Katie & Derek

We'll get to do a little paddling on the river after hiking down from our campsite!

Katie and I have gotten into extended river trips over the past couple of years, taking trips in Maine, Vermont and Georgia. Now it's time to get Ashlin on the water (with a PFD) and teach her how to paddle some mild white water and camp along the banks.

Backpacking with Ashlin is prettty much out of the question yet, so if you haven't noticed we'll be doing a lot of river trips in a canoe. It's a great way to get WAY OFF the beaten path without strapping a pack onto the little one's back (or Katie's for that matter).

There is bound to be a river we hear of or come across that begs to be paddled. We're just going to leave some decisions for the road.

We will enjoy the rewards of a 4x4 self-drive safari Jeep, and really get to appreciate the natural beauty of Alaska on our schedule!

There are these abandoned hunting cabins out in the middle of nowhere, and they will air-lift us out to one, drop us off and then leave us there for a couple of days. The nearest road or neighbor will be 100 miles away. Its just four walls (No water/bathroom/stove/fridge) but it will keep the critters away at night.

We'll get to padle the crazy blue alpine Lake McDonald and maybe get to see a grizzly from a safe distance from shore!

We are going to paddle around Isle Royal National Park in one of the world's largest lakes. Canoes are a real pain in the arms on lakes so we're opting for a kayak.

One of the few dates we're trying to make is a date for the summer solstice close to the Arctic circle. On the longest day of the year, the sun never sets here so we'll be watching from a mountain top north of Fairbanks!!

This way we will travel by car, air, rail and sail. Plus, Ashlin loves trains and she's really only been on Marta and the "T"

One of the few nights we'll spend hot in the tent. After waking up a little warm we can cool down by exploring one of North America's largest caves; it stays a nice 58 degrees year round.

It's a 5 hour boat ride across Lake Superior just to get to this secluded Park that has no roads and no vehicles.

95% of this park is designated as rain forrest so I'm sure we'll get good and wet, but that's what rain jackets are for . . .

We'll get to see glaciers as they meet the sea and camp on top of ice in July (see Katie's warm stuff section)! We've never camped on a glacier but something tells me a fire is out of the question.

Not sure if we're going to hit this park before or after heading to Alaska but this is one of the highest peaks in the lower 48 states.

Don't know much about this National Park . . . which is why we want to go!

We're really excited about seeing the highest point in North America. At over 20,000 feet, I don't think we'll go for the summit but we bet base camp will be nice too. Just have to watch for grizzleys . . .

Hopefully we'll be meeting up with Matt, Shell and the kids do do some exploring in this beautiful park. We'll be a little more cautious than Dave, Matt and I were 10 years ago!!!

Since the tent will be home for about 40 nights we've decided to upgrade. The Pine Island tent has room for all 3 of us and our gear. It will keep us warm on those cold mountain nights and it's big enough so that we'll all get a good night's sleep (Ashlin tends to kick in her sleep)!

Up the Colorado river from the Grand Canyon this Park offers hundreds of smaller canyons to explore. There was a guy who got stuck in one a few years back and had to cut off his own arm. Ouch! That's why you don't hike alone!

This should be a pretty spectacular spot!!! Right above Mt. Hood National forrest and just a couple days outside of Seattle.

We get to camp near the cliff dwellings and take a day hike to check them out! Maybe we'll even see an elephant (I honestly don't know what's up with some of these pictures. I don't think this outdoorsy stuff is the norm for a honeymoon site).

We're sure to have baked potatoes on the fire this night. Although that's not all there is of the state, what do you think of first when you think of Idaho?

After getting off the boat from Isle Royale we'll be heading back south. We think we'll be in the mood for some deep dish pizza and a baseball game.

If you haven't figured it out yet, "city camping" is what we call staying in a hotel on a road-trip. Every week or so we'll need a bed, a shower that doesn't require a river or quarters and maybe a little room service.

Too damn hot to camp in southern Louisiana during the summer so we're starting off with a hotel room in the French Quarter.

After what will most likely be some pretty warm camping through the southwest, we're going to take in some A.C. and some T.V. before heading into Oregon and Washington.

We will be camping and exploring in at least 10 National Parks!

We are going to want to fuel up before heading off to Alaska!

A restaurant is always nice after a week of camp food.

We will be going through a great deal of fire wood since we'll be doing a lot of cooking in camp. Backpacking stoves are great but you can't cook a baked potato or a hobo dinner without a fire!! Oh, and it will be nice to warm the old hands and dry any wet gear.

Doesn't sound exciting but there will be places where there are no stores and a "just add hot water" meal will be greatly appreciated.

We'll be doing most of our eating around the fire so we'll have to make frequent stops at the grocery store. Though calling some of these little General Stores a grocery store is a stretch.

There are going to be many times when there is no runnig water so we'll need to make sure it's safe to drink. Water out of a beaver pond can mean bad news . . .

Just outside of Glacier Natioal Park is this great little place where they have a beer called Moose Drool and you are free to carve your name into the wooden booths. We'll grab some food here before heading into the park.

She's too big to share these days. She already has her own sleeping pad,now it's time for the bag!

We've been down south for a while and so she's gotten rid of her warm stuff. There will be more nights in the 30s and 40s than the 60s or 70s

We're not going to be able to take the digi safely everywhere we go so we'll need a camera or two that won't crap out on us in the water.

We're skipping Canada in order to keep the drive under 13,000 miles. This way we can spend more time in Alaska and get to know Palin just a little bit better.

The national park service limits the amount of cars going into this park so it looks like we'll be loading our gear onto a bus that wil take us to the interior of the wilderness.

I don't think we'll see Big Ben, or rent a double-decker bus in Alaska but we will need some wheels since we'll be ditching ours in Seattle.

It's a five hour boat ride across lake Superior to Isle Royale NP. There are no vehicles, no roads, no supplies and no running water. Sounds like backcountry camping to me!

We'll neede lots and lots of gas for this 10,000 mile trip. That's a lot of driving.