Exploring America Archives - Page 2 of 10

Celebrating National Park Week With Map View of Our Favorite NPS Units

April 18, 2019 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

National Park Week is about to begin! The dates this year are April 20-28, 2019, with special programs and events scheduled across the nation.

The big highlight is Saturday, April 20, when admission fees are waived at all 419 National Park Service units! That’s right: you get in free at any national park, monument, battlefield, seashore, or other site managed by the U.S. National Park Service.

Of the 61 national parks, I’ve been to 27 so far-and it’ll be 28 tomorrow when we arrive at Big Bend National Park! Caspian has been to 34 total units in his two years of life. 💕 What about you?

[Read more…]

We Finally Made It to Nebraska With a Stay in Scottsbluff

November 19, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

As we drove into Scottsbluff, Nebaska, we weren’t sure how long we wanted to stay. We considered spending a night or two, so we could add the state to our map, then head into Colorado to get a head start on our adventures there.

But when I checked my Chimani national park app, I learned there are three National Park Service sites in the immediate area. That changed the game, causing us to settle in for a week-long stay. After our whirlwind month in the Rapid City area, it was good to slow down and regroup.

[Read more…]

Buried in South Dakota’s Black Hills for Weeks

November 14, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

Exploring Black Hills of South Dakota by RV

South Dakota’s Black Hills have magic in them. This wonderland of nature is at once mysterious and easy to access. The old, towering trees will give you strength. The wildlife will charm you.

Quite unlike our norm of arriving in a new place and parking there for two weeks, we bounced around the Rapid City area for nearly a month, camping at a total of five spots.

If I were to structure this travel log like I normally do-campground, activities, food-then I might as well publish it as a book. This time, I’m going to try a shorter form that traces our movements in each area. If you have a question about a specific place, don’t hesitate to leave a comment and I can elaborate for you.

[Read more…]

Mixing Tourist Traps With Western Beauty Around Theodore Roosevelt National Park

October 21, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

RV Trip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park

If there was any bucket list item for me in 2018, it was Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the neighboring town of Medora, North Dakota.

Theodore Roosevelt is one of my favorite historical figures. A beloved high school teacher sparked my interest, which led me to start picking up biographies. While I don’t necessarily agree with every policy decision Roosevelt ever made, I deeply admire his personality and embrace of challenges.

My Theodore Roosevelt obsession is what led me to bison love, which led us to our RV Wanderlust logo. And years afterwards, I named my child after him (Caspian Theodore Highland).

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is the only national park named after a person. The most visited section is located in Medora, a town Roosevelt personally frequented. He owned a ranch north of the town, which he fled to when his wife and mother died on the same day (Feb. 14, 1884).

[Read more…]

Inspired by Lewistown, Montana to Always Give Tiny Towns a Chance

October 18, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

With over 600 miles to travel from Glacier National Park (Montana) to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota), we needed to stop somewhere in between. When first glancing at a map, the Montana novice might feel rather discouraged. I-87 appears to be a stretch of nothingness for hours.

Undeterred, I zoomed to the mid-way point on the map and started looking up all those tiny towns on Campendium. I was sold by the reviews for a city park in the 6,000-person town of Lewistown, Montana.

[Read more…]

Dry Camping Just Outside Glacier National Park

October 3, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

Growing up, I knew about national parks like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, but for some reason Glacier National Park wasn’t on my radar until adulthood. Once we started traveling full-time, stunning photos from fellow nomads became impossible to ignore.

Established in 1910, Glacier National Park is located in Montana on the Canadian border. In fact, it continues right into Canada, where it becomes Waterton Lakes National Park.

This amazing stop was on our itinerary for 2016, but we had to cancel when I became pregnant and plans changed. Life happened again this year when we detoured from our Glacier route for an emergency trip to Seattle.

But nothing was going to stand in our way! With stops in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, we were able to get back on course to see Glacier National Park.

[Read more…]

Meet Me at the Fairgrounds in Coeur d’Alene

September 25, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

If you haven’t been there, I’d wager you have an inaccurate picture of Idaho in your mind. Potatoes, middle of nowhere, fields…sound familiar?

When we planned our 2016 Grand Loop Trip, Coeur d’Alene was one of our stops. But only because it was too far to go straight from Seattle to Glacier National Park.

When I became pregnant and we had to hurry back to Texas, we didn’t end up staying there. But boy, were we in for a surprise when we drove through on I-90. The city-the whole area-is stunning!

[Read more…]

Crisis Averted, Realigning With Return Trip East Through Spokane

September 19, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

Feeling much better about the wellness of Eric’s mom, we left Seattle to head back east. Though we spent three weeks in Seattle during our unexpected detour, we didn’t have to sacrifice any planned stops along our West Mountain Loop Trip.

But since our next destination was Glacier National Park, about 550 miles away, we broke the realignment trip into chunks. First stop: Spokane, WA.

[Read more…]

Strangest Visit Ever to Hometown of Seattle

September 12, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

On Sunday, we were settled in Bozeman. Six days later, we were making an emergency 700-mile drive to Seattle to be with Eric’s mother. Thus began three of the strangest weeks we’ve ever spent in Seattle.

Picture this if you dare: Eric and I are playing a game in bed. (It’s more innocent than it sounds.) He says to me, “You name one place you want to go while we’re in Seattle. We’ll switch back and forth.”

The game lasted a while. Eric grew up in Seattle. We lived there together from 2010-2011, during which time we were engaged, married, and began newlywed life together. It was a sweet time, and we have lots of memories there.

[Read more…]

Scrambling to Change Summer Plans in Bozeman, MT

September 5, 2018 by BrittanyHighland Leave a Comment

Our stay in Bozeman didn’t turn out as planned. It was week two of Highland Family Summer Vacation 2018 with Javen (17) and Silas (14). We had just come from beautiful West Yellowstone, with a one-night stop in Gallatin National Forest.

We planned on adventuring in the Bozeman area like we normally do, but unexpected family news caused us to refocus and quickly change our travel plans.

[Read more…]

First Time Here? Get to Know Us!

Join Our Adventures

Search Our Blog

Recent Posts