“The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom.” – Theodore Roosevelt
My wife and I are planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is one of those funny places for me. I’ve always wanted to go but never have. Since she has been there, she has set up an itinerary of what to see and do. I’ve visited a lot of places in my life. I’ve been to over 45 nations, lived for months at a time in Greece, France, Italy, and England. Somehow the places that have escaped my wanderings the most are the treasures of my own nation. In fact, I haven’t peered into the Grand Canyon (except from an airplane and that doesn’t count!), seen the Everglades, been to Alaska, seen the Grand Tetons, or the Redwood Forest, or the Sequoia Forest.
When I think about it, my leisure time seems to be spent camping in the northwest, eating at an outdoor cafe in Paris or Milan, swimming with Sharks in Micronesia, eating mangoes in the Philippines, surfing in Mexico, and even visiting national parks in Canada. All are fun and great memories but what a great deal is missing. I have spent such scarce amounts of time at home. I’m missing too much!
Isn’t that how it always works? It seems like the people who live in New York never visit the Statue of Liberty. Somehow we always think that life is more exciting in another pasture and we miss the treasures of our own backyard. Starting now, that is changing. I’m going to hook up the jPod teardrop trailer and camp in my own “backyard”.
To wet my appetite, I researched articles and footage from Yellowstone National Park (I know, I know….It is really geeky but I’ll enjoy my vacation more that way). The video (above) is my favorite find. Since I am the Social Studies teacher, I had to look up some historical photos of Yellowstone. Here are some of my favorites from the US Library of Congress.
I hope that you have been appropriately inspired to go camping!
Until next time,
The Geek