Two Chicks with Hiking Sticks · Monica Gonzalez and Susan Resendez

Meet the Two Chicks with Hiking Sticks

May 4, 2025·13 min·1 clip

Susan and Monica launch their podcast to share adventures exploring national parks and hidden gems.

This inaugural episode introduces hosts Susan and Monica and their new podcast focused on America's national parks and related sites. Susan, a recent retiree, launched a personal quest in 2021 to visit hundreds of federally managed sites beyond the famous 63 national parks. Monica joins her as a co-host to share these adventures and insights with listeners. Susan explains her goal was to visit all National Park Service units, which numbered 423 at her journey's start and have since grown to 433. She describes purchasing a car specifically for this cross-country travel mission. In one year, she traveled to the four corners of the continental U.S., including Maine, Southern Florida, Southern California, and northwest Washington. The prior year, she undertook a trip to Alaska to visit its sites. A central theme is Susan's passion for the lesser-known Park Service designations like national monuments, memorials, historic parks, and battlefields. She argues these "smaller" sites do not receive adequate attention or visitation compared to major parks like Zion, Yellowstone, or Yosemite. The podcast aims to "show them love" by highlighting these often-overlooked destinations. The most interesting insight is the sheer scale of the National Park System, which contains over 430 distinct units, vastly more than the commonly cited 63 national parks. Susan's commitment to visiting them all as a retiree showcases a significant personal undertaking. Her methodical travel, covering extreme geographic points in a single year, demonstrates the project's ambitious scope. The tone is casual, enthusiastic, and conversational, marked by the hosts' friendly banter and shared excitement for exploration. The style is introductory and autobiographical, laying the foundation for future episode topics. Outdoor enthusiasts, road trip planners, and history buffs curious about America's protected sites would love this episode. Listeners seeking highly produced narratives or immediate, in-depth park guides might prefer to skip this foundational introduction.

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