Me and My Girls, National Parks, II

Last year I was able to take my girls on a trip to two glorious national parks: Zion and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I have a strong desire to teach them the beauty of nature, to build memories of childhood that center around lovely, noble and true things. We all feel a certain native curiosity in childhood, and while we rambled about in Zion last year, they demonstrated the kind of wonder one feels when everything seems new and possible. They even enjoyed (endured) a 2 mile hike with daddy (and I only carried the twins part of the way).

Daddy Showing Felicity the Beauty of the Natural World

This year my plan is quite ambitious: 6 national parks, and possibly 7 (if we have time and money for Bryce Canyon). We already visited Sequoia and King's Canyon (post to follow this one), but will venture far north and west in our pursuit of beauty. We begin our trip going north out of Bakersfield to San Jose for a short stay with grandma and grandpa. From there, we will continue north, this time on highway 101 over the Golden Gate and up to Eureka, CA. We stay for a little while there and then spend some time in our first national park: Redwood National Park, where reside the tallest living things on planet earth. 

After our time in the Redwoods, we meander our way through the coast mountains into southern Oregon to visit with Nancy's dad in Klamath Falls. We will venture with him to Crater Lake National Park, where we will discover the deepest and purest water in the US. 

Then we travel to Billings, MT, where we pick up mamma and head south to Yellowstone. There we plan to stay a few days and see the many sights. 

Our last night in Wyoming will be spent in Jackson Hole, after which we plan to see Grand Teton National Park before heading south for home. 

I plan to upload pictures here to my blog of the journey and our memories of each day, along with a pithy and even perhaps mildly poetic description of the scenes we beheld that day. Stay tuned.