Visiting Spokane with kids or just looking for something new to do in the area? I’m a local mom who has spent years exploring just about every activity there is to do in and around Spokane from outdoorsy things like swimming, splash pads, mountain biking, hiking, and fruit picking, to indoor things like the Mobius Adventure Center and Looff Carousel. I’ve compiled all our experiences into a detailed guide complete with loads of photos and good to know tips.

Looking for an easy place in the Spokane area to introduce your little ones to backpacking? Look no further than Plowboy Campground, located on the shores of Upper Priest Lake. Reached via an easy and well maintained 3 mile in and back trail, it’s the perfect place to take small kids. The following is a guide, based on our personal experience taking our 1-year-old and 3-year-old, complete with good to know details, where to park, how long it took us to do the hike, which site was a favorite, and more!

Looking for a perfect little mountain town for your next family vacation? Look no further than Nelson, B.C. Nestled on the shores of Kootenay Lake, this little town is a perfect place to adventure with tons of (free!) activities for little ones. The following is our personal guide from our experience with our baby and toddler, including lots of handy tips and photos to guide your next adventure.

On the way down on our Alaska motorbike trip, we stopped at Liard River Hot Springs, the second largest hot spring in Canada. About a year prior, I’d seen a photograph of Liard River Hot Springs and told Justin that someday I was going to go there. My wish came true much quicker than I expected! It’s every bit as wonderful as it looks in photos and we’d highly recommend a visit if you get the chance. That said, here’s a quick guide to Liard River Hot Springs.

The San Juan Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Washington state, are the perfect place to get your Pacific Northwest fix. The lush forested islands and surrounding ocean are the perfect place to cycle, kayak, hike, nature watch, camp, or chill in a cabin. A few weeks ago Justin and I met some friends on Shaw Island and engaged in all of the above activities. If you end up taking a trip to the San Juan Islands, here are our top five picks of things to do. 

Death Valley is a fascinating national park that often gets overlooked, probably partly due to its close proximity to Yosemite and the fact that it's a desert. It's well worth a visit though. Here's our guide on what to see + do in one day in Death Valley. 

Last weekend was destined for an epic adventure - long weekend, my birthday, and both of us off work. For us, three days off is a rare treat that must be fully utilized, so we busted out a map and decided to research everything in an eight hour radius to find the perfect place for a grand adventure. Yellowstone National Park happened to fall within that radius, and having never been, I immediately decided it was the place. Best decision ever. We only had two days in the park, but we felt like we saw a lot, so I'm going to share our itinerary in case you want to do your own mad dash to Yellowstone. 

Lake Tahoe has to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. I've been to some places that didn't live up to their hype (in my opinion at least), but Tahoe really is as awesome as everyone claims, despite the crowds. The first time I visited was during a road trip to California in our Sprinter van, and I immediately knew that the half day we spent there wasn't near enough time. This month, we finally got the chance to visit again in yet another road trip in our Sprinter. I think the lake was almost more beautiful the second time around and I've decided that it's a US road trip must.

Last weekend we took an amazing, whirlwind 1,000+ mile trip up through the Canadian Rockies. We only had three days but time limits have never stopped us before - we seem to think we have boundless energy and actually like being cramped in cars for hours on end. Apparently, our friend Sarah feels the same way because she's joined us for a number of our crazy rapid fire adventures and decided to fly up and join us once again. 

We left Friday evening and drove up to Leavenworth (WA) which is the nearest town to the Enchantments. The Enchantments is not a loop, so it can be hiked either direction from two different trailheads. We decided to hike straight into the Upper Enchantments via the Stuart Lake trailhead since this route reduces the total elevation gain by 2,600 ft. The bad part is that you have to climb Aasgard Pass, which rises 1,900 ft in less than a mile. Regardless of which route you take, to reach even one lake the minimum price is a seven mile hike with at least a 4,400 ft elevation gain. The Enchantments are not for the faint of heart. 

This October we had the privilege of backpacking part of the Enchantments, a series of alpine lakes located in Washington. They were so magnificent that we decided to compile a list of tips to encourage other people to get out and experience them! 

When we moved to California a few years ago our first local trip was a five day drive up Big Sur - a sparsely populated coastal region of central California. The decision was spontaneous and we left with a full tank of gas and no plans except that we wanted to camp. Still driving at 3:00 am the first day with no place to camp in site made us wonder if we'd been a little foolish.

We finally had three days off work at the same time. Definitely ready for a little adventure! We thew some gear together and headed six hours north to our favorite part of California. Hello Yosemite National Park. Yes, it may get congested with tour buses and families eating ice-cream, but it is also a backpackers paradise!