Say Cheese: Our National Park Tradition

posted on : June 16, 2016

My first visit to a national park was in 1995. I was traveling with my boyfriend’s (now husband’s) family, as they allowed me to join them on their family vacation. We were traveling to Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone. I don’t think I’ve ever been the same since: I fell in love with the parks’ majestic scenery; amazing wildlife; and breathtaking natural beauty.

As a kid, I had never been really exposed to being in the outdoors, except whatever outdoors you experience in suburbia. I had only seen mountains once while in Denver. (On this trip, my dad nearly drove off a small, two lane mountain road trying to turn the car completely around on Pike’s Peak, something my mom never let him forget.) Fast forward six years and I was setting foot in my first national park.

Once my husband and I could travel with our two kids, the number of national park trips greatly increased. As we travel across the country, we make sure to capture signs of the national parks for our memories. We haven’t taken photos at all of the parks we’ve visited, unfortunately. Sometimes we didn’t want to, or there wasn’t a good opportunity, nor a good place to take the photo.

Today, since we always make a point to stop and snap a shot, I thought I’d share with you our various photos throughout the years.