Welcome to the Hardcore Husky Forums. Folks who are well-known in Cyberland and not that dumb.

Favorite National Park you have visited

1235

Comments

  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,215 Founders Club
    Other
    dnc said:

    So for context we spent 41 days on the road and I think ended up seeing bits and pieces of 21 American National Parks plus one primary Canadian park (Banff) plus sort of passing through about 3 other Canadian parks. Big quantity over quality trip, we wanted to see as much as possible. It was the wife, myself and three kids, then aged 7, 6 and 2. We put almost 12,000 miles on the minivan round trip. Left Memphis day before Memorial Day, spent about 12 days getting to Seattle (up through TN, AR, MO, KS, started site seeing in Colorado, NW Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Alberta and BC), 8 days in Seattle, a couple nights on the Oly peninsula, and another 20 days getting home (through Oregon, California, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, then basically done siteseeing and just hustling back through NE NM, TX panhandle, OK, AR, and TN to home).

    Rocky Mountain Parks

    Grand Teton: We sadly didn't have much time set aside for Grand Teton, it was kind of just a "passing through" station for us. One of the big goals of this trip was to see as much wildlife as possible for the kids (the older two had Bingo sheets made up with 25 animals each they had selected that they were hoping to see on the trip and the first one to fill their sheet up first won - this was both brilliant and a little too brilliant. At one point we saw a humpback whale and my then 7 year old shrugged because it wasn't on his list). With wildlife a big goal we targeted a lot more tim in Yellowstone than Grand Teton. I can't reiterate strongly enough how big of a mistake this was.

    So Grand Teton...holy shit! I knew the mountains were spectittilytacular. We had been there a couple times as kids and my little brother and I called them the Grand Tittytons because that's what middle school boys do. Little did we know how historically accurate our horniness was but I digress. I did not realize what a wildlife sanctuary this place was. We passed through on our way into Yellowstone and came across a massive bunch of cars parked hastily on both sides of the road. We knew something big was up. So I dropped the wife and kiddos, drove down to find a place to park and came back to find this.




    That's my daughter looking through some binoculars a generous lady let her borrow as they lined up at the ranger established perimeter. Why did the ranger establish a perimeter? Because





    there was a Mama grizz hanging out with her three cubs. Sorry for the shitty photography but apparently I was so excited I mostly just got video and no pics so these are screen caps cause this site has no good video function. This was a big deal for us because one of the biggest goals of all for this trip was to see a bear in the wild. I had never seen one. More importantly my dad (not on the trip) had never seen one, so I pumped the kids up before the trip "we are hopefully going to see a bear and when we do we're gonna call grandpa and tell him "we saw a bear before you did". And sure enough this was pretty much our first chance to see one and we got not one but four and grizz rather than black bear at that. Huge moment for us, even though we were aways away and surrounded by people.

    We went into Yellowstone for the night and the next day (see below) then came back down through Grand Teton towards a little place we were staying at on the west side of Teton Pass in Victor Idaho. On the trip south we stopped in the park to get something to eat and came across a mama fox and three kits. Again shitty screen caps:





    So that was fun.

    Then rolling out after dinner we saw another grizz (this one a solo male). Didn't get any good pics of him though but by now we were really on a roll.

    We also came back the next day to go to the Visitor Center to get the kids passports' stamped because both ways going through GT we were too late in the day to catch the VC. And on the way back from the VC we saw a baby moose nuzzling under its mom.



    Also there are mountains there.



    So yeah I guess for some of the better park experiences like this the parks will need their own poast and it won't even work to group them together.

    TL; DR: Grand Teton is the tits and you should spend more time there than we did.

    Grand Teton is da tits. I used only live 4 hrs south and fished the Snake a number of times in the park. The Snake River Cut is a pretty fish @chuck . Sensitive though and likes nice clean, mountain water.

    Never saw a grizzly 'bar though. That's pretty special.

    One of my teammates from college, used to guide trips up the Grand Teton.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dnc
    dnc Member Posts: 56,839
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    Bonus park: Banff

    We drove north to Calgary then west to Banff which was the place I was most excited to visit on the whole trip. I've wanted to go here basically as long as I've known it existed. First stop was the Banff Gondola, cool ride and views from the top.



    We stopped at a little street fair in the town of Banff which is in the NP (Canadian parks apparently work a little different) and at from a couple food trucks. It was a cool vibe, great weather, nice people watching, beautiful scenery. After dinner we drove up to Lake Louise where our hotel was. Sadly it was cloudy and a bit rainy when we arrived so our Lake Louise views weren't the best but still worth seeing.



    We had planned to get up early and drive up to Moraine Lake but we called an audible and it was the right call. There's a limited number of spots available at the top and allegedly you can have to wait hours for them to let you onto the road up during the daytime but when we went in late evening we almost had it to ourselves. No crowd issues at all. When we got the top we found it mostly iced over.




    One of the coolest experiences playing around at that frozen lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks.

    Overall Banff was a little bit of a disappointment, I think just because Glacier had been so spectacular, and Banff was our first major strikeout on wildlife. But the gondola was a very cool experience and Moraine Lake was worth every pemmy. If I ever go back I want to be sure it's not coming right after Many Glacier.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,215 Founders Club
    Other
    dnc said:

    Bonus park: Banff

    We drove north to Calgary then west to Banff which was the place I was most excited to visit on the whole trip. I've wanted to go here basically as long as I've known it existed. First stop was the Banff Gondola, cool ride and views from the top.



    We stopped at a little street fair in the town of Banff which is in the NP (Canadian parks apparently work a little different) and at from a couple food trucks. It was a cool vibe, great weather, nice people watching, beautiful scenery. After dinner we drove up to Lake Louise where our hotel was. Sadly it was cloudy and a bit rainy when we arrived so our Lake Louise views weren't the best but still worth seeing.



    We had planned to get up early and drive up to Moraine Lake but we called an audible and it was the right call. There's a limited number of spots available at the top and allegedly you can have to wait hours for them to let you onto the road up during the daytime but when we went in late evening we almost had it to ourselves. No crowd issues at all. When we got the top we found it mostly iced over.




    One of the coolest experiences playing around at that frozen lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks.

    Overall Banff was a little bit of a disappointment, I think just because Glacier had been so spectacular, and Banff was our first major strikeout on wildlife. But the gondola was a very cool experience and Moraine Lake was worth every pemmy. If I ever go back I want to be sure it's not coming right after Many Glacier.

    I've fished the Bow river in Banff downstream a few miles from the falls.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,215 Founders Club
    Other
    dnc said:

    Here's the rough overall route btw if anyone cares


    You missed the lead. Sad.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dnc
    dnc Member Posts: 56,839
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    YellowSnow said:

    dnc said:

    Here's the rough overall route btw if anyone cares


    You missed the lead. Sad.
    Talm bout Crater Lake I presume?
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dnc
    dnc Member Posts: 56,839
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    CFetters_Nacho_Lover said:

    dnc said:

    Here's the rough overall route btw if anyone cares


    What I’m getting from all this is that @dnc lives in Graceland
    shhhhhhh
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • LebamDawg
    LebamDawg Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 8,782 Swaye's Wigwam
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    I think he lives in Joplin and meets his squeeze at Graceland

    I'm going to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,215 Founders Club
    Other
    CFetters_Nacho_Lover said:

    dnc said:

    Here's the rough overall route btw if anyone cares


    What I’m getting from all this is that @dnc lives in Graceland
    Nah. He’s neighbors with that cousin fucker @SECDAWG
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dnc
    dnc Member Posts: 56,839
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    dflea said:

    It's not a National Park - but it is a National Forest. I hadn't been to Mt. Baker in years, but we made a trip up there last summer, and grabbed a few good photos.










    There's no good reason that North Cascades hasn't annexed Baker yet. It's literally right on the edge of the park.

    Absolutely gorgeous place.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • whlinder
    whlinder Member Posts: 5,266
    Other
    Also jealous as fuck.

    When I was 10 I went to Calgary and Banff. Mt Assiniboine was amazing (took an helicopter in to the camp) and we went out on the Athabasca glacier. I can only imagine what it looks like now.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • 1to392831weretaken
    1to392831weretaken Member Posts: 7,696
    Other
    YellowSnow said:

    You missed the lead. Sad.

    He didn't miss the lede. What are you talking about? It was right there in the first paragraph:
    dnc said:

    So for context we spent 41 days on the road and I think ended up seeing bits and pieces of 21 American National Parks plus one primary Canadian park (Banff) plus sort of passing through about 3 other Canadian parks. Big quantity over quality trip, we wanted to see as much as possible. It was the wife, myself and three kids, then aged 7, 6 and 2. We put almost 12,000 miles on the minivan round trip. Left Memphis day before Memorial Day, spent about 12 days getting to Seattle (up through TN, AR, MO, KS, started site seeing in Colorado, NW Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Alberta and BC), 8 days in Seattle, a couple nights on the Oly peninsula, and another 20 days getting home (through Oregon, California, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, then basically done siteseeing and just hustling back through NE NM, TX panhandle, OK, AR, and TN to home).

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dnc
    dnc Member Posts: 56,839
    edited May 2023
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    WASHINGTON PARKS (DAMMIT!)

    After leaving Banff we drove west into BC technically through Yoho, Glacier and Mt Revelstoke NPs, but since we never left the Transcanada Highway there's not really much to report there. We dropped south through Kelowna into Washington until we hit Highway 20 and headed west. I've only been through North Cascades Hwy once as a kid (eastbound) and loved it. This was my first time taking it westbound.

    As with most of our mountainous experiences the first half of this trip the east side had much better visibility than the west. Washington Pass was gorgeous as expected. It would actually end up being the best mountain views we would have in our ten days in Washington.





    Ross Lake is always bittersweet for me - one of the absolute prettiest places I've ever been. But also not real. Like admiring fake tits, hard to look away but you somehow feel a little cheap for it. What can I say, I'm a whore for an emerald alpine lake, even a manmade one.






    The combination of having a 2 year old (and a whiny 7 year old) and the hurriedness of the trip we weren't set up to do much hiking, and sadly didn't get to do any in North Cascades.

    Upon arriving in Seattle it was heavy cloud cover the entire time we were there - the only day the clouds lifted much at all was the day we went to the Space Needle so thankfully the wife and kids got to see Rainier actually exists. We did a day trip to Mt Rainier National Park but it was full blown rain most of the way and snow once we got to Paradise so zero visibility. Still a fun day, saw some sort of grouse, a mama deer and what looked like a brand new baby fawn, and the kids got to play in the snow in June which is a big deal for southern kids.















    After leaving Seattle we did almost two full days on the Olympic Peninsula. Went to see my aunt and some cousins in Port Orchard then drove through @creepycougville (depressing town man!) up to the Rain Forest Village on Lake Quinalt. Just outside Olympic NP but within sight of it, this was a really cool place to stay. My wife absolutely fell in love with the greens on the peninsula, especially here.





    The next day we made the loop around Oly NP. First major stop was Kalaloch, then made a pretty decent hike down to Ruby Beach because the parking lot was under construction so you had to hike from the road.







    We made our way to the Hoh Rainforest which was super busy, we probably had to wait in line at the entrance gate an hour or more to get in. We went on a Sunday (Father's Day actually) so I guess Dads love the rainforest? I know I do.


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dnc
    dnc Member Posts: 56,839
    edited May 2023
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    Oh, and my only daughter gave me this that morning to celebrate. Hope your kids gave you the honor, respect and unintentional comedy you deserve for Father's Day as well!

    #RaisingBullies


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,215 Founders Club
    edited May 2023
    Other
    DNC is making me feel like I gotta post kid pics now.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • CFetters_Nacho_Lover
    CFetters_Nacho_Lover Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 32,232 Founders Club
    Other
    YellowSnow said:

    DNC is making me feel like I gotta post kid pics now.

    I feel like a trailblazer after posting pics of my daughters in the travels with Lebam thread.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dnc
    dnc Member Posts: 56,839
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    Edwin_Bambino said:

    AtomicDawg said:

    creepycoug said:

    AtomicDawg said:

    dnc said:

    AtomicDawg said:

    Angels landing at Zion is my favorite hike of any.

    Arches is the most unique of any imo. Crazy rock formations and a lot of them look like huge dildos which is always fun.

    Grand Teton though is my favorite in the country because of the mountains, lakes and wildlife. Seeing moose and grizzlies up close is awesome.

    I've seen moose pretty close at Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Never seen a grizz in the wild. How close/scared were you? Were you strapped?
    Grizzlies scare the shit out of me. 2 were in the meadow across from Jenny lake turn off. Saw them safely from the road.
    They should.
    Tell that to the Asians with cameras. I know my place.
    The Chinese and Japanese tourists at yellowstone were absolutely wild. They would roll up in these big tourist busses doing road trips of the country run mostly out of Vancouver BC. They would take a few pictures and then hop right back on. They mostly thought Yellowstone was more like a zoo than a national park and treated the animals like they were tame. Everyone knows bears are dangerous but I think they didn’t realize that Buffalo kill more people in the park than anything else and they would get within 10 feet of them, I never went past 50. To be fair you would see a lot of dumb fat Americans do the same thing. A big news story in the park when I was there, a married Japanese couple legit put their toddler on a wild elk who was just chillen on some grass in one of the tourist areas for a photo op. Kid didn’t get hurt but it still blows my mind.
    Haha forgot to mention all the Asians when we were at Yellowstone, especially at Old Faithful (and a pretty good bit at Grand Prismatic). They definitely love our NPs.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dnc
    dnc Member Posts: 56,839
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    dnc said:

    Obviously all national parks are best seen outside of your car, but most of the western parks are at least worthwhile to visit even if you're just passing through. These South Florida parks are completely different, they aren't really drivable (you physically can't drive to Dry Tortugas, can barely enter Biscayne by car and while there are plenty of roads through the Everglades you really don't see anything worthwhile).

    Also unlike the western parks they aren't especially hikable. Everglades is the only one where it's really an option and I wasn't especially keen on taking three people I'd be responsible for keeping alive out into a gator and python infested river.

    So unlike basically every other experience I've ever had with my Dad in an NP, we invested heavily in some professional tours. I already mentioned the ferry to Dry Tortugas. We also had a boat tour scheduled to some islands in Biscayne Bay. Unfortunately my daughter had a cough and they were extra COVID cautious so we didn't get to do that one. That left us essentially walking out on a jetty into Biscayne Bay from the VC. We saw a ton of iguanas (non native species) and plenty of fish. Encountered a number of dudes who could have passed for the darkness brothers and looked like they would have played for the U 20 years ago. @creepycoug. Wasn't a single @dflea or @YellowSnow cracka fishing out there, all brothas.

    So Biscayne was kind of a bust as we only scratched the surface on it. Definitely a place I'd like to explore more.

    Did get a shot of Pops and the kids I can actually share there.





    Now to the easily the best part of the trip. Everglades National Park is huge, iconic, unique and yet not entirely what I expected. I've always associated the Everglades with gators and airboats, and there are plenty of both. But there's a ton more to it than that.


    Everglades was actually the first NP set aside for environmental/ecosystem reasons rather than scenic ones. And most of it is not what I would call especially beautiful. It is absolutely full of animal life though, and a lot of animals you're not going to see anywhere else in the NP system. Certainly not anywhere out west.

    As the third largest park in the lower 48, Everglades actually preserves 7 unique ecosystems, rather than just the obvious swamp I've always associated with it. We got to check out a number of them:

    Tram tour through the poorly named Shark Valley (this is what most would think of when thinking of the Everglades). Saw a number of gators here, a black snake of some sort (much smaller than a python), a few turtles and a crapload of wading birds. Most exciting experience was at the one stop the tram makes there was a nest of baby gators we were able to view from a distance. I took the kids over there, we looked, and then we heard a low growling sound. I was curious as hell but smart enough to gtfo there. Told the tour guide about it and he said "yeah that was Mama letting you know you were too close to her babies."

    My son swears the guide is wrong and it was a Florida Panther who was babysitting for the Mama Gator.

    CSB




    We also did the classic airboat tour. Lots more wading birds and gators, and saw a bunch of turtles on this as well (softshell and hardshell). I had done an airboat tour in November years ago and the wildlife was much more plentiful so it was a bit of a disappointment for me. Apparently the water levels are lower November to April and so you see a lot more critters then. Summer is the wet season and they have a lot more water to hide in. But the other three had never been on an airboat and were very impressed with what we saw.





    But the highlight for all four of us was not these more classic Everglades experiences, it was what did on the Everglades coast. The glades includes large chunks of the south Florida coastline were the river of grass meets the sea. This brackish environment is absolute gold for wildlife. We did two tour boats out here - first on the southwest side through 10,000 islands and secondly at the far south edge at Flamingo. Both were extremely worthwhile.

    The 10,000 Islands trip was easily the best though. We went out amongst the mangrove island (basically a floating tree that builds a root down below the water line and creates it's own island) in this extremely shallow brackish water and honestly my big hope was to see a manatee. We did see one although we didn't get a very good look. On that end it was a bust.

    But we found a pod of bottlenose dolphins who decided to ride in our wake for a good 5-10 minutes and it was probably the most fun my kids have ever had. Hell up there with the most fun me and pops have had too. Pics don't do it justice but this site doesn't have a good mechanism for uploading video so it's the best you'll get.






    Also saw tons of seabirds: Ospreys and kites and plenty of others.

    My son had one big goal for the trip that hadn't been accomplished - he wanted to see a crocodile. So we added an extra trip and went to the aforementioned Flamingo for another boat tour with the express purpose of seeing some crocs. We did see four or five (none especially close). We also had a much closer encounter with a couple manatees this time around including a baby one.



    Both kids completed some assignments and became Everglades Junior Park Rangers which they were very proud of. My son was most excited to have seen the crocodiles, my daughter fell in love with the manatees. The dolphins were far and away the highlight for me.



    All told I think we spent about 2 1/2 days exploring the Everglades.

    Worth all the tim and every pemmy.

    If you ever get the chance to visit it's easily my favorite one to visit of any that I've seen east of the Rockies.

    Kid pic trailblazer bump for @CFetters_Nacho_Lover
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • PurpleThrobber
    PurpleThrobber Member Posts: 48,015
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    dnc said:

    Oh, and my only daughter gave me this that morning to celebrate. Hope your kids gave you the honor, respect and unintentional comedy you deserve for Father's Day as well!

    #RaisingBullies


    Your kid celebrates Fatass Day?



    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dnc
    dnc Member Posts: 56,839
    Yellowstone - BRB, Old Faithful
    PurpleThrobber said:

    dnc said:

    Oh, and my only daughter gave me this that morning to celebrate. Hope your kids gave you the honor, respect and unintentional comedy you deserve for Father's Day as well!

    #RaisingBullies


    Your kid celebrates Fatass Day?



    Even better.












    She celebrates me on Fatass Day.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,215 Founders Club
    Other
    dnc said:

    dnc said:

    Obviously all national parks are best seen outside of your car, but most of the western parks are at least worthwhile to visit even if you're just passing through. These South Florida parks are completely different, they aren't really drivable (you physically can't drive to Dry Tortugas, can barely enter Biscayne by car and while there are plenty of roads through the Everglades you really don't see anything worthwhile).

    Also unlike the western parks they aren't especially hikable. Everglades is the only one where it's really an option and I wasn't especially keen on taking three people I'd be responsible for keeping alive out into a gator and python infested river.

    So unlike basically every other experience I've ever had with my Dad in an NP, we invested heavily in some professional tours. I already mentioned the ferry to Dry Tortugas. We also had a boat tour scheduled to some islands in Biscayne Bay. Unfortunately my daughter had a cough and they were extra COVID cautious so we didn't get to do that one. That left us essentially walking out on a jetty into Biscayne Bay from the VC. We saw a ton of iguanas (non native species) and plenty of fish. Encountered a number of dudes who could have passed for the darkness brothers and looked like they would have played for the U 20 years ago. @creepycoug. Wasn't a single @dflea or @YellowSnow cracka fishing out there, all brothas.

    So Biscayne was kind of a bust as we only scratched the surface on it. Definitely a place I'd like to explore more.

    Did get a shot of Pops and the kids I can actually share there.





    Now to the easily the best part of the trip. Everglades National Park is huge, iconic, unique and yet not entirely what I expected. I've always associated the Everglades with gators and airboats, and there are plenty of both. But there's a ton more to it than that.


    Everglades was actually the first NP set aside for environmental/ecosystem reasons rather than scenic ones. And most of it is not what I would call especially beautiful. It is absolutely full of animal life though, and a lot of animals you're not going to see anywhere else in the NP system. Certainly not anywhere out west.

    As the third largest park in the lower 48, Everglades actually preserves 7 unique ecosystems, rather than just the obvious swamp I've always associated with it. We got to check out a number of them:

    Tram tour through the poorly named Shark Valley (this is what most would think of when thinking of the Everglades). Saw a number of gators here, a black snake of some sort (much smaller than a python), a few turtles and a crapload of wading birds. Most exciting experience was at the one stop the tram makes there was a nest of baby gators we were able to view from a distance. I took the kids over there, we looked, and then we heard a low growling sound. I was curious as hell but smart enough to gtfo there. Told the tour guide about it and he said "yeah that was Mama letting you know you were too close to her babies."

    My son swears the guide is wrong and it was a Florida Panther who was babysitting for the Mama Gator.

    CSB




    We also did the classic airboat tour. Lots more wading birds and gators, and saw a bunch of turtles on this as well (softshell and hardshell). I had done an airboat tour in November years ago and the wildlife was much more plentiful so it was a bit of a disappointment for me. Apparently the water levels are lower November to April and so you see a lot more critters then. Summer is the wet season and they have a lot more water to hide in. But the other three had never been on an airboat and were very impressed with what we saw.





    But the highlight for all four of us was not these more classic Everglades experiences, it was what did on the Everglades coast. The glades includes large chunks of the south Florida coastline were the river of grass meets the sea. This brackish environment is absolute gold for wildlife. We did two tour boats out here - first on the southwest side through 10,000 islands and secondly at the far south edge at Flamingo. Both were extremely worthwhile.

    The 10,000 Islands trip was easily the best though. We went out amongst the mangrove island (basically a floating tree that builds a root down below the water line and creates it's own island) in this extremely shallow brackish water and honestly my big hope was to see a manatee. We did see one although we didn't get a very good look. On that end it was a bust.

    But we found a pod of bottlenose dolphins who decided to ride in our wake for a good 5-10 minutes and it was probably the most fun my kids have ever had. Hell up there with the most fun me and pops have had too. Pics don't do it justice but this site doesn't have a good mechanism for uploading video so it's the best you'll get.






    Also saw tons of seabirds: Ospreys and kites and plenty of others.

    My son had one big goal for the trip that hadn't been accomplished - he wanted to see a crocodile. So we added an extra trip and went to the aforementioned Flamingo for another boat tour with the express purpose of seeing some crocs. We did see four or five (none especially close). We also had a much closer encounter with a couple manatees this time around including a baby one.



    Both kids completed some assignments and became Everglades Junior Park Rangers which they were very proud of. My son was most excited to have seen the crocodiles, my daughter fell in love with the manatees. The dolphins were far and away the highlight for me.



    All told I think we spent about 2 1/2 days exploring the Everglades.

    Worth all the tim and every pemmy.

    If you ever get the chance to visit it's easily my favorite one to visit of any that I've seen east of the Rockies.

    Kid pic trailblazer bump for @CFetters_Nacho_Lover
    Biscayne Bay, where the lazy @creepycoug 's sleep all day.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • CFetters_Nacho_Lover
    CFetters_Nacho_Lover Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 32,232 Founders Club
    Other
    PurpleThrobber said:

    dnc said:

    Oh, and my only daughter gave me this that morning to celebrate. Hope your kids gave you the honor, respect and unintentional comedy you deserve for Father's Day as well!

    #RaisingBullies


    Your kid celebrates Fatass Day?



    We celebrate here in my house!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • DerekJohnson
    DerekJohnson Administrator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 68,243 Founders Club
    Other
    alumni94 said:

    I’m currently in Yosemite.

    Yo, Semite!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • YellowSnow
    YellowSnow Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 37,215 Founders Club
    edited May 2023
    Other
    DerekJohnson said:

    alumni94 said:

    I’m currently in Yosemite.

    Yo, Semite!
    @DerekJohnson El Capitan de Hardcore Husky


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter