Kristin: "Yosemite!"
Emily: "Yosemite!"
Kevin: "Yosemite!"
Jenni & Joel: "How about the top ten?"
Henderson Beach, Destin, Florida (Kristin & Emily)
waves, sugar-soft sand for castle building, excellent campground
Valley of Fire, Harris Beach and Custer (Joel)
Valley of Fire, (Kevin and Jenni)
FAVORITE HIKES:
Bright Angel Trail to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Angel's Landing (or in Jenni's case, Chicken's Landing)
Highline Trail
TOP PICKS FOR KIDS UNDER TEN:
Yosemite NP, Great Sand Dunes NP, Zion NP, Yellowstone NP, Harris Beach State Park
great hiking, dune sledding, wildlife viewing, and tide pool exploring
TOP DESTINATIONS FOR FAMILIES:
Yosemite NP
Grand Teton NP
Great Sand Dunes NP
Zion NP
Olympic NP
Olympic National Park
Grand Tetons NP (Emily, Joel, Kristin)
Glacier NP, Harris Beach SP (Joel, Emily, Kristin)
Capitol Reef NP (Jenni, Kevin)
Crater Lake NP and Dry Tortugas NP (all of us)
WHAT WAS DISAPPOINTING:
Sedona, Lake Tahoe, the Corn Palace, not touring the White House (all of us)
"Sedona is what happens when a place that should have been protected isn't." - from a fellow blogger whose name I cannot recall
BEST NON-FRANCHISE FOODS:
Whiptail Grill, Springdale, UT
Rolando's, Hot Springs, AR
Black Hills Burger and Bun, Custer, SD
Harbor House Grille, Grand Marais, MN
Juicy Dog, Anacortes, WA
BEST SMALL TOWNS: Springdale, UT and Port Townsend, WA
BEST WILDLIFE ENCOUNTER:
Emily surprising the young bear in Grand Teton NP
Moose we saw in Glacier when we missed the boat
Elk bugling in Rocky Mountain NP
Buffalo Round-up in Custer
marmots in Glacier NP and the Rocky Mountains
mountain goat at lake overlook, Logan Pass, MT
BEST FRANCHISE FOOD:
In-N-Out Burger (Jenni, Kevin, Em, Kristin)
Burgerville (Joel)
BEST BEACH, EAST COAST: Henderson Beach, Destin, FL
BEST COFFEE/HOT CHOCOLATE: Tumbleweed Cafe, Gardiner, MT (Em)
Crumbs Cafe (Joel)
pretty much anywhere in Seattle (Kevin and Jenni)
BEST STRETCHES OF ROAD:
Monument Valley and the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway from main canyon to Checkerboard Mesa
BEST RV PARKS/CAMPGROUNDS:
Elk Creek Campground
Harris Beach State Park
Watchman Campground, Zion NP
Zyzzx Road, California (exsqueeze me?)
Fjerdingren Road, Custer, SD (how do you even pronounce that?)
"Beware of the Sydney Opera House/giant crab claw" (who draws these things?)
Nasty Chinese Restaurant (really unfortunate light pole placement leads to terrible commentary on the food)
MOST USEFUL APPS AND WEBSITES:
allstays.com
YP.com
UrbanSpoon
Maps
Banana Cream Pie
Salted Caramel
Nutella & Raspberry/Strawberry
WORST INJURY: Jenni's tailbone bruise while dune sledding, Kevin's ankle twisting in Joshua Tree
Coming up…Superlatives, Part Two, and some totally random observations from the full-time life.