Thanks to a tip from our friend Amy and inspiration from the PBS series, “National Parks:  America’s Best Idea”, we embarked on a new and exciting adventure.  Our other good friends Daniel and Kerri recently introduced us to a Junior Ranger program that allows kids to explore these great places while learning how to care and protect America’s best properties.

There are 58 national parks in America.  If you include all National Park Service properties, the number goes up to more than 380!  Our family goal is to visit as many national parks as we possibly can–hopefully hitting all 58 before the kids get to college.

With no time to lose, we began this new family adventure by going out west.  Most national parks are in California, Utah, and Colorado.  The largest one is in Alaska!  There is only one in Michigan.

It has been a long time since the Ramos-Lumbreras klan has had a family reunion.  With Mother’s Day approaching, we thought it was a good time to visit my mom.  Our road trip included the states of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado on day one.  Making so much headway on our first day, we took advantage by visiting Arches National Park.  Among so many other things, Arches is cool because it has a huge sand hill right by its entrance.  This means that energetic boys can wear themselves out by having tons of fun climbing up this very difficult natural playground.

Judy and I only made it up the hill once, while the boys enjoyed multiple trips to the top.  It is hard to believe that climbing up this hill of sand will go down as one of the most memorable things our family has done together.  I have never seen our boys so happy!  It also reminds me of the importance of spending as much time as possible with our growing children.  Before too long, they’ll be out of the house and Judy and I do not want to spend the remainder of our lives regretting all the things we could have done with them, but didn’t because we were too busy majoring in the minors.

Road trips are awesome because you can stop whenever you want, wherever you want.  As long as  the pitstops are fun — with a quick game of tag at rest areas, or a some playtime at meals, the kids seem to enjoy the experience.  Our worship in the car consisted mostly of singing and singing and singing.  I will never forget this trip as long as I live.

Another cool thing about visiting national parks is being seeing other crazy families who do the same thing.  Some drive buses, others haul nice fifth-wheels, while others get nice hotels.  From high class to ghetto, part of the adventure is meeting others who have a similar vision.

After this trip, we are convinced that there is no better way of spending vacation time than visiting national parks.  It is tons of fun, very educational, and the kids have an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of our magnificent country and God’s awesome creation.  I cannot wait for our next family adventure to an American National Park.  Anyone game to join us?