Happy Birthday National Parks, can't wait until we meet you all!

My second summer at Boy Scout Camp, 2002, I got to lead high adventure trips. I lead scouts sea kayaking in the Apostle Island National Lake Shore. Technically the Apostle Islands aren't a National Park, but they are run through the National Park Service. I remember thinking often, "I'm getting paid to be outside sea kayaking" and to this day my answer for the best job I ever had was that job.

Sea Kayaking in Apostle Islands

In the summer of 2003 I got a call from Kimberly Clark while I was doing a summer semester at Michigan Tech. I was having a hard summer because I missed working at camp so much. I jumped at the chance to get work experience in my engineering field and then they asked me where I wanted to work- Utah or Wisconsin. My grandpa Cyrl told me Utah was the most beautiful place and I had never seen the mountains so I choose Utah.

Badlands

Dave drove with me to help me get settled in Utah and on our way we camped and stopped in the Badlands which was my very first National Park I visited. While I was in Utah I went camping, hiking and backpacking nearly every weekend. I went to the Tetons, Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Arches and my favorite Zion Nation Park. I was hooked on the beauty of the National Parks and loved visiting them.

Sawtooth Mountians- not a Nation Park but my first Mountain Backpacking Trip

Tetons

Yellowstone

Zion

Brice Canyon

Mountain Biking- Arches National Park

Dave and I both backpacked on Isle Royal National Park while at Michigan Tech, but different years and different trips. Hence the no pictures of us together. 

Glacier- 2007

A year after my graduation Dave and I and two friends went backpacking in Glacier National Park which is another awesome park, but our decision to see all the parks really solidified when Dave booked a trip to Seattle for just us when Adam was a year old. We were both worried we would miss Adam and get homesick so we scheduled ourselves very busy. We got bored with the city and wanted to get to the National Parks. We spent a day in Olympic and a day in Mount Rainer. A few months later Ken Burn's PBS special "National Parks America's Best Decision" aired and we got even more serious about seeing all of America's national beauty.

Every time we book a trip we look to see how close the nearest National Park is. We've been to the Grand Canyon, Accadia, Congaree and Sagauro in the last 3 years mostly because of other trips planned for other reasons (weddings or hockey tournaments- you know the two things that get us to travel). Last Christmas I got Dave a map of all the national parks and every time we visit one we get to color in the symbol. As I write this I realize this is just the #HutchParkTour on a National scale!

Grand Canyon- 2013

Accadia- 2013

Saguaro- 2016

Congaree- 2016

So I've been to 13 National Parks, Dave's been to 12, but really together we've been to the same 10 National Parks and 49 left to go! Happy Birthday National Parks, can't wait until we meet you all!