It’s National Parks Week! Here at RLT we’re pretty big fans of the National Parks, if you hadn’t noticed from our trip itineraries. I think that for a lot of us the meat and potatoes of our childhood memories often centers on that awesome (or I’ll allow for “boring!”) trip you took as a family to say the Grand Canyon, ideally in a Jeep Wagoneer while listening to Woody Guthrie! Whatever the memory, childhoods are peppered with moments of stepping outside of the ordinary and into the extraordinary. We’ve each had that chance to get out of the car or hike that peak and realize you’ve stumbled on something extraordinary, a place so unbelievable you wonder how you ever got there!

With this, I asked the other RLTites what were their favorite National Parks and why. What’s yours? Throw it into a comment below!

Jill, Admissions Director: Yellowstone because I was chased by a buffalo! That trip was the last trip we took as a complete family, before my brother got too old for family vacations! I still have dreams about that…

Katia, Business Manager (a native of Brazil): My favorite park in Brasil is Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar located along the north coast of Sao Paulo. It has immense bio diversity of fauna and flora. Our favorite vacation spot is where the park reaches the ocean, complete with beautiful beaches and little islands, great for snorkeling and scuba diving. Our daughter used to spend hours in the ocean with her body board.

Elin, Development Director: If I have to choose, it’s Redwood National Park. I grew up in California and my parents were the sort to have us in a different state or national park each weekend. Memories of hikes and picnics sealed forever in our family albums are my priceless nuggets of growing up happy. Plus you can drive through a tree!

Donna, Director: Grand Teton without a doubt. Everyone needs to see them at least once in their life. They are fault-block mountains (meaning they arose from the convergence of fault lines – as opposed to folded mountains that come with foothills), you can walk right up to them and touch their base. I literally mean you walk right up to them! It’s remarkable that we have these in the US and that they are so accessible.

Casey, Logistics Director: Our man on the street (or the dirt path – he’s versatile) keeping all of our trips organized is too busy to engage in the rigorous selection process of his favorite National Park. Only kidding! For him, lets call it Denali National Park in Alaska because Peggy, who answers all of his permit questions, recently proposed marriage simply because Casey is such a gentleman on the phone.

You’ll find some killer photos of the National Parks over at the National Geographic website.

You can't really argue with a buffalo.