When I was young, my parents stressed the importance of seeing this world’s natural wonders. More specifically, nature’s wonders throughout the United States. To be more straightforward, I’m referring to the National Parks.
This past summer, my family’s german exchange student, Christopher, and his girlfriend, Caroline, came to visit us, and we took them on a classic road trip through four states and seven National Parks. The journey began in Denver, Colorado, the mile-high city. From here, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park. From Rocky Mountain National Park, we drove through Wyoming. A beautiful yet extremely flat state. Like possibly the flattest state, even flatter than Ohio. However, Wyoming is beautiful and vast.
Here, we stopped in Thermopolis for a driving break and visited a Hot Springs Park. Here, we soaked in warm natural hot springs that are known to have many health benefits. Warning: the hot springs smelled like rotten eggs at first, but you quickly get over this once you feel the warmth. After relaxing, we hopped back in the car and continued our drive to Cody, Wyoming. Cody is close to one of the main entrances to Yellowstone National Park. While in Cody, you must visit Proud Cut Saloon. This saloon will quite literally take you back into the wild west. Then on to beautiful, wild, and incredible Yellowstone! Old Faithful is a MUST, along with the Grand Prismatic Springs, and of course, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. When taking a break from hiking, you must try huckleberry ice cream. So yummy! In Yellowstone, you will see so much wildlife. Especially bison…big bison, medium bison, baby bison, all BISON. And if you are feeling extra bison-y, you can grab a bison burger pretty much anywhere and everywhere. I love bison so much, sorry I know I just talked a lot about them. After Yellowstone, we went down to Utah and visited a few more national parks but that is a story for another time. Thank you so much for tuning into my blog this week.
I loved getting to read about your time exploring these various national parks! My family has a very similar mindset when it comes to exploring the beautiful areas that the United States has to offer, and we have been to various national parks as well. My two favorites that we have traveled to are the Grand Canyon and Acadia. Although I have never been to Wyoming or Colorado, I have heard great things about them both. What I find so fascinating is that every national park is so unique in its own way, and they really open your eyes to how diverse and amazing the landscape of our country is. My family is planning a trip to go to Yellowstone next summer, and reading about how much you liked it made me want to go even more!
I think your trips across the world are so interesting to read about every week! The national parks are truly a wonderful and beautiful place, and visiting them sounds like an amazing trip. I think it was super nice of your family to take your exchange student on this trip, because it’ll be a trip that they’ll never forget. The parks are so interesting, and they really connect you to nature.
My family and I have always focused on international travel when we had the opportunity to take vacations. However, I have been thinking to myself that there is so much beauty in the United States that I still have not seen! When we traveled to Arizona to support Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl, my family and I had the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon and the red rocks of Sedona. Those were truly some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen–images that are etched in your mind forever. Thank you for sharing your experiences and for providing a national park starter guide. It seems like my family and I will be doing some domestic travel this summer since I don’t think anyone will be traveling internationally for quite some time!