Thanks a bunch!

What a nice surprise to find that I’d been nominated for the ‘Real Neat Blog Award’ by Leighton at Leighton Travels! Leighton and I collaborated on our Earth Day posts recently and I find his stories of teaching English all over the globe fascinating.

After I finished writing this post, I also received the Liebster Award from Platypus Man over at 64 Reflections. Mr. P, who lives in the UK has been to all 50 states here in the US and I’ve enjoyed our discourse about environmental topics.

Again, many thanks to both Mr. P and Leighton for liking my blog enough to bestow this honor upon it.

If you wanna give me an award, I’ll take it. Just don’t make me go to the party afterwards.

–John Cusack

I’m normally not good at participating in stuff like this…I’m always the one to break the chain in the occasional recipe-friend thing that comes my way. But I’m now in week 11 of Covid ‘Stay at Home’, so I figured I’d give it a whirl. My first task is to answer Leighton’s questions.

1. What was your first blog post about? And how do you feel about it now, looking back? My first blog post wasn’t about parks or travel…it was on a completely different blog called Going Scrapbooky, almost two decades ago. Through regular posts, I shared paper crafting techniques and the trials and tribulations of being the working Mom of a toddler. My first post on National Parks With T was about John Muir National Historic Site. I feel ambivalent about Going Scrapbooky as it was a lifetime ago. As for John Muir, I’d like to get back out to that site as there were some explorations we passed up because it was 108° F!
2. What has helped you grow as a blogger? Interactions with other bloggers. Also, WordPress had some Zoom classes in April that were helpful.
3. A genie kindly grants you a dream home. Where would you like to have it placed? What made you choose this location? That’s a tough one because I wouldn’t live anyplace else because all of my family is here. But the Genie could grant me an RV so I could temporarily have a home away from home anywhere in the continental USA.
4. What is your best travel experience? Our rafting guide in Montana asked us what our favorite National Park was so far and I said my favorite is always wherever I am at the moment…that way I appreciate every place I visit. Our most recent trip was a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands with a few nights before embarkation to explore Oahu. We’d never cruised before and weren’t sure we’d like it. We loved the trip…the ship was like a floating luxury hotel that allowed us to visit four islands in one week without the hassle of checking in and out of airports and hotels.
5. Have you ever had a nightmare trip? No. The nightmare is the pandemic canceling all of our travel plans this year. Hopefully things will get better soon.
6. Is there a blog post you’ve written that you’re particularly proud of? Why? The folks at Park Chasers did a profile on me last year!
7. What advice would you have for bloggers starting out today? Pace yourself or you will burn out and inadvertently spam your followers. Regular posting is important, but you don’t have to write a new post or two every day. There is a scheduling feature in most blog platforms that allows you to publish your posts in the future.

My Nominees for the Real Neat Blog Award:

1. Park Chasers» Greg and Amy are attempting to visit all 419 NPS units and have built up a community of National Park aficionados along the way through their Facebook group and Park Chaser Profiles.
2.  Raven About The Parks» Scott and Tiff are also on a quest to see all of the National Park Service units and invited me to join them at St. Paul’s National Historic Site when they were out here last year. They do helpful write-ups about their visits and have even published a guidebook.
3.  The Beerchaser» Half the time, I don’t know what Don is talking about because I don’t like beer 🙂 , but I do enjoy his side trips into the parks while sampling a region’s brewpubs, his monastery taphouse project and the stories he tells about his beerchaser of the quarter. We connected over his trip to Maine a couple of years ago and have had a mutual admiration society going ever since.
4. Circle to Circle» Tales from an Alaskan who dreams of driving the Pan American Highway in a 66 Rover. I started following him recently because I love all the Alaska every-day life info.
5.   Heavens to Betty» The author and her family lost their home in the California wildfires in 2018 and took to the road in an RV for about a year. I find her to have a positive outlook on life and an enjoyable writing style.
6.  Adams American Adventure» This family of four sold their home in Georgia and traveled the country in an RV for two years. They hadn’t posted for a while, but they just published one from Michigan.
7.  PhotoblogographyToo» Allan was one of the first bloggers I connected with when I started National Parks With T. While he is usually blogging about his travel adventures, right now, like most of us, he is ‘living small’ and writing about it in an engaging manner.

Real Neat Blog Award Rules

1. Display the blog award logo on your post.
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
3. Please link back to their blog.
4. Answer the questions they have given you.
5. Nominate 7 to 10 bloggers of your choice.
6. Ask them 7 questions.

Seven Questions for my nominees

This post actually took longer to write than I thought it would, so I will understand if you break the chain. But if you decide to participate, follow the steps above and answer the following questions:

1. What do you envision as the mission statement or purpose of your blog?
2. How has that purpose evolved since you first started your blog?
3. What impact has the global pandemic had on your blogging?
4. Do you watch your blog stats and obsess over the numbers or do you publish for the sheer enjoyment of expression?
5. Are you active on other social media outlets (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc…) and which do you like best? Why?
6. What is the farthest you’ve ever traveled from your home?
7. Tell us about an unexpectedly awesome, off-the-beaten path attraction you’ve enjoyed during your travels.