Yellowstone National Park Memories Tell A Story Of America

(Mellow Wanderer) We’re poised for yet another seasonal transition from summer to fall. The crowds at our National Parks get thinner as kids head back to school and peak tourist season ends. Those long warm summer days of hiking, swimming, fishing, canoeing, and those cool nights of camp fires and s’mores are nearing an end. Yet, those memories will always be in the forefront of our minds.

You can now share those memories for all to see in a unique presentation created by the National Park Foundation. On the NPF website you’ll find a section called Summer Scrapbook. Here you can write about your trips and adventures and post photos and videos. Every National Park is listed. It’s really very easy to navigate. There are lots of categories to choose from to theme your story. Everything from family fun and inspirational to learning and development and more.

There is no limit to the number of stories you can tell and share. If you really have a great story, enter it in the NPF contest for a chance to win one of the prize packages, including free accommodations, tours, and meals at Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks. You have until September 5, 2014 to enter.

MW cherishes the visits our family made to the parks on the east and west coasts. I decided to share this memorable moment on the scrapbook I created on the NPF site:

LAKE YELLOWSTONE JOURNEY

It didn’t seem as though a simple fishing trip in the summer of 2008 would ignite a passion in a 14 year-old boy. There we were on Lake Yellowstone just the three of us.

My wife and I thought taking our son Ian out on the water would be good for some quiet time together, and more importantly, turn his attention away from the Game Boy he was playing in the back seat of the car as we toured the vast park.

Our guide for the trip, a young man spending his summer college break as a seasonal worker in the park, had an easygoing manner and Ian immediately connected with him.

We dropped our lines in the water. Fish weren’t biting. Not even a nibble. Yet, it didn’t matter. We were having fun just being together.

We were at our last spot and nearing the end of the trip when it happened. Suddenly, Ian’s rod bent and the reel whirled. He got one! Ian reeled it in to the side of the boat and scooped it up with a net.

This one day, this one fish, this wonderful place would leave a lasting impression in our minds, particularly Ian’s.

Fishing became Ian’s passion, and today that boy is a young man in his third year of college as a marine science major. He hopes to go on to do research with a keen interest in protecting our fisheries.

We have these special moments from time to time, and some of them can be life changing. I’d like to believe our fishing trip on Lake Yellowstone that day is one of them.

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Our National Park system took great vision and courage to create and preserve for future generations to enjoy all year long. Below you’ll see some photos from the NPS website of what autumn will look like in some of the parks. Plus, I’ve included some video from an earlier visit to Yosemite National Park.