The National Parks

Several years ago, my family and I decided to drive cross-country from Chicago to Vancouver, Canada, to attend my niece's wedding. It was a long trip, but well worth it. As we travelled through South Dakota, with its ribbon of highway that go on forever and cornfields that line both sides of the road, I could not help but think of "spacious skies and amber waves of grain". To break the trip, we planned on visiting some of the National Parks along the way. So going, we stopped at the Badlands, and Mount Rushmore, and on the return, Olympic and Yellowstone. There is nothing like rounding the bend on the way to Mount Rushmore and coming face to face with the Presidents - or visiting Yellowstone and seeing Old Faithful erupt!

To find out more about the National Parks, start with The National Parks: America's Best Idea with Ken Burns, as this documentary will give you the history of the Parks. Next, you can watch National Parks Collection - produced by National Geographic, which explores the natural history and the wildlife. You will also find DVDs that focus on specific parks such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier and Yosemite, to name a few.

Please don't wait to enjoy and explore the National Parks. Have a great trip and a wonderful vacation!