Since starting my #100by100 quest over 2 years ago, I often thought about where I would celebrate the Centennial. Yosemite is iconic. Maybe I should hike Half Dome? Most people don’t get out to American Samoa enough. Maybe I should book a flight? If it’s too expensive, how about Hawaii? Yellowstone was the first National Park. Seems like a good place to be for the Centennial? But as time got closer and more Centennial celebration plans were announced, I realized I was already in the best spot to celebrate: Washington, DC.
Centennial Eve felt like Christmas Eve. I set my alarm for earlier than I do when I go to work! The next morning I got up and cooked a special breakfast – no green smoothie for Centennial Day, 2 egg + 2 cheese omelette instead. I needed lots of fuel for all I had planned.
I suited up in all of my Centennial gear and my prizes from the Press Play Contest.
I was on the west lawn of the Washington Monument to pick up my wristband for the Living Arrowhead. The Park Service decided to create the largest ever National Park Service emblem using colored umbrellas and as many volunteers as they could find. We (me + coworkers Carrie and Dayne (who you saw the back of several times in the Yellowstone post)) all arrived very close to the cutoff time, but managed to get green wristbands. Soon we were handed our green umbrellas and sent out into the field for positioning.
We greens were a little too clumped together. When we spread out the three of us somehow ended up under the bison. Though not a place I would ever want to be in real life, it does make us easy to spot in the final photograph!
Happy 100th birthday, National Park Service!! #nps100 #Nps100mall pic.twitter.com/rCzAPuO2Ip
— National Mall NPS (@NationalMallNPS) August 25, 2016
As much as I love that photo, the timelapse video is even better:
Some fun from the living arrowhead event. Best if viewed while humming the theme from Benny Hill! #NPS100 pic.twitter.com/lu5G69VpFU
— National Mall NPS (@NationalMallNPS) August 26, 2016
After making the mad dash for a free t-shirt (as seen at the end of the video), I was off for a day of exploration around the National Mall. I started by crossing the street to the World War II Memorial where I watched a naturalization ceremony and welcomed 40 new American citizens.
During the ceremony it was pointed out that Teddy Roosevelt is likely the President with the most impact on our country’s National Parks. Part of that is due to a three day camping trip in Yosemite with naturalist and park lover John Muir in 1903. This trip came only 17 days after Scottish-born Muir became a naturalized citizen. We many not even have our National Parks as we know them today with out John Muir so it’s exciting to think about what each of these 40 new citizens has in store for the rest of their lives.
The ceremony ended with a round of “Happy Birthday” to the National Park Service and to the husband of one of our new citizens.
After the ceremony I began Expedition Arrowhead, a scavenger hunt to the lesser-known sites within the National Mall and Memorial Parks system. I was given the clues below to find five sites.
Do you know what they are? Stay tuned for another post later this week for more clues and the answers.
By the end of the day I had walked over 10 miles, helped set a world record for the largest National Park Service emblem, welcomed 40 new citizens, visited park sites I’d never heard of, and was exhausted. I was headed home to jump in the pool when I realized that I didn’t even get any birthday cake for the Centennial. Not being near any bakeries I settled for the next best thing:
Happy Birthday National Park Service!!
How did you celebrate? Let me know in the comments below.
