It’s no secret that we’ve made a bit of a mission to see as many national parks as possible as we crisscross the nation. From the Big Five in Utah to the often bucket-listed Grand Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns, we’ve seen a lot. One charming and often overlooked park, however, is Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. What to Expect at Petrified Forest National Park From the title, you may
Not every boondocking spot is amazing. But none of them, to date, has been horrible. The BLM land off of Arizona 337 south of Holbrook sits happily in the middle, maybe biased toward the latter. While most, if not all, BLM land is “mixed use,” this area is more so than others. The area is a sprawling scrubland that’s heavily used by local ranchers for cattle range. When we were
We’re always looking for a good STEM museum and have been to more than a couple across the nation. While staying in a favorite boondocking spot outside of Phoenix, Arizona, and thanks to our student EAA membership, we had the opportunity to visit the Arizona Science Center. What to do and Learn at the Arizona Science Center The Arizona Science Center is a sprawling 3-level campus with exhibits ranging from
Living on the road is a study in minimalism. As we covered in preparing your rig for boondocking, weight is the enemy, and storage is at a premium. Because of this, we’ve really gotten away from “stuff” as gifts for birthdays and instead, we’ve gone almost exclusively to experiences. We’ve chronicled a couple of these, from a pirate cruise to a horseback ride, and today is no exception. When we
Of the many routes to experiencing Balloon Fiesta, our favorite has to be volunteering for the event. It opens many doors not available to the public, and significantly lowers the financial bar for participation! How Do I Become a Volunteer? Volunteering for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is as simple as navigating to the festival’s web page and selecting the volunteering menu. From there, you can apply for any available position.
We’ve been lifetime members of the Fulltime Families RV group since we launched in the summer of 2022. It’s opened up many doors and experiences for us that we normally wouldn’t be open to. One such experience was the Fulltime Families Balloon Fiesta Experience. This RV rally was centered around the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta! Fulltime Families, or FTF, have hosted Balloon Fiesta events for several years and have reserved
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the most popular ballooning event in the world. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city of Albuquerque each year. With such numbers come congestion, logistical conundrums, and stress. Let us try to clear some of that stress by outlining several ways you and your family can attend this often-bucket-listed event! Staying at the Balloon Fiesta Grounds There are several ways to
Part of the Fulltime Families Balloon Fiesta Experience was a “field trip day” to the Balloon Museum. It is adjacent to the Balloon Fiesta field and quite expansive on the history of ballooning! We’ve been to many air and space museums across the nation. If they have anything on ballooning, it’s a footnote. Often, they only mention the French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne’s demonstrations in 1783 early in the “history
In the Fall of 2024, we got to participate in one of the most beautiful, amazing, life-changing, and bucket-listed events ever: the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta! Epic is an inadequate word to describe the event, but we’ll do our best to break it down for you. What to Expect at Balloon Fiesta Each day at the Balloon Fiesta is split into 2 sessions; a morning session and an evening session.
Sometimes we choose a spot to give us access to national parks, but other times it’s to give us access to an area to explore! Cibola National Forest stretches over a vast area of land from Magdalena, NM to Gallup, NM. We stayed in a spot just outside of Gallup. Staying in Cibola National Forest We really enjoyed (most) of our stay in the forest. The first spot we stayed