sPark Memories

Happy National Park Week!

To end this fun week, today’s theme focuses on memories. National parks provide families and friends with so many wonderful and lasting memories.

Enjoy two photos from my own amazing memories from the same area in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming 15 years apart.

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What’s your favorite memory from one of the national parks?

Time to start planning the next national park trip to create more memories!

Wayback Wednesday

Happy National Park Week! Today, we flash back to the past and honor our nation’s historic natural and cultural heritages preserved in parks and communities.

History and memories are made each day at the national parks.  Take a moment to reflect on one of your own favorite national park memories today!

Enjoy a photo of my own Wayback Wednesday of the national parks of a pretty special day in my life and then again 15 years later (almost two years ago):

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Happy National Park Week!

Happy New Year!

May your 2021 be as amazing as these places!

Crater Lake National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Sequoia National Park

As 2020 closes, I am very grateful for many things! In particular, I really appreciate your following this blog! Thank you!

Happy New Year! Cheers to 2021!

National Park Movies

While we wait until we can go and visit a national park, check out a few movies here to enjoy some scenes from a variety of national parks.

  • Star Wars, A New Hope (1977) – Death Valley National in California – filmed some scenes on Tatooine here as well as some other scenes in the movie
  • Dances with Wolves (1990) – Badlands National Park in South Dakota- has a variety of scenes there including a pretty, mixed grass prairie landscape scene
  • The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) – Redwoods National and State Parks in California – filmed some scenes here
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – Zion National Park in Utah – Robert Redford and Paul Newman filmed some scenes here
  • Star Trek V, The Final Frontier (1989) – Yosemite National Parkย  in California – Captain Kirk decides to climb El Capitan in this film
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) – Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming – featured the tower as the aliens landing site
  • The Shining (1980) – Glacier National Monument in Montana – filmed the Going-to-the-Sun Road and a few other scenes here and the Overlook Hotel lounge set in the film was modeled after the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park
  • Into the Wild (2007) – Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska – Sean Penn’s movie based on Jon Krakauer’s book set here
  • Rocky IV (1985) – Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming – filmed the Tetons as a stand in for scenes with his training in Siberia
  • Planet of the Apes (1968) – Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona and Utah – filmed the landing site for the astronaut crew there
  • Forrest Gump (1994) – National Mall in Washington DC – Forrest Gump described this scene as the happiest time of his life takes place here and Forrest also journeyed through Glacier National Park in his adventures
  • North by Northwest (1959) – Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota – Alfred Hitchcock movie with Cary Grant filmed some scenes here, but the final scene was filmed on a set which looked just like the memorial
  • E.T. (1982) – Redwoods National and State Parks in California – filmed some scenes here in the forest
  • Free Solo (2018) – Yosemite National Park in California – filmed the nonfiction movie here about a rock climber’s attempt to climb El Capitan

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Enjoy some movies while pretending to be in a national park!

 

Throwback Thursday

National Park Week now brings us Throwback Thursday!

History and memories are made each day at the national parks.ย  Take a moment to reflect on one of your own favorite national park memories today!

Enjoy a photo of my own Throwback Thursday of the national parks of a pretty special day in my life and then again 15 years later:

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Happy National Park Week!

Wild Wednesday

National Park Week brings us to Wild Wednesday today! Embrace the wild side of the parks!

To celebrate this day, go wild! You can go on a hike in the wilderness; check out some local wildlife; enjoy some wildflowers; check out the night wild skies; or learn about the wild within the national parks online.

Enjoy some wild photos from last summer at the Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.

Enjoy your wild side! Happy National Park Week!

Teton Anniversary

At the end of July, our family journeyed to the Grand Teton National Park to celebrate our 15th anniversary where we got married!

We loved seeing this special national park again and also sharing it with our two kids.

Steve and I got married in the Chapel of Transfiguration in the national park. This rustic chapel was constructed in 1925. We love this little, lodgepole pine chapel with that amazing window framing the Teton Range!

Enjoy some photos of our visit to the chapel. โค๏ธ

Definitely stop by this beautiful and historic chapel if you’re in the Grand Teton National Park!

P.S. More vacation posts coming!