Our Favorite National Parks

There are 59 national parks in the United States of America; 47 national parks are in the Contiguous United States. During our US road trip, we visited 24 national parks plus multiple national monuments, forests, grasslands, and seashores. Prior to our road trip, we have also visited Shenandoah National Park and Jon has been to Acadia…

Our Top 10 American Hikes

During our 4 months on the road, Jon and I hiked approximately 100 miles. Our hikes ranged from 0.25 mile nature trails at national parks, to the 18 mile out-and-back to the peak of half dome, and two overnight backcountry trips. Picking our favorite hikes is incredibly difficult. Both of us tended to be biased…

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC

Although the weather didn’t cooperate, we made the best of our time in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The tree covered mountains felt like the closed to our home terrain since starting our journey. Days  123 – 124 December 3 – December 4, 2014 Mileage 15880 – 16060 We arrived to the south of…

Everglades National Park, FL

Everglades National Park was always intended more to preserve wildlife than to preserve scenery like most other parks.  During our one night visit, this became obvious. Day 115 – 116 November 25 – November 26, 2014 Miles 14591 – 14770 After leaving the Florida Keys, we drove straight to Everglades National Park, arriving around 2pm at the…

Gainesville, FL

Hi, Herrwego Nation! This blog entry is brought to you by guestblogger and new Gainesville resident, Marisa Pacella. Alexis and Jon went pretty much straight from Texas to Gainesville, FL as they’ve done New Orleans before and an extra day together was way more appealing than Alabama or Mississippi. Day 109 – 111 November 19…

Arches National Park, UT

Arches National Park was so spectacular that it quickly became a competition to see who could find the most arches. Days 89 – 91 October 30 – November 1, 2014 Miles 10258 – 10539   We arrived in Moab, Utah on a Thursday evening. A quick drive through Moab was all we needed to decide that it…

Zion National Park, UT (2014)

Zion is a special place for Jon and I. It is where we got engaged and is also the site of our first serious hiking escapades. Our first time in Zion we hiked Angels Landing, The Narrows, and joined a guided canyoning trip, all of which you can read about in our early blog post here.…

Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

I’ve always heard good things about Bryce, but still didn’t know what to expect. Bryce ended up being one of my favorite national parks. Hiking among the breathtaking hoodoos was one of the most amazing hikes of our trip.   Days 84 – 85 October 25 – October 26, 2014 Miles  9436 – 9772  …

Sedona, AZ

Although not a national park, Sedona was filled with outdoor activities and scenery that matched or surpassed many other places we’ve been so far. Days 80-82 October 21 – October 23, 2014 Miles  8709 – 9266   On our way to Sedona we spent one uneventful night outside of Phoenix. Just before getting to Sedona…