More than three decades ago, fossilized remains were pulled from the earth at Big Bend National Park. It wasn't until just recently, though, that the fossils were determined to be from a previously unknown species of duck-billed dinosaur.

During our 20s and early 30s, we carried a pack into the woods. But after one taste of the RV life, we were hooked. Sleeping on the ground became a thing of the past once my husband and I discovered the joys of camping in spectacular settings with the option to enjoy water, electric and sewer utilities. If you’ve ever considered doing the same, here’s what you need to know about plugging into America’s national parks with RV hookup campsites.

If you look hard enough, you'll find mathematics everywhere, even in nature. Photographer Rebecca Latson has photographed that geometry, both manmade and natural, during her national park visits and shows you how to see the obvious (and not-so-obvious) lines, angles, circles, arcs and ellipses to improve your compositions and create beautiful national park photos of your own.

When you visit national parks, do you find yourself focusing on a particular aspect of those parks? Maybe you are concentrating your photography on cactus blooms, or wildflowers, or the results of glacial geology, or a particular specimen of wildlife. What you are doing, in fact, is creating a theme to your national park photographic story. Photographer Rebecca Latson discusses themes and how they can improve your powers of observation as well as your photographic skills.