It was 11:47 PM in a Marriott hallway somewhere outside Zion National Park, and the housekeeping cart had just rattled past our door like a steel drum parade. My three-year-old — who had finally fallen asleep after two hours of overtired meltdown — bolted upright and started screaming. We had a sunrise hike booked for … Read more
We were twenty minutes into a trail at Great Smoky Mountains when my six-year-old planted herself on a rock and announced she was “done with nature forever.” My three-year-old, perched in the carrier on my back, had already thrown his snack cup into a rhododendron. The waterfall was only half a mile ahead. I needed … Read more
I was somewhere between the trailhead at Zion National Park and a very muddy creek crossing when I realized my shoulder bag was slowly destroying my left side — one lopsided, overpacked mile at a time. My three-year-old wanted to be carried, my six-year-old needed a snack, and I had exactly zero free hands. That … Read more
