Our long road trips to US National Parks with the kids were each in 4th grade (Wild, Wild Southwest and Wild Wild (mid)West 2.0) accomplished my mission having the kids fall in love with the National Parks. After our most recent trips they began excitedly looking at maps of the US National Parks System and planning various road trips we could take to see more of them. I told them that they could each have a turn planning our next road trips. My oldest son always likes to be a little bit different, so he said he wanted to see some of Canada’s National Parks. He has also been asking to see New England for a while. He said he wanted to go to New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. So this winter we sat down and mapped out a route that would take us to 3 Canadian National Parks and then back to the USA to hit Acadia National Park and the White and Green Mountain National Forests in New Hampshire and Vermont. He told me we should call is ”The Acadian Adventure,” because that entire region has actually been referred to as Acadia (not just the National Park).

This trip is a bit closer to home so we will be taking our trust Toyota Highlander again. When I looked into the Canadian National Parks I was thrilled to see they offer some really cool camping accommodations. Last year’s road trip kind of ruined tent camping for us for a while. Having 20 mph winds whipping across the prairie blowing your tent down on top of you will do that. Fortunately, when I looked into the 3 Canadian National Parks we will be visiting, they offered some non-tent camping options such as yurts, mini-cabins, and something called an Otentik, which seems like a sturdy canvas tent on a platform, already outfitted with bunk beds,

The current itinerary that he and I came up with is as follows:

Day 1: Drive to Montreal (about 4-5 hours from home) and stay overnight.

Day 2: Drive to Quebec City and stay overnight in a hotel (on points)

Day 3: Drive to Fundy National Park, stay for 3 nights in a Yurt at the NP.

Day 6: Drive to Prince Edward Island, stay for 2 nights in a cabin in the NP

Day 8: Drive to Halifax, stay in a hotel on points and hopefully visit some friends.

Day 9: Drive to Cape Breton NP, stay in an OTentik for 3 nights.

Day 12: Drive to St. John, New Brunswick, stay in a hotel on points.

Day 13: Drive to Acadia NP area, stay in an Airbnb for 5 nights.

Day 18: Drive to Sangerville, ME (where my grandpa grew up!) stay in an airbnb.

Day 19: Drive to the White Mountains, NH, stay in a hotel on points.

Days 21-22: May see friends in Concord, NH, may stay one night in Manchester, VT before driving home.

We are looking forward to lots of lobster, maybe some whale sightings, hiking, and Atlantic seacoast adventures!