header photo courtesy Pixabay
by Kelli Bowen
I found out today that there’s a group of people referred to as “Parkies.” Parkies are people who travel to different areas working seasonally for national parks and resorts. I found this interesting. North Dakota has a national park, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and surrounding the south unit’s entrance is the town of Medora which relies and thrives with seasonal help. Some of these people may identify as Parkies.
Over the Christmas break, my family traveled to Florida and found ourselves in different kinds of parks: amusement and theme parks.
There were a lot of lines: riding a full shuttle bus to stand in line to go through security, to then stand in line to get into the park, to then go stand in line for rides or entertainment.
Don’t get me wrong: We had a good time. There were interesting things to see, photo opportunities, exotic animals, fun (expensive) snacks, shows, and rides. It was definitely a memory-making week.
My children rode their first roller coasters. They swam outdoors every single day. We made some smashed penny souvenirs. It seems wherever we go, at least one person in my family wants to smash a penny.
We downloaded and then cursed at the park apps as we tried to figure out where we were compared to where we wanted to be.
The children staged a revolt and wouldn’t leave a bench for about ten minutes when their hanger and sore feet had caught up with them. With some not-so-subtle bribery, we moved past the skirmish.
Then Hubby says the wisest thing. In line for a wildlife train in Orlando, Hubby turned to me and said, “We aren’t amusement park people. We are state park people.”
It is SO true. The highlight of our trip wasn’t amusement parks, big rides, big deals, or the excitement of the crowds.
Our highlights were walking out of the airport and Miss A exclaiming: “Look a PALM tree!!” Or Miss E calling out that she saw dolphins jump out of the water from her bus seat as we rode along the shoreline. It reminded me of our national park game: when we drive into Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we choose the first animal we think we’ll see and then call out the first animal to see who is “the winner.”
Our favorite vacation day was on the beach digging in sand and splashing in the water, much like when we are camping at Lake Metigoshe or Lake Sakakawea State Park.
No matter how far we travel, we know what we like, and though we may not be professional Parkies, we definitely are recreational Parkies. Whether a person falls on the Parkie scale, I think North Dakota can always scratch that park itch. It’s good to be home!
Kelli makes her home in Billings County with her husband, two daughters and a dog. She works for North Dakota's #1 tourist destination by day and tries to be an alright mom, wife, friend, and writer by night.
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