What shall we do?

Here is some brainstorming about what we can do on RV (ouR Vacation, get it?)

We can hit Kennywood (http://www.kennywood.com/) in Pittsburgh and then make a quick stop in Cleveland for the Baseball and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame.

We never made it to the Upper Peninsula (UP) when we lived in Michigan. I think the boys, in particular, would enjoy watching the ships squeeze through the locks there. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sault_Ste._Marie,_Michigan) We may as well drive through Flint on the way and show Bridget where she was born. (http://www.hurleymc.com/)

Jim tells me Madison, Wisconsin, is awesome.

The children requested Mount Rushmore (http://www.nps.gov/moru/). As smart as Bridget was to suggest visiting the LaBrea Tarpits, I suspect it will be a ton of fun. The picture to the left is from there.


Jim has never been to Yellowstone (http://www.nps.gov/yell/), so we HAVE to stop there. Everyone should go there at least once, preferably more times.

We may as well go to Grand Teton National Park (http://www.nps.gov/grte/), while we're in the neighborhood.

We might have to stop in Boise, Idaho, to see the public park system, also known as the "string of pearls." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Davis_Park) We won't act like this:

From Boise, we could drive to Reno/Lake Tahoe and show the kids Cupid's Chapel of Love, where we were married almost 15 years ago.

Between Reno and Vegas are several national parks: Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Death Valley.

We know we'll be in Vegas in July. Here are some family-friendly, non-gambling things to do there.

• The Lied Discovery Children's Museum (http://www.ldcm.org/)
  
• Circus Circus has a domed amusement park (http://www.circuscircus.com/)
• Here's a list of nice day trips from Vegas; I think Red Rock Canyon sounds the best. (http://www.onroute.com/stay/lasvegas/lasvegas3.html)

As long as we're in that neck of the woods, we should see ...

• Hoover Dam, just 30 miles southeast of Vegas (http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/service/index.html)
• The Grand Canyon, obviously (http://www.nps.gov/grca/)

We should go to Taos (http://www.taos.org/).

From Taos, we could swing by the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (http://www.nps.gov/grsa/), which looks kind of cool.

Springfield, Illinois, is celebrating Lincoln's 200th birthday. Noah would love that. (http://www.visit-springfieldillinois.com/Lincoln/bicentennial.asp)

When I was a kid, we liked Fontana Dam Resort so much that we went twice. (http://www.fontanavillage.com/)

After that, it's a quick hop and a jump to Holden Beach where, if I recall correctly, there is an RV park.