ROAD TRIP WEST: ARKANSAS to CALIFORNIA
Summer Road Trip from Arkansas to California
After spending five weeks in Arkansas with extended family, it was time to head home. For the summer we rented our home out for 3 months through Furnished Finder (originally started to help traveling nurses find furnished short-term rentals). Our tenant still had a few weeks in our home, so we knew we could take a roundabout way back to California.
THE GATHERING PLACE - TULSA, OKLAHOMA
From northwest Arkansas we traveled through Oklahoma to Kansas. On our way to our campsite in Oklahoma, we stopped at the Gathering Place in Tulsa. During our five weeks in Arkansas, we managed to get over to the Gathering Place twice and wanted to make sure and go by there one more time as we headed west. It is hard to encapsulate/summarize the Gathering Place. It is by far the best and most intentional public (and free) park I have ever seen/experienced. It is Tulsa’s riverfront park and its slogan is “a park for all.”
Side: While we do not have plans to move to the south, if the time came when we needed to/wanted to, Tulsa is for sure a southern city I could see myself living in. From family in NW Arkansas, Tulsa (1.5 hours away) is also where the closet Trader Joe’s is located. Our two trips to the Gathering Place during our extended time in Arkansas also included trips to Trader Joe’s. Being away from home for the summer, it was nice to have the familiar comforts of foods we enjoy from Trader Joe’s.
The Gathering Place is an interactive park covering close to 100 acres on the Arkansas River. It desires to be a “welcoming, natural space where members of our diverse communities could come together to explore, learn and play.” After four years of building, the park opened in the fall of 2018. The intentionality throughout the park promotes inclusion, exploration, education and sustainability.
The pictures below are from our three different trips to the Gathering Place over the summer. On our second visit, we brought cousins with us so we could enjoy the park and then stayed for the free movie night showing of Moana on the great lawn. We never got to experience Charlie’s Water Mountain (interactive/cause and effect water play) or Williams Mist Mountain (more traditional splash pad) during our visits. We ran out of time on our first visit and those areas were closed during our second and third visits due to repairs having to be done after severe weather/a tornado blew through. The ONEOK Boathouse offers free (everything is free) kayak and pedal boat rides Friday - Monday on Peggy’s Pond, but you have to be at least 5 years old, so our girls were too young.
Map Image from the Gathering Place (gatheringplace.org/parkmap)
MINOOKA PARK CAMPGROUND - DORRANCE, KANSAS
After playing at the Gathering Place, we arrived at our campsite after dark. We chose Minooka Park due to its location in central Kansas and access to Wilson Lake (again—in the summer, we try and camp by swimmable water as much as possible).
Indy has always been our morning girl (usually waking 1-2 hours before Monet). That first morning in Kansas, Indy and I snuck out of the van early to not wake Monet (and Kyle) and got to enjoy the sunrise on Wilson Lake.
MORNING SWIM IN WILSON LAKE
Once Monet & Kyle were up, we headed to swim in the lake. The water felt great!
COMMUNITY POOLS FOR THE WIN - STRATTON, CO
As we left Kansas and headed to Colorado, Kyle searched for a community pool along our route. For $3/person we were able to enjoy an afternoon of pool play in Stratton plus the added benefit of a shower in the locker room. We have heard of #vanlife people getting gym memberships (like to 24 Hour Fitness) in order to have access to a shower while on the road. In the summer when community pools are more likely to be open, we have made it a point to use these. It really is a two for one deal: we get to play and have relief from the heat, and then get a good shower with soap!
BOULDER, CO - CAN WE MOVE HERE?
We arrived in Boulder just before dinnertime and walked down Pearl Street looking for a place to eat. We landed at Lindsay’s Boulder Deli and I had the best sandwich of the summer: the Ferris Brieller with turkey, brie, apples, arugula & pesto jam. I am not a huge sandwich fan, and even still, I have thought about that dinner sandwich many times since then. I really do need to try and recreate it at home. We took our sandwiches to go and walked over to a nearby park to eat and let the girls play. (In this season of life with small children, if we can avoid sit-down restaurants we do.) For our brief stop in Boulder, Kyle and I agreed this is a town we could live in. I would also not be upset if one of our daughters wanted to attend the University of Colorado Boulder—anything to keep us connected to this special town.
KELLY DAHL CAMPGROUND - NEDERLAND, CO
From Boulder we drove thirty minutes west on Boulder Canyon Drive to Kelly Dahl Campground. Even in the dark it was a beautiful drive. The next morning we didn’t make breakfast in camp and instead stopped at a charming coffee shop on our way to Rocky Mountain National Park: The Train Cars Coffee & Kava. The coffee, donuts & breakfast sandwiches were all delicious. The three historic train cars that make up the coffee shop provide great charm plus indoor and outdoor seating.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
We first stopped at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Estes Park and then made our way over to the Alluvial Fan Trail along the Roaring River. The girls enjoyed climbing the boulders.
OLD FALL RIVER ROAD - CHASM FALLS TRAIL
Along the Old Fall River Road, we stopped at Chasm Falls. Heavy rain and some hail was just starting a we walked over (.2 miles) to the falls, so we only stayed a few minutes before continuing on. The falls being right off the road makes it an easy stop with small children.
DRIVING OLD FALL RIVER ROAD
Before arriving at Rocky Mountain, Kyle knew he wanted to drive Old Fall River Road. It is a one-way 11 mile gravel road with lots of switchbacks up to Fall River Pass at 11, 796 feet and to the Alpine Visitor Center. This visitor center is the highest in elevation in all of the national park service. Due to the heavy rain and hail, Kyle got to put the van in four wheel drive—that always makes him happy. With the storm that rolled in, as we drove up the road the temperature dropped by more than 40 degrees.
Old Fall River Road is definitely worth driving. It will not get you to your destination quickly—the switchbacks and 15 mph speed limit prohibit this—but it is a memorable drive. You can also access the visitor center by the paved Trail Ridge Road (this is the faster/non-off road option for getting up there).
The girls slept through most of the drive and missed our Moose sighting, but Kyle and I sure enjoyed the serene drive as we listened to the rain and hail.
STILLWATER CAMPGROUND — GRANBY, CO
After exploring Rocky Mountain National Park, we headed to our campsite about an hour and a half away on Lake Granby at Stillwater Campground. This was a great campground and one we would like to return to. Looking at the site on recreation.gov, this is a campground that is relatively easy to get even in the high/summer season. With its location further away from Rocky Mountain National Park, it does not fill up 6 months out. A little bit of planning ahead and it shouldn’t be hard to snag a spot. True to form with our summer van trips, we chose this campground because it was right on the lake. As soon as we were parked, we headed down the trail to explore the shoreline.
After dinner we again took a walk to the lake. The girls enjoy night walks, and getting to wear their pajamas and carry their “lovies” (beloved sleep-time stuffed animals) is an added bonus. One of the many reasons we like camping (and in particular camping with kids) is that it has this way of reminding us to notice and treasure these moments. What appears so simple—like an after dinner walk in pajamas—becomes this special experience as the girls express (and invite us into) their child-level excitement. Skipping down to the lake, the beautiful sunset, the girls holding sweet little conversations with their “lovies” about what they are seeing and like—it is these moments I will remember long after this van has been retired and the girls are off creating their own memories separate from us.
Yes, we love this van and the opportunities it provides to get us to amazing places and to “check items off our bucket list,” but I am learning (and the girls, Kyle & even the van are helping to teach me) to more deeply appreciate and notice those things that may not make it onto a “bucket list” or be dinner party story-worthy. And herein lies my own contradictions. I want to go-go-go, to be able to “wow” friends and family with our travel adventures, to need extra pages in my passport book, to see it all, do it all, kill it at marriage, to somehow “conquer” parenting—and all while appearing outwardly as happy and put together (weight managed, wrinkles smoothed, gray hairs coming in at just the right speed to look intentional, kids performing, van cool looking enough) as possible. Oh, and making it all look easy too. I crave the accomplishments, the accolades, the attention.
And yet… And yet… And yet…
There is somewhere within my soul that is kind enough to allow the girls, Kyle, the outdoors, and this van to remind me its in the “unremarkable moments” (like after dinner walks) where treasure and wholeness may be found. The noise of the go-go-go, bucket list achievements, and the desire to arrive at “American white middle-class success” has miraculously not drowned this quiet, nonjudgemental, grace-filled voice out. It is still there, showing up, calling me to imagine the possibility of a different way.
As American author and Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber writes, “There is a down side to nearly every good thing about me. But no one escapes this place without carrying a whole load of contradictions about themselves. It’s kind of the only thing that makes us interesting enough to have stories to tell.”
In its purest form, our desire for a van was to slow down and show our girls what the outside world offers daily if we are willing to pay attention. So load of contradictions and all, we are going to keep going, keep showing up and hopefully experience enough grace to pay attention to what matters—to give our time to the good stuff and keep telling the simple stories, the exhilarating stories, and the ones in between. And it might just be the ones in between that hold us.
While Kyle worked in the morning, we headed down to the Lake Granby for one more swim before continuing on our road trip.
FISH CREEK FALLS - STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO
Kyle looked up some hikes in the Steamboat Springs area as a way to break up our drive. We landed on Fish Creek Falls. We took our lunch and had a nice time eating with the falls in view.
GREEN RIVER LAKES CAMPGROUND - BOULDER, WY
It was a four and a half hour drive from Steamboat Springs to our campsite in Boulder, Wyoming. We arrived well after dark. The girls were asleep in their carseats, so we transferred them to their beds once we were at our campsite. Thankfully, they both transfer easily. The road to our campsite was unpaved for many many miles and dark. We actually saw a porcupine just off the road as we drove in—so cool! This was one of the few campsites we could reserve last minute (like a week out from arrival) near(ish)—like under 2 hours—to Jackson Hole. Unless you plan 6 months out, sites in/near Jackson Hole are next to impossible to get. When we got up the next morning, we realized how beautiful and remote this site was. There was only one other camper in the whole area. It was beautiful and right on New Fork Lake, but I will admit, I was pretty worried about running into a grizzly bear.
The video below shows part of the unpaved road we drove on the way to/from our campsite. After briefly checking out New Fork Lake in the morning, we got on the road to Jackson. The man we purchased our van from in Vegas was spending the summer volunteering at Jackson National Fish Hatchery and we needed to meet up with him for some document trading. Yes, the DMV is still just as hard to deal with when purchasing a vehicle from a private owner. And yes, the previous owner of our van spends his summers volunteering in places like a fish hatchery. (He is the nicest guy and we had the best van purchasing experience with him.)
TOP OF THE WORLD WAFFLES - CORBET’S CABIN, JACKSON HOLE MOUNTAIN RESORT
Our girls LOVE gondola rides, so we did fork over the money and purchased the sightseeing gondola tickets (we have the IKON Base Pass, so it did not cover the gondola ride). With waffles at Corbet’s Cabin awaiting us at 10,450 feet it was an easy sale. Kyle and I did a snowboarding trip to Jackson Hole several years back, and the waffles at Corbet’s Cabin are such a fond memory. I think we went there every day on our ski trip. It was fun to now get to bring the girls. Maybe it’s the elevation or the gondola ride to get them, but the waffles are truly delicious!
GROS VENTRE CAMPGROUND - GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, WY
After waffles at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, we headed towards Grand Teton. We were able to get one night at Gros Ventre Campground. This is the largest campground in Grand Teton (southeast portion of the park) and closest to Jackson (it is closed Mid-October to Mid-April due to winter/snow). We would have loved more nights in this campground, but everything was booked—I think we were on recretion.gov at the right time when someone cancelled and were able to grab one night.
Driving around in Grand Teton National Park
For dinner in camp, we had pre-made chicken soup, grilled cheese sandwiches and sautéed broccoli. We took a walk after dinner in hopes of easing the girls into bedtime. The walk was lovely around camp, but the girls were still amped up when trying to get them to bed. While walking I was reminded of how much I really do like full national park campgrounds. There is this sense of community and commonality…all of us together enjoying beautiful places.
The next morning Kyle and Monet did some exploring around camp. For breakfast we made burritos heating up leftover beans and rice from the day before and adding in eggs, avocado, and salsa—delicious! While we got the van reloaded, the girls enjoyed moving rocks around our campsite.
JENNY LAKE - GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK
Our first stop after packing up our campsite was to head over to Jenny Lake. We got there before 10am, but already the main large parking lot was full and there were tons of cars parked out on the road. Kyle dropped us off right in front of the Jenny Lake Visitor Center and General Store while he went to park out on the street. This is where his Onewheel comes in handy. He ended up parking fairly far away and then just rode his Onewheel over to us. We took the short trail over to the lakefront and found a picturesque spot all to ourselves. The girls loved playing in the (so clear!) water and watching the standup paddleborders going by. We were having such a nice time that we decided to stay longer than planned. Kyle rode his OneWheel back to the van to grab lunch items and we had a nice picnic at the lake.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT
After our 30 hours in Grand Teton (definitely wanted/needed more time there) we headed to stay with dear friends in Salt Lake City. It was a nice few days of swimming in the pool and playing outdoors. Kyle also got to do a fun mountain bike ride. Our friends have four girls ranging from 5 to 10 years old, so with our two girls and their four it was a fun girl squad.
SAND HOLLOW STATE PARK - HURRICANE, UT
For the last leg of our trip, we decided to break up the 12 hour drive home from Salt Lake by staying a night at Sand Hollow State Park. The 20,000 acre park is relatively new (opened to the public in 2003), but the campground seemed much newer. I have never seen such nice/new/clean state park bathrooms and showers. If you are an off-roading enthusiast this is the place for you—there are 15,000 acres of sand dunes to explore. The girls enjoyed playing in the red sand and reservoir. I did notice that there is next to no shade at any of the campsites; it could be a bit brutal in the heat of summer/full sun days. We were there on a cloudy day with a rainstorm rolling in, so the lack of shade was not a concern.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Spending time with friends in SLC
Picnic lunch at Jenny Lake in Grand Teton NP
Staying at so many great camp sites
Waffles on top of the world in Jackson
Driving Old Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain NP
LOWLIGHTS:
Wanting/needing more time at each place we camped
Trying to get two wild girls to sleep in Grand Teton NP
The tension of just being in the moment vs. capturing the experience through photos & videos
The anxiousness I felt as we got closer to home and back to routines and “reality”