In honor of Black Friday I thought I'd talk a little bit about shopping in the parks. As you may know if you are a park enthusiast all parks have trouble with funding. Much like our home budgets there is always a long list of things to be done and only so many dollars to … Continue reading Shop Your Parks For the Holidays, & Everyday!
Great Smoky Mountains NP Pt. 2
Great Smoky is a stand out park for a few different reasons, one of which is that the money was raised by LOCAL PEOPLE. When the federal government approved the creation of the park they refused to fund it. It was funded with local citizen donations, school children, from all walks of life, collecting nickels … Continue reading Great Smoky Mountains NP Pt. 2
Great Smoky Mountains NP pt 1
When planning our eclipse viewing I tried to keep a couple things front and center in my mind. 1) It could be cloudy and 2) The kids may find this monumentally unimpressive. To mitigate both of these concerns it was really important that the focal point of the trip have something great to visit in … Continue reading Great Smoky Mountains NP pt 1
Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS
Allegheny Portage Railroad is a result of Pennsylvania's desire to stay relevant in trade and an ingenious way to cross the Allegheny mountains before steam engines were powerful enough to make it through. With the rise of Canal trade after the completion of the Erie Canal, Pennsylvania scrambled to compete and shorten the 23 day … Continue reading Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS
Cuyahoga NP
The National Park Service commissioned a series of videos in the eighties and I found the Cuyahoga video at our public library. I was so thankful I did because there is so much more to this park that I wouldn't have known about in advance. Firstly there is a scenic railroad that runs the entire … Continue reading Cuyahoga NP
First Ladies NM
Have you ever had weeks where your family won't stop fighting? Week after week the kids were arguing and we were grouchy. Laying in bed one night I made an executive decision that a Road Trip was the answer to our problems. Nothing says RELAXING like throwing kids in a car, without electronics, because clearly … Continue reading First Ladies NM
Fort Necessity-NB
The first time I ever visited Fort Necessity, Hurricane Irene had hammered Pittsburgh and we had lost power. There are two sureties in Pittsburgh, 1) Yes that Hill is STEEP and 2) NO your utilities will not be restored soon after a storm. My sister lived outside of D.C. at the time and our other … Continue reading Fort Necessity-NB
National Mall Badge
The National Mall badge is earned by visiting memorials on the National Mall and completing a worksheet at each. The number of worksheets required is dependent on the age of the child and they give you a folder to keep them in as you journey. For us we had to visit 4 memorials. We were … Continue reading National Mall Badge
White Sands NM 2016
I love White Sands. Full disclosure, I went to college very close to White Sands National Monument and it was a regular recreation activity for us when we had cars. It is so hot and sunny, absolutely breathtaking in it's natural beauty and there is so much fun to be had on all that sand, … Continue reading White Sands NM 2016
Hot Springs NP 2016
Hot Springs is a gem. An absolute gem. I had visited before but never realized it was a National Park. It is a picturesque, old timey down town area with the amazing architecture from the boom of affluence (we really appreciate that in Pittsburgh), plenty of southern charm and just a dash of tacky tourism! … Continue reading Hot Springs NP 2016
Free Rangering 