Thursday, October 1, 2009

I Don't Leave Home Without It

One of the best purchases I've made this trip is buying a National Park pass. For 80 bucks, you are allowed access to all 300+ parks for an entire year. It's almost like a little VIP pass in your pocket when you show it at the gate. Like, "um no, I am not going to pay $25 bucks...here's my PASS!"

So I'm on the road without a television. I've learned from the Internet that there is a series on PBS called "The National Parks: America's Best Idea." It's a six-episode series directed by Ken Burns and written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan. Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature's most spectacular locales – from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska - The National Parks: America's Best Idea is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background – rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy.

I look forward to watching it someday, but for now...I've got the pass! So far, I've used it at Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park, Colorado National Monument, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Cape Cod National Seashore. A photograph from each of those parks are displayed here. Can you guess each park from the pictures? The Bryce Canyon one is the hardest to spot.

On the PBS website, you can submit to share your story about a park. I submitted mine about the Cape Cod National Seashore and they posted it. You can see by clicking HERE. I would encourage you to share your experience in a National Park

Then I started thinking...how do they pick one photograph for the park pass? Lucky for us, we are all able to submit a photo of our National Park experience in a contest held each year. Do you have a picture that you want on the pass? Click here for the rules.

I hope you take the time to explore what America has to offer! Let me know how the series goes. Perhaps when I have a TV sometimes I will be able to watch.