NPSVIP Network - Followup

[SideRoads]

Followup on Topic. I am skeptical about everything. At first I was even skeptical about forumss, and cruised the forums for about a year, and the rest is!

We have been enjoying the NPS experience since April 2010, wow, last year, last decade.

This npsvipnetwork has contributed to this enjoyment and experiences at Cape Hatteras, Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, and Charles Pinkney NHS, and Big Bend NP.

The NPS is designating Park Rangers as Media Relations Rangers, who in turn, are establishing social networks for their particular historic site, monument, or park on facebook, twitter, etc., which are not .gov sites.

Some of these Media Rangers, sure are young, 21/22, etc. Have to keep moving, get up in the middle of the night and compute, to keep up with their tech savvy.

What I have discovered with the NPS is that our experience has been all positive, stress free, and Rangers do everything to ensure the volunteer experience is rewarding. I wish I discovered volunteering with the NPS 10 years ago. For us, it has been a heathly, educational, exciting and memorable year. We have served in museums, lighthouse tours, visitors centers, conducted informal wildlife programs, Forts, Tour Boats, living history, historic structure assessments,,,,and the beat goes on. We have met some of the finest caretakers of Our American Heritage, artists, educators, archeologists, biologists, historians, and on and on.

I never envisioned living a lifestyle walking through History.

For those that enjoy volunteering with the NPS, this network, brings Volunteers, Volunteer Managers/Coordinators together to share/exchange information, and) just plain enhance the Voluteer experience. (Disclaimer: FYI, I created an RV Volunteers-In-Parks Group on the site) to fill a void in locating RV Volunteer information that is difficult to find elsewhere, which should save Volunteers, Volunteer Coordinators some time, and besides it's become fun.


What I like most about the Network is connecting with other NPS Volunteers, Park Rangers we have met as volunteers; positve Interactions, and it is another volunteer venture.

And,

That's the Rest of the Story!

Best Wishes to All for a great 2011

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by SideRoads

That's the Rest of the Story! Best Wishes to All for a great 2011

Sideroads, Please let us know where you are cuurently assigned. We'd love to meet you! Our most recent stop at a NPS etc type of facility was the Cape Bodie Light. Not sure if that is NPS but I expect that it is.

Happy New Year to you as well and I hope that you can join us for 1 of our Coastal Camper events OR perhaps you might be able to put something together for us at a NP facility. We'd love to join you!

Closing; I appreciate and thank you for your volunteer service to the NPS.

(Please consider if you will starting a Blog here on iRV2 so that more members can read your experiences. Our Blogs are searchable over the INet.)

[SideRoads]

Driver,
We are currently at Big Bend National Park, Texas, until March 15, 2011.

July – November 2011, we will be at Fort Sumter National Monument Group; which includes Fort Sumter National Monument, Fort Moultrie National Monument, and Charles Pinckney National Historic Site in Charleston, SC.

We are working on April-Jun at this time, which may place us in Western Tennessee, or ?
Bodie (Body) Lighthouse is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and NPS. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was a great experience. Bodie Light should be restored by the end of this year if they are on schedule and my info is current. We do not have any plans on returning to Hatteras at this time.

I would be happy to work with you on setting something up, if you are planning an event in the Charleston area. James County Park has a great reputation, although I have not personally been here.

I wouldn’t be able to do anything about the fees; they are established by the NPS. Fort Moultrie National Monument fees were $3 adults, $1 Seniors 62+, Family $5. Fort Moultrie has a great museum, though small, and a nice auditorium where a 20 minute video is shown. General Moultrie and Osceola are buried at the NM.

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site is a No Fee, 28 acre historic site with a museum, video room, and historic walking trail. Pinckney is considered a forgotten founder, and one of the significant developers of the US Constitution.

Fort Sumter is accessible by concession tour boat $14-16, if I remember correctly. The boat trip and tour of Fort Sumter is about a 2 hour event. Well worth the trip. 2011 is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and many events are planned in the Charleston area.

If this was something of interest, I would be happy to help set up personalized presentations, etc. Also, depending on the time of the year, the NPS presents living history events, constitution week, and Naturalization ceremonies with INS at one of the National Historic Site.

Thank you for your kind comments; I look forward to our meeting someday. Thanks for the invitation, due to timing and our commitments with the NPS, it has been very difficult finding time to plan for or attend any camping event. We may be able to get to one someday, or at least provide some interesting support for an event.

I’ll seriously take a look at the blog on irv2. I have one personal blog that I maintain and the RV Volunteer Group on NPSVIP Network. I do not place ads, or have any commercial interest in anything I do. The value to me is in what I observe others enjoying on a small scale, and the enjoyment I get from doing it. I never call it work, it would seem like a job.

It has been a fun venture for me, which has almost become a passion. The rewards have been far greater than anything I ever envisioned or expected in volunteering with the NPS.

Thanks again for your kind words. Again, best wishes to you and your family for the New Year.

John