, here we come!

A week ago, our girls were done with school and we set our sights on getting our summer vacation under way.  Finally, on Thursday, we were able to mobilize ourselves out of the house, the van fully packed and everyone packed in, including our standard poodle, Lilah.  Summer traveling and road trips are something we love to do together as a family.  On our first day on the road, Isabella told me, "I like to take trips like this because it is a fun way to spend time together as a family".  And then Arianna added, "Yeah, it's our family tradition!". 

Our first stop this summer is one of our traditional stops, my husband's hometown of Rogue River, Oregon, located in the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon.  Our first day here, we took the girls to a historic mill, called Butte Creek Mills.  The milling stones were brought over by ship from France in 1872 and are still being used today to grind many different grains powered by river water.  One of the miller's, Mike, generously took time to give us a tour of the process so that the girls could get a good look at the entire process.  Here is a link to this neat stop:  http://buttecreekmill.com/

Today, we went to the Grower's Market in Grants Pass, OR, and bought locally grown organic fruits and vegetables.  It was amazing how many local businesses were represented there selling lovely, fresh produce, goat milk products, fresh flowers, honey, plants, and lots of tasty homemade breads and goodies.  The girls were fairly patient during all of this, but they were itching to get down the street two blocks to go to the Grants Pass Pharmacy and drink a phosphate made rigt there at the soda fountain for you in any flavor that you can imagine - this still costs only 25 cents.  I chose a cup of coffee, which was 10 cents.  Then, the girls bought themselves a jumbo gumball with their spending  money.  It's the little things that make their day. 

We'll see what tomorrow brings.  :-)

I'm going to try a couple of things this summer as I blog while we travel (as I'm able to get internet access, of course).  First of all, I'm going to try and take pictures of Lilah in fun spots, sort of like the garden gnome for Travelocity.  Secondly, I'm going to add little travel tips here and there from our personal experiences as we are on the go. 

More Recent Favorites

Isabella, our oldest; how can she possibly be almost 9?

Selah and Mommy. 

Arianna and fun with a glow stick.

I think she's about to be very worked up about something.  Funny face, though.

Livia and three of her favorite things:  her blankie, her veil, and her 2 favorite fingers.

I whip my hair back and forth.

Recent Favorites

Chaperoning prom with the hubby this May.

Arianna, the adventurer.

Little D enjoying her meal.

Thanks to my hubby who makes much better use of our camera than I do by actually experimenting with it and figuring out how to use all those cool manual settings that I so lazily bypass.  More favorites to come . . .