US National Park Service

[geonuc]

The National Park Service rocks.

Most of the time I visit national parks, monuments and historic sites, I find well maintained, well preserved, well presented attractions, be they vast areas of wilderness such as Denali, Yellowstone and Death Valley, or fascinating examples of our nation's history, such as Castillo de San Marcos, where I was last weekend. These people just know how to do it, and how not to overdo it.

I compare my many, many trips to NPS sites with such crap as, say, the Arizona Meteor Crater, a private attraction. That place is a joke and a travesty. Over-commercialized, limited access, limited fun, limited everything. It's a travesty because it needs to be part of the park service.

I just thought I'd throw out kudos to the NPS. My visit to the San Marcos fort was a wonderful experience and I attribute it wholly to the NPS.

[OldCM]

I agree with you about the NPS. I haven't been to a bunch of those places you have, but I did visit Washington D.C. once.

To me, the most interesting site I visited was Ford's Theatre. I don't know if it is operated by the NPS or not, but the entire show, museum and the house across the street from it was very well done, very informative. All of which made it the most pleasant visit I made. The Capitol police chased me off of thee steps to the Capitol building, an order which I quickly followed.

[Swift]

NPS rocks.

And I suspect that most of that staff are paid shockingly little.

Googling.... found

Average salaried - $45,000 a year (I suspect these are people like park managers)
Average hourly - $14-$15/hour - $30,000 a year if they worked full time (I think most do not, a lot are seasonal)

[Rommie]

Ford's Theater is NPS- I know cause since last January I've been collecting NPS stamps. Yes, it would've made more sense to start collecting them when I still lived in the country, but what are you gonna do.

I've known a few of the guys and it really is a labor of love kind of job. You do it because you love the outdoors and/or sharing our country's national treasures.

Looking forward to adding a few stamps from Boston NPS sites in a week or two when at my sister's- they have some random ones you wouldn't expect too which is awesome, like Longfellow's house (ie the poet).

[geonuc]

I'm an NPS geek - I do the passport stamping thing.

[Thumper]

I'm an NPS geek - I do the passport stamping thing.

Neil Peart agrees with you. When on tour in the US he opts to motorcycle from venue to venue. He and his riding partner figure in any NPS location remotely between his end points and always stops in to get his passport stamped. Most of his books contain a reference and description to one or more parks, usually including some interesting history.

[Swift]

Though I'm happy to pay, here is a listing of Free Days for the NPS for 2013

http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm

January 21
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

April 22-26
five days during National Park Week

August 25
National Park Service Birthday

September 28
National Public Lands Day

November 9-11
Veterans Day weekend

By the way geonuc, I heard it is supposed to be 130F in Death Valley this week. But it is a dry heat...

[Swift]

As a game, I'm trying, off the top of my head, to name all the US national parks I've been to....

Yellowstone
Grand Teton
Yosemite
Volcano (Hawaii)
Haleakala
Olympic
Mount Saint Helens
Denali
Glacier Bay
Sitka
John Lafitte (Louisiana - volunteered there)
Cuyahoga Valley
James Garfield home (in my home town)
Everglades
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks
Gettysburg
Cape Cod National Seashore
Mammoth Cave
Rocky Mountain (CO)

I'm sure there are others...

[Thumper]

By the way geonuc, I heard it is supposed to be 130F in Death Valley this week. But it is a dry heat...

So's my oven...

[Thumper]

As a game, I'm trying, off the top of my head, to name all the US national parks I've been to....

Yellowstone
Grand Teton
Yosemite
Volcano (Hawaii)
Haleakala
Olympic
Mount Saint Helens
Denali
Glacier Bay
Sitka
John Lafitte (Louisiana - volunteered there)
Cuyahoga Valley
James Garfield home (in my home town)
Everglades
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks
Gettysburg
Cape Cod National Seashore
Mammoth Cave
Rocky Mountain (CO)

I'm sure there are others...

Wow, I'd really have to do some research to come up with a complete list for me. We did alot of traveling when I was a kid. Been to alot of places but some I don't know if they were NPS or if we were in the NPS part of area.

[geonuc]

By the way geonuc, I heard it is supposed to be 130F in Death Valley this week. But it is a dry heat...

Yes, I heard that. I can only hope it will be toasty like that when I'm there in two weeks.

[geonuc]

I'm an NPS geek - I do the passport stamping thing.

Neil Peart agrees with you. When on tour in the US he opts to motorcycle from venue to venue. He and his riding partner figure in any NPS location remotely between his end points and always stops in to get his passport stamped. Most of his books contain a reference and description to one or more parks, usually including some interesting history.

I have no idea who the hell Neil Peart is, but he's ok in my book.

[geonuc]

As a game, I'm trying, off the top of my head, to name all the US national parks I've been to....

Sounds like fun. Without consulting my NPS passport book:

Death Valley
Sequoia
Kings Canyon
Catalina Islands
Joshua Tree
Redwoods
Yellowstone
Grand Tetons
Glacier
Denali
Glacier Bay
The big volcano place in Hawaii where Pele lives
Teddy Roosevelt
Big Bend
Carlsbad Caverns
Guadalupe Mountains
Grand Canyon
Zion
Bryce
Canyonlands
Arches
Acadia
Great Smokies
Everglades
Shenandoah
Mt Shasta
.
.
.
I'm losing it. Maybe more.

[Thumper]

I'm an NPS geek - I do the passport stamping thing.

Neil Peart agrees with you. When on tour in the US he opts to motorcycle from venue to venue. He and his riding partner figure in any NPS location remotely between his end points and always stops in to get his passport stamped. Most of his books contain a reference and description to one or more parks, usually including some interesting history.

I have no idea who the hell Neil Peart is, but he's ok in my book.

Don't get me started.....He's the percussionist and chief lyricist of the Canadian band Rush. (Finally got inducted into the RaRHoF about 20 years late.) He writes and blogs. I'm betting you would enjoy his books whether or not you cared spit about his music. He's a ferocious reader and researcher and it shows in the descriptions and histories of the locations he writes about.

[geonuc]

Don't get me started.....He's the percussionist and chief lyricist of the Canadian band Rush. (Finally got inducted into the RaRHoF about 20 years late.) He writes and blogs. I'm betting you would enjoy his books whether or not you cared spit about his music. He's a ferocious reader and researcher and it shows in the descriptions and histories of the locations he writes about.

The drummer for Rush? He's awesome, even if I didn't recognize his name.

[Thumper]

Don't get me started.....He's the percussionist and chief lyricist of the Canadian band Rush. (Finally got inducted into the RaRHoF about 20 years late.) He writes and blogs. I'm betting you would enjoy his books whether or not you cared spit about his music. He's a ferocious reader and researcher and it shows in the descriptions and histories of the locations he writes about.

The drummer for Rush? He's awesome, even if I didn't recognize his name.

He||, most people can't pronounce his name.

[Rommie]

Another +1 to report for this thread, though I guess it was the National Forest Service rather than the Park Service. Today I drove the Kancamangus Highway in northern New Hampshire for a bit of geocaching and hiking, which is in the White Mountains National Forest, and had a lovely time reading the ten bajillion informative signs along the way and going on lots of well-maintained hiking trails and what not. Only cost was $3, which you had to put in an envelope and detach a card to put on your dashboard in return (ie very much the honor system).

I've heard the National Forest System does some stuff not so well when it comes to their commercial interests, but I've gotta say they do a spectacular job of this part of their empire at least!

[geonuc]

Another +1 to report for this thread, though I guess it was the National Forest Service rather than the Park Service. Today I drove the Kancamangus Highway in northern New Hampshire for a bit of geocaching and hiking, which is in the White Mountains National Forest, and had a lovely time reading the ten bajillion informative signs along the way and going on lots of well-maintained hiking trails and what not.

Love those information signs. Montana has a bunch of them and I seem to recall driving a highway through mountains in Wyoming that had signs indicating the geologic age of the rock you were driving through. Bighorn National Forest, I think.

[geonuc]

Speaking of national forests, when traveling the road east out of Big Pine California towards the Saline Valley - a remote part of Death Valley National Park - you pass a sign that says you're entering such and such national forest. I forget the name. Except there isn't a tree in sight and damn few large bushes. I have to wonder how the boundaries are set.