July 25, 2022
I’m sitting in a hotel room near the Orlando airport as I write this entry, waiting to fly out to Des Moines, Iowa tomorrow and begin trip #5. The flight leaves at 6:30 AM and the drive takes 1½ to two hours from my home to the airport, so it made more sense to drive here on the day before and spend the night in a local airport.
This will be the first trip in my National Park tour in which I do not use my own car. Instead, I will be renting a small SUV in Des Moines, and meeting an old friend and former work colleague, who will join me on this two-week adventure.
My friend’s favorite National Park is Yellowstone and that will be the western destination for this trip. However, we will take the truly scenic route to get there. Our trip will head north into Minnesota with a stop at Pipestone National Monument, then continue on into North Dakota where we visit Knife River Indians Villages and Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Sites along with Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Heading southwest into Montana we will stop at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument on our way to Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, and ultimately on to Yellowstone National Park. We’ll be spending a few days at Yellowstone before leaving the park on the John D Rockefeller Memorial Parkway and passing through Grand Teton National Park.
We then head back east venturing into southwestern South Dakota. On one day we’ll visit two caves: Wind Cave National Park, and Jewel Cave National Monument. Of course, we’ll stop at Mount Rushmore, then head back into Wyoming briefly to visit Devils Tower National Monument. Returning to South Dakota, we’ll stop at Badlands National Park and Minuteman Missile National Historic Site before finally heading back to Des Moines.
In summary, we will visit 15 National Park sites including: five National Parks, four National Monuments, three National Historic Sites, one Memorial Parkway, one National Memorial, and one National Recreation Area. I will pass the 10% mark in the number of parks visited AND the one-year mark of my adventure.
I did not visit as many sites as I hoped during this first year as life interfered with plans a few times. At the current rate, it will take 10 years to complete all 423. However, I have mapped out (for my own reference right now) a plan that will complete the goal in just over five years from its start. That means a few more aggressive trips over the next few years, so we will see how that goes.
Meanwhile, I am looking forward to the start of trip number 5. After flying into Des Moines Tuesday, we will pick up the rental car, do some food shopping, then load the car on Wednesday and head out Thursday morning. Look for my first blog entry Thursday or Friday evening.
Steve
