The gift shops at our latest National Park sell a variety of shirts, caps, and jackets bearing the SNP logo. It stands for Shenandoah National Park, the first park easily accessible from the larger cities in the eastern third of our country. We’re hanging out at a lovely campground called Big Meadows in SNP. There are over 200 sites here and although none have juice, all have easy access to water and dump stations; generators are allowed five hours a day. This is beautiful country, charming in a way the West is not: old orchards and cemeteries tell you that people of European descent have been here for well over 300 years.

For now this is Saturday National Park. Later in the season people will reserve sites for several days, but for a while you can drive in Sunday through Thursday without reservations and find a good site that’s available until noon Saturday.

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