Category Archives: Walnut Creek

Today is the official birthday for the National Park Service!  To celebrate, they are offering FREE admission to all National Parks! Check the list for other dates when admission to national parks is FREE for anyone. If you’re active military or family, you can also get a FREE Annual Pass to the National Parks.

Mark your calendar for these fee-free days in 2013:

• August 25 (National Park Service Birthday – Today)
• September 28 (National Public Lands Day)
• November 9-11 (Veterans Day weekend)

Making the fun even more affordable, many national park concessioners are joining the National Park Service in welcoming visitors with their own special offers.

Here’s a tip – many of your 401 national parks NEVER charge an entrance fee. So start planning your visit and share this with a friend!

*Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.

Happy Birthday National Parks!

Look up to the skies! Tonight, Tuesday is a chance to see the Super Rare Blue Moon – it’s also the Full Sturgeon Moon, the Full Red Moon, the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon. Tonight’s full moon qualifies as a Blue Moon because it’s the third full moon in a season with four (most seasons have only three).

The annual August full moon has come to be known as the Full Sturgeon Moon, because the large fish called sturgeon can most easily be caught at this time of year. Another name for this month’s full moon is the Full Red Moon, because the weather and atmospheric conditions during this season can often make the moon look reddish when it rises through a haze. The third name, the Green Corn or Grain Moon is because of the harvest that happens around this time of year.

Accord to Wikipedia, “Full moons occur every 29.5 days on average, when the moon is directly opposite the sun from the perspective of Earth. This causes its whole disk to be fully illuminated as a large, bright circle. Usually, when the moon is full, it passes either above or below Earth’s shadow, but sometimes, when it is perfectly aligned, it travels right through the shadow, causing a lunar eclipse, when its disk is dark.”

Blue Moons don’t happen too often, which is why the phrase “once in a Blue Moon,” has sprung up to mean only very rarely. After Tuesday’s event, the next Blue Moon isn’t set to occur until 2015.

For the best viewing reach higher elevation or avoid city lights and clouds. Check out the great song inspired by the incredible blue moon.

Everyone can enjoy Free Admission to National Parks in 2013. The official birthday for the National Park Service is coming up on August 25 and they are offering FREE admission to all National Parks! Check the list for other dates when admission to national parks is FREE for anyone.  If you’re active military or family, you can also get a FREE Annual Pass to the National Parks.

America’s Best Idea – the national parks – gets even better with several fee-free days at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees.*

Mark your calendar for these fee-free days in 2013: 

• August 25  (National Park Service Birthday)
• September 28  (National Public Lands Day)
• November 9-11  (Veterans Day weekend)

Making the fun even more affordable, many national park concessioners are joining the National Park Service in welcoming visitors with their own special offers.

Here’s a tip – many of your 401 national parks NEVER charge an entrance fee. So start planning your visit and share this with a friend!

*Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.