If you’re visiting Virginia Beach, just a few minutes up the road along the Chesapeake Bay is the wild and wonderful First Landing State Park. As Virginia’s most visited state park, there is so much to do, from hiking, biking, and camping to swimming and the seashore itself. We enjoyed a nice and quiet afternoon here hiking along the peaceful Osmanthus Trail with our son.
Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia is centered around a giant and beautiful natural bridge limestone landform that has been carved out by Cedar Creek over millions of years. This was once considered one of the great natural wonders of the Americas, and one that tourists have flocked to for centuries. We visited Virginia’s newest state park on our drive up north from the Carolinas. I can honestly say that in real life, it really is so much more impressive than any picture can ever convey. I mean, look at those tiny trees up top!
When traveling through the southwest, one of my favorite national parks by far was the Petrified Forest National Park. This park located in northeastern Arizona is naturally and culturally significant and quite beautiful. This area is strewn with colorful fossilized logs that date back to the Late Triassic Period. About 2,000 years ago, humans settled in and built little communities here.
Meandering trails take you throughout the park, giving you glimpses of trees that look like works of art and pueblos from hundreds to thousands of years ago show you how these prehistoric people lived. There’s even one home that looks like it was made from precious stones, which it kind of is.
On our trip through Sweden, we stopped overnight to camp at Kalmar County to see two things; the Rumskulla Oak or Kvilleken, and the Norra Kvill National Park. Sweden is world renown for its abundance of trees and this park promised us a close look at some old growth forests, which are rare this far south in Sweden. Not only did we find old growth forests, but large areas of moss covered rocks, a lake covered with lily pads, and heather flowers. It is a truly magical spot.
We planned our trip through Utah by stopping at all the “little green” areas that we saw on Google maps while we made our way from Canyonlands National Park down to the Grand Canyon. We pulled up to a small state park off of Utah Route 316 looking for a place to camp, not really knowing what was before us. Serendipity brought us to one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen in my life; the mighty San Juan River at Goosenecks State Park.
To be honest, I had never heard of Dunn’s River Falls prior to our Jamaica trip. But when I heard about the number one tourist destination that was even featured in a James Bond film, I did my homework (watched Dr. No) and decided that it was worth a visit.
I have always thought that sunrises were more magical than sunsets. Don’t get me wrong, sunsets are beautiful. I just find sunrises even more so. Sunrises give me an optimism and hopefulness that I don’t find anywhere else. They offer the promise of a new day and all the endless possibilities that accompany it. Sunrises on vacation, when you know that you don’t have to go to work, are the best.
That’s why when we visited Acadia National Park, we knew that we had to see the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on all the east coast United States.