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Southwest Family Adventures

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Category: Uncategorized

32 Articles
Matt Holmes October 11, 2024

Fall camping, Cruces Basin way northern NM

Matt Holmes August 01, 2024

Summit of Yale, Colorado 14er

We managed a single Colorado trip this summer to hike Yale, at the beginning of August. The summer was otherwise filled with backyard porch construction and a skosh of rocketry. I’m disappointed that we did very little camping; hopefully the house improvements will be worth it in the long run.

Matt Holmes February 10, 2024

Seriously challenging family yurt trip Feb 2024

This post is about a family yurt trip we did February 2024 to the Spruce Hole yurt at the NM/CO border, though I’m very late in posting this (eight months late). This was a very difficult trip. We’ve been to this yurt two (three?) times before, and it’s only a

Matt Holmes October 31, 2023

Fall family camping in northern NM

Matt Holmes October 25, 2023

Epic canyoneering trip (broken foot and helicopter rides)

Well, I definitely have a story to report. Got a helicopter ride for the first time ever. Also, first time I’ve been a member of a rescue-d party rather than the rescue-ing party. Pretty good story, actually. Short version We went canyoneering, Emma broke her foot, we effected a high-angle

Matt Holmes June 11, 2023

2023 Utah Road Trip

We just returned from a fantastic family camping road trip to southeast Utah. This time we kept our plans fairly open and flexible. We had a list of possible spots and regions and activities, but avoided putting any specific dates or expectations on anything. In the end, our overall route

Matt Holmes November 18, 2022

Canyoneering getaway

I left the family at home to meet up with friends in Utah for some adults-only canyoneering. We had a mix of beginners and experienced types. We drove up Friday, did one canyon each Saturday through Tuesday, then drove back on a Wednesday. For the first two days we had

Matt Holmes November 14, 2022

Yellow Aspen Search

Karen and I are in agreement on the perfect fall camping trip: the days must be cool enough to warrant a daytime campfire, the nights must be COLD for cozy sleeping, there must be sufficient time for ample laziness, and it must take place beneath a grove of yellow-leaved aspen.

Matt Holmes July 31, 2022

Handies 14er 2022

We hiked Handies again last weekend, partially because Emerson has never been all the way up it on his own two feet, but mostly because I convinced some other awesome families to join us for their first 14er and Handies is the best option for that in my opinion. It

Matt Holmes July 18, 2022

Mt Shavano (CO 14er)

Karen went out of town for work, so I took the boys up to do a 14er. They were awesome. I don’t know how long it will last, but they’re currently very excited to get up in the dark in the middle of the night. Let’s ride that wave of

Matt Holmes July 02, 2022

Bolam Pass, San Juans, Camping

Bolam pass is between Purgatory and Rico(?). Drive north from Durango, hang a left at the Purgatory ski area, drive past all the ski area bits and continue up and West out the Hermosa creek to the end of that valley, hang a right angle turn North and drive close

Matt Holmes May 14, 2022

Great Sand Dunes/Medano Pass Camping

Matt Holmes March 20, 2021

Grand Canyon run with jonny

Down to bottom and back. Shuttle from Bright Angel TH to Kaibab TH before dawn, down kaibab then up bright angel. 18 mi, 4,500 ft, 6:40

Matt Holmes April 04, 2020

Local secret camp spot

This campsite out in the american springs area was surprisingly nice. We also found an impressive shelter that someone had built.

Karen Holmes February 12, 2019

Beginning the adventure at home through great books

Since we’ve been homeschooling, I (Karen) have read a lot of books about the topic. I remember reading once about how art shouldn’t be “taught” or forced upon kids until at least third grade. Instead, you should spend all that time and energy you would otherwise devote to painting and

Matt Holmes January 15, 2019

Teaching the Boys to Ski

When it’s cold and snowy and the days are short, it can be challenging to get the boys adequate outdoor physical activity. They can drive us crazy, literally bouncing against the physical confines of the house and figuratively bouncing against Karen and my psyches… If you’re in a place where

Matt Holmes December 30, 2016

Adults-only escape to sail in the Caribbean

(writing this 1/23/22 about a trip taken 12/27/16-1/5/17) Though this is obviously not in the southwest (or even the US), it’s nevertheless an awesome trip we slipped in between the parenting and I’m posting it here so I can look back on it and jog good memories. Many (most?) of

Matt Holmes June 17, 2016

Jemez camping along FR 144

I’m adding this post in 2022 about a 2016 camping trip, just to get the pics and video archived. The Gauss’s joined us in their camper. I recall that we had to cut a tree off the approach road, about which we were all pretty psyched. Not least because there’s

Matt Holmes June 10, 2016

Adult Canyoneering Getaway

Here I am in 2022, adding content for this trip from 2016. I recall being happy to hang out with adults, and also forgetting how to have an adult conversation. Karen stayed home with Bodie (5) and Jasper(3) and I joined new and old friends for a few days of

Matt Holmes December 05, 2015

xmas tree 2015 from the NF

Matt Holmes September 06, 2015

weeknight camp along Camp May rd with the two older boys

Matt Holmes August 16, 2015

Jasper + Dad hike Elbert

Matt Holmes August 09, 2015

weeknight camp in the local NF

Matt Holmes June 27, 2015

Weekend trip north of Chama to camp in the rain at Fishmouth Campsite

Another solo dad mission with just Bodie and Jasper, Karen stayed home with baby Emerson. Convinced another family to join me, and we spent lots of time under the tarp, and, as you can see from the pictures, the back of the car. They still had fun! The boys named

Matt Holmes June 07, 2015

Moab roadtrip, Dad/Bodie/Jasper and lots of friends

I’m writing this in 2023, trying to add these old trips into the blog, and my memory is hazy at best. Karen stayed home to experience some peace and quiet while I drove the boys to Moab and met up with a couple other families. It went extremely well, considering

Matt Holmes May 30, 2015

Boys love caves

When I was a boy I dreamed of exploring caves. We’re lucky to live in a place where I can take our boys to such things. This is at some random cliffside north of Los Alamos. We drove way down Rendija to the power station, took a left at Guaje

Matt Holmes May 22, 2015

Flagstaff area family adventures with Staveley & Fam

adding this post in 2022, as I work through my backlog of trips: Staveley and family joined us in Flagstaff in a rental house and we took the young boys on some adventures–those that were accessible to us, anyway. We hiked a lava tube, hiked down near sedona, and went

Matt Holmes April 18, 2015

another quick local NF camp night

Matt Holmes April 04, 2015

Camping along the Chama river with friends on easter

Matt Holmes March 20, 2015

Early season (chilly) start to camping season

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We’re a homeschooling family in Los Alamos, New Mexico, hoping to give our boys a love for the great outdoors and provide them with skills they’ll enjoy for life. When it comes to camping, we are experts at getting off the beaten path, away from crowded campgrounds.  And adventuring to us can be as simple as checking out a local park or as ambitious as hiking a Colorado 14’er.

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Disclosure

Since we need gas to fuel our roadtrips, we are affiliates through Amazon.com and may earn from qualifying purchases made via our links. However, we will never recommend a product that we don’t use or are not excited about. Just like you, we aim to be resourceful, practical, and intentional with our purchases and will always give full disclosure of our relationship with any vendor, sponsor, or product.

Recent Posts

  • Fall camping, Cruces Basin way northern NM
  • Summit of Yale, Colorado 14er
  • Seriously challenging family yurt trip Feb 2024
  • Fall family camping in northern NM
  • Epic canyoneering trip (broken foot and helicopter rides)

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