Justin Allen

Day and I are on a mis­sion to visit all the US National Parks (not the seashores, mon­u­ments, his­toric parks or trails. Nope. Just the big­gies.) Some­times we go alone. Some­times we go with friends. Some­times we go with fam­ily. My plan, once we have vis­ited them all, is to write a book about all the things we saw: The things we liked, and the things we hated. The parks that made me smile, and the parks that made me vomit (lit­er­ally). The parks that made me feel safe, patri­otic and assured of my place in the world, and the parks that left me stand­ing naked in a cold tile and alu­minum dun­geon under flo­res­cent lights. One day, I may even post one of my National Park essays here. In the mean­time, here are a cou­ple of pho­tos of us enjoy­ing our national trea­sures, and a list of the parks we have so far visited…

Day and Justin atop Garfield Peak, Crater Lake NP

Justin stands on a fallen giant at Mount Rainier NP

Justin with Brother, Ryan, and Father, Gayle, on a beach near Forks, WA

1. Ever­glades, Florida
2. Bis­cayne, Florida
3. Great Smoky Moun­tains, Ten­nessee and North Carolina
4. Shenan­doah, Virginia
5. Mam­moth Cave, Kentucky
6. Joshua Tree, California
7. Cuya­hoga Val­ley, Ohio
8. Aca­dia, Maine
9. Chan­nel Islands, California
10. Red­wood, California
11. Lassen Vol­canic, California
12. Yosemite, Cal­i­for­nia
13. King’s Canyon, California
14. Sequoia, Cal­i­for­nia
15. Saguaro, Ari­zona
16. Grand Canyon, Arizona
17. Pet­ri­fied For­est, Arizona
18. Crater Lake, Oregon
19. Mount Rainier, Washington
20. Olympic, Wash­ing­ton
21. Great Sand Dunes, Colorado
22. Hot Springs, Arkansas
23. Dry Tor­tu­gas, Florida
24. Yel­low­stone, Wyoming, Mon­tana and Idaho
25. Grand Teton, Wyoming
26. Con­ga­ree, South Carolina
27. Death Val­ley, Cal­i­for­nia and Nevada
28. Guadalupe Moun­tains, Texas
29. Carls­bad Cav­erns, New Mexico
30. Vir­gin Islands, United States Vir­gin Islands
31. Big Bend, Texas
32. Lake Clark, Alaska
33. Kenai Fjords, Alaska
34. Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska
35. Gates of the Arc­tic, Alaska
36. Kobuk Val­ley, Alaska
37. Denali, Alaska
38. Kat­mai, Alaska
39. North Cas­cades, Washington
40. National Park of Amer­i­can Samoa
41. Hawaii Vol­ca­noes, Hawaii
42. Haleakala, Hawaii

Justin with his wife Day, grand­mother Jeane, and mother Kar­leane, roast­ing weenies