April 2022

April was EPIC … I explored at 13 NPS Units this month!

My sister Kelly and I had planned a trip to Tennessee in 2019 to go to Dollywood. Due to COVID and Cancer, it was delayed, delayed, and delayed. Finally, we landed on dates and headed East in early April. Nashville was our first stop and we did a day trip to Kentucky to visit Mammoth Cave National Park and Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park. Then it was off to Dollywood to explore the park and go to Smoky Mountains National Park and hike along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

Climate Change Alert! We had a crazy snow storm in Portland on April 11th. The first on record ever! “It was the city’s first measurable snow in April since record keeping began more than 80 years ago, according to the National Weather Service. It’s also the latest snow on record there.”

For Easter Weekend, the boys and I ventured down to Los Angeles to do a college tour for Ryder and to visit Mak.

Then it was off to NYC to explore in the Big Apple! We adventured to Castle Clinton National Memorial, Statue of Liberty (and Ellis Island), Federal Hall National Memorial, General Grant National Memorial, Saint Paul’s Church National Historical Site, Hamilton Grange National Memorial, Theodore Roosevelt’s Birthplace National Historical Site, Stonewall National Monument, and African Burial Ground iNational Monument. Plus I got my official Governor’s Island National Monument stamp.