Traveler Info
Biography
My name is Jamie, but I go by Lyssa. My goal is to travel to all 50 States and as many National Parks as I can. I’ve visited 22, so far. I love to plan road trips and drive my husband CRAZY with all the trips I plan [though he secretly likes it]. I blog here: https://jamielyssa.net/ about the travel adventures we go on and post a lot of pictures.
Next on our agenda is: [no specific order, it just will happen within the next 5 years!]
1. Road trip to Glacier National Park in Montana and then cross into Canada and visit the parks there [currently planned for June 2021, with lodging booked, let’s hope the world gets under control by then!]
2. Hawaii [sometime in 2022]
3. California road trip to visit friends and visit several national parks there included by not limited to: Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon/Sequoia, Yosemite [a revisit], Channel Islands, and Lassen Volcanic National Park.
4. Revisit Washington state and revisit Olympic National Park, as well as Mt Rainier, and the Cascades.
5. Road trip to Missouri, from there go to Kentucky and visit Mammoth Caves National Park, and then go to Arkansas to visit Hot Springs National Park [hoping to do that this year if the world gets less crazy]
6. Dakota trip to both Dakotas and Teddy Roosevelt and Badlands National Park.
Other than that… I’m a special ed teacher, who works with autistic students, ages 3 through 6, and I live with my husband Justin, who teaches calculus and computer science. We have five cats. In my spare time, I love to read, write, play video-games, and take photos. I also love hiking.
Number of States Visited
45
Memorable Travel Experience(s)
1. Driving in Utah, in December 2018, en route to Zion National Park. We got caught in a blinding snowstorm going down into the town of Springdale on the completely dark Mt. Carmel Highway scenic driving DURING the government shutdown. We legit thought we were going to die. Luckily, Zion had staff working and they were able to pave a way down to the town, and down the mountain. Zion in the snow was absolutely breathtaking.
2. We spend NYE, 2019 into 2020, camping out at the Dry Tortugas National Park, and it was absolutely amazing and one of our favorite trips to date. There were only ten of us on the island after the boats left, and it was absolutely the best trip ever. We snorkeled, we got up for the sunrise and watched the sunset. We star gazed. We hiked on Bush Key and were the only ones there.
3. Hiking Bryce Canyon, Queens Garden to Navajo Loop trails, in negative temperatures, and hiking up the hoodoos. It was one of the hardest hikes that we ever did, but one of the most amazing, especially since all the hoodoos were covered in snow. It was beautiful.
4. Driving around Crater Lake and the beautiful blue color of the water.
What's next for me on my journey
Explore more of the U.S.A.
