Our First Summer On the Road

It had been a long time comin’. Over two years to be exact. In the Summer of 2019, after almost two straight years of planning, our family embarked on a “bucket list” road trip. 8 weeks. 6,284 miles. 131 hours of drive time. 25 National Parks between the United States and Canada. And – wait for it – our family of six made this epic journey in an RV. 

I had always had a passion for showing my kids our country. A sense of responsibility of sorts that, in their lifetime, they would see and experience the natural beauty of our land, which at times I believe can be lost on them in the hustle and bustle of daily life in the ‘burbs. As much as we squeeze in family hikes and local outdoor exploration, it is often a challenge in the shuffle of homework, sports practices, family commitments, and all of the other little things that fill our days. To breathe in the fresh air; to experience what it’s truly like to be dwarfed by the sheer size and grandeur of rocks, caverns, and trees; to find treasure in animals, plants, flowers, and rocks; and, most importantly, to begin to appreciate the gift that this perspective brings. I know that I cannot make my children love the outdoors, but I sure plan on doing my best to bring it as close as I can for them.

During the years when they were really young, Justin and I had explored countless State and National Parks with our children, who at the time ranged in age from 5 to 11. We had experienced the beauty of Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Pinnacles, and Redwood National Parks, many of which are just a short drive from our home in the Bay Area in Northern California, allowing us to tackle travel on long weekends or over short school breaks. These trips had provided the roots for many of our favorite family memories and experiences.

But, in the three years leading up to the Summer of 2019, we had been tossing around the idea of doing a BIG trip – one that spanned the whole summer, and that would enable us to explore destinations further from our home in Northern California. As we started to think through logistics, we debated the ideal timeframe for our family to attempt this trip. At the time, our youngest child was only three years old. Though we often remarked on his innate ability to “go with the flow” with just two words: “fourth child,” we also knew that every experience would be limited by our least common denominator, and this trip was going to be no different. Ideally, we would wait a few years for Quinn to be slightly older and more physically capable of taking full advantage of the experiences our trip would offer. Yet, at the same time, we were nervous to “miss the boat” with our 11 year-old. As time was already flying by, it was becoming more and more apparent that our “window” of time to take this kind of trip with our eldest was slowly closing. With Grace’s activities, social commitments, and hobbies demanding more and more of her time, we knew that taking an entire summer to travel the country might not be a possibility into eternity. Plus, she still enjoyed spending time with us, and while we hoped that this would always the case, we realized she might not fully embrace 24/7 family togetherness as readily during her teenage years.

So about 18 months before our departure, we planted a stake in the ground and agreed that the Summer of 2019 was the ideal time for our family to take this journey. Our children would range in age from 6 to 11, and we hoped that their stamina would suffice for some amazing exploration, and that they would be old enough to make some lifelong memories on the trip. For Justin, after 15 years of building his company with his two partners that are like family, it was also a good time in his career to take some time off of work and give this incredible gift to our family. 

The year before our trip was filled with non-stop planning and coordinating, and taking all the right steps to execute what certainly unfolded as an adventure of a lifetime. While the details of this journey were incredible, and I will continue to share the many steps that we took along the way, the story of how our trip came to be and what this journey really ignited in our family is an incredibly important part of our story: Equal parts natural grandeur, spiritual enlightenment, and family antics. Equal parts Steinbeck and Griswold, the Gagnons Gone RV-ing!