Travel reports and advice for families for the best outdoor experiences, including national and state park visits, camping or glamping
Our kayak guide Carlos Michaud tells us locals call the Pacific side beach Divorce Beach because it is so rough. We’ve kayaked from Cabo San Lucas to see the famous arch—the natural rock arch that is surrounded by towering rock walls. It is said this is where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez here on this peninsula but our guide tells us the true spot is probably two hours north of here.
RVing may not be for die hard backpackers like my grown kids, but it’s still a great way to get kids outdoors and get some R&R. You don’t have to worry about what to do when it rains either. Sure gas prices are high, but some families park their RV in one spot rather than touring the region. What a great way to explore one part of the state or one national park, returning to the camp ground in the evening where you’ll find congenial neighbors, activities, Wi-Fi in many places and even swimming pools.
It is amazing that we are standing in stone rooms where families flourished so many centuries ago. Balcony House is one of the best preserved sites in the park and offers a spectacular view down into Soda Canyon. There are some 38 small stone rooms and two ceremonial kivas here with plazas and even some of the original wood poles that formed a balcony.
Welcome to Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve — the name in Mayan language translates to the Entrance to the Sky — with 1.3 million acres the largest protected area in the Mexican Caribbean that is part of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Program and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is unique for its diverse geography.
The Grand Canyon, set aside as a national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908, became a national park in 1919. Today, it remains one of the most visited parks, drawing more than 4.3 million visitors a year. Families from around the world come here to experience what is widely considered one of the great wonders of the world. Like I said, wow!
One of the best preserved coastal Maya sites — it was at its height between the 13th and 15th Centuries — Tulum is built along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea –the high cliffs protecting the city from hurricanes even in ancient times. Tulum was one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans.
If you can’t get to Patagonia, head to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (www.montereybayaquarium.org) in California where you can meet and greet Magellanic Penguins who were rescued and brought here. Climate change is forcing these creatures to swim farther to find food so they must swim an extra 25 miles or so from their nest for fish. So sad!
After this trip to San Francisco, I don’t think I’ll ever buy or order fish the same way again. On our last morning, we eat breakfast at the Mandarin Oriental. Is the smoked salmon from wild or farmed fish, my daughter asks the waiter. “I’ve never been asked that before,” he admits and goes to find out. Wild salmon, he reports. Reggie nods approvingly.
I can’t remember the last time I rode in back. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t leading the way. But in this case, this weekend, I’m following—following the passions of my 25 year old daughter Reggie Yemma and her boyfriend Dan Foldes, who live in San Francisco. All I did was book the hotel
This is a wonderful place to visit. (Full disclosure—my daughter Reggie is working as an AmeriCorps volunteer here this year). There’s no charge and the work they do is amazing. The windswept day we visited, there were 25 patients (yes this is a full hospital with vets who do detailed blood work, x-rays, ultra sounds and keep copious records that have made this Center respected for the research it has done)
National Park Week is coming up April 16-24 (admission is free!). This year’s focus, Healthy Parks, Healthy People, highlights the connection between human and environmental health and the vital role America’s national parks play in both.
Ready to play dress up? If you stay in a kids’ suite at the Hotel Diva (www.hoteldiva.com) on Union Square, your little princess can do just that with sparkly shoes, a pink boa, jewelry and a drawer full of “gowns.” If you have a prince, he can play Wii among other things. Whimsical wall art suggests “Keep calm and eat a cupcake” Or “Keep Calm and Rock On.”
The 45 member staff and 800-plus volunteers here are responsible for rescuing some 800 animals a year—elephant seals, sea lions, harbor seals and the occasional whale or dolphin. People who spot a stranded or sick animal call (415-289-7325) and the staff mobilizes for a rescue. The center is responsible for 600 miles of Coast all the way from Mendocino south to San Luis Obispo, and since 1975 has rescued over 13,000 marine mammals
One day last fall—Oct 14, 2010 to be precise—a bulldozer operator named Jesse Steele, working on the expansion of the Ziegler Reservoir for the Snowmass Water and Sanitation District, discovered a bone. But not just any bone—an Ice Age mammoth bone. That was just the beginning
So what if you missed the mark this past Valentine’s Day? Take your honey on a decidedly adult getaway to a place like Sandals Emerald Bay on the outer Bahamian island of Great Exuma (about an hour’s flight from Miami on a 50-passenger jet). This is a place where grown-ups come to play – no one under 18 admitted.
There’s still snow on the ground in many areas of the country but spring break is just around the corner. Should you head for the beaches, mountains, vineyards, ballparks? The choices and deals are endless.
elax and breathe! That could be the mantra for de-stressing everyday life. But here on tiny Grand Turk Island where many believe Columbus first made landfall in the New World, the words are PADI dive instructor Hilary Sutton’s instructions to my 19-year-old daughter, Melanie, as she prepares to do her first of four open-water dives
The Bohio Resort managers Ginny and Tom Allan hug us goodbye. That doesn’t happen at your typical resort hotel. We leave with Conch shells in our bags and lots of dive sites we still want to see. We’ll have to come back.
For our second dive of the day, we head to the Library, so named because it is directly in front of Grand Turk’s tiny library. We dive along the famous Grand Turk Wall that drops 100 feet. It is marvelous– all varieties of fish and coral. By the end of the dive, holding the dive master’s hand, Emily is hooked and comes up out of the water smiling
My daughter Mel, 19, and I have come to Grand Turk Island so that she can complete the four-day PADI course (www.padi.com) and become a certified diver, as am I. Truth be told, this was supposed to be a family trip over New Years—Mel’s older brother and dad also are divers—but a blizzard in New York derailed our plans. Rather than forgo the opportunity altogether, she and I opted to make it a shorter, girls trip