Son of a Sailor

This website is about family travel with kids and anything else I decide to write about that might educate, interest or entertain you.

We write about travel with kids and just about anything else I might think of….but we’ve evolved as a website in our years of existence. This tiny website started as a cruising/sailing website that covered the trials and tribulations as a family as we prepped to go cruising…then ACTUALLY LEFT and went cruising. That adventure ended in 2023 when we sold the boat in Panama, bought a skoolie in Florida and spent months traveling the US in our 40-ft bus. Eventually we landed in the high desert of Southern California. Since then, we started land travel around the US (and further)….by EV. All of our trips are with our kids. So that’s mostly what we write about.

Here’s my quick recap of our travels with kids in 2025:

In early 2025 (New Years) we camped in Yosemite National Park and stayed in the historic Ahwahnee Hotel.

Here’s the story: A Family Guide To Winter Camping In Sequoia And Yosemite- Welcoming 2025

In March of 2025 we furfilled a long standing urge to check out Volcanos National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Here’s one of those stories: Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park: Where Real Lava Flows

**The view from the deck at night, Volcanos National Park on Hawaii.**

In summer of 2025 I did a short but intense training to improve my farrier skills with a true master in the donkey farrier world, Mr. Ross Keller. To do this, we road tripped to Colorado and camped so I could work with him for 4-5 days. To do the trip, we decided we wanted an EV that would give us more reliable miles per charge, could haul/tow and would be AWD. In June we traded in the Ford F-150 Lightning for a Rivian R1S. Then a week later, we headed east to Colorado. I have not had time to write these stories yet, so this is a preview-

**Working on donkeys with Ross Keller.**

**Leadville Colorado, the highest town in North America.**

First off-road for the Rivian in Monument Valley….but not the last.

**World’s Oldest Rodeo, Prescott Arizona**

**Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial, below the site where 19 Hotshots were lost on June 30th, 2013. We were in Prescott on June 30th, 2025 for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Service.**

In August right before school started again we decided to take a quick trip to Monterey, California to visit the world class Monterey Aquarium. It was lots of driving from where we live, but worth it. If you ever get the chance, I would highly recommend a trip to this area. I have not had time to write this story yet either, so here’s another preview:

**Monterey Bay Aquarium, built in an old sardine cannery….is large and world class.**

**Not a great clear picture, but included just to show you the scale of this live tank.**

**No trip to Monterey is complete without dinner at Clint Eastwoods restaurant.**

In November we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary & Thanksgiving/Indigenous Peoples Day with a camping trip to Zion National Park. We specifically wanted to do this trip in November because we thought there would be less people in the park and we wanted to hike the Narrows, through narrow slot canyons. We were wrong about the people in the park….it was packed but we had a great hike in the Narrows, on Thanksgiving Day. I have not had a chance to write about this trip yet so here’s a preview:

Last but not least, we did a quick trip between Christmas and New Years to visit friends in Lake Tahoe. Here’s pics of the trip, the story will come out later:

**Hiking in Van Sickle State Park, feet in two states, yeah.**

**And plenty of snow in Bridgeport, Ca.**

**On the way into Bishop, below snow level.**

We write about travel, so we travel when possible and camp/hike/trail run and visit National Parks. We do all this with our kids. These blog posts are written to educate, inform and entertain you….so if you learn something or draw inspiration somehow, then it’s a win.

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