*Old Faithful- Yellowstone National Park*

A friendly guide at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park welcome center caught me gazing out over the indescribable landscape. She approached, uttered a single phrase, shared a wry smile, which both simultaneously read my mind and summed up the moment perfectly.

“You’ve just gotta love your parks,” she said.

I nodded in agreement, reciprocating a smile, and carried on muttering her words under my breath for the rest of the day. You’ve just got to love these parks.

In the nearly 500 areas designated within the United States National Park System (National Parks, Monuments, Lakeshores, Recreation Areas and many other designations), pure magic awaits discovery.

You could spend a lifetime visiting the parks, and though you could see them all, and more than once if you’re lucky, you’d no doubt find something different each time, each season, each memory being as special as the others.

Every landscape imaginable can be found here, from deserts to rainforests, mountains to meadows, magnificent forests to brilliant coral reefs. Creatures from all walks of life thrive in these places, making the American outdoors a true nature lovers paradise.

Historian Wallace Stinger said of the National Parks, that it was the “best idea we’ve ever had” in America. I certainly can’t disagree. Though our travels have taken us all over the world, it’s in our own backyard, from sea to shining sea, where beauty and wonder seems to be found at every corner.

Even in my home state of Michigan, parks reign supreme. Amongst 5 National Park Service areas, Michigan hosts over 100 State Parks, found from coast to coast dotting our Great Lakes shorelines and scattered deep within our rugged forests.

We truly are lucky to have these treasures, preserved for all to enjoy for generations to come. They’ve had a tremendous impact on my life.

The relationship between Art and Muse and our State and National parks is not only vital, but essential. It is here we’re we spend most of our time, exploring, thinking, writing, and capturing imagery.

In fact, Art and Muse was conceptualized during a week of wanderlust through some of America’s finest parks, not too long after that exchange with the guide at Roosevelt, and it is in these parks where our inspiration keeps coming back.

It’s also in these parks that the love of travel can be traced back to, long before I was even a thought.

The love of travel and exploration is, simply put, in my blood. In the years before I was born, my parents did as my wife Kayla and I do now - they spent time together finding joy in the serenity of our parks.

My Parents, Dave and Kay, at Isle Royale National Park in 1977 — *My Parents, Dave and Kay, at Isle Royale National Park in 1976*

In fact, it was my dad's dream to work for the National Park Service, and he had plans to do so upon college graduation. My parents even considered moving to Colorado, alas, the timing wasn’t right.

Had the federal government budget looked differently in the early 80s however, with the prospects of such a career steady and welcoming, our collective life paths may have been very different.

Instead, while plans may have changed, the love of the outdoors forever remained within our family, continuing throughout my childhood.

*Mammoth Cave National Park in 1991, my first National Park visit*

I’ve been fortunate to visit many places in the world, but it’s my early memories of camping, hiking, combing beaches - spending time in our parks - that are recalled as fondly as anywhere else visited, home or abroad. Being raised in a household that placed a premium on experiences over possessions has shaped my entire life, and is a value that I hope to pass down to our children as well.

It’s this mindset that has helped me enjoy my life to its fullest for as long as I can remember. There may always be others with more money; bigger houses, more toys.. but so long as we are blessed with our thirst for wanderlust, I’ll always feel fulfilled, and dare I say, rich, in comparison to others who may not find the same joy in experiences and memories.

*Tawas State Park, on Michigan’s Lake Huron shoreline- A true world-class birding and wildlife destination where we spend many of our days at Art and Muse*

This past year, the parks have certainly provided, giving us so much, and leaving us more than fulfilled.

I was even able to cross off a lifelong goal of visiting all of the states in the contiguous United States, just as my dad had done in his earlier years. Seeing the lower 48 has provided so much perspective and so many wonderful moments along the way, a vast majority of which have taken place in our great parks.

These places have brought us peace and tranquility unmatched by anything else imaginable, and a yearning to see more.

And the timing for exploring has never been better, and never more important than during a pandemic, where these expansive landscapes have provided the solitude and distance necessary for sound and healthy body and spirit.

*The majestic redwoods of Muir Woods National Monument*

We’ve asked the question for quite sometime now, “Where you travel when you’re able?”

I think about this often, and wonder where that may be. But in the context of thinking globally, even I tend to forget about our greatest asset - our parks - how many great ones there are within a short drive, how much time we spend there, and how many great memories we take away.

Whether it's in Michigan or beyond, we hope your answer is in one of our great American parks. Whichever one you pick, we hope that you’ll love them just as much as we do at Art and Muse.