No news is BIG news.

So, I haven't written since our AWESOME vacation to Key West - sorry for the long absence!  We have BIG news coming your way soon...but I have to wait until Saturday to tell you.  I can leave you in suspense with this - it involves an amazing souvenir!

Finally back in Key West!

So here we are after a long day yesterday of traveling.  At 8am we took a train to a bus to a plane, to another plane to a taxi...and finally at 6pm we arrived.  We dropped our bags and headed out to Margaritaville for some Conch fritters and...margaritas!  So yummy, and boy were we hungry!  Today John is exhausted to say the least.  He's been working on average 65 hours a week since just after our honeymoon - 1 year ago.  We've come full circle today, back where we started on our 1 year anniversary.  He's past out in our adorable French Caribbean style room with the AC blasted.  I'm planning on letting him sleep the year off as long as he can.  We have all week to celebrate our anniversary.  Sitting in this beautiful shaded secret-garden courtyard, the warm air penetrates down to my bones and the smell of chlorine infiltrates my nose.  There is only a slight breeze here once in a while making the palms wave hello.
When John does awake, we'll make plans to visit one of the National Historic sites we didn't get cancellation stamps at last year.  Having been to Hemingway's home many times before, I just don't know how I didn't realize that it's on the National Historic Register.  We'll also be taking a tour of Fort Zachary Taylor, a civil war era fort on the southern tip of Key West.  The fort has been used by both the US Army and Navy and
used to have a submarine base. Lastly, we also plan on taking a tour of the US Coast Guard Cutter Ingham which is also a maritime museum.                
This time around, I think our outlook on this trip is to see a specific set of places that we didn't have time for last year.  We also want to just relax!  Our B&B has happy hour included every night around the pool - our plan is to schedule our day around it!  We just had a fantastic breakfast as well.  We really love this place!  If only I could convince John to move down here :)

Government Shutdown

It's more than a little frightening to think that our government could shut down tonight at midnight.  This means parks will be officially closed.  People will have 24 hours to leave and then the gates will be locked.  Important research and protection will cease.  Here is a FAQ sent to me by the National Parks Conservation Association.

It's important to note that National Park Week is coming up, April 16-24th which includes free admission to the parks, something so many families on a budget plan their vacations around.  Unfortunately if the government does shut down, the parks will not be open even then.   There will be massive loss of revenue, many vacations and school field trips ruined and the livelihood of those who depend on tourist revenue and their salaries put on the line.

In 1995 and 1996 the parks were closed for a total of 27 days, in today's economy this could mean a loss of an estimated $32 million a day.  How can we let this happen?  To me, this is devastating that we just let the gates close.  If you'd like to read more about this here is another great article:

Remember if you care about your parks and their funding any donation is always appreciated and the NPCA makes it easy!

Our next vacation!

So, our next vacation is actually going to be a repeat because we loved it so much!  Key West, here we come...in about 1 month that is.  John said, "don't you want to go somewhere new? How are you ever going to see every park if you're repeating places?"  The fact of the matter is that we didn't have enough time to explore all that Key West has to offer.  There are just so many places (museums, gardens, pub crawls and parades!) that we didn't get to do.  I guess that tends to happen when you're on your honeymoon.  YES, I want to see every park but when somewhere draws you in like Key West happens to do to me, I just give in.  It's not to say I won't be able to get a "cancellation" this time.  We actually missed getting one at Hemingway's home, despite being there twice.  We also never made it to Fort Zachary Taylor which we heard is one of the best beaches and also happens to be on the NPS register of historical places.  So, I'll be bringing along my passport to National Parks booklet and all though they won't be "National Parks" I will still be excited when I get those stamps in my book!  More to come on this topic...of all the things on our "to do" list.  For now, John is calling me to dinner...

Quiz: Think You Know the National Parks? by Budget Travel

This quiz is fantastic!  Lots of fun information included within each answer!  Have fun!
http://www.budgettravel.com/feature/quiz-think-you-know-the-national-parks,7057/

Dry Tortugas National Park

On our honeymoon we went to three national parks, Biscayne, Everglades and Dry Tortugas.  Ponce de Leon named the island because of its complete lack of fresh water and its abundance of sea turtles (Tortugas means turtles). Ponce de Leon landed here looking for the fountain of youth, in 1513.  Dry Tortugas consists of seven islands 70 miles west of Key West.  It is closer to Cuba than to the American mainlands.  The only way to get there is by boat or by sea plane.  It's a popular snorkeling location surrounded by protected coral reef home to large sea turtles and rare birds' nesting grounds.  Sooty terns call these islands home, the only place in America where they nest.  They were thought to be in much danger during the BP oil spill, oil came very close to destroying these islands.

In 1846 construction on Fort Jefferson began.  It was meant to protect the United States during the civil war and also to deter pirates.  Hundreds of ships became stranded because they couldn't tell how shallow the water was due to the reefs.  The fort was later used as a prison and most famously imprisoned Dr. Mudd, the doctor that set John Wilkes Booth's leg after he shot President Lincoln.  During a yellow fever outbreak Dr. Mudd helped many prisoners and guards and was eventually pardoned by President Andrew Johnson.  Dr. Mudd didn't go far, he lived out the rest of his life in Key West.

In 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated the fort as Fort Jefferson National Monument.  In 1992 the fort and all the Tortugas islands were renamed Dry Tortugas National Park and added to the registry.  Anyone can camp at the first come first serve campground for $3 per person and a $5 park pass.  There is no fresh or running water on the island so you must bring your own and you must carry out all of your waste.

Fort Jefferson remains as the Western Hemisphere's largest masonry structure and is comprised of over 16 million bricks.  Some of these bricks came from as far as Maine.  The history behind the fort and the islands is almost never ending!

Here are some of my favorite photographs:

The highlights are definitely the architecture and the Caribbean blue waters!

Planning a trip to Utah's National Parks

One of our favorite things to do is to plan out trips we could take that include stopping at multiple parks in the span of a week or two.  One of these trips we could possibly take is a trip to Utah.  Utah has Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and of course, Zion.  Starting from the east and driving west there is about 11 hours of driving between the first and the last park.  We could possibly go to all the parks in Utah allowing plenty of time inside of two weeks.

Here is a great picture of Arches.  I would also love to go to Natural Bridges National Monument which is just south of Canyonlands NP.

Would anyone recommend doing this trip?  Is two weeks enough to see all the parks?  I can imagine that of all the parks we should save more time at Zion than any other.  What is the best time of year to visit these parks?  We would appreciate the input!