Trip reports, national park guides, and van life stories from the open road.
43 posts
Newby sprintermom|Jun 1, 2026|National Parks & Places
Yellowstone National Park sits atop one of the largest active volcanoes on Earth — a supervolcano whose last great eruption, 640,000 years ago, left a caldera 45 miles wide and 10,000 hydrothermal features still breathing today. Here's how we earned the Junior Ranger badge with the girls.
by sprintermom|May 3, 2026|National Parks & Places
Big Bend National Park is named for the broad, sweeping bend of the Rio Grande as it carves the Texas–Mexico border — a fossil-and-volcano country of Chihuahuan Desert, sky-island Chisos Mountains, and a river that draws its own line. Here's how we returned with the girls two decades after our first visit and earned the Junior Ranger badge.
by sprintermom|Apr 30, 2026|National Parks & Places
Guadalupe Mountains National Park tells the story of a 260-million-year-old Permian Sea, a fossil reef now standing as the highest peaks in Texas — and the last stronghold of Mescalero Apache freedom. Here's how we visited with the girls and earned the Junior Ranger badge.
by sprintermom|Apr 21, 2026|National Parks & Places
It's not actually sand — White Sands sits on the world's largest gypsum dunefield, crystallized from an ancient inland sea. Here's how we finally made it at sunset, earned Junior Ranger badges, and why you shouldn't rush this one.
by sprintermom|Apr 20, 2026|Van Life
Ever since the girls were little, we wanted to get them in nature as much as possible, but also have more of a context and memory than simply camping out. National Parks are a happy balance between soaking in nature time and learning and accomplishing.
by sprintermom|Apr 11, 2026|National Parks & Places
Fort Davis NHS is one of the best-preserved frontier military posts in the Southwest — where the legendary Buffalo Soldiers served after the Civil War. Here's how to visit with kids and earn a Junior Ranger badge in this overlooked West Texas gem.
by sprintermom|Oct 19, 2025|Trip Reports
Wupatki National Monument preserves 2,700+ ancestral Puebloan sites — including a natural blowhole that may have drawn ancient people here 900 years ago. Here's our adventure through the national parks of Sedona and northern Arizona.
by sprintermom|Aug 31, 2025|Trip Reports
Jewel Cave is the third-longest cave in the world with 200+ miles of passageways — and less than 5% mapped. Here's our family journey through South Dakota's caves, monuments, and the sacred Black Hills of the Lakota.
by sprintermom|May 31, 2025|Trip Reports
Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the U.S. and the only place alligators and crocodiles coexist. Here's our springtime Junior Ranger run through Florida's spectacular national parks.
by sprintermom|Dec 31, 2024|Van Life
And a Happy Christmas to All! Each year, we trade our modern world for a stroll back in time, to The Great Dickens Christmas Fair. After loading the van with Victorian wear, we hop in and head to the ...
by sprintermom|Aug 31, 2024|Trip Reports
Indiana Dunes National Park is one of the most biodiverse parks in the system — glacial dunes up to 200 feet tall on Lake Michigan, 50 miles from Chicago. Here's our Junior Ranger run through the Great Lakes Four Sisters.
by sprintermom|Jul 31, 2024|Trip Reports
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area — holding 10% of Earth's surface fresh water. Here's our Junior Ranger adventure through the national parks of the Great Lakes Upper Midwest.
by sprintermom|Jun 30, 2024|Trip Reports
John Day Fossil Beds preserves 50 million years of Earth's evolutionary story in Oregon's volcanic rock. Here's our journey from ancient fossils to fiery peaks across the Cascade Range.
by sprintermom|Jul 14, 2023|Van Life
Owning a van is undoubtedly a labor of love, it is a continuous cycle of van repairs and maintenance that is best done DIY. While vans symbolize adventure, freedom, and limitless possibilities, the re...
by sprintermom|Mar 12, 2023|Trip Reports
Yosemite was the first land the U.S. government set aside for public use in 1864 — home to El Capitan, the world's largest granite monolith. Here's our family comparison of Zion and Yosemite, the two grand rock giants of the West.
by sprintermom|Oct 23, 2022|Trip Reports
Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the only places on Earth where all four volcano types exist in one landscape. Here's why Northern California's national parks are the true enchanted forests of the American West.
by sprintermom|Oct 18, 2022|Van Life
After years of experience, we are happy to share with you our new and improved website on mastering van life with kids and pets. I'm not one to boast, but I feel we can now unquestionably say we are a...
by sprintermom|Oct 1, 2022|National Parks & Places
Whitman Mission NHS marks the Oregon Trail — the 2,000-mile route that carried 400,000+ settlers westward between 1840 and 1869. Here's how the Pacific Northwest's NPS sites preserve that remarkable story for Junior Rangers.
by sprintermom|Sep 1, 2022|National Parks & Places
We are van lifers, so freedom is our forte. I'd like to muse how we will all define our life and freedom in the time of the Great Reset. What we will tell our descendants someday. We have the freedom ...
by sprintermom|Jun 24, 2022|Trip Reports
The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, one mile deep, and exposes nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history. Here's our family's journey through the Southwest's most spectacular natural wonders.
by sprintermom|May 24, 2022|Trip Reports
Mesa Verde National Park protects 4,000+ Ancestral Puebloan sites including Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America. Here's our family journey through the Southwest's most remarkable historic ruins.
by sprintermom|Apr 24, 2022|Van Life
It's evident that the macrobiotic diet has carried with us in Van Life, called Great Life Diet, it is meant to be. Because van life is a great life. The Great Life Diet: How to Eat Super Healthy on Ro...
by sprintermom|Mar 31, 2022|Trip Reports
We love our National Parks so much we fused our two favorite things into works of art: education and adventure. Our National Park Junior Ranger Adventure NFTs bring the best of both. Collect the Educa...
by sprintermom|Feb 26, 2022|Van Life
It's freedom at our off-grid property on the edge of a National Forest. It isn't always easy thriving off-grid, but at least we have the off-grid van. Until our van broke down. It was hard to explain ...
by sprintermom|Dec 1, 2021|Trip Reports
After visiting 10 National Parks in 2019 and collecting Junior Ranger badges at each one, we have set some future real adventure goals. As there are hundreds of Junior Ranger programs in the National ...
by sprintermom|Aug 30, 2021|Van Life
We have mastered great off-grid set ups for life on the edge of a national forest, and it's freedom. Here are the essentials that we can't do without. Through the van window The backstory is we have s...
by sprintermom|Jul 26, 2021|Van Life
Whether we are exploring National Parks on a long van trip, or thriving off-grid near the National Forest these are the top 3 items for freedom life in a van. Our Top 3 Items for Great Sleep and Clima...
by sprintermom|Mar 29, 2021|Trip Reports
Bend, Oregon is great, be a tourist here. This post is all about how we lived the locals' life for a ski season, and our takeaways. Completely piggybacking the popular bumper sticker Bend Sucks, Don't...
by sprintermom|Dec 27, 2020|Van Life
The van is truly freedom in any season, when winter comes we put away the summer camp gear and transform the van to our ski lodge on wheels. It's Freedom in Any Season: The Van is the Best Summer Camp...
by sprintermom|Aug 24, 2020|Trip Reports
Olympic National Park protects the largest temperate rainforest in the contiguous U.S., where 12+ feet of annual rain creates ancient moss-draped forests found nowhere else in America. Here's the full magic of the Pacific Northwest.
by sprintermom|Aug 17, 2020|National Parks & Places
Nothing says a great road trip like the ultimate van rescue operation. A great road trip is all about the unexpected adventures and memorable experiences encountered on the way. Thanks to the heroic e...
by sprinterdad|Mar 15, 2020|Van Life
Our new front double bunk system is the superior van sleeping system for big kids. It was a labor of love but well worth the effort. Van Life: Our New Front Double Bunk System How We Did It We're stok...
by sprintermom|Jan 18, 2020|National Parks & Places
It feels like forever since I last posted. I wanted to throw out it out there, Van Life is the best life. We have had quite a ride these past few months. But the best ride is always in the van. Van tr...
by sprintermom|Oct 20, 2019|National Parks & Places
Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet, formed when an ancient volcano collapsed 7,700 years ago. Here's the magic of Southern Oregon's national parks, close to home and endlessly worth it.
by sprintermom|Aug 29, 2019|National Parks & Places
Anyone who has visited knows Monterey Bay is pretty special, where sparkling tides meet rocky shorelines rich with colorful sea glass. Where abundant aquatic life plays in the sun. On this recent trip...
by sprintermom|Aug 24, 2019|Trip Reports
Pipestone National Monument is the only place in the U.S. where catlinite — the sacred red stone of Indigenous ceremonial pipes — is still quarried, a right reserved exclusively for Native people. Here's our journey through the Upper Midwest's living legends.
by sprintermom|Jul 14, 2019|Trip Reports
Yellowstone is the world's first national park and sits atop one of Earth's largest active volcanoes, with more hydrothermal features than anywhere else on the planet. We found it by accident via Beartooth Pass — here's what happened.
by sprintermom|Jun 7, 2019|Trip Reports
If every corner of the world is creating their own dream, then the dream of Ashland nestled in the Rogue Valley, is a pretty lovely one. Ashland is a peaceful town filled with nourishing food and gath...
by sprintermom|Apr 24, 2019|Trip Reports
In November 2017 we rented an RV from Cruise America, and it was this experience that culminated into Van Life and beyond. Magic land at Emigrant Lake How the Van Life Adventure Began At the time, we ...
by sprinterdad|Apr 22, 2019|Van Life
Whether Van Life, Tiny Home life, or RV life, anyone can tell you, what makes or breaks the tiny living experience is the parking. Tiny Living: What Makes or Breaks It is the Parking All the Rave Abou...
by sprintermom|Apr 8, 2019|Van Life
The Container Store has the most versatile organization magic invented whether you are in a van home, or any kind of tiny home. Van Life: Organize with The Container Store Organize with Plastic Basket...
by sprintermom|Apr 8, 2019|National Parks & Places
It's true, Santa Cruz isn't sunny all the time, but is a great place to find sandy beaches, magical redwoods, easy food, and good kid fun. Van Life in the Sunny Santa Cruz Region Santa Cruz Has Any Ki...
by sprintermom|Apr 8, 2019|National Parks & Places
Our rustic van conversion by Pata Vans was the best way to start the Van Life adventure, simple, natural, and feels like home. Finding the Right Van Conversion It can only be a stroke of luck that hap...
