Shenandoah National Park and Monticello

The carful of kids with Thomas Jefferson

The carful of kids drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday from Asheville, North Carolina, intending to make it allthe way to Waynesboro, North Carolina. But with all the stopping, exploring and the setting sun; we had to drop in on Interstate-81 to get to our final destination.

We want to continue through Shenandoah National Park via Skyline Drive to earn our Junior Ranger Badge and explore the park. The carful of kids enter through the Rockfish Gap Entrance and make our first stop the Loft Mountain Information Center, mile marker 79.

I look over the Shenandoah National Park Junior Ranger Booklet and discover that you are required to attend two ranger programs. What? I didn't schedule that into my itinerary. Then I look at the Ranger Programming and see we are at the south end of the park and all the programming is at the north end of the park.  Geez.

The carful of kids regroup for a moment and cut our losses. There is no way we are going to get to the northern part of the park (the more popular entrance because of its proximity to Washington), attend two ranger programs and get to our next destination--Hershey, Pennsylvania, today.

We decide to check out Charlottesville, Virginia, and drive around the campus of the University of Virginia--UVA instead. It is a beautiful campus that was designed by Thomas Jefferson. The carful of kids aren't doing full campus tours but we look at areas and ask, would you like to go to college here?

After lunch, we drive to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello--his home and plantation that he started when he was 26. Thomas Jefferson designed his home according to the principles of Neoclassicism and it's a notable example of Palladian architecture. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a must-visit.

The carful of kids pay for admission ($25 for adults and $8 for kids, 5 to 11) and hop on the bus to the top of the hill where Monticello sits-Italian for Little Mount. 

Inside of the house itself is Jefferson's collection of artifacts and his unique solutions to household problems of the day. It is not a luxuriously-appointed mansion, more of a large, comfortable retreat for the third president of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson had a passion for gardening and agriculture, the collection of restored vegetable and flower gardens are amazing. The carful of kids love running around gardens, we only wish we had more time to explore Monticello--the security guard is following us to ask us to leave. We are the last people here.

Up next: Hershey, Pennsylvania and Niagara at night.

St. Louis Arch and the Mississippi River

The carful of kids love cultural icons and national parks and the Jefferson Expansion Memorial or Gateway Arch is both.  We visit this national treasure and take a ride on the mighty Mississippi during an epic heat wave.

I made reservations to ride the tram to the top before I left town; if you order tickets online you miss out on the long lines and are rewarded with the earliest times--if touring in the summer the Gateway Arch trams are not air-conditioned.

The carful of kids are always dangerously close to missing our reservations; I park the SUV on the bank of the Mississippi, run the kids up the stairs to the monument, herd them through the airport-like security, fetch our tickets from will call and make the tram just in time. Oh I forgot, we make a bathroom break as well, there are no restrooms at the top of the arch.

Designed by Eero Saarinen in 1947 and constructed between 1963 and 1965, the Gateway Arch is the largest architectural structure designed as a flattened catenary arch. The carful of kids are mesmerized by the sheer scale of the monument and the way the sunlight bounces off of its stainless steel skin.

The Gateway Arch Visitor Center is underground and is reminiscent of the TWA terminal at NYC's JFK Airport--another work by Saarinen. There are several similarities between this project and the iconic terminal.

Not too sure about this Mom

The carful of kids wait in line for our turn when I notice the small size of the tram door.  Geez--I wonder how small the tram car is; I got my answer as soon as the door opened--TINY.

The carful of kids are a little hesitant when stepping inside the space-age pod that will transport them to the top of the 630-foot arch. If you take a closer look at the seat, it is reminiscent of Eero Saarinen's tulip chair.

Hot Kids

We have five people in the tram and it is tight but the ride is quick. My middle child, the skateboarder, is the most nervous and he does not like the movement or the creaking of the tram's mechanisms.  In all fairness, he can't see out the tiny window.

When the carful of kids get to the top, we enter the observation deck and look out of the small exterior windows.  You can see for miles and don't miss it even if you aren't fond of heights.

We return to the visitor's center to tour the exhibit and earn our Junior Ranger Badges from the National Park Service before heading back to the Mississippi River.  Next up is a tour of the Mississippi on the paddle boat, Tom Sawyer.

This is the carful of kids' first riverboat ride but we are in St. Louis during the heat wave of 2012; it's 10:30 am and the kids are melting right before our eyes. Out come the snacks before they start to whine. After riding up the Mississippi River for an hour, the carful of kids are ready head to our next destination--Chicago.

Up Next--two days in Chicago.

Is 3 in the morning really morning?

Today is the day. My best friend and traveling companion arrived last night and packed up the car. The kids are bathed and in their beds with comfy travel clothes on. Just one less thing to do in the morning. My older son is at camp near Possum Kingdom State Park which is 50 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas. We have to pick him up at 9 in the morning. For us to be there on time, we decide to leave at 4 in the morning. That means that we have to be up at three in the morning. Is it really the morning because it feels more like the middle of the night. The alarm goes off. My husband hears it first. He hits snooze and on the second try he is dragging me out of bed. Why is he so excited? That is right, he gets some man time when we are gone. Because of his work schedule, he can not take a lot of vacation at once. The kids miss Dad but they really enjoy spending time with my best friend growing up. Lots of stories about when we were kids way back in the Eighties. We get ourselves dressed and start loading the cooler and a few last minute bags. I make myself a chai latte and my best friend a coffee. We are on the road only 5 minutes late, a personal best. Off to pick up the older son.

We arrive at camp on time and gather one tired, worn out kid and on the road again at 10 AM. We head east to the Dallas/Forth Worth Metroplex. The recently released camper is asleep in the back seat. We see a In-n-Out Burger on I-30 on the way to our first stop. We love In-n-Out. We decide we have to have burgers for lunch. We always are looking for regional burger joints to stop for lunch. This is the first Texas In-n-Out burger we have been to. Yes, it is a good burger but it is not the same as the West Coast. The onions are not grilled the same and the fries did not seem as crispy. The rest of the restaurant is exactly as it should be. We eat our burgers and suck down the chocolate shake. Good times for the carful of kids, we were not expecting to get In-n-Out this trip. It is a treat when we head out West. Loaded back into the SUV, which always requires multiple "Are you buckled yet?", we make our way east.


The hours trickle by and before you know it we are at our first new state--Arkansas. The carful of kids have never been to Arkansas and Mom has never driven through it. The first thing we notice is the lack of feeder roads that we have in Texas. This is where we put all the gas stations and fast-food restaurants. We are driving in a forest. It is quite scenic. The miles slip away and before you know it we are in Hot Springs National Park, our first destination. The carful of kids have been completing Junior Ranger Badges with the National Park Service for several years now. They have earned more than 15 badges. Now keep in mind that each badge requires a completed workbook and usually attending a Ranger program at each park. Some parks also require you to collect a bag of trash. If we are really cruising on a badge we can get one completed in a couple of hours. The program is designed to enrich the national park experience for the kids. It has been enriching for me as well. I recommend it to all parents traveling with kids. Best of all, the teachers back at school are always impressed with the "summer homework" and the cool little plastic badges that the Park Rangers give you.

Our tour of Hot Springs National Park starts with a walk down the Grand Promenade. There are 47 springs in the park that supply the fountains and the bath houses. The water is a constant 143 degrees. The kids are shocked by how hot it is. We then tour the Fordyce Bathhouse. It was built in 1915 and is quite a showstopper. There are Tiffany stain glass windows in several spots and marble benches to sit on. After a trip to the basement to see the spring in action, we walk down Bathhouse Row to the see the rest of the architectural gems. We end our first day out eating breakfast for dinner and roll into bed exhausted.