Way back in March 2015, we got married in this National Park. It was a small, outdoor ceremony that required a short hike through the snow to the dock at Sprague Lake. This park is particularly special to us, and we enjoyed sharing it with Owen for the first time.
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Gateway Arch National Park - Missouri
With striking architecture, a sprawling museum, and many stories to tell, Gateway Arch National Park is not your typical National Park. And, as we learned the hard way, unlike a typical National Park, having bear spray in your backpack is not advisable here.
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Indiana Dunes National Park - Indiana
Set on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, Indiana Dunes was an oasis in an industrialized area. We frolicked in the sand, and took in the views of this great lake.
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Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Ohio
Set just south of the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga Valley National park offered us waterfalls, unexpected rock formations and authentic 3-Way Cincinnati Chili nearby.
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Acadia National Park - Maine
The delicious “popovers” were the unexpected surprise at Acadia National Park. We also had a blast exploring tide pools, climbing mountains and visiting lighthouses.
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Shenandoah National Park - Virginia
A long and narrow park, it’s possible to drive the entire length of Shenandoah along Skyline Drive. That drive is certainly scenic, but our favorite part of the park was a hike through a boulder field at Blackrock Summit.
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New River Gorge National Park - West Virginia
New River Gorge is America’s newest National Park. First we drove across the gorge, then down into it, then we hiked around it. Supposedly the white water rafting here is amazing, but not ideal for a four year old. Alas, that will be an adventure for a future visit.
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Mammoth Cave National Park - Kentucky
Mammoth cave is mammoth big. With 400 miles explored and potentially another 600 miles unexplored, it’s the longest known cave system in the world. We also came across a tiny bat that we named Nugget.
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the #1 most visited National Park in America. We hiked through the woods and drove through banks of fog on our trek up into the “smokies”.
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Congaree National Park - South Carolina
Lucky for us, the “Mosquito Meter” at Congaree National Park was at a tolerable 2.5 out of 6. For the record, the National Park service describes level 6 as a “War Zone”.
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Dry Tortugas National Park - Florida
Taking a seaplane to visit the remote Dry Tortugas National Park, 70 miles off the tip of Key West, was one of our favorite experiences of the journey so far. We also found out that Owen is rather skilled at snorkeling.
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Biscayne National Park - Florida
Our Biscayne experience included a guided boat tour and a picnic lunch at Boca Chita Key, which we learned was the former private party island of Mark Honeywell.
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Everglades National Park - Florida
Lizards, alligators, crocodiles, manatees, dolphins and more! The Everglades caught us off-guard with its abundance of wildlife, and we had a blast exploring this park on foot and by boat.
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Hot Springs National Park - Arkansas
Four thousand years ago rain fell to the earth, seeped into the ground, got heated up, and eventually rose back up to the surface. And then we drank it as coffee, and it was delicious.
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Big Bend National Park - Texas
Big Bend is described as one of the most remote and least visited parks in the lower 48…we can attest to that. Our isolated campground had full hookups, and wifi good enough to write this blog post, but no cell service. The closest city was 45 miles away. It was awesome.
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Guadalupe Mountains National Park - Texas
This park is Carlsbad Caverns lesser known nextdoor neighbor. Just a few miles down the road, and across the border into Texas, Guadalupe Mountains offers an above-ground and high-elevation perspective of the area. Roads are in short supply, but hiking trails are abundant!
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Carlsbad Caverns National Park - New Mexico
How does a 1.25 mile hike down 750 feet into the earth on a slippery and dimly lit trail sound to you? Well it sounded like fun to us, so that’s what we did to check out Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The hike was totally worth it though, the caverns were other-worldly.
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White Sands National Park - New Mexico
One of our favorite parks so far, we had a blast romping around the dunes, making “snow” angels, and rolling down the hills. You’re not supposed to take any sand with you when you leave…but we were cleaning it out of, well everywhere, for the next week.
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Saguaro National Park - Arizona
The giant Saguaro cacti are an iconic symbol of the American southwest, and this park is full of them! The desert has its own harsh kind of allure and we found it in abundance here.
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Grand Canyon National Park - Arizona
We rang in the the 2021 new year in a style perfect for us, by visiting Grand Canyon National Park. Even though it was a little busy, we consider ourselves lucky to get a glimpse of the canyon with snow on the ground.
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