My mission!

Hello- I've always wanted to take on a mission to visit every state park in NJ. I don't know why or when this came upon me but it was several years ago because I think it was tied into my quest to be on the show, Survivor. I was brainstorming videos I could send in to land my spot and I wanted something that would represent the typical "Jersey Girl" (pre-Snookie) and I thought I could video tape my self riding a bike from High Point State Park to Cape May (Jersey from top to bottome). Eventually the Survivor dream faded but I still thought it sounded fun to bike Jersey from top to bottom. Well, that dream is slowly fading as I realize I may never find the companionship to embark on that adventure with me. I mean, I love my own company- but in small doses! So, I've revived and revamped the dream into just visiting each state park in my fine state. This way, I can do it in small doses so being alone will be fine, and I can probably find some companionship for a few of my adventures, since they would only require a few hours- not a few days!

Well, as I started the research necessary for this mission, I realized that there are such things as county parks and municipal parks. Well, as a very proud Morris County girl, I couldn't put all the effort into the state park system without acknowledging my county's parks. And at that point, I might as well put the effort into visiting my municipality's parks (that would be Roxbury Township). However, I'm faced with another dilema- I'm "in the process" of moving to Cinnaminson Township, of Burlington County. Am I to ignore this? No, I must embrace my future home- and it will be a good way to get a better feel for the area. So, in sum, my mission- loosely in the following order- is to visit the following:

All of Cinnaminson Township and Roxbury Township local parks
All of Morris County and Burlington County county run parks
All of New Jersey's State Parks
All of USA's National Parks

Haha, I threw that last goal in there because it is actually what reminded me of my original state park mission. I was watching a documentary on my flight home from Spain called, "The National Park System: America's Greatest Idea." It was really well done and got me thinking about how many things I've visited in foreign countries and how much more I still have to see in my very own nation. My guilt was amplified by my over zealous sense of patriotism (and the fact that I was in Spain for America's Bday this year)- and it all tied in nicely to my fiance's gentle pleadings for us to have a "USA Roadtrip" honeymoon instead of the traditional, all-inclusive, ass on the beach, drink in your hand, type of honeymoon. You see, he travels to foreign countries for a living and would really like to see more of the homeland as well. I've taken four road trips across this great nations, but I've only truly visited Yosemite National park and scratched the surface of the Badlands, and The Grand Canyon. I might come to find out I've been to more national parks than that, we'll see. But here are the rules of what constitutes a "visit":

Local Parks: Need to spend at least 20 minutes there (10 of which can be sitting, 10 walking around). If I've been there in the last two years, I can count that without a revisit.

County Parks: Need to spend at least 40 minutes there (!0 sitting, 30 walking around). If it has trails, I must explore about 75% of them. If I've been there in the last year, I can count that without a revisit.

State Parks: Need to spend at least 1.5 hours there (1 hour walking, 30 minutes sitting). It will have trails and I will explore at least 50% of them. If I've been there in the last year, I can count that without a revisit.

National Parks: Need to spend a full day there and do and see all the trademark things of the park. Although Yosemite was 5 years ago (wow..) I'm counting it because we spent 2 days and 2 nights there and did a 12 hour hike to the highest point you can go without equipment. We done did that park. I would go back if the opportunity arose, but for the sake of this mission I'm checking it off.

Time to research and outline my plan of attack!