I suppose the first part of the project should be defining some parameters. People will have questions, after all. Heck, *I* have questions, after all. But here are the thoughts I have so far:

The annual goal is at least one park per year. The year starts on my birthday in late June, and ends one year later (crazy, I know). To get to all 63 current parks, it’s an average of 2.52 parks per year. Some trips, it will be easy to get 4-6 in a row. There are also a number of parks that will probably be solo-trippers. There are a few that are nearby enough (Cuyahoga Valley and Indiana Dunes for instance) that I will probably save those for an off-year. Life has a way of sneaking up on me, so having a couple of easy ones to fall back on in a busy year sounds like a better idea that knocking those out right away in my excitement to get started.

Parks I have already visited do not count. It’s a short list anyway. Cuyahoga Valley, which I’ve visited accidentally because it’s huge and nearby. Great Sand Dunes (photo above), Grand Canyon (blog cover photo), Petrified Forest. I’m not going to say I wasn’t paying attention when I was there, but I wasn’t there with the intent this project is all about. And all of those are places I’d like to go again anyway, so a nice clean slate is a great place to start.

A “visit” means a meaningful experience at that park. I’m not going to put a time requirement on it, and every park is different. For a couple of the Alaska ones, I might decide that a flyover is enough since there aren’t actually places to land or visitor centers within the park. Some of the bigger parks I’ll want to spend a few days with and some of the smaller ones might be just a few hours. Whatever it is will depend on the character of the park in question, but it will be something meaningful.

I intend for my traveling companions to vary. While my family is full of adventurers, we all have different tastes and we are all differently busy. My husband and kids know they are welcome to be as much or as little a part of the project as they would like. If they are excited about a location and want to help me plan it and go with me, that will be fabulous. But I’d also like to involve friends. I have people I love all over this continent, and around the world, and I’m sure there are at least a few who’d take some time to go adventuring with me.

The purpose of the blog is several-fold. Most importantly, I’m using it to organize my thoughts and document my journey. I’m also using it to keep in touch with friends (and hopefully inspire them to come meet me somewhere along the path!). Eventually, my goal is that it will also be informative enough to be useful to other Park Adventurers as they plan their own trips.

I’m excited!!! This is going to be SO. MUCH. FUN.