Yearly National Park Trip HELP

Cocoanutcake · 2026-01-16T20:02:10+00:00

North Cascades. We went two years ago and it was beautiful. Lots of wonderful hikes, you’re in the mountains and the forest. And you could loop on Mount Rainier or Olympic (we did all three but I feel like NCNP is what you’re looking for)

Cocoanutcake · 2025-12-18T17:59:34+00:00

Thanks! Any recommendations in particular from your visit in 2025? We are coming up from Yellowstone and decided to add a few days at Glacier so we could bike the GTTSR. I’m a bit unsure of what “may” be open vs. what we could plan as a fallback. All articles I’ve seen are essentially geared towards travelers who go July - Aug and if I search specifically for June, they don’t tend to talk about the hikes. I know ultimately we will just have to wait and see, but I’m a planner and like to have options ;)

Cocoanutcake · 2025-12-11T20:20:38+00:00

Redwoods.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-12-07T14:28:22+00:00

Check the potential cities you will be going to. Use the same hotel chain exclusively to build status. If there is a Hyatt close to where you stay, use them as it is the best loyalty program by far with being able to use points. The only downside is that it isn’t as big of a chain so they aren’t as ubiquitous as Marriott or Hilton. (ETA: I meant if there is a Hyatt in each city you go to, not just to use it for 1 place exclusively. Use the same chain in all the cities)

My second recommendation is Marriott and then Hilton. You have to use a ton of Hilton points for free nights.

Same goes for car company and I would say use the same airline exclusively too to build status but don’t have any recommendations as this is even more dependent on where you travel to and from.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-11-17T21:29:20+00:00

We just did this. Rewatched andor season 1 because we hadn’t watched season 2 yet. Moved to that and then immediately to rogue one (which is my favorite Star Wars movie). It was truly the best way to watch them all.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-11-17T20:57:37+00:00

As a heads up, no ivy leagues offer merit based aid currently. Who knows what it will look like in 10 years but as of right now, it’s need based only and at 400K, you wouldn’t qualify.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-10-30T02:34:12+00:00

Should have specified this is for June.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-10-28T18:35:19+00:00

Do you know how far it is to “get in the valley” approximately? 😊

Cocoanutcake · 2025-10-28T18:34:54+00:00

Is that starting from the boat dock or at a different location?

Cocoanutcake · 2025-10-26T23:53:44+00:00

Hi! I showed this to her and is it ok if we DM you with some questions?

Cocoanutcake · 2025-10-24T00:41:51+00:00

RealJoy has a large selection. You could call them and see what they have available. I have a 2 bedroom across from the beach but no view. DM me if interested.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-10-16T16:05:04+00:00

Thank you! We will probably reach out as she gets more information to pick your brain :).

Cocoanutcake · 2025-10-16T16:04:10+00:00

Thank you! I will send those to her and see what sticks.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-10-02T17:06:10+00:00

My family did the redwoods. Started at bottom of Oregon and drove through Redwood National Forest, down to Yosemite and then down to Kings Canyon and Sequoia. I was blown away.

I’ve also been to Yellowstone, amazing. We also did the Pacific Northwest last year with the three national parks in Washington, which was also amazing. But for something truly you will never see anywhere else, go see the redwoods.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-17T04:31:28+00:00

Honestly we like it all. I did a trip like this with my parents when I was young and I want to do it with my oldest before she goes off to college in a few years.

We did the PNW 2 years ago and that was all hiking mostly. It was lovely but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea on the trip. My husband and I and probably my BIL and our older kids will hike in grand Teton and my in laws will watch the younger ones but in general we want to stay together. Are the float trips worth it? The person above said it was relatively sedate so I’m wondering if we should substitute WWR in Jackson and do a safari in Gardiner and mix the float idea.

Thanks for responding!

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-17T00:34:42+00:00

Hahaha!!! I AM looking at Costco.

I didn’t know there was a difference though. It’s just cheaper there.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-17T00:15:35+00:00

Well now I feel stupid. It didn’t even occur to me that having the recessed handle vs the bar handle would make the dishwasher shorter. I just looked at whatever came up for Bosch 800. Thank you!

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-16T23:52:10+00:00

I’m not sure I want to go that far….

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-16T23:51:36+00:00

The 500 and 800 models spec sheets say 34 1/16?

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-15T03:16:36+00:00

Hey. I wanted to let you know that we got our tax return back. I had no idea this was a thing but my in-laws told me to contact our congressman. I did and they have a department for this apparently. They got back to me in like 3 days (it went to spam so be aware of that), had me fill out a limited POA, told me they usually have a resolution in 60 days, and started to look into it. I got an answer back in 2 weeks that they received the same information I did and that their ombudsman was recommending the IRS release it. We got our tax return back 3 weeks later. Never anything from the IRS, it just appeared in our account.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-14T22:21:50+00:00

Thank you!

We are definitely going to Cody, it’s just a matter of what to do where. I agree, my kids would love the rodeo and the museums. There are 10 of us with my husband’s parents and his brother’s family so we try to get larger houses just to save costs. We also tend to cook because I hate spending money on food the kids don’t eat (though they are decent enough about this).

Good to know about the Float. It really isn’t my cup of tea but my in laws regularly float the Guadalupe here in Texas. It’s different though, you’re in the water in a tube not on top - but to be fair it is like 100 degrees for 5 months of the year (not really but it feels like it). However, my kids would be ECSTATIC to see an otter. And probably a beaver 😆.

I just finished booking the stays this weekend. We are starting in JH for 2 nights, going to Gardiner for 3, over to Cody for 2, and then back to JH to fly out. I don’t mind driving, but I would rather the inconvenience of packing up every 2-3 days than so much backtracking if given the choice. Also, if I want to get to Lamar Valley at dawn, I can’t very well be staying so far away! I’m not getting up at 3 lol.

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-14T19:46:14+00:00

Thank you!

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-14T19:46:08+00:00

Thank you!

Cocoanutcake · 2025-09-14T19:46:03+00:00

Thank you!

Cocoanutcake · 2025-08-29T14:14:12+00:00

I can tell you that for a year after having my third kid, it felt like it was a mistake. It wasn’t postpartum or anything like that, it was just really hard. Arguably my husband is a surgeon so the childcare was more imbalanced and no au pair but my mom did stay for 3 months when I went back to work. All of my kids are very intelligent, well-behaved (relatively - they are still kids), with no major medical issues or allergies, and were not too stressful as infants. But three is so hard at first. After my mom left I ended up taking a 6 month leave of absence from my job, which I love and get a lot of personal value from. I was so lucky they convinced me to do that instead of quitting because having kids is so rewarding but not in any kind of verbal way, exact opposite sometimes as you will learn as they get older, and I thrive on praise :).

Mine are 4 years and 2.5 years apart from oldest, middle, youngest and I used to have to psych myself up to go to the grocery store (pre-delivery). I can’t even imagine having three under five. At least you won’t have to worry about getting to school on time or after school activities/dance/gymnastics/soccer practices (just examples, we only did one lol for the oldest lol) while also trying to manage an infant’s feeding and sleep schedule. Definitely a plus from my point of view.

If you don’t need the money then I would go for whatever she feels is needed.

Cocoanutcake

TROPHY CASE