Jack Kerouac published On the Road in 1957. Kerouac’s book was a hymn to the Beat Generation with its jazz and drugs. Only in America’s goal isn’t to capture the voices of the counterculture. It’s to explore the national parks of the continental United States.
I’ve left many states out of this fictional narrative. But those states too have beauty. Their starkness makes us appreciate even more the treasures of our parks. Of all the parks, I must admit my fondness to the parks of Utah, especially Zion and Bryce. At the top of my list, also, are Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier National Park, and the Blue Ridge.
Only in America is my tip of the hat to the one hundredth anniversary of our national parks. “Nothing behind me,” Kerouac says in On the Road. “Everything ahead of me, as is ever on the road.” May this book inspire you to visit these parks. You’ll get an appreciation of America as a land of the adventure and beauty.
I’ve left many states out of this fictional narrative. But those states too have beauty. Their starkness makes us appreciate even more the treasures of our parks. Of all the parks, I must admit my fondness to the parks of Utah, especially Zion and Bryce. At the top of my list, also, are Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier National Park, and the Blue Ridge.
Only in America is my tip of the hat to the one hundredth anniversary of our national parks. “Nothing behind me,” Kerouac says in On the Road. “Everything ahead of me, as is ever on the road.” May this book inspire you to visit these parks. You’ll get an appreciation of America as a land of the adventure and beauty.
