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Our roadtrip in review



The United States is a country worth visiting from coast to coast. We have been amazed by the diversity of its scenery. There is something to please eveyone, from beaches to high mountains, from deserts to forests of giant trees, from big cities full of colors and activities to small towns full of warm and sympathetic people. We particularly enjoyed our time in the National Parks of Utah.

When we left home, we did not know how our children would react to the long hours spent on the road and to the fact that they would be far from everything they know and love for 8 weeks. We were impressed by their adaptability and patience. They did not seem to miss home, nor their comfortable bed. Every morning, Julien was anxious to start a new day  and was always the first one to sit in the car. Arielle loved spending quality time with both her parents.

During the months prior to our departure, we spent a lot of time planning our itinerary. We used Google Earth and Google Map a great deal to evaluate distances between cities and decide where we would stop each day. We took our tight budget into consideration to plan our activities. We could not afford every theme park, zoo and museum, so we had to make a choice and limit ourselves to the ones we did not want to miss. This preparation allowed us to avoid spending too much time each day planning for the next, and left us all the time we needed to really enjoy each moment. Of course, we had to plan for the unexpected. It is impossible to foresee everything and that's the way it should be. We had to respect our state of mind, our desires and the physical condition of everyone. The temperature, road works and unexpected site closures are other examples of external factors that can have an impact on well prepared plans.

Equipment failure is another potential problem. In our case, all of our headaches came from our tent-trailer.  Our intention was to save on hotels by camping is a relatively comfortable setting and to sell the trailer upon our return to recover the money invested. It seemed like a good idea, but unfortunatly, the trailer broke and we were forced to buy a regular tent and use it almost the whole time. We expected to get fed up of sleeping in a tent, but it turned out that we were quite comfortable and had no problem with it. If we could do it again, we would leave home with a tent and sleep in hotels on rainy and cold nights. It would have been cheaper for us this way. Towing the useless tent-trailer for almost 14000 miles caused us a great deal of stress and frustration, the repairs were expensive and let's not forget that it costs us more in gas.

We met some great people during our trip. They were curious to find out about us and our adventure. Some were happy to help us in anyway they could. It's the bond we create with people that make trips so memorable. Do not hesitate to approach the inhabitants to get a better understanding of their culture, to discover special places and to get help if  needed. Most people are happy to share and to lend a hand because they are proud of their country and want to leave us with a good impression. Since we were constantly on the move, we did not get the opportunity to accept invitations and to get acquainted with a lot of people, but that is certainly something we will try to do more on our next trip.  We had the chance to spend a few days with our friends in Texas. Knowing people in the country you visit is a plus. You get to save on accomodations and you get to experience life as they live it. They take you to places tourists normally don't visit and you get to have fun with great friends you rarely see.


Not to be missed!
  • Yosemite National Park, California, especially in the Spring
  • Grand Canyon National Park
  • Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
  • Arches National Park, Utah
  • Route 1 on the West coast in California
  • San Simeon, California to see the sea elephants in the Spring
  • Big Basin Redwood State Park, California for the giant trees


Places we liked
  • Fort Hays Chuckwagon Supper & Cowboy Music Show, South Dakota
  • Sanibel Island for the mountains of seashells
  • Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
  • Sedona, Arizona
  • Disney World, Florida
  • All the other National Parks: Zion, Canyonlands, Rockies...
  • Balmorhea State Park, Texas for its large fresh water pool populated with small fishes.

To avoid
  • Penny Thompson Memorial Park, Florida (camping)
  • Bolsa Chica State Beach, California (camping)
    We found syringes in the sand and trash everywhere


Tips
Annual Pass
All National Parks we visited were worth it. We bought the annual pass for 80$ to save money. Occasionally during the year, national parks have open doors. Entrance is free but camping is not free of charge.

Camping in Florida State Parks
Florida State Parks are great places to camp. The ones we visited were very nice, they had fairly new amenities and they all had hot water showers. If you are looking for campgrounds close to nature  in a more intimate setting, they are a perfect choice. We particularly liked  Blue Spring State Park with its  manatees and Suwannee River State Park.
Bayou Segnette State Park in New Orleans, Louisiana, was another good place to camp. They had washers/dryers and Internet WIFI. It is a good idea to camp in the national parks when possible because it gives you more time to visit the park.

Las Vegas is an affordable destination, especially during the week. Hotel rooms are often twice as cheap then during the weekend.


One last thing... Claudine came back home from the trip with a very special souvenir in her belly! The baby girl is due at the end of January 2011 and the whole family is very excited about it.


Come back at a later time to this review as we might add other tips and details.











Final Stats

Miles: 14,000

States: 27

National Parks: 12

State Parks: 9

Campgrounds: 17

Beaches: 8