Barbservations From a Tour of Western National Parks

I recently took an eight-day bus tour of national parks out west including the “Mighty 5” in Utah: Arches, Zion, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Bryce Canyon. While Arches National Park was on my bucket list to complete, the entire trip was amazing with all promised services and activities delivered and then some. Below are ten Barbservations:

 

Travel in Later Life- There were several people on the tour in their late 80s who were not able to partake fully in scheduled hikes at the parks. There were definitely past the “go-go” (65-74) and “slow-go” (75-84) retirement years. One older gentleman lost his balance and took a nasty fall, requiring a trip to the ER. I couldn’t help but think that he should have taken the trip a decade earlier. If you are an older traveler with balance issues, bring a walking stick.

 

Career Change Success Story- Our excellent tour guide worked for the National Park Service for 27 years before he was DOGE-ed in 2025. His NPS knowledge and experience added so much to our understanding of the parks and the state of Utah, where he lived. The federal government’s loss (now they want him back!) was our gain. His story is a reminder that people can often transfer well-honed job skills to a new workplace or self-employment (like I did).

 

Amazing Scenery- Rock formations throughout the five national parks and the national monuments (federally protected areas that are generally smaller than national parks) that we visited were breathtaking. An extra special treat was synchronized music with our travel itinerary such as Rocky Mountain High in the Rockies, movie soundtracks when we drove up mountains, and Viva Las Vegas when we pulled into Las Vegas.

 

Benefits of a Travel Agent- I was part of a small group that used a Cruise Planners travel agent and two-thirds of the bus came with a travel agent from AAA. Our travel agent negotiated an excellent value package for us including airfare and airport transfers. Travel agents frequently have access to discounted rates and special promotions.

 

New Technology Tools- During this trip, I used WhatsApp for the first time. WhatsApp is a free instant messaging app owned by Meta. The tour guide invited us to join a messaging group where he shared messages, schedules, and graphic images. He also used another new (to me) tool, PhotoCircle, to share photos taken during the tour.

 

Neutral Topics- We were warned in advance not to discuss “touchy” topics like religion, politics, and current events and, best I could tell, everyone complied, even with the White House cage fight and Washington, DC reflection pool stories being reported at that time. It was refreshing to simply “be present” in the moment, see less national news, and focus on what we were seeing and doing and neutral topics like the weather and where we live.

 

Payment Methods- Several locations did not take cash including a downtown Denver hotel restaurant and several national park concessions. Not sure why. I asked ChatGPT and reasons included reducing the risk of robbery, and employee theft, lower cash-handling costs, and easier accounting. Conversely, some venues charged a 3% fee to use a credit card, presumably to offset the merchant’s fee that they are charged.

 

National Park Status- I did not see any evidence of poor service following the 2025 federal government staff reductions. Park rangers were readily available as guides and to answer questions and gift shops and bathrooms were clean. I did notice long lines for cars to enter the national parks but we breezed in early in a special lane for busses.

 

National Park Stamps- Stamps were available at each of the national parks and monuments and people flocked to stamp their national park passports with a free ink cancellation stamp showing the park’s name and the date of their visit. I learned that there are more than 430 units managed by the National Park Service, including national parks, national monuments, national historic sites, national seashores, national battlefields, and other protected areas.

 

Wildfire Danger- While we were driving throughout Utah, our tour guide pointed out some newly forming fires way off in the distance. Several days after we came home, huge wildfires in southern Utah were on the national news. I sincerely hope that our tour guide, his family and his property are safe as well as others who we met along the way.

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