Summer 2019 National Parks Trip: Wrap-Up

Home Sweet Home...Park Sweet Park
Well, now that we’ve been home a week, and I caught up on all the posts from our trip, I wanted to put together a summary post that attempts to capture the amazingness of the experience we had. I am writing this post over some wine that I bought while we were visiting Mount Rushmore 😊


Before last summer, I had never traveled in an RV and really had not had a great interest in visiting our national parks. I am 110% on board with RV and national parks life at this point—it has truly changed my outlook on vacationing and life! I have to say much of my positive experience and feelings are due to my amazing husband and his vision, planning, and execution of two trips of a lifetime—and many more to come! We are very fortunate that our chosen careers allowed for this type of trip and we do not for a minute take that for granted.

We also hope that our kids are having unique and meaningful life experiences that will shape who they become and how they choose to live their lives. We know for certain that we have indoctrinated some national park lovers and stewards of the national lands. They have the national parks binders to prove it!! There is no possible way we can stop this journey at the 23 parks we have already visited (with the kids). This is a story that is just starting to be written and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next chapter—stay tuned!





So, in wrapping up, here’s a look at how our itinerary shaped up for the entire trip, along with links to the posts on each stop.

Here’s a look at our itinerary for the entire trip—
**Pre-trip and getting started
1: Joshua Tree National Park
2 & 3: Sequoia National Park & Kings Canyon National Park
4: Yosemite National Park
5: Lassen Volcanic National Park
6: Crater Lake National Park
7: Mount Rainier National Park
8: Olympic National Park
9: Glacier National Park
10: Yellowstone National Park
11 & 12: Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, and Crazyhorse Memorial
[Wind Cave National Park: this was the only planned stop we could not make 😞It ended up being closed due to elevator issues and we couldn’t get to Jewel Cave, which was the other option in that region.]
13:  Rocky Mountain National Park
14:  Great Sand Dunes National Park
15: Mesa Verde National Park
16 & 17: Arches National Park and Canyonland National Park
18: Petrified Forest National Park

I kept expecting that one park would be like one of the others and that the natural wonders would just start blending together, but honestly that was never the case. Each of these parks was so unique in its own right, and each one boasted its own breathtaking, natural wonder that others did not possess. It's quite amazing that John Muir, Stephen Mather, Teddy Roosevelt, and others who helped create the national parks were able to see these majestic places for their unparalleled beauty. So marvelous!

 10 US states, 8000 miles driven, 18 national parks, a million memories=priceless!!

Through these blog posts I’ve shared the details of each day of our trip, but it’s really been very hard to put into words just how incredible the summer/experience was for us. We made priceless and unforgettable family memories, saw astoundingly beautiful parts of the USA (our country is SO amazing, y’all!!!), and gained a deeper appreciation for our national lands, wildlife, and monuments. God bless America!



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