Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, where Lake Superior’s stupendous power pounds Michigan’s craggy shore, is a tremendous place to kayak. But plan for a few extra days unless you have a really favorable weather report.

Live in the high country of the Pacific Northwest and you get used to snow, lots of it. And so, despite 13 feet of snow piled about Paradise, Mount Rainier National Park will have many facilities ready for visitors come Memorial Day weekend.

Traveling across the country, or even across a state, to explore a national park you've never been to can generate a little anxiety. Will it be like the brochures depict it, will you like it, will you see wildlife, what's the landscape really like? That's where videos can help out a lot, as this was does for Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

It's always nice to look inside a shoe box and see a nicely put together pair of shoes, in this case, the H2O Escape Bungee Sneaker made by Sperry Top-Sider. My old, ratty water shoes had finally rotted away on my feet, and I needed something new, something that works and plays as hard as I do, a shoe that lasts, and something that will follow my feet around, in and out of the water.