The waves.

The smell of the salt breeze.

Their awe at its vastness, at its power, and the little details of bubbles, seaweed, and shells.

Do you remember your first beach trip? How did your kids react their first time?

(Click the photo below for a gallery of inspiration.)

The post When The Wave First Hits Them appeared first on Road Trips.

The father-son Shane duo are turning heads in California with their unique combination of muscle cars outfitted with bike racks.

You might see them in a metallic green Chevy Impala or a boss Chevelle, with a home-built Gary Fisher mountain bike on the trailer hitch, or old school Marin and Nishiki road bikes side-by-side on the rack up top.

“People seem to really like it,” Kevin says. “One guy even jumped out of his car at a traffic light to take a picture with his cell phone.”

He and dad have been cobbling together bikes since his childhood — Kevin turns 18 this fall — and they got into racks the same way.

“A guy gave my dad some old rack equipment, he bought some new tubes, and he just made it fit the Impala,” Kevin says. “People definitely notice when we pull into the campground. It’s pretty cool.”

(Photos courtesty of Kevin Shane)

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They defend their back-seat territory by piling up pillows, books and anything else that will keep a brother from crossing into the other’s personal space.

The difference, of course, is that these brothers, at just 11 years old and 9 years old, are tearing it up on the national competitive mountain biking circuit, and their road trip will likely last 15,000 miles this year.

“The kids are real good at what they do,” says dad, Kevin Yackle.

Kevin explains that, raising the boys in Cortez, Colorado, they just wanted to get them outdoors early. When Jake was able to master Utah’s infamous Porcupine Rim trail at the ripe age of 6, Kevin says he knew the kid had potential. It wasn’t long before younger brother Nye was wowing fellow gearheads, too.

In 2010, Jake was the national champion in his class. Nye followed up with a silver in the same class last year. This year, both Yackle brothers are favorites in their classes for July’s national competition in Sun Valley, Idaho.

But, it’s more than just race after race for the Yackle brothers, and they’re quick to point that out. Mom comes along on the race trips, as well as dad. They even bring the family dog, an Australian shepherd. And at some races, such as their May jaunt to Durango, a dozen family members turned out to lend support along the race course.

“Yeah, it’s really nice,” says Jake. “I really like having everyone there cheering us on. It gets pretty packed, but I like that everyone and our dog can come along.”
But, just so long as there’s still that brotherly border in the back seat, that is.

A boy’s got to have his space, after all.

(Photos courtesy of Yackle Brothers Racing)

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And it hasn’t.

Their daughter, Chloe, was 5 weeks old when they made their first foray back into the wilds.

“At 5 weeks, you’re in the throes of breast feeding and getting used to what it’s like to be interrupted all night,” Mark says. “I distinctly remember parts of it that sucked. But, what’s the alternative?”

Can’t wait to introduce your little ones to camping? Mark has these tips:

• Plan for everything
• Start with small trips
• Mix in nights with lodging and facilities on longer camping trips
• Take more friends, take more kids
• Be flexible

The post Advice For Dad On Kid-Camping appeared first on Road Trips.

“It’s one of the biggest questions people are searching for,” says Brooke Stephens.

“If the men are searching, it’s usually ‘how can I convince my wife it’s OK?’” she says. “And if it’s the women, they want to make sure they’re being a good mom and not doing anything that will inhibit their child’s growth.”

Brooke and her husband, Mark, publish AdventureParents.com where they document their outdoor activities and the outings of other families.

When Brooke got pregnant, it was like people started warning them with ominous prophecy, she says.

The in-laws, even their friends, they were telling Mark, it’s a good thing you’re getting all this climbing and backpacking out of your system now.

They were telling Brooke, it’ll be 18 years before you get your freedom back.

Not completely true. The key, Brooke says, is adapting.

Kids make you plan out all the little details, she says. There’s no picking up and taking off at the spur of the moment.

The activities change a bit, too. They transitioned from backpacking to more car-based camping and sight-seeing.

They often take trips with the grandparents, or Mark’s brother, who also brings along his daughter. A few more people on the trip can help, and more kids means more fun for them, Brooke says.

“There’s no definite answer,” she says. “But from people we’ve interviewed, if you start before first grade, the kids grow up thinking of camping trips as something fun and special.”

 (Photos courtesty of Mark Stephens/AdventureParents.com)

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