Growing up in central Pennsylvania, our family loved traveling around the region, and camping was often more friendly for our parents’ budget and more fun for the kids.  We started tent and car camping, and eventually upgraded to a Coleman pop-up camper. During summer break, we often took camping trips to the south Jersey shore, the Williamsburg and Tidewater areas, and Virginia Beach.  Camping let us spend quality time in nature, hiking, swimming in a lake, and sitting around the campfire, while also enjoying and experiencing the other sights and attractions in the area. 

During the 2020 pandemic lockdown, this seed of an idea kept itching at the back of my head as I worked from home across the table from a bored, sixth-grade boy slogging through virtual class.  I finally told my son to pack up his school laptop, and we headed to California to pick up a new compact campervan from Cascade Campers and road trip it home to Virginia.  Over the next month, we would wake up early and hotspot my cell phone so the young scholar could dial in for class, and then we would spend the day hiking or exploring whatever uniquely American roadside attraction caught our eye as we meandered home.  Our highlights included Yosemite, Carmel-by-the-Sea, the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Gila Wilderness, Carlsbad Caverns, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The trip was a priceless experience, and allowed father and son to connect over the course of weeks and and bond over a journey of thousands of miles, in a way that is rarely possible in our times.