Fly into Las Vegas. A short drive to Mojave NPres, then a kayak adventure at Channel Islands NP, followed by a stop in San Diego and Joshua Tree NP on the way to Phoenix.. A stones throw to the Mexican border at Coronado NMem will begin the trek north to Rainbow Bridge NMon and the Grand Canyon.

Fly into Houston. Travel south to windsurf at Padre Island NS, then a stop in Brownsville at the border with Mexico. The refreshing waters of Amistad NRA will make way to the dryness of Big Bend NP., then west to Carlsbad NP and White Sands NP. A stop in Oklahoma for Washita NB and Chickasaw NRA will be followed by viewing mammoth fossils in Waco, before hikes in Big Thicket NPres lead to a return plane flight.

From Indiana I will follow the Natchez Trace Parkway to visit a number of parks, before heading over to Arkansas, then south to New Orleans. An arc up towards Shreveport and Little Rock will put me in my ancestors’ stomping ground of Wilson Creek NB.

The Great Smokies in winter will be a sight. A path through South Carolina into Georgia will cover the span of our country’s history. Big South Ford NRRA in Tennessee and Kentucky will not be left out, as I work my way north through newer parks in Kentucky.

A number of Civil War sites (Appomattox, Richmond, Petersburg, etc.) will be visited on the way too, and back from, the Outer Banks. Think lighthouses, as in Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout parks.

The Caribbean sea breezes await me. Spanish and Colonial influence will be all around, as well as enticing beaches. Snorkeling at Virgin Islands NP and Buck Island Reef NM will get me wet.

The Big Apple (Statue of Liberty) and The Cradle of Liberty (Independence Hall). What else can be said. Long Island (Fire Island NS and Gateway NRA) and the lone Delaware national park unit will add their own flair to the trip.

Multiple Day-Trips using Washington, D.C. as the hub, thanks to free lodging at home of Bill Davis, Jr. Need to tour the Nation’s Capital before summer heat and crowds arrive.

The majesty of southern Utah’s parks (Zion, Bryce, Cedar Breaks) will give way to the desolation of central Nevada (Great Basin NP), before shacking up in Death Valley NP (well before summer days blister the park).

As close to “cross-country” as I will get. Fertile glaciated lands of Illinois lead into the Plains, followed by the Rockies (Rocky Mountain NP, Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP), down to Utah’s sandstone (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef), then visiting Ancestral Puebloan sites (Aztec, Chaco Culture). The path back to Ohio will be just as long.

Stopping at sites from Sitka NHP northward to Gates of the Arctic, then down the Aleutian peninsula to Aniakchak NMon (the least visited park in the NPS). A large portion of the trip will include fellow NPTC members. This will be the most expensive loop of the Quest… be prepared to break your piggybank.

The upper reaches of mid-America will present different subcultures of our country. Michigan cherries (Sleeping Bear Dunes, Pictured Rocks, Isle Royal), Minnesota mosquitoes (Grand Portage, Voyageurs), and Dakota Badlands (Minuteman Missile, Wind Cave) will be in the rearview mirror once I am in Nebraska farmland.

Yosemite and Sequoia in July. Yuck. The crowds will be horrendous. But the stunning scenery will temper the human hordes. The Golden City, San Francisco, delights the avid National Park enthusiast (Muir Woods, Port Chicago, San Fran Maritime, Point Reyes, Eugene O’Neill). The trek across the sky at Pinnacles NP will be euphoria.

Starting in the NY upstate parks (Tubman, Women’s Rights), I will go across mid-Vermont (Billings) on into Maine and Acadia NP. Boston and the Massachusetts park units (JFK, Olmstead, Salem, Lowell) will be exciting. Weir Farm will lead into the Hudson River Valley (FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, Vanderbilt), followed by Upper Delaware and Steamtown.

Flight into Salt Lake City begins this loop from Tampagons Cave NMon up to Yellowstone NP and Glacier NP, before heading southward into Idaho and the Craters of the Moon units.

Another purposefully scheduled time to stay out of D.C. in July/June/August. Will cover the park units outside the Mall area, followed by a route to Catoctin Mountain and Gettysburg.

The big Washington and Northern California parks after kids are back in school. Oh, yeah! Should be relatively peaceful at Mt. Rainier, Olympic, Redwoods, and Lassen. Backside of the loop covers Crater Lake and a LONG boat ride to Lake Chelan NRA. The last segment will cover a portion of Elizabeth’s and my honeymoon trip.

Use Oahu as a jumping off point for the flight to Pago Pago in American Samoa. Return to spend some time in the Hawaiian sea breezes and a leper’s colony before taking United Airlines’ ”Island Hopper” to Guam (will stop in the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia). The Big Island in Hawaii then awaits for volcano extraordinaire.

Ocean water will be front-and-center on this loop. From Sumter NMon, to Cumberland Island, to Cape Canaveral, to Biscayne, to Fort Jefferson… the swimsuits and snorkel gear will be ready. Landlubbers will appreciate Tuskegee and Tuskegee Airman with Mammoth Cave being the final stop.