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In a couple of weeks, my wife and I leave on a month's vacation and I can hardly wait. Our travels will take us through some of our favourite parks, as well as some new ones. The first leg of our journey will take us through the Crowsnest Pass down to Waterton Lakes National Park and then over to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. We'll likely overnight there and then rise early before sunrise to hike among the hoodoos. Around mid-day, we'll head over to Grasslands National Park. We love this place. If you want wide-open space, this is it! A couple of years ago, we passed through the park and camped on the edge of a broad valley cradling the French River. We drifted off to sleep to a surround-sound chorus of coyotes. Thrilling.

From Grasslands, we press on to Riding Mountain National Park. Ahhhhh...I can almost smell the sweet scent of spruce now. I absolutely love this park. I was born on the edge of it and it is a part of my DNA. I find I must return often to re-connect with my roots. These include re-connecting with my family as well. Dad and my sister both have summer residences in Wasagaming. We'll be celebrating his 90th birthday. In case you might be imagining someone frail, Dad is an avid kayaker (been out 17 times this year, won't likely make last year's achievement of 76 times on account of a slow, wet early summer) and golfer (3 times a week).

From the park, we'll head into Winnipeg to visit friends before turning south into the US. This will mark the beginning of the return leg of our journey. Over a couple of weeks, we'll visit Theodore Roosevelt, Badlands (Black Hills), Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone National Parks. We might swing north after that and drive "Going to the Sun" highway in Glacier National Park. I've driven a section of this highway many years ago; it's breath-taking. While I know a little bit of Glacier, essentially all of these parks will be first-time visits. No wonder I'm extremely excited.

I'm going to see if I can post somewhat regular blog posts of my travels and adventures during the holiday so follow along if you wish.