Photo courtesy of the Almond Family
Elaine and Chris Almond have taken their three children Carter (11), Drew (9) and Julia (7) on a two-week RV trip exploring National Parks and other fun stops for the past two summers.
After taking two road trips in their min-van (including one week-long trip all the way up to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania) Elaine Almond realized that her kids were at an age where road trips would be more doable. In 2016, they started their first RV adventure in Las Vegas, Nevada. They traveled all the way up to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, down to the Grand Canyon, then back to Las Vegas with pit stops to visit Utah’s Olympic Park, Four Corners Monument, the University of Colorado and Epic Discovery park in Vail, Colorado. Of their many stops, the most memorable for the family was their visit to the Grand Canyon. “We woke up in the morning to a herd of elk roaming around our campground,” said Elaine. “We were so close to them, we could almost touch them!”
This past summer, the Almond family started in Los Angeles, California before traveling to Yosemite National Park, Glacier National Park in Montana and finally Seattle, Washington. During their travels, they also made stops to tour Hearst Castle, pan for gold at a gold mine and have a snowball fight at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. The family favorite this year was Glacier National park, where they hiked 3.8 miles up Grinnell Glacier.
Next year the Almonds are planning for another trip — either another RV trip around Canada starting at Niagara Falls or a houseboat on Lake Powell or the Sheepscot and Kennebec rivers in Maine. Either way, their family is ready for another adventure!
Interested in taking your own family on a road trip? Here are some of Elaine’s recommendations!
- Bring lots of activities and snacks.
- Have a water bottle for each kid.
- Travel with wristbands for motion sickness in case one of your kids gets carsick.
- Download two apps: Road Tripper, which helps you plan your route, and Gas Buddy, which helps to find the best gas prices around you.
- If you have a movie system, bring a variety of movies.
- Bring a pair of headphones for each child so parents can listen to something else up front.
Getting to know the Almond Family!
What is your family’s favorite meal?
Our family’s favorite meal on the road is walking tacos. We put taco meat and fillings inside a Fritos bag. Yum yum!
What are three words to describe your family?
Adventurous, caring and competitive.
What is your family’s favorite activity (aside from road trips!)?
Friday family movie nights!
What is your family’s favorite movie?
All “Star Wars” movies!!
What makes your kids laugh?
Dance off competitions.
What are some of your kids’ favorite books?
“Harry Potter,” “Little House in the Big Woods” and “Charlotte’s Web.”
What is your family’s favorite place Gainesville?
Jonesville Park. We play sports and Pokémon there, and we also like to go geocaching there.