52 to go

Well before retiring I developed a list of retirement projects and goals. High on the list of retirement goals was visiting every national park.

After reading The National Parks by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns that goal has moved to the top of the list.  It won’t be an easy goal to accomplish though. Two of the 58 national parks lie outside of the fifty states. One is in American Samoa. Another is in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Most are west of the Mississippi River with Alaska and California having the largest number.

(Nebraska has no national parks but is home to two national forests, several national wildlife refuges, several national monuments (Agate Fossils Beds is one example), a national historical site (Chimney Rock), a national grassland (Oglala) and a national cemetery (Fort McPherson)).

Nothing good should be easy. But we have made a start. Checked off our list are Acadia (Maine), Hot Springs (the smallest national park and located in Arkansas), Rocky Mountain (Colorado), Carslbad Caverns (New Mexico), Badlands and Wind Cave (both in South Dakota).

The events on our calendar suggest we won’t check off more national parks this year. But next year presents another opportunity and we will certainly benefit from having the winter to plan our 2012 visits. I can hardly wait.