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National Park Passports
Board: National Park Passport Cancellation
Dec 1, 2004 5:38am
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This is a hobby we really love...it's like letterboxing but with more uniform stamps. This is the explanation from http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/4434/passport.html

The Nation's natural treasures--our national parks--are all wrapped up for you in one handy package with the Passport To Your National Parks program. This 104-page travelogue includes color-coded maps, pre-visit information, illustrations and photographs. Designed in a 6" x 3" format that fits conveniently in a pocket or pack, this spiral-bound book makes it easy to explore both well-known parks like Grand Canyon and lesser-known areas like Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The Passport also provides you with a unique and interesting way to record up to five years of park travels, with official park "cancellation" marks. These rubber stamp markings, similar to the ones international travelers receive in their passports, record your visit by noting the park name and date of your visit. Individualized with commemorative stamps and park cancellations, your Passport becomes a uniquely personal travel scrapbook.

Basically, you buy the logbook they're talking about for about $8. You can also buy little stamps that describe the parks to add to your book. The actual stamping park is the cancellation. When you go to the parks and they let you stamp in with a circular stamp that resembles a passport stamp (name of park around the outside, date you were there in the middle) It's just like finding a letterbox and in MANY cases, you can find LBs at the parks you're going to, anyway!

The two downsides are that the stamps are basically identical except for park name and date, plus you do have to pay for some parks to get in. However, we've found that investing in a National Parks Pass ($50 for a year, cheaper for seniors or folks with disabilities http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm) has been invaluable.

We know other people do this, too (and we've met many park stamp hunters who letterbox as well), so let's hear from you if it's something YOU do!
Re: National Park Passports
Board: National Park Passport Cancellation
Reply to: #1181 by Sprite and Highlander
Dec 1, 2004 8:47pm
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I know that Princess Lea has been doing The national park thing and also the light house stamps as well. There is a program for the light houses. Alot of them have stamps and you can get a booklet (passport) and collect them in it.

http://www.lilighthousesociety.org/passportprogram/default.htm

If you fill up your passport, you can get a embroidered patch that says "I've seen the Light!" ---considering that so many letterboxes are by lighthouses already...you could collect the stamp images as well! They are also very accomodating. If the lighthouse information area is closed and you have visited the lighthouse, you can take a picture and paste it in your booklet, or draw an image on your passport page and they will accept that as proof that you were there!
:-)
-Amanda from Seattle
Re: National Park Passports
Board: National Park Passport Cancellation
Reply to: #1207 by Amanda from Seattle
Dec 2, 2004 4:29am
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There is a program for the light houses. A lot of them have stamps and you can get a booklet (passport) and collect them in it.

That sounds cool, too? Is there a site where you can see other lighthouses in the program? The link you have only gives the Long Island ones, but I know there's a TON along Lake Ontario...even been to one and have the pic, so if it qualifies, guess what WE'RE gonna start doing! ;-)

The S & H
Re: National Park Passports
Board: National Park Passport Cancellation
Reply to: #1181 by Sprite and Highlander
Dec 2, 2004 6:09am
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Quote and lesser-known areas like Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.


One of my favorite memories of family vacations is from our visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes. I was probably 8 yrs old. My dad and I decided to walk down to the shoreline, which appeared deceptively near. Maybe halfway down we gave up, then had to climb back to the car. The sand was so loose that for every step you take, you slide back half a step. Very slow, hard work that had my little legs feeling rubbery for hours! Ah, good times.

-Red
Re: National Park Passports
Board: National Park Passport Cancellation
Reply to: #1207 by Amanda from Seattle
Dec 15, 2004 9:00am
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I have only a handful of the National Park and Lighthouse stamps, but the program I have had fun with is the California Sesquicentennial series. They planted 150 (well, actually 154) stamps around California, mostly at state parks, to celebrate the state's 150th anniversary. Officially the program is over, but most places I've been to, they still have the stamp in the drawer (usually at the ranger station). As a bonus, several of the locations often have "other" stamps available - for example, at Hearst Castle there was some international program I'd never heard of, and at the Jack London State park, they had an image of his signature which I guess they put into people's actual books by Jack.

Miss Vickie who is also a LBer has put together a nice page about the program:

http://home.earthlink.net/~3vix/CA150/index.htm

-- Princess Lea
Re: National Park Passports
Board: National Park Passport Cancellation
Reply to: #1347 by Princess Lea
Dec 16, 2004 12:14pm
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I have only a handful of the National Park and Lighthouse stamps, but the program I have had fun with is the California Sesquicentennial series.

This looked SOOO cool! We would have LOVED to do this, but the farthest either one of us has been in the US is Colorado. :-( Just wait 'til I retire, though...man, we'll be chasing Pete and Wanda all over the world! :-)

The (raring to go already) Sprite & the (wishing we were back in the shire already) Highlander