The Kay family · 2012–2026
Places
we’ve been
Fourteen of our favorite family trips, from desert canyons and redwood coast to Kauai, the Alps and Mexico City, told day by day with the photos we took.
- trips
- 14
- countries
- 8
- days away
- 97
- photos
- 829
Alps and PiazzasAugust 10–25, 2014
Steam and BisonAugust 9–16, 2016
Pyramids Before LunchNovember 23–28, 2025
A Canyon in HawaiiSeptember 1–6, 2012
North by FerryJuly 23 – August 2, 2023
Two Canyons and a BendMarch 23–31, 2012
Rim and Red RockDecember 28–31, 2018
Leaping at SunsetNovember 24–29, 2024
Pink Granite and LobsterSeptember 1–6, 2026
The Rock and the RedwoodsAugust 12–15, 2021
Two Nights at VentanaNovember 11–13, 2020
Sea Glass and a Pygmy ForestNovember 11–13, 2022
Beignets on Jackson SquareNovember 8–14, 2017
Four Nights on the InspirationMarch 22–29, 2014
The trips
Each one written up day by day, with a route map and the photos we took.
Summer 2014 · Switzerland, France, Italy
Alps and Piazzas
Destinations: Geneva →Cluses →Chamonix →Olten →Lucerne →Annecy →Venice →+3 more
Two weeks and six of us, from an ice cave under Mont Blanc and the clouds on Pilatus to pigeons on St. Mark's Square and the Sistine Chapel.
16 days · 34 photos · 4 countries
Summer 2016 · Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana
Steam and Bison
Destinations: Salt Lake City →Afton →Jackson →Moulton Barn →Old Faithful →Canyon →Mammoth →+2 more
A week in the Rockies: the Tetons, a night beside Old Faithful, a hard-won room at Canyon, and a great many bison in between.
8 days · 27 photos
Thanksgiving 2025 · Mexico City
Pyramids Before Lunch
Destinations: Polanco →Teotihuacan →Zócalo →Coyoacán →Roma Norte
Thanksgiving week in Mexico City, from an early climb up the Pyramid of the Moon and lunch in the House of Tiles to a morning in Coyoacán, Chapultepec Castle on Thanksgiving Day and a last night in Roma Norte.
6 days · 25 photos
Labor Day 2012 · Kauai, Hawaii
A Canyon in Hawaii
Destinations: Kapaa →Waimea Canyon →Spouting Horn →Ke'e Beach
Three nights on Kauai, on a flight left over from Paris, with shave ice, waterfalls, a canyon and a monk seal.
6 days · 70 photos
Summer 2023 · Oregon, Washington, British Columbia
North by Ferry
Destinations: Multnomah Falls →Portland →Olympia →Lake Quinault →Port Angeles →Victoria →Parksville →+2 more
Eleven days from Portland to Seattle the long way round, by a rain forest, two ferries, a slot canyon and a night of fireworks over English Bay.
11 days · 65 photos · 2 countries
Spring 2012 · California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona
Two Canyons and a Bend
Destinations: Los Angeles →Las Vegas →Springdale →Horseshoe Bend →Grand Canyon
A spring-break loop out of Los Angeles: Las Vegas, Zion, Horseshoe Bend and the rim of the Grand Canyon.
9 days · 79 photos
Winter 2018 · Arizona
Rim and Red Rock
Destinations: Flagstaff →Grand Canyon →Desert View →Sedona
Four winter days in Arizona: dinner at El Tovar, snow on the Grand Canyon rim, and red-rock hikes in Sedona.
4 days · 56 photos
Thanksgiving 2024 · The Bahamas and Florida
Leaping at Sunset
Destinations: Baha Mar →Coral Gables
Flamingos, a leap on the white sand at sunset, a sour coconut in Nassau, and Thanksgiving dinner at Versailles in Miami.
6 days · 93 photos · 2 countries
September 2026 · Acadia, Maine
Pink Granite and Lobster
Destinations: Somesville →Bar Harbor →Wonderland →Cadillac Mountain
We flew overnight to Maine for a few September days in Acadia and Bar Harbor: the gravel bar to Bar Island, lobster at the rental house, Beech Mountain, the shore at Wonderland, and a clear afternoon on Cadillac.
6 days · 15 photos
August 2021 · California
The Rock and the Redwoods
Destinations: San Francisco →Alcatraz →San Jose →Apple Park →Santa Cruz →Capitola
A few days off that began as a Yosemite plan and became the noon boat to Alcatraz, a day in San Jose, the four of us at the foot of a giant redwood, and a night in Santa Cruz.
4 days · 79 photos
Fall 2020 · Big Sur, California
Two Nights at Ventana
Destinations: Ventana Big Sur →Point Lobos
Two nights at Ventana, high above Highway 1, in the first pandemic autumn: redwoods, a picnic, a hidden cove and three sunsets.
3 days · 62 photos
Veterans Day weekend 2022 · Fort Bragg and Mendocino
Sea Glass and a Pygmy Forest
Destinations: Fort Bragg
Two nights on the Mendocino coast over Veterans Day weekend, with Glass Beach, a five-mile hike to the pygmy forest, fish and chips at Noyo Harbor and a morning at the Point Cabrillo lighthouse.
3 days · 91 photos
Fall 2017 · Los Angeles, California, and New Orleans, Louisiana
Beignets on Jackson Square
Destinations: New Orleans
A November week that started with a few days in Los Angeles and ended in New Orleans, with streetcars on Canal Street, Jackson Square and beignets at Café du Monde.
7 days · 64 photos
Spring 2014 · Southern California and Baja California
Four Nights on the Inspiration
Destinations: Long Beach →Avalon →Ensenada
A spring-break cruise from Long Beach to Catalina and Ensenada, with a tender ride, a swan-shaped dessert and an ice carver on deck.
8 days · 71 photos · 2 countries
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2018
2017
2016
2014
2012
The rest is for family
These are some of our favorite trips. The full archive, with every trip since we started traveling together, the people pages and every photo, is private.