Description:

Hello, brand new year! Since hindsight is 20/20, Danielle, Bryan, and the girls take this episode to reminisce on their 2019 park travels and look ahead to what they’ve planned for 2020. They add to their already extensive bucket list and answer a listener’s question about budget planning for a national park visit. And, of course, this wouldn’t be a family episode if it didn’t end with a joke or two.

Discussion includes the following:

1:19 - South Florida Itinerary: Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park

2:15 - Government shutdown: what effect a shutdown can have on the NPS and how South Florida volunteers stepped in

4:41 - Bryan discovers the beauty, diversity, and chickee huts of Everglades National Park

5:47 - Biscayne National Park: from boat excursions to paddleboarding adventures in Jones Lagoon

6:25 - Saguaro National Park adventure (by of a snowstorm-thwarted Petrified Forest National Park visit) and bucket list items for the future

7:58 - Shenandoah National Park and Yorktown Battlefield

8:41 - San Francisco Bay, West Coast Adventure Part I: Muir Woods National Monument, The Presidio, Rosie The Riveter WWII historical site

9:03 - Yosemite National Park, West Coast Adventure, Part II: Ranger Shelton Johnson on Instagram, Glacier Point, High Sierra camping and site lottery

11:37 - East Coast Adventure, Part I: Boston Harbor, The Freedom Trail, USS Constitution, Fort McHenry National Monument

12:03 - East Coast Adventure, Part II: Fire Island National Seashore, the lighthouse, and the sunken forest plus Monarch butterfly migration

13:37 - East Coast Adventure, Part III: Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

14:20 - East Coast Adventure, Part IV: Saratoga National Historical Park and Alexander Hamilton’s Schuyler House

15:27 - East Coast Adventure, Part V: Springfield, MA and Harpers Ferry Amory and Arsenal National Historic Park

16:00 - Favorite Interviews, Part I: reminiscing with Ken Burns on the tenth anniversary of his documentary series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea

17:33 - Favorite Interviews, Part II: Park Ranger Shelton Johnson and the Buffalo Soldiers

17:56 - Favorite Interviews, Part III: Becky Lomax, author of the Moon Guide USA National Parks: A Guide To All 59 Parks

18:48 - Twitter Patter: a trip to the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site for a live meetup of #parkchat participants

19:04 - A question from a listener prompts a discussion about trip budgets

20:04 - Budget Tip #1: the cost benefits of shoulder season travel

21:04 - Budget Tip #2: getting comfortable with camping

22:32 - Budget Tip #3: accommodation ideas from AirBnB to gateway towns to KOA campgrounds

23:02 - Budget Tip #4: the travelling (not-so) gourmet

24:11 - Budget Tip #5: you CAN take (most of) it with you if you fly Southwest Airlines (and even if you can’t, there are companies that can pack and deliver everything you need right to your campsite)

25:38 - Budget Tip #6: the Every Kid Outdoors program gets you in free with a fourth-grader (really!) or you can opt for an annual NPS pass

27:14 - Looking Ahead to 2020: Trips to Big Bend National Park in Texas and Montana’s Glacier National Park as well as an episode on Bryan’s guys-only trip to Isle Royale National Park

29:13 - Highlights from 2019, Part I: sunrises at Flamingo Campground, Everglades; hiking Saguaro’s Garwood Dam and Wildhorse Tank Loop Trail; walking Yosemite’s Vernal and Nevada Fall trails; seeing Tom Bopp, the singing historian of Yosemite, perform at Wawona Hotel

30:53 - Highlights (and a lowlight) from 2019, Part II: starlight and super crows in South Florida, the Fen Boardwalk at Happy Isles, Yosemite

32:05 - Yorktown Battlefield Historic Site: Bryan’s personal connection

33:44 - Gettysburg National Military Park and Matt Atkinson, park ranger extraordinaire

34:15 - Statue of Liberty National Monument

34:51 - A Second-Grader Reflects On Her 2019 Travels: fireplaces fit for performances at Yosemite’s Wawona and Ahwahnee hotels, storytime with Tom Bopp, Firefall history at Yosemite’s Curry Village, Vernal Falls hiking,

41:26 - A Fifth-Grader Reflects on Her 2019 Travels: Snorkelling at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park invasive iguanas, a snowball fight along Yosemite’s John Muir Trail, and the Shark Valley Tram Tour in Southern Florida

For complete show notes and blog post, visit everybodysnationalparks.com.

If this is your first time tuning in, go back and listen to past episodes:

Listen to the entire Everglades & Biscayne series here (episodes 11.1 - 11.5).

The Saguaro trip series begins here (episodes 15.1 - 15.5).

Check out the Shenandoah episodes here (episodes 2.1 - 2.4.2).

Get to know Yosemite National Park by starting here (episodes 19.1 - 19.8).

2019 was also the year of special conversations with a diverse group of national park champions. Author Becky Lomax chatted with Danielle and Bryan about her guidebook and offered travel tips to lesser-known parks. Ranger Shelton Johnson introduced listeners to the Buffalo Soldiers of Yosemite National Park while historian and entertainer Tom Bopp delighted everyone with a song. But the highlight of the year was a visit with acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns. The filmmaker took time out of his busy schedule to discuss the creation and legacy of the National Park Service and celebrate the tenth anniversary of his series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.

We also have covered other parks including: Crater Lake, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Olympic, Rock Creek, Virgin Islands, Yellowstone, and Zion.

Actions:

Subscribe to our podcast from our website https://www.everybodysnationalparks.com/

Tell your friends about Everybody’s National Parks

Send us your national park stories, recommendations, comments, or questions to Hello at everybodysnps.com.

Support us on Patreon

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Please tag us from the parks you are visiting at #everybodysnationalparks