Article by Rebecca Rowland, Campbell Hall Episcopal
Seven years ago, my husband, daughter and I moved from New York City to Los Angeles because we desired a change in scenery and climate in which to raise our daughter, then 19 months old. Gorgeous ocean vistas and mountainous landscapes, which we greedily enjoyed as often as possible, confirmed that California was the place for us. What we hadn't realized was that even during a sunny California summer, overnight temperatures on camping trips can dip into the 30s and 40s, thanks to wind-swept coastlines and high-altitude campsites. Brrrr!
the director of human resources at Campbell Hall Episcopal, a K–12 school in North Hollywood, California. Her husband, Jason, is a teacher in the middle school drama program, and their daughter, Miranda, is a third grader at the school.
So in November 2014, we purchased Groot, a trusty 2008 refurbished RV with over 125,000 miles on it. Since then we’ve added another 10,000 miles. Lovingly named after the Guardians of the Galaxy character, Groot has enabled us to fulfill a long-held desire to explore the country all year long. The vehicle is hardly luxurious — there’s no television or internet — but it lets us head out for seven- to 12-day journeys during school breaks without completely exhausting us the way traditional tent camping sometimes can, with all the packing, unpacking and uncertain weather. Just think s'mores in a downpour, and you get the idea.
By the end of 2017, we will have visited all but one of the national parks in California, from Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California to Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego, to more famous sites, like Yosemite. In fact, Yosemite is where we first caught the national parks bug. At the time, August 2013, we were still tent camping, but we quickly realized that the national parks system truly is “America's Best Idea” — and we wanted more! Luckily, California has more national parks than any state, and many more in the Southwest are in drivable proximity.
Yosemite was also where we were introduced to the Junior Ranger program, which guides kids through a range of activities and encourages them to see, with their families, easily overlooked areas or features of each park. After completing the requisite activities, the budding junior ranger returns to the visitor's center to chat with a professional park ranger about the activities and ultimately be “sworn in” at a ceremony. The junior ranger promises to be a steward of the park and the environment in general, and to protect the world around her and teach conservation whenever and wherever she can. At Muir Woods, my daughter was sworn in while standing in ballet’s fourth position; the ranger recognized the pose and declared, “See, you can be a ballerina and a park ranger, like me!”
During our journeys, we have encountered many types of rangers and scientists who have opened up a variety of dynamic careers and interests that our daughter might never have known about otherwise. Now nine years old, she has become a junior paleontologist (at Grand Canyon National Park), a junior underwater explorer (Channel Islands National Park), a junior night sky expert (Sequoia National Park) and junior historian (Manzanar National Historic Site), among other roles.
When my husband and I retire, we hope to upgrade our RV and live, work and volunteer in the parks system for a few years. In the meantime, our family is incredibly grateful for the regular opportunities to unplug, spend a week in the woods and return with a clean spirit to face the next challenge with fresh eyes.
Rebecca Rowland is the director of human resources at Campbell Hall Episcopal, a K–12 school in North Hollywood, California. Her husband, Jason, is a teacher in the middle school drama program, and their daughter, Miranda, is a third grader at the school.
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