No Bucket List, but Plenty of National Park Visits

​While taking some incredible photos in the Grand Tetons last week, it occurred to me just how many National Parks we've had the good fortune to visit.  We don't have a bucket list or a specific goal of seeing every National Park, but we have enjoyed more than a few.

The United States has set aside just under 65 protected areas of the country (plus one shared by Canada) known as National Parks.  Since Nadyne and I have been together, we have visited 22 of them, with about 10 more that happen to be on the calendar for the coming year.  It didn't hurt that we lived in Colorado and in proximity to Utah, but we stopped in about half of those we have visited just since we hit the road last year in our 5th wheel. 

Our favorite so far?  That's a difficult choice.  I loved Zion and Bryce, and camping on the edge of the Badlands was memorable.  Acadia was a bucket list item for me that didn't disappoint, as was Campobello for Nadyne, along with Rainier and St. Helens.  We were both in awe of the sheer size of the giant redwoods, the splendor of the Rockies and, of course, the sights and sounds of the mighty glaciers in Alaska.  And I didn't even mention the Grand Canyon.  No, there's just no way to choose.

Here are the National Parks we've toured and a quick gallery of some of my pics of those remarkable places:

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• Acadia (ME)
• Arches (UT)
• Badlands (SD)
• Black Canyon of the Gunnison (CO)
• Bryce Canyon (UT)
• Campobello Int'l (ME-NB)
• Canyonlands (UT)
• Everglades (FL)
• Glacier Bay (AK)
• Grand Canyon (AZ)
• Grand Teton (WY)​

• Great Sand Dunes (CO)
  
• Hot Springs (AR)
  
• Joshua Tree (CA)
  
• Mount Ranier (WA)
  
• Mount St. Helens (WA)
  
• Pinnacles (CA)
  
• Redwood (CA)
  
• Rocky Mountain (CO)
  
• Saguaro (AZ)
  
• Wind Cave (SD)
  
• Zion (UT)

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