by Stephanie Harper - Fall is the perfect time to visit Rockford, Illinois as the colors are bright and leaf-peeping is the showstopper, while taking in the sights. With weather dropping comfortably in the 40’s, there’s plenty of activities to keep you warm all day! Rockford is just one of the cities that borders along Rock River and is an hour-long drive from Chicago. With … [Read more...]
USA Road Trip Planner – 10 Best National Parks in Southwestern US
by Jean Grant - Planning a family road trip to the Southwest? Try this epic USA road trip itinerary which hits the 10 best national parks in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Our family made a slight modification of the classic Grand Circle road trip for our April school break, soaking in 10 destinations, including US national parks and monuments, national forests, … [Read more...]
Door County, Wisconsin: A Family Adventure Travel Mecca
by Jean Grant - Door County is the thumb of Wisconsin’s “mitten” and a popular Midwest vacation spot, a half-day’s drive from Chicago and Minneapolis. Bicyclists, hikers, boaters, golfers and food connoisseurs alike gather on the 70-mile long peninsula known for its lighthouses, scenic vistas, quiet ambiance and family adventures by land and by water. Green fields abound inland … [Read more...]
Colorado’s Sylvan Dale Ranch Offers Outdoor Fun for All Ages
by Tami Mittan - Guest or dude ranch vacations are gaining in popularity as a top choice for family travelers. All-inclusive properties like Colorado's Sylvan Dale Ranch offer a taste of Western lifestyle, along with plenty of outdoor activities. If you are looking for some refreshing, unplugged fun, it just may be the perfect fit. Are dude ranch vacations well suited for a … [Read more...]
Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip Itinerary – 14 Must-Stops Along Route 1
by Jennifer Fontaine - An epic summer Pacific Coast Highway road trip is as American as warm apple pie ala mode, but the intricacies of planning one can prove a bit more challenging than simply following grandma’s recipe. Complex itineraries, careful budgeting, and a thousand hours of in-car entertainment can take months to plan, so we teamed up with Expedia.com to give your … [Read more...]
40+ Things To Do In Eau Claire : A Wisconsin Family Vacation Guide
by Karen Ung - “We are passionate not pretentious,” says Troy Hoyt as we sip his Soul Brewed Coffee in the soon-to-open Shift Cyclery and Coffee Bar. The same could be said of family friendly destination Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Hoyt’s home town of 65,000 which is tucked between Madison and the Twin Cities. Touted as “mini Portland,” Eau Claire boasts a vibrant arts and music … [Read more...]
40+ Things To Do In Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains + 3-Day Trip Itinerary
by Stephanie Harper - With backdrops of majestic peaks and sunshine beaming through the green plumage from any direction you decide to adventure in, it’s no wonder Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains beckon families to come out and play every year. | Related: Five Ways to Inspire Teens and Tweens to Hike | The Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains are one of the most beautiful and … [Read more...]
Ultimate Family Adventure Awaits on the San Juan Islands
by Jennifer Fontaine - The low-key, beachy archipelago called the San Juan Islands, which is sandwiched between the mainland and Canada's Vancouver Island, feels like a world away. But in reality, it's only a short (hour-plus) ride on the car ferry from Anacortes, Washington. The ferry stop of Friday Harbor on San Juan Island is the best-known town and has the most services and … [Read more...]
40+ Things To Do In Camden Maine – A Family Vacation Guide
By Jean Grant - From the southern beaches to West Quody Head Light, and pristine Baxter State Park to iconic Acadia National Park, a Maine family vacation can be breathtaking and exhilarating. As a Mid-Atlantic native, I had my preconceived notions about the land north and “down east” — frigid winters, lobster everything, lighthouses, blueberries, sailing, but when considering … [Read more...]
San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua – Family Adventure Travel Guide
by Heather Mundt - Natalie Robertson was just a tween 17 years ago when her dad, Chris, bought an untouched slice of paradise above the cliffs of the popular beachside town of San Juan del Sur in southwest Nicaragua. With a vision to create a safe, healthy haven for his three kids, the Northern California real-estate developer built his version of utopia: of a self-sustaining, … [Read more...]
Haida Gwaii: Family adventure in the Canadian Galápagos
by Jennifer Fontaine Yáahl soared free, high above the world’s last remaining old-growth rainforest, its shrill "caw" echoing past towering, ancient spruce and cedar trees, until he broke through an opening which revealed the island's expansive beaches. There, in the sand, Yáahl, the lonely black raven, spotted a cockle shell from which he heard the faint cries of a young … [Read more...]
Sublime Milos: A Greek sea kayaking family adventure
by Deirdre Davys - There’s something special about arriving by boat. You see the island far away in the distance. It looks tiny, then as you get nearer you begin to make out the cliffs and the tiny white dots of houses clinging to the hill tops. Picking up and dropping off passengers at other islands on the way out from Athens has already made you feel special. You are the ones … [Read more...]
Digging up a Massachusetts Treasure – Cape Cod
By Jean Grant - My sons love treasure hunting. Well, they love digging up the yard and looking for unusual rocks, “diamonds and gold,” quartz, fossils and shells of all kinds. Dirt, sand and water are hypnotic lures to my young geologists and engineers so when the opportunity arose to travel to the Sea Crest Beach Hotel on Old Silver Beach in North Falmouth on Cape Cod in … [Read more...]
Families Find Supreme Snow Fun at Colorado’s Keystone Resort
By Heather Mundt Editor Note: The original version of this article appeared in the December 2015 online version of Colorado Parent magazine. Located just 90-minutes from Denver, it’s no secret that Keystone Resort is a top choice for local families. Add in its Kids Ski Free program—for kids ages 12 and under who stay at least two nights—plus a claim to the state’s longest ski … [Read more...]
Traveling the Park to Park Highway
by Susan Strayer To celebrate this year's centennial anniversary of the National Park Service, my family wanted to do something really special, an epic, once-in-a-lifetime trip. So we packed up our truck and hit the National Park to Park Highway trail for a 7,000-mile road trip. It may sound crazy to voluntarily trap oneself in a car with three young kids for six weeks … [Read more...]
Biking Wyoming’s Wild West – Grand Teton
by Heather Mundt The morning's bike ride had been an easy one along rail-to-trail abandoned railroad tracks repurposed as multi-use recreation trails through green meadows where cows grazed lazily as our group of riders pedaled past. As we continued along the Warm River Trail near the Idaho-Wyoming border, we finally caught a glimpse of the mountain range where our adventure … [Read more...]
“In His Element:” Traveling and autism
by Jean Grant Oh yes, Ewan loves volcanoes, I say with embarrassed pride at a parent preschool conference, while my son scribbles May 18, 1980 and a drawing of a volcano on a white board with a dry-erase marker. Certainly all children have their obsessions. For Ewan, they are volcanoes, weather and drawing complete U.S. maps, but starting in kindergarten? I chalked it up to … [Read more...]
