American Field Trip
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Blog Latest Posts National Parks Project 417 417 NPS Sites Homeschool Video Blog Posts by State Blog Posts By Country About About Us FAQ Sponsors Contact Shop What's New Shop FAQ Joshua Tree Saguaro
American Field Trip
This land is your land. This land is my land.
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David BowmanOctober 13, 2018Comment

Golden Spike National Historic Site

David BowmanOctober 13, 2018Comment
Golden Spike National Historic Site
David BowmanOctober 12, 2018Comment

A Guide to Visiting St. George, UT

David BowmanOctober 12, 2018Comment
A Guide to Visiting St. George, UT
David BowmanOctober 08, 2018Comment

Four Days in St. George

David BowmanOctober 08, 2018Comment
Four Days in St. George
David BowmanOctober 08, 2018Comment

Kobuk Valley National Park

David BowmanOctober 08, 2018Comment
Kobuk Valley National Park
David BowmanOctober 07, 20181 Comment

Gates of the Arctic National Park

David BowmanOctober 07, 20181 Comment
Gates of the Arctic National Park
David BowmanSeptember 11, 2018Comment

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

David BowmanSeptember 11, 2018Comment
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
National ParksDavid BowmanAugust 27, 2018Alaska, National Park1 Comment

Glacier Bay National Park

National ParksDavid BowmanAugust 27, 2018Alaska, National Park1 Comment
Glacier Bay National Park
David BowmanAugust 11, 2018Utah, National Park1 Comment

Capitol Reef National Park

David BowmanAugust 11, 2018Utah, National Park1 Comment
Capitol Reef National Park
David BowmanAugust 11, 2018Colorado, National Park1 Comment

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

David BowmanAugust 11, 2018Colorado, National Park1 Comment
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
David BowmanAugust 08, 2018Comment

Mesa Verde National Park

David BowmanAugust 08, 2018Comment
Mesa Verde National Park
David BowmanAugust 02, 2018OhioComment

10 Things to Love About Columbus, Ohio

David BowmanAugust 02, 2018OhioComment
10 Things to Love About Columbus, Ohio
David BowmanAugust 01, 2018Colorado, National ParkComment

Great Sand Dunes National Park

David BowmanAugust 01, 2018Colorado, National ParkComment
Great Sand Dunes National Park
David BowmanJuly 18, 2018Advice1 Comment

How Our Family of 4 Travelled and Camped for 2 Months In 6 Countries with Only Carry-Ons

David BowmanJuly 18, 2018Advice1 Comment
How Our Family of 4 Travelled and Camped for 2 Months In 6 Countries with Only Carry-Ons
David BowmanJuly 18, 20181 Comment

Rocky Mountain National Park

David BowmanJuly 18, 20181 Comment
Rocky Mountain National Park
David BowmanJuly 15, 2018Utah, National ParkComment

Bryce Canyon National Park

David BowmanJuly 15, 2018Utah, National ParkComment
Bryce Canyon National Park
David BowmanJuly 06, 20181 Comment

Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks

David BowmanJuly 06, 20181 Comment
Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks
David BowmanJune 30, 20184 Comments

A Minimal List of Useful Gear for Traveling with Kids

David BowmanJune 30, 20184 Comments
A Minimal List of Useful Gear for Traveling with Kids
David BowmanJune 30, 20183 Comments

Yosemite National Park

David BowmanJune 30, 20183 Comments
Yosemite National Park
David BowmanJune 12, 20183 Comments

Pinnacles National Park

David BowmanJune 12, 20183 Comments
Pinnacles National Park
David BowmanJune 06, 20182 Comments

Channel Islands National Park

David BowmanJune 06, 20182 Comments
Channel Islands National Park
David BowmanJune 01, 2018Comment

Panama City Beach, Florida

David BowmanJune 01, 2018Comment
Panama City Beach, Florida
David BowmanMay 21, 20181 Comment

A Complete Guide to Visiting American Samoa

David BowmanMay 21, 20181 Comment
A Complete Guide to Visiting American Samoa
David BowmanMay 21, 20182 Comments

National Park of American Samoa

David BowmanMay 21, 20182 Comments
National Park of American Samoa
David BowmanMay 20, 2018Comment

5 Don't-Miss Spots in Samoa, Plus 3 Don't-Miss Experiences

David BowmanMay 20, 2018Comment
5 Don't-Miss Spots in Samoa, Plus 3 Don't-Miss Experiences

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The rippled cross-beds of petrified sand dunes, where the dunes grew too tall to support their own weight and crumpled down. See also: what my forehead’s gonna look like in 10 years, based on my current habit of being mind-blown by everything and constantly having my eyebrows raised into my hairline.
Cedar Breaks is like Bryce Canyon’s bonus content—just in case you thought the Grand Staircase’s greatest hits were contained in the national parks, this place will pop out to surprise you. A gorgeous stretch of amphitheater, with rust and cream rock, towering hoodoos, ancient bristlecone pines and some of the clearest night skies we’ve seen, this park had us all in high spirits 😊.
I was so scared to have a daughter—acutely aware of the cultural baggage women inherit and with no idea how to help her handle it, because I still don’t know how to handle it. But every day this girl surprises me and challenges me and makes me laugh—she is confident and fierce and loyal and loving and wacky and just so delightful. I don’t know how we’ll handle teenagedom or mother-daughter angst, or the fact that she’s on target to be a dozen feet or so taller than all the boys her age during middle school—I don’t know how we’ll handle those hurts or the much more serious ones she might face. But for now all I can do is cheer her on, and teach her to be kind (but to suffer zero fools), and try to show her that womanhood can be many things, but that it doesn’t require you to make yourself smaller or fit into anybody else’s notion of how you should behave. I am a ridiculously flawed mother but I am also her biggest fan, and I hope that gives her something she can take out into the world and wear like armor.
Last year at this time, we were working our way through the gorgeous foliage of Vermont and New Hampshire, and it’s one of our favorite memories from our trip. Wanting to take a few days away from the city, we were headed out to New Jersey to pick up Buster and drive north to New England when we discovered a lousy surprise: while our car was parked on the street in our neighborhood (the same way it has been, without issue, for 5 years of living in the city), someone got underneath and sawed off our catalytic converter. Yesterday this was a car part I knew nothing about; today we could give you a whole spiel, but suffice it to say, it’s super expensive and absolutely necessary to driving. We felt dejected and helpless, the way you do when you realize that every moment, you’re dependent on the people around you to be basically decent, but when they decide not to be, there’s often little you can do to right the way you’ve been wronged. We’re grateful that people are usually good and that we’ve been safe during our trip. And as soon as we can, we’ll be fixing our car, driving out to get Buster, and getting ourselves into the mountains for a little reconnection with some less-peopled spots 😉.
NPS Site 75/417: Golden Spike National Historic Site. While we were in Utah, we took a little side trip to visit the spot where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railway companies joined together the tracks they’d been building, connecting the East and the West. The history of building the railroad is pretty crazy, and the visitor’s center here does a great job of teaching about it. We got to watch a demonstration of the steam engines chugging along the track, and see giant fills and culverts along the scenic drive. Half an hour or so past Golden Spike is the Spiral Jetty, which we’ve been meaning to visit forever—but it’s so far off the beaten track that we hadn’t made it before. Verdict=SO COOL. If you’re visiting either Golden Spike or Spiral Jetty, you should definitely make time for the other. Check out our blog post (linked in profile) for more on our visit to both places and for some info. on railroad history 🤓.