Here is Pat's story

In some respects, I feel as though I grew up with our National Parks as part of my extended playground. Every spring and winter break, and summer, my family took trips to our national parks. My fondest memories are of walking, hiking, camping, and touring national parks and wilderness areas across the country. I was fortunate to have parents who loved to travel and loved particularly to visit the scenic wonders of this country; and who passed this enthusiasm on to both my brother (who now lives in Montana just outside of Glacier National Park) and me when we were very young. One of the best summers of my life was the one I spent working at the Grand Canyon shortly after I graduated from college. For months, I could not get over the fact that I woke every morning on the south rim of the canyon and that I spent my lunch hours walking the rim trail and my days off hiking up and down, in and out of the canyon.

After living outside of the US for a number of years, I returned home with a renewed interest and belief in this truly remarkable system of parks we have in this country and the extraordinary commitment we've made as a nation to preserve these areas for not only the present but the future. For the last few years, my travel has focused on visiting and revisiting national parks across the country, whether it is day trips to hike the trails in the nearby Shenandoah National Park, sightseeing the many historic sites in the District of Columbia, or taking longer vacations to the parks of Hawaii, Montana, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Texas, New York, California, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, or Utah just to name a few places. And to make it even more interesting, for the last few years, my partner Rusty and I have traveled with our Bison Buddy "Buffy" who has joined us in myriad adventures. Buffy likes best to ride on the front dashboard of the car where he can see the road ahead, and yes, he is also very fond of having his photo taken at scenic overlooks - oblivious to the curious looks of bystanders. He also enjoys peeking out of the back of a backpack! Having returned a few weeks ago from a fantastic trip to southeastern Utah where wevisited Bryce, Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Glen Canyon, and Natural Bridges, we are already starting to think about where to go next summer-which park should we visit for the first time, or which should we revisit? Right now, Buffy is leaning towards Yellowstone - I think you can guess why!