Happy Birthday National Park Service, Not Everyone Loves You!

Today marks the NPS’s 109th birthday! In celebration (?) we pulled a few less than enthusiastic 1 star reviews of some of our favorite places. A few are straight up silly, some are maddening and others prove that just because National Parks are for everyone, not everyone are for National Parks. All reviews found on YelpFor a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page! Thank you to the week’s partners! Hello Fresh: Use our link to get up to 10 FREE meals and a free item for life. Smalls: For a limited time only, get 60% off your first order PLUS free shipping when you head to Smalls.com/npad. Blueland: Use our link to get 15% off your first order. Rocket Money: Use our link to get started saving. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:15Danielle LaRock?

  Hello everyone and welcome back to National Park After Dark. I'm Danielle.

• 1:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  I'm Cassie and we're so excited to have you here today because this is kind of a special episode.

• 1:24Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, if you're listening, I don't know how many people truly listen on release day, but if you are, it's August 25th and it is the National Park Service's 109th birthday.

• 1:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  Wow, happy birthday.

• 1:36Danielle LaRock?

  Happy birthday. I'm not going to do the whole thing. That would be so annoying. Yeah, so it's their birthday and we decided to celebrate in kind of a weird way. It's going to be fun and we've never done-

• 1:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  Maybe the opposite of a celebration.

• 1:50Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, it's like we're actually going to drag you.

• 1:52Cassandra Yahnian?

  We're actually going to poke fun.

• 1:54Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 1:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  At the parks themselves because we just thought that that would be a fun way to celebrate.

• 1:59Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, and I've said it before, I'll say it again, I love light bullying. It's a love language. So that's what we're doing and it's not coming directly from us. We're just the messengers, okay? So what we're doing today is I kind of got some inspiration from two places. I love the podcast Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet. And if you are a, and that's why we drink, listener like I am- Em and Christine, they do a great job with that podcast, but Christine has another podcast with her brother, where they, every episode, they share one-star reviews of everything, like anything and everything. It could be like snow removal services, or like candy canes, or-

• 2:41Cassandra Yahnian?

  And people are unhinged, so-

• 2:44Danielle LaRock?

  And it's just so entertaining and fun. So, they have, if you're into this type of stuff, they're the one-star connoisseurs over there. And then, of course, for national park lovers, everyone is pretty much, I think at this point, familiar with Amber Sherr's works, which is Subpar Parks and her book series.

• 3:04Cassandra Yahnian?

  Her series is so funny and so, so original to put that together with her illustrations too, of the one-star reviews of national parks. And it's just so funny, it's like, all it was, was rocks. I was talking about Acadia or Badlands or something. It's like, yeah, that's kind of the point.

• 3:22Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. So, because of all that and our love for making fun of things, we're going to read some of the one-star reviews that we have found for some of the national parks on our birthday. Yeah, so, happy birthday, National Park Service.

• 3:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  This is what everyone thinks of you. Yeah, not everyone, but this is just a fun, laid-back episode. I'd love to hear if people are listening, if you've ever left a bad review for a national park, and I want to know what it was for.

• 3:53Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. And just as kind of a, okay, before we begin, we are very aware that, especially going through these, so, we filtered through Yelp, just, we kind of just honed in on there. Of course, you can find reviews on like TripAdvisor and Google Reviews, and there's a bunch of different platforms that you can find reviews on, but we just stuck with Yelp. And especially after there's just been this rise of poking fun at one-star reviews and things like that, you can tell when reviewers will intentionally try and poke the bear and just be like-

• 4:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  I didn't even know people did that. That's actually kind of, like, there's a ton of one-star reviews, just so people will read them.

• 4:30Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, just to kind of like incite an argument, or get attention, or it's so over the top, you know it's fake type of thing. And those- Yeah, so those have tended to pop up more in recent years. So with the exception of one or two of these, and we'll read the date of when they were posted, we tried to go far back to get like true negative experiences and just see what people are talking about. You know, what's the word on the street of with some of these parks? So

• 5:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  Welcome to this unhinged episode of one star reviews.

• 5:06Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, let's, okay, Yosemite's first.

• 5:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay, let's hear it.

• 5:10Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, so this is for Yosemite National Park and the review was by Marcus C. in, and this is the exception, December 2024. This is the most recent one that we have. This park is vast. I think the park planners should have made more of an effort to have the attractions closer to each other. We toured the southern part of the park and while the big gristle tree was neat and Stephen Colbert's peak was impressive, they are really far apart. Perhaps the next time the park is renovated, the old gristle tree can be moved closer? Question mark. The Colbert's range has some nice waterfalls that could be developed a little more. Perhaps adding a small water park would be good. An area to ride tubes and cool off after a hard, after a hot day? Question mark. Another issue was wifi. It seems like with all of these

• 5:52Danielle LaRock?

  hills, some cell towers and wifi could be added throughout. This would also help with the National Park Service app. While you can download the park ahead of your visit, it would be good if you had wifi, you wouldn't need to. And the trails seem pretty dusty in the summer. Perhaps the trails could be laid down with some asphalt? Question mark. The roads are in great shape, but at times the speed limit is 20 and 30 miles an hour. It seems as if the speed limit was raised to 65, patrons could move through the park quicker.

• 6:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  This one feels almost like it could be fake because

• 6:22Danielle LaRock?

  For sure, rage bait, right?

• 6:24Cassandra Yahnian?

  Rage bait. Let's put asphalt throughout the whole park and could you cut down some trees for some wifi towers? And also with this review, what I thought was really funny is that I couldn't find what they were talking about, the gristle tree and Stephen Colbert's peak. I'm like, Stephen Colbert is a talk show host. I don't know if he has a peak named after him in Yosemite, but I looked and I couldn't find anything. So I think that they were talking about the Grizzly Giant and Cathedral Peak. And the Grizzly Giant is the oldest tree in the Mariposa Grove. It's actually about 3,000 years old, which is

• 7:00Danielle LaRock?

  And it's a big tourist attraction. So you would think perhaps he went there.

• 7:04Cassandra Yahnian?

  He would have visited there. Yeah. People go there a lot to see this tree. Uh, and it's huge. It's massive. It's really cool. And then also Cathedral Peak is in part of the Cathedral Range in the Sierra Nevadas, which is in Yosemite as well. So I think he was talking about that and the Cathedral Peak is this peak that raises about 1,500 feet above the bridge line. So it's huge. And I think he was talking about that and kinda to be fair, on his side, I Googled how far apart they were and they are two hours and 20 minutes according to Google. Apart from each other. So maybe he's on to something. Maybe the park should, uh, pick up that tree and

• 7:46Danielle LaRock?

  And move it so it's more convenient.

• 7:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  That 30,000 year old tree that's been surviving there. It would be nice if it was in a more convenient location.

• 7:54Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, I

• 7:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  For people who want to see Cathedral, specifically for people who want to see Cathedral Peak and that tree in the same visit.

• 8:02Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, like I want to get out of the car one time.

• 8:04Cassandra Yahnian?

  And that's it. And then I want to walk on asphalt for the rest of my duration of my outdoor experience.

• 8:10Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. And okay. So to be fair, just starting off with this one, I also think it might be fake. But it, I picked it because it brought up a lot of points that people really truly have. And that's about the wifi is a big one. We see a lot of articles about should we or shouldn't we install like Starlink and other type of things in remote areas, specifically within national parks. And there's an argument on both sides for that. So that's like a very valid concern that people do have and a complaint that a lot of people have. So he touched on that. He touched on the speed limit and we see over and over people speeding and killing wildlife in parks.

• 8:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  65 is wild though.

• 8:49Danielle LaRock?

  I know.

• 8:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yosemite.

• 8:52Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 8:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  On those windy roads or in the main, off a cliff, or you're just in the main valley where there's tons of bikers and people and you're just going 65.

• 9:02Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. No, scary.

• 9:04Cassandra Yahnian?

  That would Not end well at all.

• 9:07Danielle LaRock?

  So there was that, the wifi speeding, trail maintenance. I mean, of course, he's like, can you put asphalt or whatever? Because they're dusty. Trail maintenance is a big thing that people complain about. And it goes all the way to the top, because I mean, we talk about, well, you can't have your trails maintained if you cut funding. And, you know, there's a lot of other things in there. But anyway, so that was kind of just like one to start off. That was like, okay, um, and here we go.

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• 10:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, our next one is in Yellowstone National Park. This review is by Khalil G. in May of 2013, and they wrote, "I know what I'm writing is committing sacrilege, but I hated Yellowstone. I took my kids and I want to tell you that I am not some nature-hating guy. I take my kids hiking. I rock climb. The problem with the place is that it is dull. Yellowstone is on a caldera. A caldera is a volcano that blew up and left a crater. The dirt from this is of poor quality. The only tree that grows is this ugly thing called a lone pine. No flowers to speak of grow here. The place is huge and traffic and parking is super painful. The last thing is, once you see water come out of the ground, once, you're

• 10:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  good. But it's all the same. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is okay, but when we were there, there were wildfires from California that left a thick layer of smoke and you could barely see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. I think that people don't want to say that they don't like the place. When we were there, you would have 50 cars pulled over so people could take turns looking at a bear through a large spotting scope. The thing was 1,000 yards away. If you are in the area for some reason, it is worth dropping by. Don't spend a lot of money just to go to Yellowstone. It's not worth it."

• 11:21Danielle LaRock?

  I'm literally clutch. If I had pearls, I mean, I just noticed my hand has been at my throat this whole time.

• 11:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  I'm clutching my pearls.

• 11:28Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, my God. Yeah, that is sacrilege. And the whole vibe of this, just the beginning, it gives the same energy of like, not to be a bitch, but like,

• 11:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like, I rock climb and I hate it here.

• 11:41Danielle LaRock?

  It's like, I love the outdoors, but I hate.

• 11:43Cassandra Yahnian?

  To be fair, it's not really a rock climbing Mecca.

• 11:47Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, but that's not, that's not even involved in this conversation at all.

• 11:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  I mean, he does have a point that there are a lot, there is a lot of traffic there. But it's so funny. It's like, I hated Yellowstone. It's dull.

• 12:00Danielle LaRock?

  It's dull and boring and like, do not just actively say, don't waste your time coming here. But if you happen to be in the area, who just happens to be

• 12:09Cassandra Yahnian?

  In that area.

• 12:10Danielle LaRock?

  Yellowstone, like,

• 12:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like in the middle of nowhere.

• 12:13Danielle LaRock?

  It's just so funny. And just like, I mean, it takes all kinds of kinds and everyone has different preferences. But this is like, one of the most popular parks in the entire world, the first national park in the entire world. And here he is like, mm, not for me.

• 12:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, it's funny because right after that one is a review by Tom B. in July of 2017, who agreed with him because he said, it's a tourist trap. Don't go there. Forest is scraggly and burnt. Prices are outrageous. Not worth it for the steam vents, mud pots, geysers. Every other national park is more scenic. Sinclair has a monopoly in the park. They charged me $270 for a 20 mile tow when my alternator quit. The service to replace it at Sinclair was over $550 and took three days. And then when I drove away after 10 miles, I realized my battery was dying. It was downhill mostly to the next Sinclair. So I got the next so-called mechanic to fix it after barely making it. Everything about it sucked.

• 13:11Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, it sounds like you have a gripe with Sinclair.

• 13:15Cassandra Yahnian?

  Not the park.

• 13:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  But one star review on the Yellowstone National Park.

• 13:22Danielle LaRock?

  Is taking the brunt for this man's issue with his truck.

• 13:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, it's just so funny. It's like, don't go there. Scraggly, burnt, not worth it for the steam vents. And I wrote down a couple of things about Yellowstone because I just think it's so funny, someone being like, ah, it sucks.

• 13:40Danielle LaRock?

  It's like, oh, the geological wonder that is Yellowstone?

• 13:43Cassandra Yahnian?

  Of the world. It's like, you mean, the very first national park that sparked a global conservation movement?

• 13:48Danielle LaRock?

  That, in the very same?

• 13:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's, everything about it sucks. And I wrote down, because I was looking it up, just a little sub fun facts is that Yellowstone protects one of the last nearly intact ecosystems in the temperate world, preserving vast forests, rivers, canyons, and meadows. It spans over 3,400 square miles across Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. And of course, we all know it sits on top of a supervolcano that powers half of the world's geysers and countless hot springs. So, half of the entire planet's geysers are sitting inside Yellowstone National Park, but it sucked.

• 14:24Danielle LaRock?

  But once you've seen one, you've seen them all.

• 14:25Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, once you've seen one waterspout.

• 14:28Danielle LaRock?

  Who cares?

• 14:29Cassandra Yahnian?

  Who cares? You've seen it.

• 14:31Danielle LaRock?

  Not me.

• 14:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  Don't go there.

• 14:32Danielle LaRock?

  I wish we didn't go. I wish we didn't go just now.

• 14:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  And he had to look through a spotted lens to see a grizzly when they should be close to the road, so you can see them better.

• 14:42Danielle LaRock?

  Within arms' reach is my preferred.

• 14:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  I agree.

• 14:46Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, so.

• 14:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's our takes on Yellowstone.

• 14:52Danielle LaRock?

  Uh, okay, right. Okay, let's move on. Okay, so I had to do this one next because I think it gets the most crap, um, within like the 63 main national parks.

• 15:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  It may be rightfully so.

• 15:06Danielle LaRock?

  We'll see. We don't have personal experience there, so I hate to.

• 15:12Cassandra Yahnian?

  I've seen this one from afar. I haven't, I've driven by it. I haven't been like technically in the park, but I've driven right by it.

• 15:18Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, okay. So, we're speaking of none other than Gateway Arch National Park.

• 15:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  The one and only.

• 15:24Danielle LaRock?

  The one and only worldwide phenomenon. And this review is by Carolina S. from August of 2020. Wow, just wow. Going to the arch was definitely an experience. Would I characterize it as a mistake? No. The real mistake was this huge, God forsaken arch being built in the first place. This is not a shape that should exist on Earth.

• 15:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's just like, it's an arch.

• 15:53Danielle LaRock?

  Yay.

• 15:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  What about Arches National Park?

• 15:55Danielle LaRock?

  Naturally occur in Elks. Okay, whatever. Um, getting there was nearly impossible with the directions taking us straight out of St. Louis.

• 16:07Danielle LaRock?

  Um, okay. Uh, maybe the directions were trying to do us a favor because I wish we would have stayed out. Whatever you do, do not enter the museum. It is a den of propaganda trying to convince you that the shape is physically correct. She's really hung up on this arch.

• 16:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  She really does not like arches.

• 16:25Danielle LaRock?

  Also, pictures cost $25, which is practically highway robbery. But listen to this, and this is all in all capitals. So I'm emphasizing this for a reason. They printed the pictures before you say you want them. A federally owned national park being this unsustainable is truly sickening and heartbreaking in more ways than one. Also, this is my favorite part. Okay. Also, Missouri is too long.

• 16:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  She's after the whole state.

• 16:53Danielle LaRock?

  She's furious. Okay. And I only pulled one, but let me just tell you, people are very upset with this national park.

• 17:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  People hate arches.

• 17:03Danielle LaRock?

  And mostly, I mostly, it seems like people are really upset with the cramped quarters in the elevator going up.

• 17:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  Really?

• 17:12Danielle LaRock?

  Yes.

• 17:12Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, these are like the reviews you saw when you were looking through it.

• 17:15Danielle LaRock?

  I'm like, how should I pick?

• 17:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  The elevators, really?

• 17:20Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, the elevators and the cramped quarters and some of them, it reminded me flashback to when we were on, I forget what we were talking about. I think it was on a Trail Tales about elevator, like near death experiences or whatever. Um, and there was quite a few that they were really upset because the elevator stopped functioning and they were just all stuck in it for like hours. Multiple people throughout multiple years. So there's that too, to be aware of, I guess. I don't know.

• 17:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, I mean, I kind of get people's gripe with arches and I have not been there. I'm sure that there's a lot more.

• 17:53Danielle LaRock?

  Wait, arches?

• 17:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  Uh, sorry, arches. I'm hung up on arches now. Gateway Arch. I haven't been to Gateway Arch. I've just seen it from afar, but the whole point of Gateway Arch, from my understanding, is that it is this giant memorial in commemoration of the Westward Expansion, which we know was the colonization of the West, which we also know was the murder of thousands and thousands of indigenous people. And now we have this giant arch in the middle of Missouri. So I, maybe there's some more to that national park from, but from my understanding. That a lot of it. I mean, I know it's a largely based, it's largely a history-based park,

• 18:33Danielle LaRock?

  but it is kind of a There's nothing else to it.

• 18:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  There's, yeah. And I was looking, um, I looked up some facts about it just because I haven't been there. So it's 630 feet tall. It's a stainless steel monument and it was completed in 1965, but it was built on land, uh, through controversial urban renewal projects. The arch actually came at a cost of displacing thousands of residents and demolishing historic riverfront buildings. So to put this in place, thousands of people lost their, their homes.

• 19:05Danielle LaRock?

  Which is kind of

• 19:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's controversial. And it is kind of a theme in national parks. Um, first with indigenous communities, of course, and then just people losing their, their ranches and their homes that are on these preserved lands.

• 19:19Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. Well, I mean, again, we've never been there. It's just Carolina was really

• 19:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  I mean, her gripe with arches is something to be studied. Does anyone else have a gripe with the shape of an arch?

• 19:37Danielle LaRock?

  If there's one thing I can't stand in this world.

• 19:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's an arch.

• 19:40Danielle LaRock?

  An arch. I'm gonna rip the picture My arch right there off the wall. I can't even stand to look at it anymore.

• 19:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  I'll never look at an arch the same.

• 19:49Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. Next one is not a national park. It's a national monument and I chose it because it's one of my favorite places. Um, and I just had to see what, what was going on over there. This is a review by Ryan D. from September of 2019. And it says, "Too cloudy and the boat was a raft instead of a pontoon. Very disappointing and ruined the afternoon for our whole party. Should have visited before 1980 when the whole thing was still there. Rainier was alright though. Very beautiful mountain. Also, lots of turtles in the lake. Look out."

• 20:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  One star.

• 20:24Danielle LaRock?

  I should have rewinded time.

• 20:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  I should have went there in 1980.

• 20:30Danielle LaRock?

  Natural disaster.

• 20:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  You know, to be fair, you probably should have. It was pretty cool when it had its full top.

• 20:37Danielle LaRock?

  I wasn't conceived yet.

• 20:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, literally for us. But also, the eruption site is kind of what makes it so cool. We went there.

• 20:46Danielle LaRock?

  I know.

• 20:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  And you took me, what is it called? The?

• 20:49Danielle LaRock?

  Harry Truman's.

• 20:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  Harry Truman Trail or Ledge. Yeah, we did that and it was incredible. I mean, the park is so beautiful. Seeing the huge missing top of a mountain is an experience that was really cool as well.

• 21:03Danielle LaRock?

  Ryan couldn't see it because it was cloudy. So.

• 21:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, that is disappointing. It is upsetting when the weather does that.

• 21:11Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 21:12Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. But Mount St. Helens is really cool because I'm like, I wrote all these redeeming qualities of Mount St. Helens for people. So that 1980 eruption has been the most studied volcanic event in terms of ecological response, in part because the area was not completely destroyed. So it's actually still very highly researched because there aren't a lot of places where you can still see the full impacts of an eruption because they destroy a lot and there's so much still intact there.

• 21:41Danielle LaRock?

  Well, and you're seeing this, like, you're also seeing in real time, like, this natural regeneration of the landscape. And that's like part of the magic of the area. Of course, the eruption was devastating and it impacted a lot of people and many people lost their lives and it was really scary. But the aftermath of it is something to kind of lean into and just be like, what can we learn from this? How does the landscape recover? Of course, we can kind of go back in time to these historic eruptions from historical text and then looking at the landscape in present day and kind of putting the pieces together. But here we have the before, during, and after that we have this opportunity to look at.

• 22:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  And that's, yeah, where the concept of biological legacies has come from. Because of this eruption, there are the survivors of the eruption and there are all these fauna and flora that have come back after the eruption because it is estimated that 7,000 larger mammals died and some were completely wiped out, but some came back. The white horned sheep is a big one. That has come back and their population has bounced back, even though almost every single one of them was decimated. But also, there's a lot of flora that has come back after the eruption and they're known as these survivor species that they're studying because they can come back from something as horrific as an eruption. Yeah.

• 23:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  But if it's cloudy, you won't see it. So you might No, yeah. So that sucks. Mount Rainier is alright, though, from what I hear. Yeah, that's what I hear, too. Well, our next one. Sorry, hold on. I just wanted to look up. I didn't know what a white horned sheep was. Did they say? You said a white horned sheep. I didn't. So did you mean mountain goat? I meant a mountain goat. Wait, well, I'm like, am I dumb? They meant a mountain goat. Yeah, the mountain goats are coming back. Okay. Not the white horned sheep. That would be a breakthrough. They were created during the nineteen Little known fact.

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• 25:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, our next one is from Glacier National Park, which we were just visiting. And the review is from Joseph G. July 2017, one star. "I love camping in nature. My wife is from Colorado and we live in Montana. So we've done a fair amount of camping in both Montana and Colorado. After staying at Two Medicine Campground in East Glacier, I would be unlikely to return to Glacier for the following." And he outlines them for us. "There were a number of rangers who exerted the most control I've ever experienced at any camping trip. Just in numbers, there were probably one ranger for every three campers. There was an extreme number of rules, which the large geriatric community helped the rangers viciously enforce."

• 25:48Danielle LaRock?

  The large geriatric community?

• 25:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  Just picturing a bunch of like retired like grandma and grandpas like yelling at people for littering, which I am here for also. "Luckily, they gave one warning for each violation, so I never ended up with a ticket. I did see several people end up with $150 tickets. My daughter was told she couldn't take a rock from next to the lake. There were many rules on where we could go, where our dog could go, etc. The park rangers reminded me of TSA at airports, serious power trip."

• 26:20Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, they don't want to keep anyone safe. They're actually just do it for, yeah, wielding power.

• 26:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yes. "Rangers even had a program using dogs to chase deer and wildlife away from camp areas. Needless to say, we saw no animals other than birds. And one mountain goat at Logan Pass, the goat had a huge tracking collar placed by the forestry, very artificial. Rangers made everyone clear the area from the mountain goat, ruining that experience also. Any private campground would be nicer and more natural. Now, I do hope Trump lets the national parks be managed by a private company."

• 26:54Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, that is a...

• 26:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's, oh my god, they said that in two thousand and seventeen. I guess that was a conversation then too.

• 27:03Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 27:04Cassandra Yahnian?

  In summary, Glacier has postcard views of landscape, but that's all it offers. If you want to see beautiful landscapes, this is for you. If you want to get out and experience nature and wildlife, this isn't for you and you will have the forestry service against you. Me being from Montana, I would drive there again for a day or so. Never again would I camp at Glacier, nor would I spend more than a day or two at Glacier, nor would I recommend Glacier to anyone under seventy years old. It's really a place for people from very big cities to go and see from buses. Okay.

• 27:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  First and foremost, yes, they control where your dog goes. There's grizzlies there.

• 27:46Danielle LaRock?

  No, there's no wildlife, other than a radio collared mountain goat.

• 27:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, no wildlife. It's so funny because our experience in Glacier is so different. So different. We met the best people. We were in wildlife. We saw a ton of it everywhere. We were in the back country. You know, I, I don't know. It seems like this person needs some leave no trace principles reintroduced into their, or introduced for the first time into their, into their mind.

• 28:14Danielle LaRock?

  I think this one is interesting because, of course, this is from July of two thousand and seventeen. Um, so a number of years ago now, but they're complaining that there's too much park staff. And now a lot of reviews, if you go on now, it's people complaining that there's no park staff.

• 28:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  Really?

• 28:32Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 28:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's sad.

• 28:33Danielle LaRock?

  A lot of the newer reviews that I was trying to avoid.

• 28:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 28:37Danielle LaRock?

  But yeah, a lot of, there's a lot of themes and I almost wrote them down, just like bullet point themes, but I feel like we're gonna get a taste and feel for them regardless. But yeah, one of the themes as of the last like year or two has been that things are dirty, they can't find any help, there's no staff anywhere, they, like, they have no resources and they feel like they're just off on their own and there's no support.

• 29:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, that's what happens when the parks get defunded.

• 29:04Danielle LaRock?

  And it just, it just goes to show, whether it's this particular complaint or others, which we'll get to, but it's like, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. You know, like, no one is ever gonna be completely happy with what's going on. Like, you're always gonna have someone upset. Um, but it also is reflective of the times, you know, and what we're seeing within the park service and how it impacts visitor.

• 29:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's very fitting that I'm wearing our Protect Our Parks.

• 29:30Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, yeah, look at that.

• 29:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  Sweatshirt today, which was not planned. It's just uns- it's the highest sixty-six at my house today and it's the middle of August, which is really upsetting. It's like a taste of fall.

• 29:44Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, zero out of five stars.

• 29:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  For Vermont.

• 29:50Danielle LaRock?

  All right, well, yep, so leaving Glacier, I guess, behind.

• 29:55Cassandra Yahnian?

  Don't go there.

• 29:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  Unless you're over seventy, which. We had a wildflower flower guide who is seventy-eight and she trucked it up to the Swift Current Lookout and to the Granite Park Chalet. So I highly encourage people over seventy as well. But also people younger than seventy.

• 30:15Danielle LaRock?

  Well, Joseph is from Montana, not to be a bitch, but you know, he hates Glacier.

• 30:23Danielle LaRock?

  Gettysburg National Battlefield, here we go. Review by Anna L. in February of two thousand and fifteen, over ten years ago now. Boring. First off, it was nothing like the movie. All I saw were a bunch of fields and rocks. All the tourist shops, bars and hotels in the area kept saying how I should check this place out. I kept getting confused with all the plaques and monuments. Who was fighting who? I have no idea. The abandoned canyons.

• 30:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  Elementary school.

• 30:53Danielle LaRock?

  We gotta take it back, Anna. Go on back.

• 30:57Cassandra Yahnian?

  Back to the third grade.

• 31:00Danielle LaRock?

  The abandoned canyons look tacky. I give this one star for the overweight character actor in the square. That's about it. Yawn. End of that review.

• 31:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, my god. That's mean also to pull.

• 31:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  Your body shaming first off, second above, second above.

• 31:25Cassandra Yahnian?

  Give me one star for my speech today. I'm unhinged. It's Monday morning. We don't record on Monday mornings.

• 31:32Danielle LaRock?

  Give us a break.

• 31:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  Give us a break, um, or one star, whatever you prefer, but.

• 31:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, um, I haven't been to Gettysburg, but it's certainly on our list. We've done a few episodes on it. I mean, she does have a point about being confused about all the monuments because I looked it up and the park does have over thirteen hundred monuments and plaques commemorating the soldiers of the events of the Battle of Gettysburg. So Anna, if you are listening for some reason, that was the Civil War and it was against.

• 32:07Danielle LaRock?

  We were against each other.

• 32:09Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, against each other. It was a war here and it was against the Union soldiers and the Confederate soldiers, the North and the South and.

• 32:17Danielle LaRock?

  Just as a basic.

• 32:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  Just as a basic, a lot of it was surrounding the abolishment of slavery, but it also had a lot to do with the economy as well. The Confederate soldiers lost, the Union soldiers won.

• 32:31Danielle LaRock?

  And here we are today.

• 32:32Cassandra Yahnian?

  And here we are today. And Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of them all. It was three days.

• 32:38Danielle LaRock?

  Maybe she learned that though, if she did in fact read any of the plaques, which.

• 32:43Cassandra Yahnian?

  It doesn't like.

• 32:44Danielle LaRock?

  Well, here's the thing. I understand that that's not really for everyone. I have a couple of people that come to the top of my mind, uh, right off the bat, love them dearly, but they hate a museum. They hate plaques. They get overwhelmed with book titles. They don't like looking at words. Like it's too much and they get overwhelmed. They'd rather be doing something else. And that's totally fine. It like doesn't hold their attention in the same way that other activities do and things like that. Um, so you can say it's boring and it's not for you and that's fine, but it's just, it's funny the way that she phrased it.

• 33:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  And started off boring.

• 33:26Danielle LaRock?

  And also she's just like, the abandoned cannons look tacky.

• 33:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like they're real cannons.

• 33:32Danielle LaRock?

  Like it's their historic artifacts.

• 33:36Danielle LaRock?

  But yeah, so anyway, um,

• 33:38Cassandra Yahnian?

  The decor just wasn't doing well back then.

• 33:41Danielle LaRock?

  No, I did see it reminded me when she was listing the number, or you just said the numbers of plaques and stuff.

• 33:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 33:50Danielle LaRock?

  There is a, I don't, we have a TikTok, but we don't really utilize it. And I was on it. So I don't like follow anyone. I just see something and I'm like, oh, that's kind of cool. And then it's lost to the abyss forever. But there's this woman, and I think she was on a mission to read every single plaque and informational signage and board and stuff in the Smithsonian.

• 34:12Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, wow.

• 34:13Danielle LaRock?

  And just like record how long it would truly take if you were to stop and read every little piece of signage and information about every single piece that they have in the Smithsonian. And the last time I saw she was at like six months.

• 34:25Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, wow.

• 34:26Danielle LaRock?

  So she's committing to it for sure.

• 34:29Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's amazing.

• 34:29Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. Um, so I thought that was really interesting.

• 34:32Cassandra Yahnian?

  That is.

• 34:32Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. No one's got the time to read. No one's expecting you to read all the plaques, but.

• 34:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  No, definitely not.

• 34:37Danielle LaRock?

  A couple.

• 34:38Cassandra Yahnian?

  I do kind of wonder if this person would have had more fun if they did it kind of your way of how you would visit Gettysburg, because I know how you would visit Gettysburg. And you would be going on a ghost tour.

• 34:50Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, yeah.

• 34:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  And I wonder if something like that would have piqued her interest. I feel like she wouldn't have used the word. I feel like she just explored it the wrong way for her. Um, and instead, if they had done a ghost tour and gotten haunted and heard those tacky cannons, if you heard some ghost cannon fire, might have been a little bit more interesting.

• 35:12Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, but she also picked on the reenactor.

• 35:15Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's true. I'm not talking about reenactors, though. I'm talking about the real thing, the real old.

• 35:19Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, but reenactors give the tours.

• 35:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, that's true.

• 35:23Danielle LaRock?

  She's a lost cause. Let's move on.

• 35:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but you might be on to something. All right. So the next park review, one star is Lassen Volcanic National Park. Don't go there. According to Eric M. in May of 2013. They said, this park is beautiful, but it is closed about six months of the year due to horrible rangers who block the roads. I am writing this in the middle of May and there has been nothing but hot weather for months, but they still have the roads closed. The claim that it's due to snow, but I walk for miles past their little roadblocks and there is nothing but sunshine and dry roads. These people are horrible for keeping the world out of the park for no reason.

• 36:10Cassandra Yahnian?

  Shasta is just 30 minutes away and even has a higher altitude, but it's open all year round, but not Lassen. They have dry roads, sunshine and 80 degree weather, but they choose to block people from driving. Five stars for the park, minus 10 stars for the staff and decision makers.

• 36:28Danielle LaRock?

  So this person said, rules don't apply to me and just went through the blockades.

• 36:34Cassandra Yahnian?

  Just walked.

• 36:35Danielle LaRock?

  We'll see about that.

• 36:37Cassandra Yahnian?

  We'll see about that. We'll see if this is necessary. And I'm sure they just didn't walk far enough to get to the point where there was still a ton of snow.

• 36:45Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. I mean,

• 36:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  And they just block it at a certain point.

• 36:49Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, we know so many parks have closures all the time. I mean, the National Park Service literally says, before you come here, please do your research. We post closures in real time and what in different events and things to know on our website. And another theme, this is another theme, the amount of reviews that people had. And this was especially during, and I was like, kind of doing the calculations in my mind of like, what was going on during this like span of time? That all these influx of reviews are coming in with the same theme. And around COVID, the closures of the park or ticketed or time reservations and entries. Oh, people were.

• 37:30Danielle LaRock?

  Pissed. People were pissed because they're like, I just drove five thousand miles. I just drove.

• 37:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  You should have planned a little.

• 37:38Danielle LaRock?

  How did you drive? First of all, how did you drive five thousand miles to get here? That's crazy. But like, or I drove, you know, X amount of days to get here. I planned my whole vacation around this. And I pull up just to realize that the park is closed.

• 37:52Cassandra Yahnian?

  Or you didn't plan very well. If you planned your entire vacation around this, but you didn't see that.

• 37:58Danielle LaRock?

  It's like, this is twenty twenty. Granted, COVID peak twenty twenty, twenty twenty one, et cetera. The internet exists and it's very easy to Google or to call what's going on. And I don't know.

• 38:12Cassandra Yahnian?

  Definitely shown up places and I didn't plan. I get it because I've totally done it. I've showed up at places. I didn't look ahead. I got there and then it was like, all right, gotta, this is my bad. Gotta switch it up. I mean, I could have looked it up and I think everyone has done it where we show up somewhere and we didn't look it up enough. And it's disappointing, yes, but to leave a one star review for your own kind of mistake.

• 38:37Danielle LaRock?

  Can I tell you a story?

• 38:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 38:39Danielle LaRock?

  That was my fault. I did not leave a, I've never left a one star review for anything. You have. Okay, wait, hold that because I actually do want to hear that. But this was my own fault and I was young and so dumb. But I had this brilliant idea. I had this ex boyfriend who loved cheeseburgers, loved.

• 39:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  Interesting passion.

• 39:02Danielle LaRock?

  He was a cheeseburger. Like if he was what he ate, he would be a cheeseburger or hamburger, whatever. So I had the idea to, for like a fun date experience, was I wanted to surprise him and bring him to, and I forget what it's called. I could easily Google it. It's twenty twenty five, Google, Google exists. But it's a place in Connecticut that had, is renowned for being like the, like they, their restaurant or whatever was like the birthplace of the American cheeseburger or hamburger. Like it can be all traced back to this location. That's their schtick, right? It's like, this is where the cheeseburger was invented here or whatever. And they still use all the old, like

• 39:43Danielle LaRock?

  original equipment from like over a hundred years ago. And it's like an experience and it's this whole thing and whatever. Okay.

• 39:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yes.

• 39:52Danielle LaRock?

  Great. So I was like hyping it up. So so good. I'm like, you're you'll never guess what we're doing. Who would guess that? You know, I'm like, you just need to pack a bag. We're gonna go overnight somewhere, whatever. We go all the way to Connecticut, walk up. I'm ready for a big reveal. I'm like, don't eat, don't eat, like, come on an empty tummy. Walk around the corner, places like a ghost town. Like, what the hell? They're they were closed like Monday and Tuesdays.

• 40:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  And you just didn't look at it.

• 40:20Danielle LaRock?

  Didn't look. Didn't look at all.

• 40:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  Like, you know what? We're actually just gonna go to a burger restaurant.

• 40:27Danielle LaRock?

  We're actually gonna go to Burger King. Yeah, I don't even, I actually don't remember what we did. Like, I just remember that portion of it because it was like the biggest drop of the ball on my end ever. Like, who the hell doesn't look? I just assumed, I'm like, it's a weekday. Why would they not be open on a weekday?

• 40:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  You live, you learn.

• 40:47Danielle LaRock?

  You'll live, you'll learn. I've never been back. Maybe that, when you tell your story, I'm gonna look up the name of this place, actually. Please tell me your one star review.

• 40:55Cassandra Yahnian?

  My one star review. I've probably told you this before. Um, I don't know if I told you I left a review, but I've probably told you the story is, it was a few years ago, I had just bought my truck that I have, and it came with snow tires. It came with studded snow tires on it, but I bought um, at the end of winter. So uh, it was probably like three months later, I had to, two or three months later, I had to switch out the tires and I went to this tire place. And I packed up my tire, like my, I had bought tires that I was bringing to them to put on. And I put them in the back of my truck. And I have one of those truck covers. It's a hard truck cover. They're pretty expensive. It came with the truck

• 41:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  itself. I didn't buy it, um, but it came with the truck itself. And they take my truck. I get it back. The back cover is filled with my old tires. It's rolled or not rolled because it's a hard one, but it's folded up. Um, and I drive home. Everything's good. Tires are great, whatever. I get home and I'm unloading the tires and I open my, the truck cover. And there's a piece, and I know what it was. Actually, it was from my Peloton. Um, one of those screws, one of the screw pieces at the very bottom um, of the bike that keep it stable. I had been looking for it and I guess it was in the bed, bed of my truck. They had folded it onto it and they punctured my cover.

• 42:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  And there was a big hole in it. And I mean, this is brand new. I've had it for two months. Um, yeah. And I pull it out. There's a big hole in it and now it's not waterproof anymore. Which is obviously a problem. And I called them and I was like, hey, I just wanted to call and let you guys know. You guys put a hole in my cover and it was a little piece that was in the back of my truck. I would love to like, figure out how we can get this fixed. I just bought this truck. And he was like, um, okay, just come back down. And I was like, okay. So, and I was being really nice. I came back down and I get there. And I was like, this is the piece. This is where it was. He comes out with like three other people. And they're like, looking at it. I'm like, I'm sure it wasn't on purpose, but I just bought this truck.

• 43:07Cassandra Yahnian?

  And this is pretty, I looked it up and it's pretty expensive to fix. It was like $500 to fix the piece that he, that they broke. And he comes out and he's like, my guys didn't do this. He's like, that was in it before you got here. And I was like, no, no, it wasn't. I, I know it wasn't. Actually, I think I messed up the story a little bit because I don't, I, I'm remembering now that I knew it wasn't because I had come and my whole bed, the whole back of my truck was actually folded down. So there couldn't have been a way I punctured it. Right, okay. So. Just skip that part at the beginning where I said that I had folded it before I got there because I hadn't. And I was like, no, I, there's no way I could have done this. All I did was go

• 43:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  home and open it and it was punctured and this piece was stuck in between it. And he was like, you're lying, you're trying to get money out of me. You're just a liar. And he's like, I have cameras here that are going to prove you're a liar and you're just, he starts yelling at me, full on yelling at me. And I was just like, I don't, I don't care when people yell at me. I actually like trigger something in me to become extremely vindictive.

• 44:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  And calm. I just, I, as soon as someone starts yelling at me, I'm like, okay, I'm going to prove my point and I'm going to be super calm. And so I was like, all right, I would like to talk to your manager. And he's like, I am the manager, blah, blah, blah. Like, all right, well, I would like to see your camera footage. And I'm just sitting there. I was like, I'm not leaving until this is solved now, because I was being really nice. And he's full on yelling at me, calling me a liar over and over again, telling me I'm just out for money that I punctured it myself. And now I wanted them to pay for it, all this stuff. And I was like, all right, I'd like to see the camera footage, blah, blah, blah. And he's like, well, I'm busy now. And he makes me call their insurance, whatever. So I call their insurance, people tell them what happened. They look over the footage

• 45:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  and there's clear footage of them puncturing my cover. It's like, well, there it is. Well, there it is. Yeah. And it was just like, so I left them one star. I was like, it was, I was like, that was so unprofessional to have a grown man screaming in my face, calling me a liar, trying to steal money from them.

• 45:18Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, it like, it wasn't about

• 45:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  It wasn't about the puncture. It was an accident.

• 45:21Danielle LaRock?

  Right. Accidents happen and things should happen. So you know, but it's like, you can't treat people like that, you know?

• 45:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  No. Um, yeah. So I left them one star because I, and it was because I was a woman. If I, if Al went and did that, there's no way he would have talked to him like that. Like, he was much taller than me. I remember he was, he like made himself taller and was staring down at me, like with his hands on his hip, calling me a liar and like pointing at me, like trying to make me feel small. But that doesn't work on me. So

• 45:51Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. And you're like, well, joke's on you.

• 45:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  As soon as people start yelling at me, I'm just like, okay, I've never been more calm in my life. You're actually crazy. And

• 46:00Danielle LaRock?

  That's a superpower because I am not like that. But before we move on, I gotta say, I found it.

• 46:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 46:05Danielle LaRock?

  This restaurant. It's called Louis's Lunch and it's such a cute little place. It's like, wow, I wish it was open when I was there. Louis's Lunch is a hamburger restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut, which claims to be the first restaurant to serve hamburgers and the oldest continuously operated hamburger restaurant in the United States. It was opened as a small lunch wagon in 1895 and was one of the first places in the US to serve steak sandwiches.

• 46:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  I wonder if your ex-boyfriend ever made it there?

• 46:33Danielle LaRock?

  No, my ex-boyfriend.

• 46:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  Even after.

• 46:36Danielle LaRock?

  Probably has a voodoo doll of me and lit me on fire. So I don't think he's returned. But anyway, yeah, so it says that like the hamburger there was created in 1900 and in 1917, they moved into the square brick building that I tried to go to. Like they started in a wagon, then in 1917 created the little stone building.

• 47:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  What history?

• 47:04Danielle LaRock?

  Went to. But it's cool because they serve hamburgers on toast and my dad used to do that instead of hamburger buns.

• 47:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, interesting.

• 47:12Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. So anyway, okay.

• 47:14Cassandra Yahnian?

  You'll have to go.

• 47:15Danielle LaRock?

  We're talking about national parks.

• 47:16Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. Well, linking back into Erica's review of Laston Volcanic and why it was closed. One, all over their website for the road, it says that they're closed that time of year. But also I looked it up and every year, this highway, Highway 89 through Laston Volcanic, also known as the Park Highway, gets buried in, gets buried under as much snow as 40 feet. And this 30 mile route crosses avalanche prone slopes with drops of up to 2,000 feet. So that is why it is closed because there's over 40 feet of snow and avalanche terrain on this specific road.

• 47:56Danielle LaRock?

  No, not according to Erica. In May.

• 47:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  But Erica wants to.

• 47:59Danielle LaRock?

  Of course.

• 48:00Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's there till July.

• 48:03Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, no, it was spring and summer and sunshine.

• 48:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  Google what it's like to die in an avalanche and you will respect these rangers and their rules a little bit more.

• 48:13Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 48:17Speaker 06

  Priceline Negotiator.

• 48:20Speaker 07

  It's me, the

• 48:21Speaker 06

  Priceline Negotiator.

• 48:23Speaker 07

  We don't need the jingle twice.

• 48:24Speaker 06

  What about a third time?

• 48:26Speaker 07

  Stop it. This is about vacation inflation and how Priceline negotiates amazing deals on hotels, flights, and rental cars.

• 48:33Speaker 06

  Seems like they just started.

• 48:34Speaker 07

  Yeah, but I didn't mention that you can save up to 60% off hotels in the Priceline app.

• 48:39Speaker 06

  Time to read the tagline.

• 48:40Speaker 07

  Fine. No one deals more deals than

• 48:42Speaker 06

  Priceline.

• 48:44Speaker 07

  Please stop.

• 48:44Speaker 06

  Priceline.

• 48:45Speaker 07

  Touche.

• 48:46Speaker 06

  Priceline.

• 48:47Speaker 07

  Priceline.

• 48:51Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, moving on. This one is for Crater Lake National Park. And the review was, this is the only two-star review that was pulled. However,

• 49:00Cassandra Yahnian?

  Two stars?

• 49:01Danielle LaRock?

  You can tell me if it feels different than a one star.

• 49:04Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay.

• 49:04Danielle LaRock?

  Okay. It's by Erin H. from June of 2012. SNORE, all capitals. "I visited once with my dad when I was a kid, and having visited recently, it's no wonder that it took 20 years for me to return. Sure, sure. If you live in an area devoid of natural wonders, your mind will be blown. But here in the Pacific Northwest, where there is no shortage of such things, something has to be much more grand than blue water in a big hole. Once you've taken a good, long look at this lake, 10 minutes, and snapped a few photos, you're done. You can peruse the gift shop for some Oregon souvenirs, but really, that's it. The entrance fee is $10 and good for seven days. Seven, a whole week. What are you gonna do with a ticket to Crater Lake that's good for seven days?

• 49:49Danielle LaRock?

  That's right, throw it away."

• 49:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oof, Crater Lake. That's rough. That's rough.

• 49:58Danielle LaRock?

  Again, this person is admitting that it's a natural wonder, and it's amazing, but not really.

• 50:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  I thought they said, oh yeah. If you, no, she said if you live in a, oh, I guess they are saying that devoid of natural wonders, your mind will be blown.

• 50:15Danielle LaRock?

  They're, it feels like they, I mean Erin, E-R-I-N, I don't know how they identify, but they're basically They they are coming off as desensitized is kind of the what I'm getting from this like, oh, yeah, I'm from the PNW. I've seen this every this is an everyday thing like I'm not. This is nothing special at all.

• 50:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 50:36Danielle LaRock?

  It's just like one of the most majestic lakes in the world.

• 50:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 50:40Danielle LaRock?

  But.

• 50:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  Maybe if they knew that there's some like suspected alien activity and Bigfoot activity, they'd think it was cooler.

• 50:48Danielle LaRock?

  I don't know. They don't want to come back. It feels like so.

• 50:52Cassandra Yahnian?

  What do you do and create a lake for seven days?

• 50:56Danielle LaRock?

  They they put in parentheses 10 minutes is kind of like what they allot for a visit here, like a 10 minute look see.

• 51:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  Wow, that's.

• 51:05Danielle LaRock?

  You're in, you're out, you're on your way.

• 51:07Cassandra Yahnian?

  Takes me longer to take a few photos than 10 minutes.

• 51:09Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, well, well, all right, let's go somewhere now that we're on our way to in November. Just a little taste of what's in store for us.

• 51:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yes, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This review comes from Andy B. in March of 2020, and they said, don't waste your time. Went on a hike through the old volcano. It was like walking through an empty Walmart parking lot. I was like, you mean the park that has the most active volcanoes on the entire planet and frequently erupts and people can watch?

• 51:39Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 51:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  That one.

• 51:41Danielle LaRock?

  It's like Walmart.

• 51:44Cassandra Yahnian?

  It has the largest shield volcano on the entire planet.

• 51:47Danielle LaRock?

  Should we not go? I feel like we shouldn't go now.

• 51:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  I don't know. Andy has kind of convinced me not to. I've seen a lot of Walmart parking lots.

• 51:55Danielle LaRock?

  You've seen them one, you've seen them all. I don't really think we need.

• 51:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  I've never seen a Walmart parking lot in Hawaii, though.

• 52:01Danielle LaRock?

  I feel like Walmart's not in Hawaii. Is that right?

• 52:04Cassandra Yahnian?

  Like, they probably are.

• 52:05Danielle LaRock?

  Really?

• 52:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 52:07Danielle LaRock?

  Well, I guess we'll find out.

• 52:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, I guess we'll go to see. My favorite. I have a feeling it's gonna be my favorite Walmart parking lot.

• 52:15Danielle LaRock?

  You've ever been to.

• 52:16Cassandra Yahnian?

  Ever.

• 52:17Danielle LaRock?

  A five out of five review for a Walmart parking lot, but a one out of five review for a national park Walmart parking lot. Okay, so.

• 52:27Danielle LaRock?

  Next one, I had to pull this one because this is my personal, um, if I could give one out of five stars for something, if I gave negative.

• 52:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  For a national park?

• 52:36Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 52:37Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay.

• 52:37Danielle LaRock?

  Um, and we've been here together, um, Mount Rushmore, national monument.

• 52:42Cassandra Yahnian?

  Ah, good old.

• 52:43Danielle LaRock?

  Good old.

• 52:44Cassandra Yahnian?

  Bunch of.

• 52:45Danielle LaRock?

  MR.

• 52:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  Men carved into a stone.

• 52:48Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, so this review is by Katie G. in 2018. Call me unpatriotic if you want, but I thought Mount Rushmore was a fantastic waste of time and money. You drive roughly half an hour out of Rapid City, past Keystone, a testament to tacky tourism gone wild, up to the monument just to pay $10 for parking. The parking garage is horribly designed. Once you, which was also another theme for this, the parking, people could not talk about the parking garage enough in the reviews for Mount Rushmore. I'm just gonna say that.

• 53:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  Don't even remember the parking garage.

• 53:20Danielle LaRock?

  Me neither. Did we even park in it?

• 53:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  Probably.

• 53:22Danielle LaRock?

  We must have. I don't know, whatever. It was not memorable for our visit. Um, okay. She continues, once you manage to park and find your way out to the monument, you see the faces up on the mountain, smaller than I expected. Only if you can drag your attention away from the sea of humanity, the lights and colors of the souvenir shop, and the stink of the concession stand. This isn't a monument to America's founders. It's a monument to commercialism and consumerism. I hope I never have to go there again. And Katie G., I just have to say, I kind of agree with you.

• 53:58Danielle LaRock?

  Call me unpatriotic if you want. That is my cross to bear. But I was really unimpressed with Mount Rushmore. I don't.

• 54:07Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 54:07Danielle LaRock?

  What time of year did we go? Do you remember?

• 54:10Cassandra Yahnian?

  Uh, it was summer. It was September. It was September.

• 54:13Danielle LaRock?

  Okay.

• 54:14Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 54:14Danielle LaRock?

  I don't remember there.

• 54:15Cassandra Yahnian?

  End of September.

• 54:16Danielle LaRock?

  Being like a ton of people. Like, of course, it was pretty busy, but I don't remember it being like a sea of people and like a bunch. I mean, I remember the. Museum gift shop thing, but I don't remember it being like concession stands and like all the, I don't remember all of that.

• 54:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, I know it's a piece of history and it's there now, but I don't think there's ever any reason for it to exist. And it has a lot of, I mean, I know a lot of our national park history has ties negatively with indigenous communities, but this one in particular.

• 54:50Danielle LaRock?

  Being the Black Hills and stuff.

• 54:52Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's awful. Yeah, it's just, it's extra bad. I mean, it's right, it's on indigenous land commemorating a bunch of white old presidents who.

• 55:03Danielle LaRock?

  Did some problematic things.

• 55:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  Who did very problematic things. Yeah. And it's just not that cool. I mean, there's just no, I don't know, kind of, yeah.

• 55:12Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 55:12Cassandra Yahnian?

  I didn't love it either.

• 55:14Danielle LaRock?

  I will say, on the flip side of this, similar to our experience, right after we went to Mount Rushmore, we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial.

• 55:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  Crazy Horse was so cool.

• 55:23Danielle LaRock?

  And that has nothing but great reviews.

• 55:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, well, they incorporate, I mean, Crazy Horse is indigenous and they incorporate so much culture into it and so much learning into it, where Mount Rushmore, I think Mount Rushmore would have been a lot more interesting if they were more honest about the actual history of it, because it is history and it's there. And negative or positive, I think history should be preserved, but it was, the park tries to make it feel very patriotic and like, we're great founding fathers of America, and just glazes over the horrific history, which I think a lot of, I mean, I know our listeners, we kind of gravitate towards the morbid darker sides, and I think that they should just own it. You're like, yeah, this is awful.

• 56:11Danielle LaRock?

  We gravitate towards being told the truth in its entirety.

• 56:16Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yes, even when it's dark. And Mount Rushmore, I think that they're really lacking on painting it and it's, and it's true light.

• 56:26Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. So, there's that.

• 56:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  When they do that, we'll, we'll up our stars.

• 56:30Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, well, well, um, what is it? Tweak our review or whatever. Well, I don't know.

• 56:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  Reviser review.

• 56:37Danielle LaRock?

  Um, and then I had to pull one, it's so short. Um, same, for the same monument. Review by Dan L. in December of 2015. Not very good, kind of scary in my opinion. My little sister cried. Do not bring kids to this thing.

• 56:52Cassandra Yahnian?

  It is scary. It is scary. It's a bunch of faces in a rock that's massive and they're all kind of staring.

• 57:00Danielle LaRock?

  I also love though that Katie, kind of going back to her, she's like much smaller in my opinion.

• 57:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  It was smaller, actually, I thought too.

• 57:09Danielle LaRock?

  Oh my god.

• 57:10Cassandra Yahnian?

  Based on the pictures I've seen, I mean, it's still massive.

• 57:13Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 57:13Cassandra Yahnian?

  But, yeah.

• 57:15Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, let's keep going. We have some more to get through and we've just been freaking.

• 57:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, well, this one, kind of in the same region, we're going to Badlands National Park. This review is by Henry H. "In September 2010, we're really taking it back." They said, "I don't get what's so great about the Badlands and make it deserve National Park status." "We went there on a road trip this summer. A friend and my brother had just rode through on their motorcycle trip and highly recommended seeing Badlands. So we left Yellowstone at midnight and drove overnight straight to Badlands. When we arrived, my comment was, 'This is it.'" "Badlands is basically washed out hills of 50,000-year-old mud. You have vast grasslands on site and old mud on the other. And the mud wasn't even differently colored layers or have any other redeeming qualities. It was brown."

• 58:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  "After seeing the major parks like Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, etc., Badlands is lacking a National Park quality. And I like barren landscapes. Death Valley is one of my favorite parks, but Badlands just didn't do it for me." "Unless you are really into old west history or prehistoric mammals, don't go to Badlands."

• 58:23Danielle LaRock?

  You know what?

• 58:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  I loved Badlands.

• 58:24Danielle LaRock?

  Don't go, so we can all, the people who do like mud and prehistoric, what did you say? Prehistoric creatures and-

• 58:32Cassandra Yahnian?

  Mammals.

• 58:33Danielle LaRock?

  Whatever the heck else.

• 58:34Cassandra Yahnian?

  If you don't like, if you like fossils, go to Badlands, which is actually a really good point. If you like fossils, Badlands is a great place to go. I loved Badlands. One of the best sunsets I've ever seen in a National Park was when we were in Badlands.

• 58:47Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, I agree.

• 58:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  That was amazing.

• 58:49Danielle LaRock?

  It was just super, I think, because we went in just not really knowing what to expect and our expectations, because they were pretty much nonexistent.

• 58:57Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 58:57Danielle LaRock?

  Were just blown away. So we had a really positive experience.

• 59:00Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, great hiking, the weather was good, you know.

• 59:04Danielle LaRock?

  Our tent almost blew away in said grasslands adjacent to the Badlands, but that was our fault.

• 59:10Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, and-

• 59:11Danielle LaRock?

  We forgot the tent stays.

• 59:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  For really funny videos. Do you have that video still?

• 59:15Danielle LaRock?

  I don't know. I have to look. I'm sure somewhere.

• 59:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  Somewhere, because that video is so funny. We're camping and the, the wind is so strong and our, our tent's trying to blow away. And we're just in it in the middle of the night. This is like two o'clock in the morning. It's just like.

• 59:31Danielle LaRock?

  Well, and it's all like collapsed.

• 59:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  Collapsing on us.

• 59:34Danielle LaRock?

  Because we were the only weights that were holding it up. So the entire like fabric of the tent was just collapsing over us.

• 59:41Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 59:42Danielle LaRock?

  Anyways, well, kind of going off of this whole trip, I'm actually going to skip one. We can come back to the Everglades really quick. Because Wind Cave is also on here and we did Wind Cave as part of the Mount Rushmore Badlands trip. Um, we also did, uh, Wind Cave. So I wanted to include this. This is review, a review by Seth A. From July of 2018. And it's kind of long, but I also want to say I did shorten it. So.

• 1:00:10Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, wow. Okay. So they had a lot to say.

• 1:00:12Danielle LaRock?

  They had so much to say. Here it goes. Just want to say that I'm a nice person lol. And here we go. Another thing with the reviews, everyone's like, they're, they have to like, make sure they say like kind of a disclaimer, like, no, I like the outdoors. I like national parks, but, and then there's.

• 1:00:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  No offense.

• 1:00:31Danielle LaRock?

  No offense, but.

• 1:00:32Cassandra Yahnian?

  I'm about to be offensive.

• 1:00:34Danielle LaRock?

  I've been on a journeys, I've been on a journey these last few years to visit every national park in the country. And just last week I came here to Wind Cave National Park, my 38th out of 59. And it's so funny because I was in 2018, there's only 59.

• 1:00:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like there's 63, stupid idiot.

• 1:00:51Danielle LaRock?

  Unfortunately, just being honest, this was one of the worst national parks I've ever been to. I'm shocked to see so many other reviews of this place get four and five stars. Let me explain. Not just a national park, but Wind Cave goes down as my least favorite destination for cave exploration. Places like Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Natural Bridge Caverns in San Antonio, Howe Caverns in New York and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, just to name a few, are far superior than Wind Cave. And put a pin in that. I'm coming back to that statement because I did some research on Seth A. Okay.

• 1:01:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  Wait, on Seth A.

• 1:01:28Danielle LaRock?

  I did.

• 1:01:29Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh.

• 1:01:31Danielle LaRock?

  Okay. She's trolling the troll. Okay. For my visit last week, the only tour available for the day was the natural entrance tour, which was being offered every 20 minutes, starting at 8:40 a.m. running through 6:00 p.m. Also, tickets for tours are purchased on a first come, first served basis. When I arrived at 8:30 a.m., there were no issues buying tickets for tours, though by the time I left Wind Cave at 10:30, the parking lot had filled up plenty, and there could have been wait times for tours by then. I went on the 9 a.m. tour with 25 other people. There was nothing to see, pretty much. The cave was a complete underground walk-through where you stop in a few rooms while a ranger talks. There were no photos to be had, no pretty rooms, nothing. The ranger spoke about the abundance of boxwork in the caves

• 1:02:16Danielle LaRock?

  and how long and expansive Wind Cave was as one of the biggest underground caverns in the country. But the boxwork wasn't picturesque. There was no stalagmites or stalactites. It was simply a walking tour underground, one tourist in front of the other in a single-file line, while the ranger recalled stories from Wind Cave's history and the people that helped discover it. Yeah, sounds like a nightmare to me, honestly. Each room was bland and monotone. It got pretty frustrating. What was so perplexing was I constantly questioned myself, "When is the good part coming? And who cares about this room? What is next? And isn't there a grand room with pretty formations?" When the tour was completed, I was speechless. I felt disappointed that my National Parks journey took a sidetrack,

• 1:03:01Danielle LaRock?

  especially having traveled a long ways to the Black Hills of South Dakota to one of only 59 parks in the United States with nothing memorable to recall. And the area is abundant with amazing sights, monuments, and unique places to see like Custer State Park right next door, Mount Rushmore, and Crazy Horse Memorial is just a few miles away, and the beautiful Badlands National Park. So, after the one hour, 15-minute tour, there was nothing left to explore, so I moved on with the rest of my day sightseeing at Custer State Park down the road. I'd say the best part about Wind Cave National Park was grabbing a photo at the entrance sign outside of the visitor's center as proof that I visited. Sorry for being a downer.

• 1:03:43Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay.

• 1:03:44Danielle LaRock?

  Okay.

• 1:03:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, now I need to know what you've dug up on Seth, eh?

• 1:03:48Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, well, because the way that this was constructed and because it was so lengthy and just the style of like what he capitalized, what he emphasized, the tone of his thing. I'm like, it's memorable. Okay. For someone that's reading a lot of reviews.

• 1:04:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay.

• 1:04:04Danielle LaRock?

  I went to Mammoth Cave National Park Yelp page and

• 1:04:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  Was he there?

• 1:04:09Danielle LaRock?

  He was there and he was upset about Mammoth Cave.

• 1:04:13Cassandra Yahnian?

  So he doesn't like Mammoth Cave?

• 1:04:14Danielle LaRock?

  So he lied.

• 1:04:15Cassandra Yahnian?

  Or Wind Cave?

• 1:04:15Danielle LaRock?

  He lied to us here when he said, I've been.

• 1:04:20Danielle LaRock?

  It's like, I can't even believe you. I don't believe anything you're saying now. Yeah. So he gave another, I didn't include it because it's pretty much the same

• 1:04:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  Thing.

• 1:04:28Danielle LaRock?

  Sentiments. And I'm pretty sure he does admit in the Mammoth Cave one, he's like, I guess I'm just not a cave guy.

• 1:04:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  And then was expecting, did you find one for Carlsbad?

• 1:04:43Danielle LaRock?

  Um, there are some on Carlsbad too. I didn't include them though, but I mean,

• 1:04:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  From him?

• 1:04:47Danielle LaRock?

  Of cour- no, not from him. Sorry.

• 1:04:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  No, I mean, from him?

• 1:04:50Danielle LaRock?

  No, no, not that I saw. Cause he enjoyed Carlsbad, I guess.

• 1:04:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  I mean, if you're not a cave guy, you're not a cave guy. I'm not a cave girl. So.

• 1:04:58Danielle LaRock?

  But there was like, I mean, you were in this cave with me. We took one of those really

• 1:05:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  I had fun. I thought it was cool.

• 1:05:04Danielle LaRock?

  Boring ranger tours.

• 1:05:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, it was so boring.

• 1:05:08Danielle LaRock?

  Didn't learn anything. You were just like, oh my God.

• 1:05:10Cassandra Yahnian?

  It was just kidding. It was the other. It was cool. I, I'm not a cave person just because I don't like closed in spaces, but I mean, it's cool. I thought I wouldn't go in a cave and be like, oh my God, this is horrendous.

• 1:05:22Danielle LaRock?

  I have pictures.

• 1:05:24Cassandra Yahnian?

  I just don't belong underground.

• 1:05:26Danielle LaRock?

  I have pictures because I was like, was it boring? And I have pictures from that. And it was so pretty. I took a lot of photos of the formations and stuff. I'm like, what is he talking about? Were we in another cave system? Um, anyway, so yeah, Seth, I'm on to you. Um,

• 1:05:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  We'll be looking at every, every cave park for your reviews.

• 1:05:45Danielle LaRock?

  Yes.

• 1:05:50Speaker 06

  Priceline Negotiator.

• 1:05:52Speaker 07

  It's me, the.

• 1:05:53Speaker 06

  Priceline Negotiator.

• 1:05:55Speaker 07

  We don't need the jingle twice.

• 1:05:57Speaker 06

  What about a third time?

• 1:05:58Speaker 07

  Stop it. This is about vacation inflation and how Priceline negotiates amazing deals on hotels, flights, and rental cars.

• 1:06:05Speaker 06

  Seems like they just started.

• 1:06:07Speaker 07

  Yeah, but I didn't mention that you can save up to 60% off hotels in the Priceline app.

• 1:06:11Speaker 06

  Time to be the tagline.

• 1:06:13Speaker 07

  Fine. No one deals more deals than.

• 1:06:15Speaker 06

  Priceline.

• 1:06:16Speaker 07

  Please stop.

• 1:06:17Speaker 06

  Priceline.

• 1:06:18Speaker 07

  Touche.

• 1:06:18Speaker 06

  Priceline.

• 1:06:19Speaker 07

  Priceline.

• 1:06:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, our next one comes from Great Sand Dunes National Park, which we happen to have just been in. And this one is by Linda M. And this is from August 2021. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to walk miles through a Middle Eastern desert on a windy day, then this is the place for you. Only $25 per car for the privilege of walking half a mile through deep sand to the smallest dunes, where if you rented a board in advance and carried it uphill against the blowing wind, $20, you can slide for five seconds, trek back up the hill, and repeat. Spoiler alert, unless you are in great shape, this will happen two, maybe three times. Be sure and bring your dogs or small children, as they will enjoy getting sand in their

• 1:07:07Cassandra Yahnian?

  eyes and mouth and wind whips as wind whips it against their skin. See the photo of my dog? You can tell he's having a great time. No need to buy souvenirs, because you will bring back enough sand in your socks, shoes, crevices for all your friends and family. Rating zero out of five. I mean, she's not totally wrong.

• 1:07:27Danielle LaRock?

  The sand part is correct. I mean, that was everywhere. It could be.

• 1:07:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  The sand dunes are not small, though. They are a hike to get up there.

• 1:07:35Danielle LaRock?

  I know. Well, she kind of contradicts herself with like, it's a small dune, but you have to trek up and it's like, you can only do it a couple of times if you're not in shape and stuff. I don't care if you're in shape or not. Those dunes are a workout.

• 1:07:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, they are a workout. But they're fun. I mean, we had sandboard. We had a lot of fun. I can see how it would be difficult. And we were there on a day that wasn't super windy, so we were lucky in that regard as well. But that's, that's Mother Nature for you.

• 1:08:05Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  Um, okay.

• 1:08:06Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, here we are.

• 1:08:07Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, no.

• 1:08:08Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, the time is coming.

• 1:08:09Cassandra Yahnian?

  Going to the arches. Back to the arch shape we go.

• 1:08:14Danielle LaRock?

  Arches National Park, review by Roy L. in September of 2022. More arches, please. Honestly, I thought there would be more arches.

• 1:08:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, opposite.

• 1:08:24Danielle LaRock?

  Roy is on the opposite end of the arch, literally, spectrum here. Like, arches as far as the eye could see. It's called Arches National Park. Are there formations as far as the eye can see? Sure, but then call it Formations National Park. Or A Few Arches Scattered Over Thousands of Acres National Park. Don't come expecting every arch to look like the one on the license plate, because it's one of the few things that's impressive. This place gets one star because the name is seriously misleading.

• 1:08:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  Petition to change the name from Arches National Park to A Few Arches Scattered Over Thousands of Acres National Park.

• 1:09:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  Link in bio.

• 1:09:07Danielle LaRock?

  Be part of the movement.

• 1:09:09Cassandra Yahnian?

  Be there or be square.

• 1:09:11Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, my. Yeah, so take that for what you will. Um, but.

• 1:09:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  We have another one.

• 1:09:18Danielle LaRock?

  We have another one. Rick R., June 2015.

• 1:09:21Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, Rick.

• 1:09:22Danielle LaRock?

  If you, like me, prefer your natural beauty without a steady stream of strangers standing in front, Arches is a frustrating experience in the summer. Last night, we hiked uphill and narrow ledge to enjoy the magnificent, delicate arch in the golden hour before sunset, along with several hundred other people. For the entire time, individual by individual or small number by small number of narcissistic, selfish people posed right in front of the arch for their personal photo. Several of us remonstrated with these people, pointing out that hundreds of other people would prefer their view and photos unoccupied by them. Still, the parade continued. Weirdly, they exhibited courtesy to each other, taking turns with their individual photos, but didn't leave as much as a minute to photograph the arch unoccupied.

• 1:10:07Danielle LaRock?

  This situation is potentially dangerous as well. Any physical altercation between these people with different perspectives about this could easily lead to serious injury or death if someone were shoved over a ledge, left in frustration and won't be back. The end is like-

• 1:10:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  Rick, that is concerning. Why? That's a dangerous situation because you want to push people over the edge?

• 1:10:29Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. Like, what does that mean?

• 1:10:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's a little ominous. And yeah, you went to arches, you went to the delicate art at arch at golden hour. It's, you know, there's gonna be crowds. People love, people love it there. It's one of the beautiful things about national parks is people from all over the world come to see them because they care about them.

• 1:10:51Danielle LaRock?

  Well, and also, here's the other thing. Here's the other thing. Other theme, add it to those lists that we have going here. The contradiction, the contradiction of like, there are too many tourists, while also being a tourist yourself.

• 1:11:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  I feel it. I feel it. I feel that way sometimes when I'm there. I'm like, God, there's so many people here. It's like, yeah, I'm also here. You know, it does suck. It does suck sometimes, but to threaten to, or to vaguely ominously threaten their lives over it is a little concerning. And yeah, they were being courteous to each other, so because everyone wants a photo. I'm sure if you had politely asked, which I'm assuming you did not, for people to step away because you just wanted a picture of the arch, I'm sure they would have obloched your photo as well.

• 1:11:37Danielle LaRock?

  It's just, it's just so like, the end got dark.

• 1:11:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  The end got way too dark, Rick. I hope you're not visiting other national parks.

• 1:11:45Danielle LaRock?

  Rick, we hope you're well.

• 1:11:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. All right. Well, going to my favorite national park, Grand Teton National Park, we have a one-star review from Nathan W. in July of 2018. Greediest park rangers I've ever seen. A ranger followed me on the approach to the park, waited for me to pay my $35 entrance fee, and before I even pulled into the park, they turned on their lights and pulled me over. The 55 mile per hour zone had abruptly changed to 25 and they wrote me a $240 ticket for going 47. The guy who took my ticket literally laughed when the guy's lights flashed on. I noticed the speed limit changed like three times every mile and ranger cars were practically around every corner. Just shameful.

• 1:12:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  Meanwhile, a lot of the trails were falling apart, full of litter and swarming with mosquitoes. The mountains look nice, but Yellowstone is way better and it's right next to it. Save yourself the stress and go somewhere more welcoming and appreciative of its tourists. I mean, if you're going 47 miles. Yeah, there's a lot of changes, but if you're going 47 miles per hour directly after you get your park.

• 1:12:50Danielle LaRock?

  Just imagine like putting like your pedal to the metal, like peel out of the.

• 1:12:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  From zero to 47. What?

• 1:12:57Danielle LaRock?

  What?

• 1:12:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  What?

• 1:12:59Danielle LaRock?

  They're just really excited to be there.

• 1:13:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 1:13:01Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. Well, that's shameful, Nathan, that you feel that way, but.

• 1:13:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  Don't speed in national parks.

• 1:13:08Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, like it's an easy fix, but.

• 1:13:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 1:13:11Danielle LaRock?

  And they, didn't they say, I got a little lost. Didn't they say they noticed, they noticed the speed limit changes?

• 1:13:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, so you noticed it changed, but you were still going 47 and a 25.

• 1:13:24Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, we have two more to round this out. Virgin Islands National Park is next. And this review is by Mark A. from January of 2022. No parking anywhere in super rude rangers, nothing to eat and snorkeling was not that great in most spots. Save your money and time and just go to Hawaii or the Bahamas. Would be cheaper than visiting this rude dump of an island. Okay, fresh. Um, it's really pretty, but the town cruise bay and coral bay are just dumps with rude people and not much to do. National Park was a big letdown. Sad.

• 1:13:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  Sad, very sad. It was interesting because they said snorkeling was not great. And so I Googled what the snorkeling was in this situation because I've never been. So I was just like, oh, what do you mean? Um, and not that great snorkeling here includes seeing tropical fish in every color imaginable. From parrotfish and anglerfish to curious pufferfish. Sea turtle, uh, sorry, angel fish, not angler. Sea turtles, both green and loggerhead, stingrays and eagle rays, octopus, eels, barracuda, and even nurse sharks. The waters are filled with colorful coral formations, including brain coral, alcoran coral, and lettuce leaf coral, which provides homes for countless marine creatures. So that sounds pretty awful.

• 1:14:44Danielle LaRock?

  Sounds like a letdown.

• 1:14:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  Go to Virgin Islands National Park.

• 1:14:49Danielle LaRock?

  It's just so rude. Nothing to eat also, like that. Another thing, oh my God, I'm just like getting all these flashbacks to the themes. A lot of people are really upset with the culinary choices that are offered.

• 1:15:04Cassandra Yahnian?

  Experiences.

• 1:15:05Danielle LaRock?

  It's like, I'm sorry, but did I miss the part where people were going to national parks for food?

• 1:15:12Cassandra Yahnian?

  Option, I mean, I would like to eat while I'm in a national park at some point, but yeah, it feels like a lot of these reviews are based around personal poor planning or personal expectations.

• 1:15:23Danielle LaRock?

  It's like, I'm sorry, but real, that aren't real. Like the cafeteria style restaurant in the middle of a national park in a remote part of the country is not going to be the best meal you've ever had. And I going in with some of those expectations.

• 1:15:38Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 1:15:38Danielle LaRock?

  Is just like really off base, I think.

• 1:15:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, I agree.

• 1:15:42Danielle LaRock?

  So anyway, okay, last park that we're going to finish up with, um, is Sequoia National Park.

• 1:15:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  Sequoia National Park. Chelsea V gave it one star in September of 2022. Based on all of the reviews I have read about this park, my review is going to be less favorable and unpopular. I've been to 19 national parks. Each and every one was unique in its own way and worth visiting. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the same about Sequoia. My personal experience did not fulfill my expectations and it left me feeling disappointed. During my visit, about 75% of the trees were dead and lifeless. My guess is that it's partly due to the drought and wildfires in California. There were numerous trees that were cut down too. It wasn't exactly a scenic or spectacular view.

• 1:16:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  I also feel like, I'll get hate for this, but I wasn't impressed with General Sherman whatsoever. I'm not trying to give hate. I'm just letting her speak. Let's let her finish. I understand that's the entire point of the park is to see this tree. However, I felt like it was overhyped because of social media trends. To further that, the whole idea of having visitors get on and off a shuttle bus to get to the tree felt like the daily attraction at Disneyland. Luckily, we drove to the park early in the morning and avoided all the crowds, but I still felt it was overrated. Although I have had great experiences in all the national parks I've visited, I didn't think it was worth visiting Sequoia National Park. It's a huge forest.

• 1:17:09Cassandra Yahnian?

  It makes you feel like an insignificant little speck, but at the end, it wasn't as impressive as other forests I've visited. During driving to the end of the park, I thought to myself, oh, this is it? Sequoia, the largest trees in the world and the largest tree. And I, I mean, it's, it's, it is what you would expect it to be. You're seeing some of the largest trees in the world that are being preserved because they were almost cut down to complete extinction without this national park. I mean.

• 1:17:44Danielle LaRock?

  This review makes me sad because it kind of really, it kind of shows how, I don't know if spoiled is the right term, or again, desensitized, because she does touch on, you know, like, it was overhyped because of social media. I was thinking it was gonna be this big, grand, wonderful thing. And I just, it was, it didn't really meet my expectations of what I built up in my mind, or how it was portrayed. And I think we see that a lot, not just with General Sherman. And again, that wasn't my experience. I mean, I was like, oh, my God, that's a giant tree. Yeah. And it's so cool. But I think that, you know, that's another conversation, kind of tying it back to the beginning of this

• 1:18:26Danielle LaRock?

  episode about, you know, just like, the, the conversations that we can have about national parks of like, what is the best route to take? Like, should we put wifi in to help with search and rescue? But then it dejects from, you know, being out in the true wilderness. Should we have like geo-tagging in social media and all this to, you know, hype up certain locations and spots to share the wonder with the world? But are we also ruining them for people? And also ruining them physically by drawing so many people to them? Like, should we have accessibility? Like, she's complaining here about how there's buses that kind of bring you directly to this place to make it more accessible for people.

• 1:19:12Danielle LaRock?

  And, you know, a lot of people have mixed feelings about that. Like, yes, you should have accessibility within national parks for people of all kinds, so they can come experience this. And then other people view that as, okay, well, that makes it too popular, and there's too many people, and it's too accessible. And it's just kind of like, God, what in the? And this is kind of, I wanted to like, make this the last one, because it does kind of wrap up the whole, like, it's fun to poke fun at people's gripes and complaints. And some of it is, you know, lighthearted, but some of it really does showcase how difficult the National Park Service really does have it with trying to

• 1:19:55Danielle LaRock?

  have this balance of like, making sure that they're preserving and protecting natural places and wildlife while also

• 1:20:04Danielle LaRock?

  Keeping everyone safe and making this visitor experience as good as it can be while all it's just like this huge juggle and I don't think we really give the National Park Service enough flowers for that like and so for their birthday even though we started this with like we're gonna make fun of you it really does we just wanted to show that they put up with a lot they do a lot and they're doing their best and we just kind of just a reminder to

• 1:20:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  Our appreciation.

• 1:20:35Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. Um, and appreciate them and what they're doing um for the places that we all love and of course we wanted to end a little bit um on the note of the National Park Service themselves and just kind of in recognition of their birthday.

• 1:20:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yes, and I threw a little I don't know if you saw but I just like threw in some last minute facts in there because I was curious and I was like you know we have all these national parks but how much land do does the National Park Service really preserve and protect and and it's a lot so the National Park Service preserves over eighty-five million acres of land this includes four hundred and thirty-three National Park units spread across all fifty states but also because as we know national parks have become become a global conservation effort across the entire planet around fourteen point seven percent of the land is protected as national park land.

• 1:21:29Danielle LaRock?

  That's so that's like such a heartwarming figure.

• 1:21:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 1:21:33Danielle LaRock?

  It's like there's so much space out there that really is safeguarded at least for the moment.

• 1:21:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, and there's still so much more that can be done of course and hopefully we'll keep seeing the world find and protect places but it's really encouraging that from the time that Yellowstone was created America's best idea that fourteen point seven percent of the world is now protected because of it.

• 1:22:00Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, just like this foundational idea has spread throughout the globe and just as a tiny tiny bit of backstory on the National Park Service it's literally one paragraph um by August of nineteen sixteen the Department of the Interior oversaw over a dozen national parks and monuments but there was no unifying leadership or organization to operate them it was kind of like scattered. There was no, we didn't have our shit together, really. It's like, these are great ideas and we want to preserve this and this and this and this, but there was no like umbrella overseeing, like, okay, we need to all be on the same page here. So lacking this cohesive organization, the parks and monuments were vulnerable to competing interests. So Congress passed the Act to Establish the National Park Service, or the

• 1:22:44Danielle LaRock?

  Organic Act, which created a federal bureau within the Department of the Interior tasked with managing and preserving the nation's national parks and monuments, and placed all the existing parks under its management. Thus, the National Park Service was created on August 25th of 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Act into law. The legislation established the basis for the fundamental mission, philosophy, and policies of the National Park Service to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. So, this is our way of saying thank you to the National Park Service for upholding the philosophy and the vision founded over a

• 1:23:28Danielle LaRock?

  hundred years ago. We are so very grateful for you. We're sorry for all the bad reviews you get and all that you've been through, but we appreciate you and give you five out of five stars. Happy birthday. Thanks, everyone, for listening. We will see you next week. Until then, enjoy the view. But watch your back. Bye, everyone. Thank you for joining us again this week. If you love National Park After Dark and want to hear exclusive bonus stories, join us on Patreon or Apple subscriptions. Patreon subscribers have access to our National Park After Dark Book Club, live streams, Discord, and much more. If you prefer to watch our episodes, video episodes are now available on YouTube. If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and

• 1:24:11Danielle LaRock?

  subscribe on your favorite listening platform. And to follow along with all our adventures, you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X at National Park After Dark.

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