Task #22: Visit all the National Parks in the continental United States.

There are 58 national parks, according to Wikipedia... and I am going to eliminate 12 of them from the list because they are not in the continental United States. Maybe, after I get all of the other things on my list accomplished, I'll attempt those. But there are 8 alone in Alaska, and I will probably not even have time to visit one or two; and they are all VERY far away from Anchorage. If the opportunity presents itself, I shall visit - but I would NEVER be able to accomplish an all-encompassing visit to all without being, well, a millionaire.

Those 'officially' eliminated are: Denali National Park, Gates of the Arctic National Park, Glacier Bay National Park, Haleakala National Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Katmai National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kobuk Valley National Park, Lake Clark National Park and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. I should add on National Park of American Samoa and Virgin Islands which are also not in the continental United States.

Here's my next conundrum: when I was younger, my family and I used to visit a national park (or two?) almost every summer. I've visited a whole ton, but I don't remember all of them equally vividly.

Visited But Don't Remember Clearly and/or Would Like To Revisit: (6)
Acadia (Maine), Badlands (South Dakota), Black Canyon (Colorado), Bryce Canyon (Utah), Crater Lake (Oregon), Yellowstone (Wyoming),

Visited and Remember Clearly and/or Visited Post-College: (8)
Death Valley National Park (California), Glacier National Park (Montana), Grand Canyon (Arizona), Grand Teton (Wyoming), Great Smoky Mountains (North Carolina/Tennessee), Joshua Tree (California), Mesa Verde (Colorado), Rocky Mountains (Colorado),

Still Need to Visit: (31)
Arches (Utah), Big Bend (Texas), Biscayne (Florida), Canyonlands (Utah), Capitol Reef (Utah), Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico), Channel Islands (California), Congaree (South Carolina), Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Ohio), Dry Tortugas (Florida), Everglades (Florida), Great Sand Dunes (Colorado), Guadalupe Mountains (Texas), Hot Springs (Arkansas), Isle Royale (Michigan), Kings Canyon (California), Lassen Volcanic (California), Mammoth Cave (Kentucky), Mount Rainier (Washington), North Cascades (Washington), Olympic (Washington), Petrified Forest (Arizona),. Redwood (California), Saguaro (Arizona), Sequoia (California), Shenandoah (Virgina), Theodore Roosevelt (North Dakota), Voyaguers (Minnesota), Wind Cave (South Dakota), Yosemite (California), Zion (Utah)

That's quite an impressive list to still accomplish. I'll probably aim for "still need to visit" first; followed by the ones I'd like to re-visit.

Time to get a National Parks pass, eh? At least this will help also cross states off my list!