Take That Exit

Leaving the fast lane, to enjoy the view

Earn Junior Ranger badges at state, national parks

Mar 162016



Junior-Ranger-Badge-ProgramLiam earning his Junior Ranger badge at Mt. Rushmore

Junior Ranger Badge 101

Before we starting traveling full-time I had never even heard of a Junior Ranger Badge or the Junior Ranger Program. But after months of visiting state and national parks and earning dozens of Junior Ranger badges along the way, we feel a little bit like experts on the topic. And we love the program so much we thought we’d put a post together to help other families get involved in the Junior Ranger program!

  • What is the Junior Ranger program?
  • Where can you earn Junior Ranger badges? 
  • Who can earn Junior Ranger badges?
  • How do you earn Junior Ranger badges?
  • Why should you earn Junior Ranger badges?

Junior-Ranger-books-San-Antonio

What is the Junior Ranger program? The Junior Ranger Program is an activity-based educational program in most national and state parks. By completing workbooks and/or activities at a particular park you can earn a Junior Ranger badge. The Junior Ranger Program motto is “Explore, Learn and Protect” so the activities are geared toward reinforcing these values in the parks system.

Junior-Ranger-badge-GlacierHadley working on her booklet at Glacier National Park, Montana

Where can you earn Junior Ranger badges? Most national and state parks have a Junior Ranger Program – just ask a park ranger. We have also earned Junior Ranger badges at wildlife refuges and national monuments – we always ask, you’d be surprised which places have them!

Junior-Ranger-Badge-Glacier-Vest

Who can earn Junior Ranger badges? Although anyone can complete the Junior Ranger Program the program is designed for younger school age children (under 12). Some parks have different workbooks or activities based on age while others have only one program for all ages.

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Travelers World RV Resort Review {San Antonio, Texas}

Mar 162016



Travelers-World-San-Antonio-Texas

Travel dates :: February 26 – March 7, 2016

After eating our weight in tacos in Austin, we headed 80 miles southwest to San Antonio, Texas. While in San Antonio we had the great pleasure of staying at Travelers World RV Resort. We had heard great things about this San Antonio campground being the perfect home base for going into the city, and it certainly was – let me tell you why we liked it so much!

Our site at Travelers World RV Resort had full hook-ups. This means water, electricity (30/50 amp) and sewer. We also had cable with dozens of channels and FREE wifi for up to two devices during our stay. The wifi worked GREAT – which is always a perk that is often hit or miss depending on the campground.

Swimming-Pool-Travelers-World

In terms of amenities at Travelers World RV Resort we LOVED the pool. Seriously. The pool was heated and was kept at an extremely comfortable temperature for swimming. Truly heated, like a nice warm bath – it was located in the middle of the park, a short walking distance from our site. The pool was well maintained, well lit (at night) and had lots of lawn chairs nearby. The kids went swimming daily, which we love because it wears them out – they have so much energy!

Travelers-World-Pool-Happy-KidI’m in hot tub, he’s in pool, we’re both happy. 

And right next to the pool you’ll find the hot tub. I loved that the hot tub was actually HOT and right next to the pool so I could soak and kept a close eye on my kids while they swam in the pool. Kids aren’t allowed in the hot tub but the pool was so warm, they didn’t care!

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McKinney Falls State Park, Airstream family meet-up and we eat our way through Austin {Texas}

Mar 152016



Austin-Texas-McKinney-Falls-State-Park

Travel dates :: February 20 -26, 2016

After a restful few days at Thousand Trails Lake Conroe RV Resort we headed west to Austin, Texas! This has been on our short list for destinations since we hit the road. We had a 5-night reservation at McKinney Falls State Park and we were meeting up with two other traveling Airstream families – Advodna and FollowTheSun.Earth. We had never met these families before (in real life) but had followed each other on Instagram for sometime. . . you know, Insta-friends. That seems to be how we meet all of our favorite traveling families these days.

McKinney-Falls-Airstream-loop

We were able to get three sites, all in a row, at McKinney Falls State Park within a quiet loop. The spots were HUGE with lots of space between our sites. The hook-ups were only water and electric with just a short walk to a clean bathhouse for showers. Cost was about $20/night.

Hammock-Airstream-Friends

We spent the first night sharing stories, food and letting the kids run around playing together (ages 8, 5, 4, 3 and 18 months). We love these get togethers with other traveling families. It gives our kids an opportunity to play with other kids and allows us to socialize, too.

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Thousand Trails Lake Conroe RV Resort Review {Texas}

Mar 142016



Lake-Conroe-Thousand-Trails-Review

Travel dates :: February 17 – 20, 2016

After eating plenty of beignets in New Orleans and camping overnight in Lafeytte, Louisiana we headed west to Lake Conroe, Texas. After a busy couple weeks we opted to take it easy for a few days. We knew there was a lot to do in Houston but we also knew we needed to slow down for a bit – for our sanity and to catch up on life.  So we skipped Houston (and it’s traffic) all together and headed north about an hour to Thousand Trails Lake Conroe RV Resort.

Thousand-Trails-Lake-Conroe_TX

Thousand Trails is a national camping network that you can join via a membership fee. Broken into regions around the country your membership allows you to camp for free (or a discounted rate) at campgrounds within your region. We know a lot of full-time families who have Thousand Trails memberships and tend to stay at Thousand Trails locations for long stays.

We personally don’t have a Thousand Trails membership and have never stayed at a Thousand Trails campground before – so this was a first for us! We weren’t quite sure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised when we pulled in. They seemed to have great security – having a gate that seems to be staffed for early to late in the day and you’ll be given a gate code to get in after hours.

Campsite-Lake-Conroe-Thousand-Trails

Our spot was in a row on a slight hill giving you a nice view of the valley. It was easy to back into and perfectly level. I love it when I don’t have to worry about leveling the trailer! The electrical box and hook-ups look like they had been upgraded recently and were in great condition. Although the spots aren’t huge, we didn’t feel as cramped as we had at some other campgrounds. And more importantly I loved our location – just a short walking distance to the playground, the miniature golf course and the pool/hot tub.

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New Orleans – French Quarter, beignets, a steamboat cruise and more {Louisiana}

Mar 132016



New-Orleans-Louisiana

Travel dates : February 11 – 16, 2016

After leaving Mobile, Alabama we continued West and pulled into New Orleans, Louisiana. We arrived the Thursday after Fat Tuesday. . .purposely timing it to show up after all the craziness from Mardi Gras (we had our Mardi Gras fun in Fairhope).

Bayou-Segnette-State-Park-campsite

We had heard there was an RV park right in the French Quarter . . . at $100+ a night you pay for the convenience of walking to the bars and restaurants of the French Quarter. That sounds like an awesome place to stay if you’re kid-free and fancy-free but we opted for Bayou Segnette State Park about 20 minutes outside of downtown. At $20 a night – and beautiful, spacious spots, this is more our style.

Bayou-Segnette-State-Park-Campground-boardwalk

The park had a lot of green space and was well maintained. The bathrooms were some of the nicest we’ve seen!  We had a short walk on this boardwalk to the restrooms (and playground). We saw LOTS of adorable wild rabbits scurrying around this area – they catch you off guard when they start skittering alongside the path and we also spotted lots of birds.

Hadley-Biking-NOLA-Bayou-Segnette

Hadley was thrilled that they had paved roads and she ended up riding her bike quite a bit (actually she’s on brother’s bike in this photo). I was happy that there wasn’t a lot of traffic and overall it was a quiet, comfortable place to stay!

New-Orleans-Ferry-to-French-QuarterPanoramic from the ferry

Being about 20 minutes away from downtown you could drive into the French Quarter and try to find parking. But because our truck is ridiculously big we opted to drive 20 minutes to the Algiers Ferry terminal and take that across the Mississippi, dropping us off right downtown. You can find free street parking near the ferry terminal or you can pay $5 to park in a lot (we did both during our stay). It cost our family $8 each way to take the ferry (exact cash, they won’t give you change) and was well worth the cost of NOT having to drive into the city (and pay for parking). PLUS the ferry was lots of fun to ride and took about 8-10 minutes, it was so fast!

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Family-map-photo-350 We're a family of four, ditching mainstream and hitching up our Airstream for a year of travel around the United States. Learn more about us