Overview of National Parks/New England trip

 

Map of our 2021 National Parks/New England tour

This is an overview of our family trip to see 3 national parks and New England this summer.  The trip will also include short stops at 3 family spots and feature lots of driving.  We decided to go to national parks because last year Lincoln loved going to the 5 we visited out West that he wanted to see more.  Originally I was also going to have a conference at Harvard during this time, but it got moved to zoom.  Hopefully next year we will get to actually be at Harvard for the conference but at least this year it gave us more time to explore.

Day 1 Wednesday July 21st La Crosse

We start by visiting Zach's parents in Holmen (suburb of La Crosse)

Day 2-3 

Explore Indiana sand dunes

Stay Portage

After about a 5 hour drive we reach Indiana Sand Dunes National Park, the newest national park and our first national park of the trip.  We have one full day to explore all as many beaches and trails as possible.

Day 4-5 

Explore Cuhuoga National Park

Stay Stow

Next stop is National Park #2 Cuyahoga national park.  We have one full day to explore all the hiking trails and have Lincoln see some waterfalls (currently this is good hiking motivation)

Day 6  Get up early drive to Mystic CT

We have one of the longest drives of the trip this day.  I am hoping we can get out and stretch but it is 9 hours of driving and an unhelpful time zone switch

Day 7 

Mystic Aquarium, seaport muesum and explore

Stay Mystic

In Mystic we are staying pretty close to the action.  We hope to visit the seaport museum and the aquarium and maybe get some local hikes in

Day 8-9

Drive cape cod, whale watching, kayaking, biking

Stay Yarmouth

We are staying somewhat in the middle of cape cod.  We hope to get in whale watching, kayaking and maybe some biking

Day 10 

Visit Nantucket

Stay Boston

We hope to get up pretty early to take a ferry to daytrip to Nantucket and see some beaches and the whaling museum

Day 11-12 

Explore Boston

Stay Boston

We have 3 nights in Boston to see all the historical sights and hopefully Harvard, MIT and Fenway!

Day 13-14 

Drive to Portsmouth stop in Salem 

Explore Portsmouth

Stay Portsmouth

It is a pretty short drive to Portsmouth so we will stop in Salem to see some historical things.

Portsmouth we are staying right near the water in a cute place with a pool!

Day 15 

Drive to Boothsbay (stop at Portland and/or Botanical gardens)

Stay Norwegan resort

Cruise to see puffins

Aside from Acadia this is what I am most looking forward to.  We will go on a puffin cruise to see a big nesting area.

Also the Norwegan resort we are staying at looks amazing and has bikes and rowboats to rent.

Day 17-19 

Acadia explore

Stay Rose Eden Cottage

Our cute little cottage place is also one of the top rated places to get Lobster

There are so many sights and hikes to do in Acadia!

Day 20-22 

Drive to North Conway 

Stay Cabin near north conway

Explore white mountains

This is part Lincoln is really looking forward to.  The Mt Washington Cog railway.  We might even get to take the steam engine up!

Also we will stop a franconia notch park and other places for lots of hikes in our 3 days

Day 23-24 

Drive to Burlington stops in Montpellier and Stow 

Stay Burlington airbnb

Lots of stops between White Mountains to Burlington, but everyone agrees on getting ice cream (plus some beer stops for the adults!)

Burlington looks super cute and we have a little airbnb right near the action

Day 25-26

Drive to Niagara falls (stop in Seneca)

Stay house in Niagara fall

Explore Niagara falls

Have to make a stop at Seneca falls for women's history (that and it breaks up the really long drive!)

Niagara falls!  We are hoping to do a boat tour and some walks

Day 27-28

Drive to Mackinaw City

Mackinaw island and area

Stay St. Ignacious

Mackinaw Island.  We will do the circle bike tour and stop here for the lookout we somehow missed last time.

Day 29-31

Drive to cabin, stay at cabin in Republic or in Marquette

Stop in Marquette and/or Republic to see Dick Connie and Abby

Day 32-33 

Drive to Duluth

Explore Duluth

Duluth to home

And finally stop in Duluth to see my parents, and hopefully take Lincoln and Juniper on a few tourist things

Home on Sunday Aug 22rd, just in time to start our new jobs!