National Park Mini-Soapbox

The other day, I read a kind of nasty post a guy had written about people who have a goal to visit all of the 59 National Parks in the United States. He claimed that it was a very "elitist" goal, and that everyone wanting to do it was a hypocrite for doing all of this traveling and having a massive carbon footprint. I could link his post so you could read it yourself, but I don't even think he deserves the views. Overall he had a pretty bad attitude, and when I first read it my reaction was pretty much this-

I was kind of mad. Those are some serious balls, dude. You're honestly going to tell me that wanting to experience what our government has decided are the showcases of the natural world in America is "elitist?" Really?

Then I was sad for him. The point of those parks is for the "enjoyment and betterment of the American people." But, you know, I don't want to enjoy or better myself beyond the, oh, 24 national parks I can drive to in a [12 hour] day. (Including 9 I can drive to in 6 hours or less and 6 I can drive to in 4.) I mean, seriously, that's ridiculous. I'm incredibly lucky to live in such a central location for national parks, but it would be silly for me to say that I should only enjoy the west. That's just narrow-minded, and the kind of thinking that gets people nowhere.

I have a lot of feelings about the national parks. I want to win the lottery and give the park service like half a billion dollars. I want to bring back the CCC and put people to work improving our parks and monuments. I want to see AMERICA, unspoiled. All of it, from Denali to Death Valley to Hawaii Volcanoes and everything in between. And when I read on the internet about people like that dude, or the idiotic humans who want to sell off places like Yellowstone to the "highest bidder," I just want to Hulk-smash people. But I realize that won't accomplish anything, so in the meantime I'll just content myself with watching (and sharing) the incredible videos they put out at More Than Just Parks, and introducing people to the wonders that are our greatest national treasures.

Regardless of when or how you plan to visit our national parks, or even if you don't plan to visit all of them, I think visiting them is one of the most essential parts of being an American. Visiting all 59 is absolutely an admirable goal, whether you do it all in one go (like my rad new friends at Our Vie Adventures) or over time like Brady and I are.

Basically, the moral of this "brain vomit" today is that you should never let random d-bags on the internet tell you how to live your life. The end.

Gearing Up for Renovation

I know last year we said we were going to renovate the camper a little bit, and nothing happened... but that's mostly because we realized that spending any money on that thing was going to be pretty wasteful. We DID get new wheels (and tires), and I sort of made new curtains? I really, really, super need a sewing machine. But that's not the point. The point is that this year we're genuinely serious about renovating. I'm freaking TERRIFIED, but I'm also super stoked and ready to get this going. So I've decided to share a few "naked" interior photos to start getting everyone else on the stoke train with me. (Seriously, I spend the majority of my free time watching trailer renovation videos... I can actually tell you more than you've probably ever wanted to know about RV electrical.)

Standing in the front looking back. That cabinet still won't stay shut- the latch is just too old and tired. I don't blame it. You can also see the super lovely broken window that we're still unsure how we're going to be able to replace, since part of the window frame has gone missing. UGH. We're getting rid of the bunk entirely and trying to decide if we want to do cabinets or some sort of shelving... or nothing at all. We might do some SMALL cabinets, but frankly with the plans we have I don't know how much more storage we'll need. I guess you can never have TOO MUCH storage.

I honestly have no idea how that big ugly spot in the middle of the kitchen cabinetry happened... or why so many things are set up the way they are. Though this trailer is one of the more space-efficient ones I've seen (unlike some Shastas I've seen that just completely waste a ton of space and it boggles my mind), there were some really interesting decisions made in the design process of the "kitchen" in particular. But hey, it was the mid 60s. Who knows what was going on.

At the top of this photo you can see the 12v light a previous owner installed (and not particularly well - not poorly, just... not well) that has been the only semblance of light we've been able to have in the trailer. I don't know what I'm going to do about the dings and knicks in the ice chest. I don't want to paint it because I really like the appliances and would love to keep them in as close to original condition as possible.

In the bottom left of this photo you get a lovely view of some of our water damage... it's no bueno.

Terrible flooring aside, natural light really helps this girl out.

Please appreciate my panoramic mad skilllllz. Ha. There are a lot of elements in this trailer I really like that I hope to keep, but there are a lot of things I'd like to change. Almost everything, actually, but I love all of the light wood (which is more of a veneer than an actual stain which is disappointing) and I obviously love all of the wood grain. That's one element in particular that I really hope to keep. That, the appliances, and the Formica (though it's getting replaced with NEW Formica) are the three things I really want to stay close to. The vinyl flooring though, that is definitely peacing out. Yuck.

Anyway, I'm pretty stoked to bring my vision (which I hope to share in another post soon... maybe...) to life, and I know by the middle of it I'll want to light the damn thing on fire, but I know the end result will be WORTH IT.