Category: Family

Mammoth Cave Loop

New River Bridge — The to and the from of any road trip can be every bit as rewarding as the primary destinations. That was certainly true of this trip through West Virginia and Kentucky!

I won’t mince words. I love my daughters. My older daughter Courtney is a student at the University of Virginia which could be along the way of this road trip if I wanted it to be so I stopped both ways and each time Courtney graced me with some attention. She can make a father’s heart soar!

At UVA with Courtney On my way west, as I entered West Virginia I drove by a National Park Service sign. These always catch my attention because they’re without exception wonderful places to visit. “Cool” I thought “I need a little break from driving so I’ll check it out.” I’d never heard of the mis-named New River but it’s one of the oldest rivers on the continent with the deepest gorges in the east. The bridge pictured above spans the New River gorge and is the longest arch bridge in the world. How great! Seeing it wasn’t even on my list!

Family Road Travel

Staunton Inaugruration

UVA at Obama Inauguration — Ostensibly I was simply transportation for Kelsey to go visit Courtney but it turned in to so much more including the opportunity to view President Obama’s inauguration in the UVA Arena with thousands!

Recently the short trip theme has seen lots of activity. Two hours from home is Charlottesville and only 45 minutes further puts you in Staunton, VA. “So what?” you may ask, “What’s there?” To which I say “A surprising lot!”

Here you have it: I visited Woodrow Wilson Museum and Birthplace, the P. Buckley Moss Museum, Mary Baldwin College, the Lunatic Asylum, historic downtown Staunton, the Frontier Culture Museum, and Sunspots Studios. I’ll tell you, I was not hurting for things to do!

Family Hike Travel

Kelsey Climbs Old Rag

Prior to today, only my wonderful mother had ever climbed Old Rag with me. Today that all changed as Kelsey hiked with me to both summits. Old Rag is such a wonderful hike that I’m happy another family member is in on it. Her choice was to climb the front to both peaks and then return down the front: six miles and climbing from 600 ft to 3,300 ft. We did it and it was great fun.

Here are a few pictures we took along the way…

Family Museum Travel

A Newseum with a View

Newseum Girls — The Newseum is located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave which puts it three blocks from the Capital Building. With a sixth floor balcony there are some great photo opportunities as you’ll see below in pictures.

A really good museum will grab your attention. Being short on time at a museum will really sharpen your focus. I fell victim to both and consequently don’t have many photos to show for our visit. The pictures below will at least show the family in context.

For years I’ve intended to visit the Newseum and the one previous time I tried, I found it closed in Arlington and not scheduled to reopen for two years in D.C. I was out of luck … till today.

Family Swim

Family Picture Update

Our Girls — I’m entitled to be proud! Here they are after winning the key meet of the year, thereby securing the league championship yet again ... way to go!!!

My primary purpose for this post is to share a picture of the family taken at today’s swim meet. It’s been a while so I figured an update was appropriate.

Family Picture

Family Road Travel

Across the U.S. with Kelsey

Post author By TravisGood
Post date July 8, 2008
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Kelsey Jumps for Joy — That girl can jump! 🙂 At the border of Indiana and Michigan on Ohio 66 we paused for this excited moment of picture taking. It was one moment among many on this best trip ever down Route 66!

We drove from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles but it was certainly not a straight line. To begin with we headed north to Cleveland and Chicago, then south and west along Route 66 through eight states to Santa Monica. We took many detours along the way and among them was a trip to San Antonio to visit my brother’s family, a trip to Dallas to attend a Rascal Flatts/Taylor Swift concert and a jaunt to the Grand Canyon. Yes, we drove a lot but we had a GREAT time!

Kelsey flew home; I headed to SF, turned right, and drove home.

On her return, Kelsey built a photo album that you can see here. <fix>

Suffice to say, on this trip we had the time of our lives!

For the Record:
We drove 4,550 miles to Los Angeles and I drove another 3,460 home.

Family

Schools are Settled

Kelsey and Courtney — Applying for colleges is an angst ridden process. Add in a high school application process and you have one gnarled burden. However, when it’s over with good results there is a delightful lightening sense of relief.

Courtney will be attending the amazing University of Virginia and
Kelsey will be going to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology.

Mom and dad are immensely proud.

Good going girls! We love you!

Family Road Travel

Off the Coast down to Charleston

Post author By TravisGood
Post date March 26, 2008
No Comments on Off the Coast down to Charleston

Kelsey with the Fairchild Kids — Either you have “road trip” in you or your don’t. This trip was the test for Kelsey and she passed with flying colors. She was a great travel partner and can I see many road trips in our future. Yeah!

Our goal was to visit Reggie and Judy and their amazing progeny but drive directly to Charleston? No way! We chose to go down as far east as we could through Virginia, North Carolina, and North Carolina which meant driving down the wonderful Outer Banks. This 200-mile series of connected islands off the coast is the site of America’s first flight (by the Wright brothers at Kill Devil Hills) and the home of many, many vacation getaways. Check out the link above for a satellite view of the island and you can see why it’s so distinct.

How much can be accomplished in 48 hours? A lot! From their home in Mount Pleasant we walked to buy fresh shrimp at the fleet docks and ice cream sodas at the Old Town Rexall Drug Store. We drove to the Exchange and Waterfront Park in Charleston. We also managed a ferry ride to another of their homes on Dewees Island where the setting was so pristine, unpopulated, and natural that I almost felt I was on a secluded island in the middle of the ocean.

Feeling immensely satisfied and thankful we drove home after a great visit.

During our 9.5 hours on the road Kelsey grew a pair of “road trip” wings.

Family Travel

Traveling for Leisure

My Cayman Clan — Seven Mile Beach isn’t actually seven miles long. Per our taxi driver, it’s just short of six miles long. Why the name then? My guess is “seven” is often a lucky number so why not name it for good fortune?

Most of the time I’m traveling with a big agenda and trying desperately to squeeze as much as possible in to every day. For me that’s fun. I get a real sense of accomplishment from planning well and executing thoroughly. The pay offs are lots of great experiences, lots of learning and lots of pictures.

When I travel with my family the rules and goals are different. My ladies like the surf, the sand, the sun and relaxation. We focus on achieving very little and spend most of our time doing very little. Relaxing in the sun on the beach makes them happy which in turn makes me happy. They’re great company and we had a good time together in Grand Cayman where we had nothing short of perfect weather.

Family Travel

Ski Day with my Girls

Ski Liberty — There was little snow, few runs were open, and the weather warm but it wasn’t crowded and attitudes were great which resulted in a wonderful time skiing today at Ski America with my girls.

Out by 8:30 AM and back by 5:00 PM. Not long but rarely do I get this much quality time with Court and Kels. Going skiing today wasn’t my fondest idea of how to spend the day but their enthusiasm fueled our exit and once we hit the road the fun began. En route we came across a covered bridge and a child’s playground, both at which we had fun. While at Ski America we skied all the slopes available to us.

Basically we skied till we dropped. It was fun! See pictures …