LONG STORY SHORT By Kristine McGowan My brain hasn’t quite absorbed this yet, so I need to put it in writing: As of two weeks ago, Jason and I have visited every national park in the contiguous United States. That’s every park we can drive to. Every park from the Redwoods in California to the wetlands in Florida to the mountains in Maine. Which means we’ve done it. The goal that sparked our idea for the Big Trip six years ago? It’s complete. And I’m not sure how I feel about it. Sure, we haven’t seen all the U.S. national parks—we still have four left in Alaska, not to mention the overseas parks in Hawaii, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.* We still have plenty left to explore, even if we don’t know when we’ll get our next chance to hop on a plane. But as for road trips to the grand, wild places in our country that we’d only ever read about or seen pictures of? For now, those adventures are behind us. The parks we’ve visited may never feel “new” again. We may never walk up to Delicate Arch or under Sequoia trees or into the canyons of Big Bend with the fresh, wide-eyed awe we once did. Which makes me a little sad. But also happy. Because we’re not done with those parks. Frankly, I don’t think we ever will be. They’re still our favorite places in the world, new or not. And when we go back, we might see more of the little things that make them special. Maybe we’ll notice how Delicate Arch’s colors change between the seasons. Or how big some of the younger Sequoia trees have grown since we last saw them. Or how much the monsoons have reshaped Big Bend’s canyons. None of it will feel especially new. But we’ll love visiting our old friends anyway. Where have we been?Shenandoah National Park, Va.  We came to our last new national park of the trip looking for fall colors and some hiking—and boy, we got a lot of both. Shenandoah’s Skyline Drive was awash with yellow and orange, and when we hit the trail up Old Rag Mountain, we quickly realized it would be the toughest hike we’ve done since last fall. (The scrambling section near the summit felt even dicier than Precipice Trail in Acadia National Park at times.) By the end, we certainly felt like old rags. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, N.C. and Tenn.  We visited the Smokies back in April but decided to come back this fall to see them in new shades of color. Many of the trees looked ready for winter by the time we arrived, but as always, the mountains gave us a great time anyway. We hiked through piles of leaves and avenues of yellow, and we took a drive to Newfound Gap for views from the ridge. We may prefer our mountain ranges out west, but we can see why the Smokies draw millions of visitors every year. Nashville, Tenn.  Hello, Music City. Nashville felt like a massive concert even before we set foot near a stage. While here, we visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and toured the historic RCA Studio B, where legends like Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton recorded some of their greatest hits. (Jason even got to sit at Elvis’s favorite piano.) We also met up with family who live nearby, and we stopped in at Puckett’s for some barbecue and live music. I’m not sure any other city has such a spot-on nickname. Where are we going next?We’re spending Election Day in Jackson, Miss., before we continue our way west. Are we stopping in Austin again for one last taste of Texas barbecue? Yes, yes we are.  139. Jackson, Miss. 140. Baton Rouge, La. 141. Austin, Texas 142. Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Okla. 143. Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas 144. Albuquerque, N.M. In other news...You don’t need the reminder, but I’ll say it anyway: It’s Election Day! We may be on the road, but we still made voting a priority. Thanks to our family, we got ahold of our mail-in ballots, filled them out, and sent them off on Sunday. If we could make a plan to vote, I’m sure you can too. Make your voice heard today!  * We didn’t visit any of Alaska’s parks on our Big Trip, but we did explore four of them while on vacation in 2021: Kenai Fjords National Park, Denali National Park and Preserve, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|
Follow us on Instagram!
|