Made it to Baltimore, National Park Checklist at 42
It’s been a while now, we got distracted by fun with family and friends and a wedding along the way, but our journey cross country is over and the truck is on the way to England (separate blog post to follow on shipping).
We planned a route to maximize national parks but not take us on too crazy a driving path. First stop - Arches (again, but then, its Arches, and we were literally driving by). Found our favorite hike there - a “primitive” trail that took us through canyons, over slabs and past several spectacular arches.
Entering Devil’s Garden - 5.5 mile loop on the primitive trail.
Double O Arch
From Arches National Park we made our way to Great Sands. Our hike for the day was to the top of the highest dune, named aptly High Dune. A windy adventurous 3 mile round trip slog through deep sand, but definitely worth the views.
Great Sand Dunes National Park - view from High Dune point.
The run down is worth the climb to the top.
Next stop eastward bound was Hot Springs National Park. We were surprised at how urban the park was - most of the hot springs are enclosed in bath houses built in the 1830’s and refurbished over the past two centuries. The self guided historic tour was interesting though and we did find a hillside hike above the town.
Hot Springs National Park hike - above the town of Hot Springs.
Andy found a pool in the park to warm his toes.
Our next national park was definitely the most urban of all - we worked hard to try and get a photo of the truck and the arch.
Gateway Arch National Park
There wasn’t really a hike to be had but we did manage to walk across St. Louis to an amazing neighborhood sandwich shop. Onwards to Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky. We had a lovely wooded camping site in the national park and booked a cave entrance time for the self guided tour.
Campsite at Mammoth Cave National Park
Hiking around Mammoth Cave National Park
Inside Mammoth Caves - huge - as the name suggests.
Great Smoky Mountains were the next stop. We found several hikes and camped at Cosby Campground in the park.
View from Clingmans Dome, still smiling but also feeling the wear of all the miles.
Chimney Tops hike, Great Smokys
Although it definitely was not made for our truck and we pulled over a lot for Corvettes, Porsches and motorcycles, we chose to drive the iconic Tail of the Dragon in South Carolina as it was on our way.
Banking a curve on Tail of the Dragon at about 15mph - woohoo
Our next adventure was at Congaree National Park. The park only offered tent camping so we booked into nearby Santee State Park. As we moved east, we definitely noticed a decrease in the availability of boondocking spots or open public lands.
Santee State Park, South Carolina, first alligator sightings.
To see Congaree, we booked a kayaking excursion which was a great way for us to experience the waterways and wildlife of the park.
Congaree National Park by kayak
Land O’Snakes, we have never seen so many in two hours.
Next, the family time in Charleston, we felt the relief of being in one place for a bit, the joy of being fully vaccinated and being able to be with family in a group and the beauty of witnessing our niece’s wedding.
Our three children who continue to inspire us daily.
And who are always happiest outdoors.
But we all can clean up when necessary.
Newly married- congratulations Carol and Trever! Shakespeare says it best: I would not wish any companion in the world but you.
After the extended family time, we piled back into the truck to head for our final national parks, down to Florida then three more as we made our way to Baltimore. We had been hoping for three in Florida but were disappointed to find out that Dry Tortugas was only accessible by a boat tour that was booked out six months in advance, but we headed to the other two, Everglades and Biscayne, happy to be joined by our son Nicholas for the first part of the trip.
Everglades National Park, alligator sighting.
Rented a boat to explore the Everglades waterways. Captain Nicholas at the helm.
Although we chose land based camping in the Everglades, were impressed by these water based sites.
Our first overnight guest - he fits! Note the Florida shorts tan.
Once Nicholas left, we made our way to Biscayne National Park, only accessible by boat but we easily booked a national park boat tour.
Biscayne National Park
Time to head north for our shipping date but we figured out we could hit three more final parks on our way - New River Gorge, Shenandoah and Cuyahoga Valley (actually a little out of our way, but sometimes the national park checklist overrides the maximum 3 hours of driving a day rule).
New River Gorge National Park
Truck on the bridge over the gorge.
Hiking along the edge.
Shenandoah National Park - Skyline Drive (we drove the whole thing, 100+ miles, beautiful views)
Dark Hollow Falls - 3 mile hike at Shenandoah National Park
Next stop, Ohio and Cuyahoga Valley National Park, somewhat urban but bordering the river and preserving history.
Ledges HIke, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
That is it! We are heading oveseas so will have to find the 20 additional national parks on future journeys. Next post will be on the intricacies of shipping a vehicle from Baltimore. Thanks for reading!
