Permanent Vacation: Eighteen Writers on Work and Life in Our National Parks, Vol. 2

by Maeko Bradshaw (Editor), Stephanie Anderson (Contributor)

In Volume 1, we read tales of grizzly encounters and streaking through Denali, personal relationships with temperamental elk in Yellowstone, and on finding beauty in housekeeping in Yosemite. Permanent Vacation, Vol. 2 explores even more stories from the national parks. Kayak through the Everglades with incognito alligators, learn the ways of the ancient Hawaiian tribes, and explore the friendship of a stubborn, yet affectionate mule. This collection of stories will grab you by your hiking boots and lead you through your favorite parks.


Including stories from Acadia, Apostle Islands, Cape Cod, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, Everglades, Glacier Bay, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Gulf Islands, Isle Royale, Kenai Fjords, Olympic, Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Volcanoes, and Yellowstone.

Contributors include: Stephanie R. Anderson, Sarah E. Baldyga, Elizabeth Bradfield, John Brantingham, Troy Davis, Mary Emerick, Michael Engelhard, Joseph Flannery, Joseph Flower, Andrew C. Gottlieb, Jerry Krause, Jeremy Lloyd, John Q McDonald, Conall Kahaka'ioikamalie Ravenscraft, Andrea Ross, Christa Sadler, Elizabeth Van Zandt, and Catherine Young.

152 pages, Paperback

Published June 8, 2018

Reviews

[Arizonagirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at my local library book sale. I wonder if it was donated by someone like me who really misses traveling during the pandemic. I really enjoyed this book of short stories set in different National Parks. I laughed out loud when reading about the well-meaning tourists watching the sea turtles at the Gulf Islands National Seashore. I enjoyed imagining searching for owls at Olympic National Park. I shuddered in horror thinking about the mold growing on the chest of one author at the cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I could imagine the conflicting emotions of the seasonal trail crew employee at Acadia National Park who swears each season is her last. And having finished the book near the hopeful end of the pandemic, or at least a lull in case counts, with a trip planned to rent a cabin on Lake Superior-the first plane ride in two years, I especially enjoyed reading about the volunteers working at the lighthouse on the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior and the writer-in-residence alone at Isle Royale National Park for three weeks with no electricity, no telephone, no indoor plumbing, and not one sighting of a moose.

This is my April book of my project to read one book I own each month and then decide if I will keep it or not. I will pass this book on for others to travel vicariously through these stories during the pandemic and I will look for volume #1 so I can continue my travels.