More Travel Bug Bites.



Emerald Spring



My wife and I never really got to travel much as kids so when it comes to our son we want to make sure that he is a well-rounded traveler. We want to show him the entire world, and also some beautiful parts of this country (the United States for my readers abroad). This will be difficult for me because I just don’t see myself packing down the Grand Canyon on the back of a burro, or ice climbing in Alaska. There are still plenty of things to do when it comes to taking my son out to show him nature. A future trip that my wife and I will be taking him on will be a visit to Yellowstone National Park. This is an absolutely enormous parcel of land that was designated a wildlife sanctuary by President Theodore Roosevelt back in the day. It was his idea that we should all have a stake in America and that it be something we could visit (if we so chose).

I have always been fascinated by Yellowstone. Yes there is the tourist areas like Old Faithful geyser, the lodges and the thousands of unspoiled acres of trees, grasslands, and animals roaming free. Surprisingly, a lot of the park is wheelchair accessible. There are boardwalks, and hard packed level trails, campsites roads perfect for taking a handcycle out for a spin on. The accommodations in and around the area are like anywhere else (there are accessible rooms but they are limited so book early), and there are campsites (which is cool for those who like to sleep close to nature). The park offers Ranger guided events during different parts of the year and Park Service website is extremely helpful when it comes to finding out the accessible spots in various parts of the park. This kind of trip is what childhood memories are made of, roasting marshmallows over the fire, ghost stories and getting to see a bear or Bison in the wild (and take a picture of it). It is also a MUCH more basic type of vacation than those I have talked about before, which we all need from time to time, 

 Don’t you think?   

Beaches

Kite Surfer at Anini Beach

I know that there are a lot of you who think a beach is a beach. I am here to tell you that isn't the case at all. I live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and what passes for beaches here are rocky, brown, and slimy. Still very pretty but very unlike what you will find in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and Hawaii.

Even in Hawaii you find subsets of beaches. There was Anini beach with a packet grass field leading to sand that was slightly rough and filled with remains of coral, Tunnels beach which had softer beige sand and good snorkeling, and Lydgate which, outside of its lava rock created pool, is to rough to swim, and finally Poipu Beach which has the reddish sand I think about when I dream of Kauai.

Poipu is a very popular beach becasue it is sunny almost all the time. It has a very mild current and surf because of the reef located just off shore. It also has, what made it my sons favorite beach, a playground. This is a family friendly beach, you are not going to see many beach bunnies wearing dental floss.That would be Waikiki. We traveled through the tree tunnel many times on our trip. Picked up a sandwich and made a picnic of it. My wife would play in the surf and when he wanted to slide I would be there with him.

Now I will tell you that Poipu beach was great but it wasn't my  favorite. I loved Anini beach. It was easy parking and getting all of our stuff to the sand was easy (see above mention of grass field), there was lots of shade for my very sensitive skinned wife, and lots of stuff for me to photograph ( I love to take pictures, and will post many here). It was also level which was nice for setting up a pop up tent for changing into the swim suits. It wasn't overcrowded, which is nice sometimes you want to be away from people
 Also even though I am not interested you can get a permit to camp right there (I saw many an REI tent in the field).

Poipu beach at sunset

The lesson you should take away from this is, travel a ton and see how many beach types you can find. Then let me know about them. By the way don't tell anyone about Anini beach (its our secret).