Autos for years seemed to give us freedom and independence, but when they create traffic jams and other problems in the parks, the experience of serenity in nature that visitors expect is seriously diminished, if not destroyed.Collection: Independence
While the four-day work week is not yet universal, most citizens enjoy the pleasures of added three-day weekends during the year. These extra days, as well as monthlong vacations, are used in the pursuit of our studies, hobbies and travels - and often all three are indulged at the same time.Collection: Work
I don't know of a single park without serious environmental problems.Collection: Environmental
A national park is not a playground. It's a sanctuary for nature and for humans who will accept nature on nature's own terms.
You don't have to tip anybody, anywhere, anything. You do so only because you want to, in appreciation for service well-rendered.
The two principal parks in Alaska are Denali and Glacier Bay. Tourism is just overriding the protection of resources that tourists want to see. We have too many tourists in Denali and too many big cruise ships in Glacier Bay.
If you speed up your trip, you'll miss a lot of interesting sights and also wear yourself to a frazzle.
If you're going away, be sure to cancel the paper, the milk, and the laundry pickup. Remove the fresh stuff from the ice box, lock the windows and doors, and phone the cops and tell them how long you'll be gone so they'll keep an eye out for burglars.
National parks are cathedrals of spirituality and emotion, and unfortunately, they are being loved to death by many of the same people who enjoy them the most.
The parks are our national treasures, and they must be shown more respect, not only by visitors but also the people who run them.
It isn't safe to go to the parks. Toxic chemicals ruin the air and water. There is vandalism, even crime, and conscientious park personnel are demoralized.
Civilization in our time is driven by materialism and troubled by pollution, over-population, corruption, and violence. National parks can hardly be uncoupled from the society around them, but that only makes it more important to protect them and keep them whole and pure.
I think all of this jogging and everything else shows the people want to be masters of their own bodies and environment.
There are too many people coming to parks doing the wrong things. They treat the parks like popcorn playgrounds. They don't understand what the national parks mean.
One of the most unusual shuttles operates at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site in Texas, carrying visitors on a one and one-half hour trip past Johnson's birthplace, the family cemetery and ranch house, and through the ranch.
However one reaches the parks, the main thing is to slow down and absorb the natural wonders at leisure.
It's better to go to one place and stay put and see it than run around a lot of territory and see nothing.