Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves the home and laboratory of one of the world's most prolific inventors. Among all his contributions to the modern world, Edison considered the phonograph to be his favorite, so it's especially appropriate that a major collection of antique phonograph records has been donated to the park.

Your ascent to Estes Park, the front door to Rocky Mountain National Park, is anything but smooth. Climbing up through Big Thompson Canyon from Loveland, Colorado, you twist and turn and rise and fall with the road as it crawls through the canyon...and marvel at the cyclists pedaling those beastly 34 miles.

This park focuses on the life of an American President, but it owns no land in the U.S.A., staff members are not employees of the National Park Service, and you'll need a passport to go for a visit. Can you identify this site which may qualify as the "most unique unit associated with the National Park System?

I was all set to regale you with stories and video of adorable Piping Plover chicks from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore this week, but I seem to be running out of time. By the time you read this, I’ll be on a plane to Tucson, ultimately to do some birding in Saguaro National Park and Chiricahua National Monument. Thus, you’re stuck with a behind scenes look at how one birder prepares for a trip to a never-before-visited destination.