Starting out - Intro

To my fellow travelin' families:

Welcome to my blog where I hope to help/enlighten/make laugh those of you who like to travel with your kids. Or maybe you're considering it but are wondering who would be crazy enough to actually undertake such a feat.

I actually love traveling with my kids. A few years ago we took a trip to Greece and my kids are still talking about it. They're begging to go back.

So this year's trip is not Greece. We're going out West to canyon country, mostly Southern Utah. Why you ask? Because when I was 16 my parents sent me on a teen tour for three weeks out West. Besides the obvious fun of hanging out with other teens, I got to see parts of the country I didn't know existed. Well, I knew those states existed but I had no idea they looked so amazing. We're starting in Las Vegas and driving to the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef National Park and Arches National Park with a stop in the Salt Lake City/Park City area. We finish up the trip with a drive through the Rocky Mountains to end in Denver.

I want my kids to experience what I experienced. And I want to do it all while camping! Yay!! Of course when I brought all of this up to my kids and husband, the reaction was underwhelming. My 12 year old daughter begged me not to make her spend 2 whole weeks (OMG) with just her family. My husband wanted to know where we were going to eat - and it better be interesting road food (big fan of Food Network and Travel Channel). And my 8 year old son was okay with the whole idea as long as he could bring his DSi. Geez, not the kind of enthusiasm I was hoping for. Still I'm plowing ahead and planning the whole 2 weeks. I'm finding the perfect places to eat with dishes such as rattlesnake and elk, the perfect route to take to see as much as possible, and the perfect hikes, tours, etc. so we can take advantage of all each site has to offer. In other words, I'm killing myself to make this work.

I've already put in hours of work which I'm happy to share with all of you. I'm hoping that some of you out there will follow in our footsteps and see some of the greatest natural sites our country has to offer.

More tomorrow.