On this day in history, in 1872, Yellowstone National Park became our first national park. With the news that our parks service has been hit with massive layoffs, let’s remember the majesty of our protected lands that we’re trying to maintain for future generations to enjoy.
I’ve been to Yellowstone twice. Once as a small child. The only memory I have of that trip is grizzly standing outside our car window while my mom freaked out. The second was a trip in the eighties. It was after a wildfire and some areas were devastated, but seeing buffalo spread over a large meadow was breathtaking. Is it any wonder I decided to set my next Montana Bounty Hunters series in West Yellowstone and feature the park and the park rangers who protect this magnificent place?
For today’s puzzle, I chose an image of the Grand Prismatic Spring—so iconic. Enjoy the puzzle!
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you’ve ever visited the park or tell me about a trip to another national park you love!
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Never been there. PA has a lot of state parks, but most are lakes or water related. Occaionally. as a kid, we vacationed near a couple of them, mostly for fishing or swimming.
I was fortunate to work on a Discovery project in Omaha (HAPPY SHOUT OUT FOR OMAHA) for 6 weeks. We saw an item in the USAToday for state park opening there. It was called Ashfall. Since we worked 7 days a week there, 4 of us happily left at noon on a Sunday. We stopped a few hours later for a bite to eat and kept going. What we didn’t realize was the map we followed in the article was more of a drawing. By the time we hit the park–which wasn’t even open yet–it was 5:00. All we could do was a quick walkthrough of the gift center. They were still building the Rhino Barn. The road was so full of deep ruts, I swear you could lose VW bugs in them.
A herd of prehistoric rhinos were found in a valley that died on the site after inhaling fine (picture cocoa powder or powder sugar) volcanic dust from an eruption in the western USA. The purpose of the Rhino Barn was to allow year around excavation. All in all, it was a great experience.
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Last summer, hubs and I spent 2 weeks exploring Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks! What an amazing trip!
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I have not had the opportunity to see Yellowstone, however, I did see a bit of the Badlands. Awesome! And the majestic Mount Rushmore. I simply sat in awe of that sight. Amazing!
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I visited Yellowstone a year before the devastating fires. I was breathtaking. When I visited about 5 years later it was not the same park.