At Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park this summer you can pay $55 for a Segway tour of a portion of the Civil War park. The question lingering over this program, though, is whether those who sign on are doing so to check out the latest rage in personal transportation or to learn some history?

It is Saturday noon and we are at the Rock Creek Station visitor center that is located beside the California-Oregon Trail in southern Nebraska. This is a Nebraska state park and we spent last night at the park campground. Rock Creek Station was a stop for the Pony Express as well as a rest stop for emigrants departing from Independence and St. Joseph on the Oregon and California trails.

A fire sparked by lightning on June 6 in Great Sand Dunes National Park now covers nearly 5,500 acres. While 344 firefighters are battling the flames, park managers also are using the fire to achieve management goals.

As our road warriors continue on their trek across the country, touching as many units of the National Park System as possible, they recently found themselves at the start of the Oregon National Historic Trail.