Where What When

Planning Your National Park Vacation

In our country, we are blessed with incredible national parks. Last month I wrote about our trip to Yellowstone, the first national park. There are many others, all offering great experiences to the visitor. If I approach this topic with a certain religious zeal, it is because I believe that seeing the wonders of creation engenders a certain spiritual growth.

As the Rambam said, “How does one achieve love and fear of Hashem? When a person investigates His works and His amazing creations, and he sees from them His wisdom, to which there is no limit or end, immediately – he will love, praise, glorify, and have a great desire to know Hashem.” (Yesodei Hatorah 2:2)

The most popular destinations are Yellowstone in Wyoming, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and Yosemite in California. Each of these parks has side attractions. As I wrote last month, Yellowstone borders on another park, called Grand Teton. Yosemite borders on Sequoia, with its monumental redwood trees. Las Vegas (a common Shabbos stop for the Grand Canyon) is in an easy shot of the great parks of southern Utah: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks. There are many others that are not as well known. My wife and I once went to Death Valley National Park in California, the lowest and hottest place in America. It was May, and we had picture-perfect weather.

A national park vacation takes a lot of planning and preparing, and people ask me whether I enjoy a vacation that entails so much work. The answer is that the work is part of the fun. There is a challenge there, and conquering it leaves me with great satisfaction. Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time makes it all worthwhile. You stand there as a family and just stare, and you suddenly realize why you have traveled for over 24 hours. You are speechless, but then you recover, look at your children, and ask, “Well, what do you say!”

Before You Go

There is not a lot of published material on traveling to national parks as a frum family. After all, what percentage of frum Jews do you think has been to Yellowstone? Is it even one percent? Now ask yourself how many have been to Florida. See the difference? A trip by the frum traveler to a remote wilderness presents challenges that are completely different from those of the general public. I know of only a handful of families that have attempted it with children. We got advice from some of them and modified it to our likes and budget. What I present here is what I have gleaned through trial and error.

The first thing to do is to get picture books from the library. Look through them and decide what you want to see. Then bring out a map of the entire United States and see what is feasible. Yellowstone, for instance, is more accessible than Glacier National Park (in northwest Montana), which takes an additional two days of driving to reach.

You can find a lot of information online. The government’s National Park Service has a great web site: www.nps.gov It links to every state, with a listing of its national parks and other federally-controlled land. It also has information about spots like the Statue of Liberty and the Appalachian Trail. There is a list of phone numbers to call for information, and they are very helpful.

One question you should think about before you go is what to do about Shabbos. The Grand Canyon is five hours from the shuls of Las Vegas. That means you could stay at the Grand Canyon for several days and be back in a city with relative ease. That was far easier then our 24-hour trip to Denver from Yellowstone. Remember, everything takes time, especially loading the car. Therefore, if a destination is up to two hours away from your headquarters, it should be a day trip. It is not worth repacking the car.

To Fly or Not to Fly

If you are going to the great parks of the West, a tough question is whether to drive or fly. There are great distances involved, and you do not want to spend your whole trip in the car. On the other hand, purchasing air tickets for the whole family is expensive. We flew only when we had enough airline miles to get all or mostly free tickets. Still, if this trip replaces overnight summer camps for the children, then the cost of flying might be within budget.

The other question is how much time you can take off work. Driving out west will require a month off work, not an easy task. Unless you are a teacher, government worker, or retired, driving may not fit into your time budget. But many people now work online and might be able to take their work with them. An internet connection is available everywhere, including many campgrounds.

Another issue is packing. It is hard to rent a van that holds more then seven people – rent-a-car businesses have never heard of families with more then three children – so if you need something larger you will have a problem. Renting an SUV is an expensive option. The best price I could get for a Chevrolet Suburban for 10 days was $2,000 (including insurance). We went for a minivan, instead, which was a lot less money but a packing nightmare. Taking your own car or van will make the trip easier.

If you want to drive, there are wonderful parks in the eastern part of the country, where a road trip is quite doable. You could have a very fulfilling time going north to Maine and Acadia National Park. Or you could drive south towards Atlanta. Depending on the route, you could see Charleston, Savannah, and Atlanta. The parks along the way are Shenandoah in Virginia and Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. There is also the scenic Blue Ridge parkway.

Packing

The packing list should be developed way in advance. Then start collecting what you need. You can put the medicine bag together weeks in advance. Needless to say, you should pack as lightly possible, or you will be overloaded.

We felt that taking many small suitcases would be easier then a few large ones. This way each child had his or her own small bag. We also needed several family suitcases: one for our meat supply (more on that later) and one for cooking utensils. One was just for sweatshirts (because it does get cold at high altitudes). It was great watching the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, but you have to dress for it. Another bag is for bathing suits. We figured that when we needed the bathing suits or sweatshirts, it would be easier to have them all in one place than to open all the suitcases to retrieve one item out of each.

Where to Stay

I am prejudiced against motels, which are perfect for long-haul drivers who must get a good night’s sleep. They are no-nonsense places situated close to the highway, so you can pull over and be asleep within 10 minutes. For family vacations, they do not offer a lot. Motels have strict rules on the number of people allowed in a room, the pool is small, and chances are against you getting it privately.

A campground gives you endless room to run around. Ball playing is never a problem. Most important, when you are camping, cooking food is normal. It is not really expected (or allowed) in most motel rooms. If you are next to a lake, swimming is available whenever you want it, so it’s much easier to avoid the crowds. You can get in an early morning swim or even a night swim. Best of all, campgrounds offer campfires. Nothing like the family sitting around a campfire singing songs. Try that in a motel parking lot!

When you hear camping, you might be picturing tents, but that is not the only option. Cabins of various forms are also offered, and the management usually doesn’t care if you set up a tent outside for additional sleeping space. For a spot at a national park, you have to reserve way in advance. January is not too soon! Even if you’re not sure you’re going, make the reservations; you can always cancel later.

Campgrounds are inexpensive, especially those run by the State. A cabin can be had for $50 a night. Two rooms in a motel will run you anywhere from $100 to $150 or more. Multiplied over several nights, there is a significant savings here. You can also rent nicer cabins. Some are like houses and offer much more then hotels. We had some great experiences staying in those. Lastly, there is just something about campgrounds – you connect with nature. Children learn a positive lesson about being happy with G-d’s world just as it is.

Food

The old, hard coolers are obsolete. We own the soft-sided ones. They hold much more stuff, because you can maneuver the items better and things can poke into the sides. Since coolers can get messy, we have one for meat and one for milk. We bring with us the following items: vacuum packed meat that we have frozen, such as hamburgers, hot dogs, and deli. (This meat should have a two-week shelf life with refrigeration.) We also bring cheese and some bread. (The bread has the shortest shelf life, but it is hard to find kosher bread out west.) We also bring baggies of salt, sugar, and coffee. We want to avoid buying items like a five-pound bag of sugar.

The first thing we do when we arrive is go to a supermarket; we buy fresh fruits and vegetables, canned goods, cereal, orange juice, milk, and disposables. (You can bring your own powdered chalav Yisrael.) There are food stores in the park grounds for whatever you run out of. (Each national park is run by a concessionaire, a private company that handles the lodging and stores.)

We also bring cooking supplies: a peeler, can opener, a good knife, and a minimum number of pots, usually one fleishig and one milchig. We once brought a George Forman hamburger cooker as well as a sandwich maker that made great grilled cheese and could even make scrambled eggs.

I have a barbeque grill, but cooking with charcoal has a major drawback: It takes an hour to get the coals hot. (If someone has a better way, please let me know.) If you have time to put up the grill and keep an eye on it while you’re doing something else, it’s okay. But if you want to eat right away, that will not happen. There are small portable gas grills, but they do take up some room. We also bring a gas burner. It is very small and can be used to cook anything. It creates a flame like your stovetop using propane gas that you can buy at the parks in small disposable canisters. (Do not bring them on an airplane.) All our cooking supplies fit into one small suitcase.

We buy a bag of ice each day. Those small blue frozen packs will not keep everything cold. You must keep your food below a certain temperature or you will lose it all. There is nothing more frustrating then getting the grill nice and hot and then wondering why your hamburger meat has a funny smell. Since vacuum-packed meat is waterproof, we have developed the “underwater method.” We pour a lot of ice into our ice chests. These ice cubes start melting and eventually we have a lot of water in the chest. This ice water, at 32 degrees, ensures that your food will really be preserved. We also bring frozen homemade soups. They serve as our ice packs until we get to our destination and can buy bagged ice. Then we eat the soup for three days.

Important Things to Bring

On this past trip, I brought my laptop. This way I could check my email. More importantly, I bought a map program called Microsoft Maps and Streets. This is one awesome piece of software, and it eliminated the need for all maps. We also brought the guidebooks we had purchased.

We brought our family walkie-talkies. They have endless uses and were constantly helpful. Remember, you are not always in cell phone range. Of course, we didn’t go without the digital camera, the video camera, and our two cell phones.

(We had several different battery chargers with us.) I also bought a small device that plugs into the cigarette lighter and converts it into electricity, which kept the laptop going for our endless drives.

This all might sound complicated, but it really is not. With a little know-how and preparation, things should go fine. We do our planning and then we are off! Whatever happens, happens. Dealing with the unknown is part of the adventure. The trip is a microcosm of life – you plan the best you can and then tackle it. The magnificent time you have is certainly worth all the effort!

Eli Pollock is a CPA in private practice in Baltimore.

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Article List - January 2007