national parks – Singin' One's Journeys

More Southern Exposure–Three New National Parks

Posted on December 17, 2024December 19, 2024 by traveler

As many times as I have driven from my hometown in North Carolina to Florida State University in Tallahassee during my years as a music graduate student and then as a music cataloger for the university’s libraries, I thought I knew the route like the back of my hand, as they say. However, most of…

More Southern Exposure–Shenandoah and Carter Presidential Library

Posted on December 16, 2024December 19, 2024 by traveler

This was my second visit to Shenandoah National Park. On my first trip in February 2024, I drove to the park’s southernmost entry and headed north on Skyline Drive. This time, I entered from the northernmost point at Point Royal and took the drive south. It was October 29th, late in the fall foliage season…

Thoughts about My Latest Long Stretch and Upcoming Plans

Posted on August 3, 2024August 16, 2024 by traveler

So, I finally got that bucket list entry, Glacier National Park, taken care of! After so many aborted attempts, I just wasn’t letting my hopes get too high until I actually steered SB through the park entrance. Anyway, it was definitely a visit that didn’t disappoint, even with the winter storm that cut the trip…

Two National Parks

Posted on March 28, 2024August 5, 2024 by traveler

Since I retired, I am more inclined to indulge my impulses and hop onto the road with little or no advanced planning. This is what happened when I literally woke up one morning and decided to visit the closest national park to the area. I had just gotten a 35 mm digital camera and wanted…

US Maps

Posted on January 23, 2024January 29, 2024 by traveler

I purchased a cloth map of the United States in January 2024 that I have used to pin stops I made during journeys referenced on this site. A photo of the map is below: As I added pins for each trip I posted about, I took pictures of those additions to the map, beginning with…

The Singin’ Tourist in the SW USA (Day 4)

Posted on November 1, 2022November 19, 2022 by traveler

Utah has five national parks. I’ve previously visited Zion National Park, so my game plan was to try to visit the remaining four parks during this trip. However, one thing had to be taken into account. Utah is a big state in area, and the roads between the parks were not exactly direct or were…

Seven National Parks in Ten Days–Can It Be Done?

Posted on May 24, 2022May 30, 2022 by traveler

I’m not sure exactly when I became a fan of national parks, but I am one. I couldn’t wait to be able to get my senior pass, but now I have it I want to put it to good use. I had visited both Rocky Mountain NP and Zion NP with my mother in 2012,…

Have Card, Will Travel

Posted on November 15, 2020July 28, 2023 by traveler

Now that I had SB and she had proven herself to be road worthy, I wanted to really put her to the test. Also, with my recent last birthday, I could now purchase a senior lifetime national park card, thus ending the annual card fees. The only thing I had to determine was whether there…