Well that was a long one! (That’s what she said) We finally dragged our sorry numb rear ends back to Wisconsin and man are my arms tired! Bruddddmp! OK, that doesn’t work when you drive but you get the idea. Final tally: 15 days, 11 States, 7 National parks, 8 beers (estimated) 3 books on tape, (Fire Starter, Deloris Claiborne and Cujo, we were on a Stephen King bender), 4914 miles driven, 87 hours on the road. It was an amazing trip made better by the fact that we had no real destination or time table, just a vague goal of camping in Death Valley and skiing in Utah (both accomplished) I’d always wanted to just hit he road, drive as long as I wanted each day with no pressure to push it, take detours based on recommendations from the locals, and just enjoy the freedom of the road.
And now for the event you’ve all been waiting for THE PARKIES! Yes, I know you haven’t been waiting for this at all but I have so there you go. The PARKIES is the once in a lifetime, fake awards I made up to honor the best National Park Cathy and I visited on our road trip, it was a long drive through Nebraska and I was bored. So, without further ado and in no particular order the nominees are:
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Bryce Canyon 
Capital Reef 
Zion
Las Vegas (Not a National Park, but it should be, or maybe a zoo)
Death Valley
Grand Canyon
And the winner is…………………………….ZION NATIONAL PARK!!!!!!!!!!
Tank you all for all for attending. It’s been a great event despite the protesters protesting the fact that no national parks east of the Mississippi were nominated. The #flatparksmatter movement has vowed to boycott next year’s awards show as well unless the nomination process is more diverse. I wouldn’t hold my breath.