I would consider it adequate just touring the good old USA, camping in a travel trailer with no set schedule.  I would like to go to some National Park; stay a while; then move on.  The, “stay a while,” is meant to imply a stay until some other National Park seems more interesting.

I have traveled by car across most of the country three different times and in each case, there was a deadline for returning home in just three weeks.  Each trip attempted to spend just enough time at each amazing location to satisfy the inquisitive mind.  “What is this place like?”  Yet, each stop for a day or two or three only caused a desire to stay longer.

Of course, there are places that must be visited, that are adequately enjoyed in a short stay, but those places are scattered all around and on the way to other more expansive places.

Considering a free form of travel, as in “Blue Highways”, is a fine way to tour this fine country.  However, thinking of such a tour, I suddenly realized that I might not be rich enough to fund such a trip.  The cost of driving is higher than it was back when I made those other trips.  The cost of campsites, equipment and supplies adds to the cost of maintaining a base home.

Ann, the love of my life, does not have the wanderlust that I have.  She says she has roots like a plant.  Home is a very important part of her being.  I cannot ask her to give up what is so special to her.  To pack up our tent and steal silently away from the place where we raised four great children, where we planted, and dug up, and moved, and replanted hundreds of living trees, shrubs, and flowers, would be unfair and unkind to the love of my life.

All this conflict was passing through the sifters of my mind, when I saw a posting of an opening to volunteer with the National Park Service (NPS) as a Visitor Use Assistant (VUA) at Byrd Visitor Center (BVC) in Shenandoah National Park (SNP).  SNP is within a day trip of my home.  It is my most frequently visited park.  Over the last 48 years, I have visited SNP, with its mountains, hollows, waterfalls, trails, scenic drive, wildlife, and all its beauty literally hundreds of times. So, I signed up to be a Volunteer in Parks (VIP).

I am proud to say that I am an NPS VIP VUA at BVC in SNP.

This opportunity keeps me a few days in a row up to a couple of weeks at a time in the park as a member of the staff at the Information Desk.  I am in direct contact with two bazillion visitors each workday, helping them learn how to enjoy this gem of a park.

More importantly, I am working with park rangers, both seasonal and permanent.  I have seen and felt the love they have for their work, whether as a VUA, or as a biologist, geologist, campground manager, or whatever.  I have also seen and felt the “we are family” attitude among the ranger staff.

So now, I want to be a National Park Ranger when I grow up.

          -- Bob Kuhns

P. S.  I have accepted a seasonal position as a Visitor Use Assistant at Byrd Visitor Center in Shenandoah National Park.  So now I am a National Park Ranger.  It says so on the badge that I wear on my uniform.  I hope I can live up to the fine tradition people rightfully expect from a Ranger.  Look for me there now.

         --  Ranger Bob