Two Lane Touring follows Dave’s quest to visit and photograph each of the more than 400 sites administered by the National Park Service. On the home page -Click:) - each day there is a new photograph, often but not always from a National Park site.

The National Park Galleries are in process of being revised. It will be a check list soon with a link to some photos.

Camping - Camp sites and other aspects of camping & Eats! - a selection of restaurants, bakeries, ice cream shops and other places that we find are unique, really good, fun, have neat stories or just because we liked the place - will soon be incorporated into Click:)

Something new will pop up at Two Lane Touring every day.

Measured

There are as of December 31, 2024, 428 active sites administrated by the National Park Service. We have visited 360 & photographed 345.

2017: 40 first time visited parks with 12 re-visits and photographed for the first time. 

2018: 27 new parks for 2018 and 22 revisited parks, 11 for first time photos.

2019: The trip to Alaska added more than 31 parks to our total. For the year we added 41 new parks and re-visited six.

2020: We were able to add 13 new parks and revisit 5 others but travel was curtailed most of the year.

2021: To date for this year we have added 22 new parks and revisited 17 more, two of those were photographed for the first time.

2022: We added the six NP units in Hawaii and a few more in Texas, MS, Ohio & KY. Our effort was cut short by electrical issues in Texas.

2023: Over 30 first time visits to NP sites this year and 18 revisited parks. So at the end of the year the tally is 360 parks visited. Plans for 17 in the first half of 2024 are underway which if done would complete everything east of the Mississippi.

Contact us - davehileman@icloud.com

Frequently* Asked Questions

          * or at least occasionally!

Who or what is the Cadillac we occasionally read about?

Cadillac began life as a stuffed moose owned by our youngest granddaughter who sent him on a journey with us so he could visit his family in Maine. He is now a frequent traveler and has evolved his own curmudgeonly personality coupled with an enough contradictions to keep a therapist busy for several careers. He is now our resident restaurant critic.

Are these the best photos ever taken of these parks?

    No, some are not even very good. The primary goal is to visit, learn and enjoy the parks. The photography is my experience, weather, time of day, allotted time in the park, access and ability. Hopefully the later is improving.

Then why take the pictures?

    I recall my time best when I see the photos. Not just the actual photo moment but what was going on at the time of the photo. Plus I really like the process and improving my skill level over time. And it is a wonderful record for us. And my appreciation of the craft of photography is growing.

Are you going to get to all the parks?

    Maybe, it really is the goal, it is simply not very likely. American Samoa, Guam, some of the western Alaska parks will require much more effort, planning and money than I may ever have available. Others are just tricky. One in California requires a two-week notice for a ticket and then often cancels. We missed another because the road washed out in Arizona and two in DC are closed right now for repairs and maintenance. However all 423 is the goal. PR, VI and Hawaii are doable but costly, so they will come, I expect, when the trailer is sold. 

Why do all this with an RV? Isn’t that expensive? Isn’t that restrictive?

    When traveling for one or two weeks if you are going great distances the RV is often more expensive - still has nice benefits. However, going for two or three months, there is no contest. Besides the initial cost, some of which you will recover, campgrounds scale from free, like a Walmart or BLM site to National or State Park sites that are very reasonable to commercial sites that range from 35 to 100. Also the ability to be in the National Park for late evening and early morning photos is valuable. Plus you can eat your own food and sleep in your own bed. Priceless. 

 What is your favorite park?

    We both would answer Acadia, because of how familiar we are, that we can do all the hikes, stunning scenery and the wonderful memories. Yellowstone, Denali, Kenai & Yosemite are a very close second. Could not pick just one.

I thought there were only 59 National Parks, right?

    Until recently, yes, however in 2018 Gateway Arch in St. Louis became the 60th National Park in the system and as of February 2019, Indiana Dunes the 61st and White Sands the 62nd. In late 2020 New River Gorge in West Virginia became the 63rd National Park. The National Park Service has responsibility for 428 or so ranging from thousands of square miles National Parks to homes in a city, battlefields, seashores and much more.

Where can we get great ice cream?

    Jeni’s Splendid in Columbus, OH and other locations - now also in Raleigh!, Cows in PEI & Banff, Leopold’s in Savannah, Cones in NYC, Island Creamery in Chincoteague, Lapp’s in Lancaster County, PA, Ted Drewes in St. Louis, MDI and Jordon Pond in Bar Harbor, Fresh and Two Roosters in Raleigh, Glenn’s Custard in Springdale, PA, Kilwins in several locations, Ghirardelli in Orlando and San Francisco, Molly Moon in Seattle, Graeter's in Cincinnati, Toscanini’s in Cambridge, MA, The Bent Spoon in Princeton, NJ, Kimball Farm near Boston, Creamery at Michigan State University, Craft Creamery in Danville, CA, Sweet Scoops in Sonoma, CA, Bresslers in Philadelphia, Ample Hills in NYC, The Parlor in Durham, NC, Paradice in Pawley’s Island, SC, Park Circle Creamery in North Charleston, Wild Scoops in Anchorage AK, Salt and Straw in Seattle & Orlanda, Penn State Creamery, Shirley’s Northern Lights in Talkeetna, AK, Chocolat Favoris in Victoria, BC, Ice Cream Jubilee in NW Washington DC, Taggart’s in Canton, OH.

We need lots more field work here! Have an suggestion we should try?

The Photography Equipment

The mirrorless Fuji X-T5 is my camera with an occasional iPhone shot. My current lenses include the 100-400, 16-80, 10-24, fixed 30 macro, and the fixed 56. I also use a close up attachment and the 1.4 extender. The three zooms are great, perfect for what I do. I have a tripod, a Sirui with an Sirui 30 ball head. I use a Mindshift 20L backpack that holds the whole kit. It is heavy for a long hike but is well balanced and by carefully selecting gear there is room for a jacket and a snack plus outside pockets for a water bottle. 

I use a Macbook Pro on the road and at home. To process photos I use ON 1 Photo Raw 2024

All photos are backed up on two WD Passports and on the Apple WiFi device. 

The Living Quarters

The other primary "gear" is an Oliver Elite trailer. It is like the camera, light and small (for a trailer!) and easy to tow.  You can also go to http://olivertraveltrailers.com for great information or take a trip to Hohenwald, Tennessee and tour the factory. Bring money when you do cause you will place an order while you are there. You can also contact us - glad to give tours.

Here are some sites to visit for more information:

Harvest Hosts is one of the places I like to use to find places to stay that are affordable and cool. Boondockers is another annual subscription that allows you to stay at over 2700 private homes, farms and some very unique overnight stops. https://www.boondockerswelcome.com

Want some excellent photographs and well-written, helpful instruction, try Dennis Mook's  http://www.thewanderinglensman.com  I learn something every time I read Dennis' blog and, if I followed his advice more, would be a better photographer.

Other photography sites that update on a regular basis and are skewed to information that I like and find very helpful are:

http://alifeinphotography.blogspot.com Dave Jenkins’ warm prose and nice photography is a three times a week must stop.

https://thomasheaton.co.uk This is just a magical site. Particularly his YouTube channel. Watching Thomas is a meditative and learning experience. 

YouTube Channels:

Photography: Thomas Heaton, James Popsys, Jim Nix, Fototripper, Scott Davenport, Nigel Danson, Hudson Henry - watch these a lot.

RV Camping: Long, Long Honeymoon & Keep Your Daydream & Adventures of A & K are the three I most often watch

Photography Podcasts:

B&H Podcasts - The gold standard

Lenswork - very close behind B&H, somedays ahead.