Recently one of my cousins mentioned that she had a life goal to visit all the National Parks in the US. "I've visited a ton of National Parks," I thought, "That would be so awesome and I could do it easily!" Ha, ha, ha.
Ha.
Do you know how many National Parks there are? 58. I've been to eleven. But since Sam's only been to eight, I'll have to do those other three again, so we have 50 to go. Here's a map. Sam and I have been to the red ones.
But that's not the daunting part. The problem is that EIGHT of them are in Alaska. ALASKA. You know, "I can see Russia from my house" Alaska. Cold, ice, snow Alaska. Freeze to death Alaska.
I told all this to my dad and he tells me, "You know, there's a saying, 'Never go to Alaska ... because you'll never leave.' It's really beautiful. And the summer weather is nice." So I looked up the summer weather. The average high in Anchorage during July (the warmest month) is 65 degrees. SIXTY FIVE DEGREES. I still wear a coat when it's 65 degrees! The record high is - prepare for this - 92 degrees. Barely warm enough to go swimming. And that was in 1931. Maybe I can do all eight in one fell swoop during July - and I'll pray for a record-setting heat wave.
All this thinking about ice is making me cold. I'm going to go put on a coat.
25 comments:
Just wait a couple of years for Alaska. According to Al Gore you should have tropical weather there by then!
Derek
Good point, Derek! I hadn't thought of that! We'll do the tropical ones first (before it gets too hot) and save Alaska for 50 years from now! :)
You make me giggle!
Hey, what a fun goal! It reminds me of the family I heard about on the radio that was trying to visit as many zoos in one year as they could.
Erik and I have wanted to live in Alaska - he was a canoe guide there one summer. Did you know that he could transfer there with his job with the D.O.D.?? We've considered it... :-)
Wow! Even American Samoa has a National Park!Interesting... you know that's where Spencer was born; but his parents tell me there's not much of anything "American" about Samoa. Anyhow, great goal. Acadia National Park in Maine is gorgeous! I wouldn't really worry a lot about Alaska being too cold; your body should adjust to the extreme cold pretty quickly. Both of my sister in laws just went there on vacay and they didn't complain about the weather and they're always cold. From all the pictures we've seen, Alaska's beautiful! Spencer and I have been trying to get there on a trip for some time now. I've never looked at a map with all the National parks on them before. It's interesting to see just how many of them are west of the Rocky Mountains.
Sarah - Well, if you do go out there, let us know. Maybe we'll end up doing Alaska sooner than later so that we can visit you! :)
Steph - I was surprised to see that so many National Parks were out west, as well. Especially considering how lush the east is!
I say start with the ones that are closest to the equator. American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands? Who knew?
One of the summers I was there it was 85^, so you could get lucky. It really isn't that bad. PLUS, since you have so much light, you could do like 5 of them in one day. Okay, mabye not 5, but definately 3. If you ever go, I could be your tour guide:)
Caroline - I'm so taking you up on this! Let's do Alaska together, okay? (I'm dead serious, by the way.)
Austin's boss when on a cruise to Alaska and LOOOOOVED it!
I like the ones that look like they are in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. That's my kind of National Park. :) I have heard great things about Alaska, but I agree. The cold is just too much.
I bet if you go to Alaska in January you won't have a problem leaving. :o)
I've totally missed being up there! Isn't funny? I only spent 2 summers there, and I LOVED it! Granted, it was 2 summers, and not 2 winters. Aaron totally wants to go back though.
Dude. And those parks in Alaska are really spread out. As in - as-spread-out-as-the-continental-US.
I don't think I'll be making this goal anytime soon.
This is quite a goal to achieve...Then you could add all the state Parks, which are sometimes more interesting and historical. When you do State Parks, I bet you have been to alot. I have been to 14 National Parks and many more State Parks. Travel is Adult Education at its finest.
Tickets are on sale to Alaska right now. Seriously. We have been looking. GREAT prices from Denver. travelzoo.com
Oh, enjoy the normal heat of 50-60 degrees!! It'd be easy to go to the national parks up NW-you could stay with my parents and get to a few of them easily! What a great goal, wish I could do it with you!
Yeah, good luck with the Alaska ones. But hey, you'll have bragging rights about traveling all over Alaska...I mean, how many people can say that?
I've only been to 5 or 7. Look at Missouri and Georgia, and notice the lack of National Parks in the vicinity!
Maybe you can buy a lifetime park pass and get admission discounts...
Alyn - I had never thought to see if they have a lifetime pass! We own a year pass - it's $80 and you get in to all National Parks for free. A lifetime pass would do us good! :)
Hey--Rocky Mountain National Park is only an hour from our house...it's beautiful. Come visit!
That would be a blast to see all the National Parks! Good idea! We have a goal to see all the temples of the world and visit all Disney Parks around the world! First would be the Disney Parks though... Are we gonna burn for that one?
This is my goal too, and I haven't even been to 8. I have a long way to go, but I have a lot of life ahead of me! Good luck to you!
Bos - YOU were the cousin I was referring to. :)
You don't know me, I accidently clicked on your blog instead of someone else that I know with the same name as you.
Anyway. I actually lived in Alaska for six months and it's trues it's kind of cold...at first. You get used to it. You grow to appreciate it more when you live in Utah and days get to be 110 degrees. I totally recommend going it's absolutely beautiful. I'm not sure if you know this but the national forests are in two different areas and can't be reached by car. I know this because there are no roads from Juneau to Anchorage. You have to either take a boat through the Gulf of Alaska, a plane or driving from "J" to "A" you would need to drive through British Columbia, Canada then Yukon Territory then cross over back into Alaska and drive like 8 to 10 more hours to Anchorage. But that is just between the two largest national parks. I'm not sure about the others. I think some of them you can't get to because a lot of Anchorage area is condensed because of marsh lands.
I would love to go back to Alaska. It's BEAUTIFUL.
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