Now that we can mostly travel during the school holidays, we are all waiting for that famous spring break. Again we have had many different options that we have been looking into. We tried to find flights to both Hawaii and Mexico, some cruises and different routes for a road trip. And the winner is… TA-DAA.. the road trip! Mostly because all the flights during spring break are very expensive and the dates for the cruises weren’t convenient for us.
NATIONAL PARK-CRAZY
Some of you might remember that I am enthusiastic about visiting national parks. I even joined the National Parks Travelers Club, which gives an access to all the information they have about national parks. The members collect stamps from the parks, and in that way mark off the park they visited from their list. Each park can have multiple stamps if they have different sections. I am fine just getting one stamp from each park, but I might get others as mementos if I happen to see them. I started out with the small stamp book that they sell in the parks, but later upgraded to a bigger Collector’s Edition. There are a total of 417 national park units which include parks, monuments, preserves etc. and I have now visited 35 national park units. That means I still have some work to do.
On this road trip we plan to visit a few national parks.
FROM MANZANAR TO DEATH VALLEY
Our main destination is Death Valley National Park. It is known to be the hottest and lowest spot of North America since it is 86 metres lower than sea level. The best time to visit Death Valley is in the spring, because during the summer, it gets way too hot there. The hottest ever measured temperature on earth was in Death Valley in 1813, and it was 56,7C. Wow! The spring weather should be a little bit cooler and if we are lucky, we might even see some desert flowers. Last year Death Valley got some rare rains which fed the Superbloom in Death Valley. I hope that will be the case this year also.
Before going to Death Valley we will stop at Manzanar in California. Manzanar is an internment camp from World War II where Japanese people were transferred. Just like Death Valley, Manzanar is also part of the national parks program.
NATIONAL PARKS CLOSE TO LAS VEGAS AND HOOVER DAM
After we conquer Death Valley, we might continue to Las Vegas, which is only two hours drive away. We have been in Las Vegas before, so we would mainly be interested in seeing other things this time than the Strip. There are two national parks very close. One is Tule Springs National Monument which is an archeological site with some findings from the Ice Age.
One place that we have never seen is Hoover Dam. It dams the Colorado River at the border of Nevada and Arizona, and is the biggest dam in the USA. It provides electricity to Southern California. Very close to the Hoover Dam is Lake Mead which is also a national park unit. Since we would already be close by, we might also stop there. It would also be great to visit Red Rock Canyon.
Well, that was a lot to see and do already. Since we are driving around with a baby and another child, our plans are subject to change at any time. Hopefully we can at least see Manzanar and Death Valley.
MARCH GIVEAWAY
Last year I had one of these California note books as a giveaway, and since I like them a lot, I do have another one now. It can help you when you plan road trips or your other travels. Leave a comment and tell me what is your best memory from a road trip, or where you would still like to go. Don’t forget to either leave your email address in the comments or sign in with your email address (where only I can see them), so I can contact the winner. The winner will be drawn on April 15th. Good luck!
These are good plans for spring break, better to maximize the vacation 🙂
Wow, just like you I have this innate love for National Park, as it gives me deep reverence for nature and it gives me a relaxing and refreshing sense. I would love to see the Hoover Dam, since it has been in my bucket list for a long time now. This is truly a great adventure and surely, you had a great time. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
Thank you!
Wow I didn’t know about Death Valley ! The name sounded scary, but then I understood why is it called so. That is pretty interesting actually. But what is the hottest temperature there though?
Oh my goodness I want to see flowers in death valley. I also love the fact you pulled away from casinos and the strip to see all that the Vegas area has to offer. Now where is my bucket list…..
Yes Tahnee, we travel with kids and love seeing nature. We have also been to Vegas before so we have seen what it has to offer.
I’m planning to for spring break vacation 🙂 Nice to mention the Las Vegas, I will write down even one National Park, hopefully will have a time to visit it while we are there.
Yes, I hope you get to visit some.
Sounds like an awesome trip. I did a road trip from LA to San Diego via Palm Springs and then to Vegas and oh a quick stop in Tijuana. That was so much fun. But I haven’t seen Death Valley or the Hoover Dam either which I would like to see some day.
Sounds like a great road trip. I have never been to Tijuana.
Sounds like a great plan. I didn´t visit Death Valley while I was in US, but I would love to. I did visit Vegas and Hoover Dam, both are great. As you are so close to the Dam it would be a shame to miss it and Vegas is just something else, my eyes were so tired, there was so much going on I didn´t have time to blink! Wherever you end up I´m sure you´ll have a blast!
Ha ha… I love the thing about not being able to blink 😂 Sounds like you had fun!
Thanks for sharing! We are planning a motorcycle trip to Death Valley next year. I’ll be sure to add some of these spots to our list.
Oh wow, that will for sure be an awesome way to explore thr valley!