US Road Trip Adventures

09/02/2026

08/31/2026

Why does the government give **4th graders** a free national parks pass?

It sounds random.

But there's actually a pretty good reason. 👀

Kids around ages 9–11 are at an age where they're becoming more curious about the world around them.

So every year, the U.S. gives 4th graders a chance to explore America's public lands and waters with their families — **for free.**

And the new year starts September 1st. 🎟️

Which means if your kid is heading into 4th grade this fall…

**YOU HAVE A WHOLE YEAR TO MAKE SOME MEMORIES.**

Imagine saying:

“Where should we go?”

🏔️ Mountains
🦖 Dinosaur sites
🌊 Lakes and beaches
🦌 Wildlife refuges
🌲 National forests
🌌 Dark skies
🏜️ National parks

This is one of those things I wish more parents knew about.

So I'm doing my part:

**If you know a 4th grader, SHARE THIS WITH THEIR PARENTS.**

They may have just found the excuse they've been waiting for to take that road trip. ❤️

🎟️ The program is called Every Kid Outdoors.

Send a message to learn more

08/01/2026

No ORV license. No trail permit. Michigan is opening the whole system Aug 15–16 — every state trail, every route, all six scramble areas — to residents and out-of-staters alike.

06/25/2026

There are 6 Grateful Dead tribute festivals in California in 2026.

Six. 🌹

I went looking for a list of every music festival in California and ended up cataloging all 165+ of them — including a whole section just for Deadheads.

Coachella, Stagecoach, Outside Lands, Hardly Strictly, plus dozens you've never heard of.

Organized by month. Filtered by genre. Camping festivals listed separately.

If California is on your 2026 road trip list, this one's for you. 🎸

👉 https://roadtripowl.com/california-music-festivals/

🦉

Every music festival in California, organized by month and genre. From Coachella to hidden mountain-town gems, with hotels, tickets, and past performers.

06/06/2026

Confession: I plan a lot of my vacations around music festivals.
Not "oh that sounds fun, maybe we'll swing by" — I mean I check the festival calendar first, THEN pick the dates. 🦉
So when I went looking for one place that showed me every music festival in Michigan — mapped, by month, with hotel info and what to pack — and basically found nothing? I was annoyed.
So I made it.
99 Michigan music festivals. Mapped. Filterable by genre, region, and camping. From Electric Forest to a polka festival in Cedar (yes, really). Big names, hidden gems, all of it.
Link in the first comment 👇

06/04/2026

Okay, real talk: I got SO tired of "free" road trip planners that wanted my email, couldn't add up a budget, and fell apart the second I was actually on the road. 🙄
So I built my own. And I'm giving it away for free. 🦉
It lets you:
✅ Plan your trip day by day
✅ Drop in the exact address for every stop (lifesaver when the GPS can't find a place by name)
✅ Track what you PLANNED to spend vs. what you ACTUALLY spent
✅ Map your whole route in Google Maps with one tap
✅ Save it AND print a clean copy for the car
No download. No email. No cost. Just fill it out and go.
Whether you're doing Route 66 on a shoestring or a big family Florida trip, this'll keep your days organized and your budget honest.
Grab it free — link in the comments 👇

05/30/2026

This is your reminder that the 55% off Busch Gardens Tampa Memorial Day sale ends TOMORROW 🚨

If you've been wanting to do SeaWorld or Busch Gardens but the prices keep stopping you — or you can't decide which Florida park to hit this year — here's your answer 👇

This is for you if:

🌴 You go to Florida every year anyway
👪 You've got family or friends visiting this year and want a cheap way to take them out (hello, 8 free guest tickets)
🎄 You're already thinking about Christmas gifts — this one pays out monthly perks for a full year
🤷‍♀️ You've been "thinking about" a Florida trip forever and need a deadline to finally book it

Stack our Platinum Pass hack with the 55% off sale and you're piling savings on top of savings.

But only until tomorrow.

Don't let this one slip by 💚

Don't make me write an "I told you so" post on Monday 😆

Full breakdown 👇 in the comments.

05/26/2026

Busch Gardens Tampa just dropped 55% off tickets for Memorial Day — and a lot of families are about to leave money on the table. 🎢

Here's the thing nobody's telling you: even at 55% off, single-day tickets might NOT be the cheapest way to take your family.

We did the math, and there's a workaround that gets you:

🎢 Unlimited visits for a full year (not just one day)
🅿️ Free parking every visit ($35 value each time)
🎟️ 8 free guest tickets to use throughout the year
🐬 Access to ALL 11 parks — SeaWorld, Aquatica, Sesame Place, Adventure Island, all of them
🎁 Monthly perks (Busch Bucks, free food samples, free Quick Queues, merchandise discounts)

Here's the part most people miss: it pays off on your very first trip. So even if this is a one-and-done Florida vacation for you, the math still works — the free guest tickets and other 10 parks are just gravy to use later if you want them.

The 55% off Memorial Day sale ends Sunday, May 31 either way, so don't sleep on it. But before you click buy, run the numbers for your family. Full breakdown 👇 in the comments.

05/19/2026

HEY!! if you've been searching for clean sunscreen for YEARS —
you can stop now. I finally found it.

I took this stuff to a 3-day festival south of where I live
where it was so hot people were buying 7-POUND BAGS OF ICE
and just sitting with them on their laps to cool down. Three
days in actual punishing sun. I did not burn. Not even a
little pink.

And the clean after-sun lotion I found is just as wild — I
apply it every OTHER day vs every 20 minutes with the
chemical stuff. Like… what.

If you've been doing the dance — reading ingredient lists,
getting fooled by greenwashed "clean" brands that aren't
really clean, almost giving up and going back to regular
sunscreen — I see you. We found them. We did it. 🦉

(Plus there's a vitamin E pill trick that lives in my
suitcase forever now that I have to tell you about.)

Link in comments 👇

05/17/2026

There is a giant rooster riding in the back of an El Camino next to a dinosaur in Missouri and that is somehow not even the weirdest thing here. 😂
Uranus, Missouri sits right on Route 66 and it is completely free to walk around.
The Uranus Fudge Factory. The Uranus City Jail. A water tower that proudly declares itself Home of the Pirates. A sideshow museum. A double decker bus called The Funk Yard. A life size viking woman. A hot dog stand with a sign that says "Get a Weiner in Uranus, Put a Smile on Your Face." A zoological park photo cutout. Dinosaurs just standing on the side of the road.
Every single thing at this place was designed to make you say the word Uranus as many times as possible and honestly it works perfectly.
Free. Route 66. Missouri. Absolutely worth the stop.