Hey guys and gals! Are you ready to refuel on your weekly dose of Drive With Us? Because we have a whole mash of genres in store for you in this episode: some horror, comedy, documentary, and weirdness (that last one is not exactly a genre but what would you categorize that under?).
If you heard/read last week’s episode you probably have begun to think about the future and which planet would be your future home (if you haven’t heard about the Space Outside of Earth, click on over to the Podcast Episodes tab and learn all about this interesting place in Episode 3!). I know that in our last episode we painted pictures of exotic (and some not so much) new planetary homes, but that did not mean that we should forget about the one on which we currently reside!
So let us come back down to the solid ground. For those of you who may not reside in the United States, you may have heard about the longest government shutdown in our history that started at the close of 2018 and spilled into 2019.
(For those who would like to take a detour down History Lane, and enter the documentary genre, check out this New York Times article outlining the lengths of different shutdowns under different presidents in the United States– and sometimes the same president multiple times:
Hundreds of thousands of government workers were furloughed, people and agencies were not getting paid, and National Parks remained unattended. The last one may not sound like a big deal… and maybe it might not have been as drastic if the parks had been closed.
Cue the horror. DISCLAIMER: Not for the faint of heart
Due to the government shutdown, the National Parks Conservation Association estimated that the National Park Service was losing about $400,000 a day from entrance fee revenues! *gasp* (And that is not even the scariest part… this is just the small scare to prepare you for the big finale). Due to there being no working park staff, people were
cutting
down
the
trees
at Joshua Tree National Park!
This goes beyond simply leaving trash (which is still not acceptable!) and has entered another realm of horrific acts. The park was graffitied, trashed, nationally preserved trees were cut down! And it wasn’t like these vandalists were trying to sell the precious bark of the Joshua Trees, they cut down the trees to… create new roads. This one act, that was probably made from a split-second un-evaluated decision could take the park ~300 YEARS to repair the damage.
You can read more about this incident in the CNN article about the Joshua Trees.
Have you been sufficiently horrified?
Good, because I have. So let’s move onto another genre… maybe something a little more light-hearted with hints of educational trivia (is there a name for this type of genre… No? Okay, then let’s call it… Enjoyable Education 🙂 ).
When the National Parks are properly funded and maintained, they offer a range of distinct landscapes, terrains, and climates all within the borders of one nation. (To be exact, there are 60 of them… so you should be set for quite a few vacation trips).
Since talking about all of these would make for a very long podcast episode, we focused on the Top 10 Best National Parks. You’ve probably all heard of the number one ranked national park in the United States: Yellowstone National Park. Um… Old Faithful geyser and thermophilic bacteria hot springs anyone? Maybe these pictures might look more familiar:
Source: https://www.nps.gov/
Along with Yellowstone, there are a bunch of other cool and exciting National Parks (some which are more well known that others). Maybe you’ve heard of the Grand Canyon or Yosemite National Parks, but have you heard of Zion or Grand Teton National Parks (both of which are also in the Top 10)? Suffice it to say, there is a lot of hidden gems in the United States, they just need to be properly protected and preserved.
To hear about the rest of the parks that made the top 10, and possibly learn about your next trip destination, tune into Episode 4: I Speak for the Trees (and National Parks)!
With all this knowledge, know the hardest question will be: Which National Park should you visit? Well, worry not! The NPCA has you covered. Just take their quiz and they will help you decide which park best suits you!
You can listen to the full episode or on your favorite podcast app: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, or Google Play.
And as always, check us out on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook (links at the top and left of the web page) for updates and fun sneak peeks of our upcoming content! Also, head on over to the Commuter Update blog to learn about some of the scary, weird, and funny things we experience on our commutes!
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