{"id":729,"date":"2012-08-16T08:46:02","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T12:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=729"},"modified":"2012-08-16T08:47:45","modified_gmt":"2012-08-16T12:47:45","slug":"the-importance-of-living-in-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=729","title":{"rendered":"The importance of living in the moment…."},"content":{"rendered":"
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View of Half Dome from the Panorama Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

Near the end of our trip, Derek aptly pointed out that when I get an idea in my mind, I usually attack it with a complete disregard for moderation. This has been clearly evident in the last year when I started on my self-proclaimed National Parks Tour. In the last year, I have been to Mammoth Caves, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Glacier, Yellowstone, Death Valley, Grand Canyon (both the north and south rims on two separate trips), Yosemite (twice) and, for good measure, Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada (I guess I ran out of places in the U.S.). I think I drove over 5000 miles in 3 separate trips out west this last year. The clear downside of this mentality is that I don\u2019t allow myself to live in the moment; I am constantly thinking and planning for \u201cwhat\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although I clearly enjoyed my latest adventure\u2014even more so being with Derek and Jarrett who I haven\u2019t seen in a while\u2014I still found myself thinking one step ahead and didn\u2019t embrace the experience as Jarrett described in the last post. So, I clearly have some things to work on as I approach my next adventure.<\/p>\n

However, I can say with absolute certainty that I have the National Parks bug out of my system. In fact, I think I now have the credentials to be hired by the U.S. National Parks Service as I spent more time inside National Parks this past year than some of the park rangers.<\/p>\n

Concerning the latest trip, I have many good thoughts to post and a few bad ones. I hope to get around to putting these thoughts into words in the next few days. Until then, I will leave you with a few of my favorite pics.<\/p>\n

Dave<\/p>\n