Our Grand Adventure 2016

Kansas Dad was on sabbatical this spring, so we planned a Grand Adventure. We drove from Kansas to Vancouver and back again, visiting as many national parks as we could manage along with some friends and family along the way.

1 van with over 200,000 miles on it before the journey began
2 adults
4 kids
1 large tent

29 days
5823 miles (not counting the rental when our van broke down)
6 hotels
1 cabin
11 campsites 
11 states
11 national parks
1 national monument
1 national recreational area
4 state parks
1 aquarium
3 science and nature museums
Hoover Dam
whale watching
a ferry ride (van and all)
and another country (Vancouver, BC)

We have well over a thousand pictures to wade through, but here are a few to get started.

Kansas, ready for adventure

Canyonlands National Park

Death Valley National Park

Yosemite National Park

Kirby Cove campground, nestled under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Yellowstone National Park

I prepared some posts to run while we were away, but now they're all used up and I'm wading through mountains of laundry, camping gear, mail, and the usual detritus of every-day life, so while I have lots I want to share about our adventure, the blog probably won't be very active for a few weeks.

If there's anything in particular you want to know about car camping or traveling for a month with four kids, let me know and I'll be sure to write about what we did and how it went.