The Traveling Dowells, Episode 1

So I don't have anything new and witty to write about, and I thought I'd start a new series. I've always wanted to write down some of our funnier travel stories in one spot. Maybe my blog can be that spot.



Before Madeline, we traveled as much as possible, getting away as often as we could. We still love to go fun places, but it takes a little more planning now! We have dreams of taking fun, frugal, family vacations and showing Madeline all of the big sights in the US. Last summer we went on our first trip together with the Gourleys -- to Rocky Mountain National Park. It's a family favorite. Madeline loved it, and she received her National Parks Passport (a staple in Dowell family travel).



My addiction to travel started at a young age. Growing up we took a family vacation each year for two weeks. The vacation usually centered around seeing a National Park. Dad would pack up the station wagon, tie the tent and sleeping bags on top, and hit the road. We saw most of the continental US in a Clark Griswold-ish manner. Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Disney World, Canada, Washington State, Washington DC...we saw a lot and slept in a tent 97% of the time. For one final shebang before I graduated from high school and Dave from college, my parents took us to Europe (without the station wagon or tent) for three weeks in 1997. It was AMAZING. By that time, I was hooked. I had the travel bug.

Darrin and I started our marriage with the honeymoon road trip of champions in the white 2000 Chevy Malibu-tay -- Denver, Arches NP, a few days in Vegas, hiking the Grand Canyon (the fact that we survived this is a miracle in itself), and a few days in Pagosa Springs, CO. It was a marathon road trip to start off a fun, adventurous marriage. But more on this at a later date, perhaps.


So, look for future posts from the Traveling Dowells. You never know where we might be headed next...