1

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California

Image: Nik Shuliahin 💛💙

Imagine camping beneath the biggest trees in North America and in the whole world . That incredible experience is possible in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, where some of these trees are thousands of years old.

You can choose from 14 scenic campgrounds—including Grant Grove Village, the foothills of Sequoia National Park, the Lodgepole and Giant Forest areas, Cedar Grove, and Mineral King—and make a reservation.

2

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Image: velichor

Open only during the summer months, Crater Lake National Park is home to the country's deepest lake and a dormant volcano , making it an incredibly photogenic location. Campers can pitch their tents or park their RVs in the forest at Mazama Campground.

As locals say, the best views are from the areas looking out over Annie Creek, but the whole place is a no-miss.

3

Olympic National Park, Washington

Image: Scott Goodwill

Camping along the coastline with the sound of the waves in the background is a beautiful experience that can be accomplished in the Olympic National Park, where you can camp right along the beautiful coastline , which is marked by several sea stacks.

There are many different campgrounds, some next to the ocean and others in the rainforest. While most are first-come, first-served, some allow reservations for stays in the summer.

4

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Image: Levi Jones

Few camping experiences beat waking up on the rim of the Grand Canyon . While the South Rim is easier to get to, the North Rim is usually less crowded. There's one North Rim campground inside the park and another just north of the park boundary, both open from mid-May to mid-October.

Several sites along the South Rim are open year-round, including the Mather Campground and Trailer Village in Grand Canyon Village. Only two other South Rim spots, Desert View and Tusayan Montane, are open seasonally.

5

Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests, Colorado

Image: Mike Erskine

The Rocky Mountains offer magnificent scenery for a beautiful day and a night out. The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests have 56 campsites set in a variety of landscapes, including open meadows and evergreen forests, amid mountains, and on lakeshores .

While most are open seasonally, a select few stay open all year long, so make sure to check the website for road conditions beforehand if you plan to camp during the winter months.

6

Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Idaho

Image: Andreas Rønningen

The Smoky Mountains are a picturesque part of Idaho, with dozens of places to camp. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area is a fantastic place to go hiking, canoeing, or cycling, and you'll be treated to awe-inspiring mountain views in every direction.

About half the campgrounds welcome campers on a first-come, first-served basis, but you can also make reservations ahead of time to secure a site. The camping season is open in the summer months.

7

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Image: Rahul Bhosale

Don’t mind the name, there is nothing bad about the Badlands. Between the many rock formations you'll see throughout Badlands National Park, you'll also find prairies and places to peek at ancient fossils . The Cedar Pass campground is larger and offers more amenities, but the smaller Sage Creek campground puts you in a better position to see bison wandering around .

8

Ozark–St. Francis National Forests, Arkansas

Image: Alex Holt

The Natural State has 1.2 million acres of recreational space including beaches, lakes, and streams, and more than 400 miles of hiking trails , in the Ozark–St. Francis National Forests. Campers can choose between several developed campgrounds for both RV and tent camping, some of which are open year-round.

Other campgrounds are open from May through October. Primitive camping is also permitted within designated areas—just remember to bring your water (or a water filtration device), and leave the place untouched.

9

Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida

Image: Blake Wisz

At Dry Tortugas National Park, in Key West, Florida, you can camp right outside of one of the world’s largest barrier reefs . Visitors can rent snorkel gear, spend their days relaxing on the beach, or check out Fort Jefferson, a 19th-century fortress used by the Union army to blockade Confederate shipping channels during the Civil War.

This pristine area, perfect for stargazing and bird-watching, requires campers to bring everything they will need, including water, fuel, ice, and food. Ferry transportation from Key West must also be secured as early as possible.

10

Minnewaska State Park Preserve, New York

Image: Esther Tuttle

More than 2,000 feet above sea level and surrounded by rocky terrain, Minnewaska State Park Preserve offers a lot of space to hike, bike, and enjoy the view . Reservations for the Sam F. Pryor III Shawangunk Campground can be made online starting each March, as it is closed during the winter.

The campground features 50 parcels, as well as five car-camping sites, and amenities such as Wi-Fi, coin-operated showers, communal fire pits, and picnic pavilions.

1

A secret convention

The Constitutional Convention gathered between May 25 and September 17, 1787, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, at that moment the seat of the U.S. government. Although the initial intention had been to "fix" the government delineated in the Articles of the Confederation, the constituents, also known as the "Framers", decided to write a new document altogether. For nearly five months, delegates from 12 states (Rhode Island had refused to participate) deliberated in secret , wanting to avoid external pressure but also any leak or rumor that could lead to mass panic.

2

A controversial document

While James Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his role in shaping our government, the document as we know it was mainly drafted by Pennsylvania delegate Gouverneur Morris. Although the convention had reluctantly agreed on 23 points, the final draft only contained seven, plus a preamble and a closing endorsement . This result, caused by several necessary compromises, disappointed many delegates, including Benjamin Franklin, who still voted in favor because they believed that they couldn’t reach a better agreement.

3

Spelling errors

The text for the Constitution had been drafted by Gouverneur Morris, but the document to be signed was penned on five parchment pages by Jacob Shallus, an assistant clerk to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Shallus received $30 for his work (equivalent to about $750 today). The document was written quite hastily, which led to misspellings in the text , although some of them might have been common alternative spellings at that time, such as "chuse" instead of "choose". The most famous error is "Pensylvania" in the list of signatory states, a list written by Alexander Hamilton, not by Shallus.

4

The compromises

The heated debates about the new government forced the delegates to reach a series of compromises. The most significant concerned state representation (larger states wanted proportional votes, smaller states demanded equal representation), whether enslaved people counted towards state population, and the executive government’s election method. As a result, the Convention decided on a Bicameral legislature (the House of Representatives with proportional representation and the Senate with equal representation), counted three-fifths of the enslaved population towards representation and taxation, and decided on an electoral college to balance popular votes and state electors.

5

The constituents

The convention, presided over by George Washington, was comprised of delegates from 12 states, a mix of lawyers, merchants, landowners, physicians, and public officials. All of them had political experience, having served in the Continental Congress, the Confederation Congress, or as signers of the Declaration of Independence , although their ages varied. New Jersey delegate Jonathan Dayton was the youngest constituent, at 26 years old, while Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin was the oldest, at 81 years old.

6

The men who refused

The Constitutional Convention had 55 delegates in total, but not all of them signed the Constitution or were even present at the signing. Thirteen of them had returned to their states due to professional or personal reasons, or as a form of protest. George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph remained at the convention, but refused to sign the Constitution without a Bill of Rights. In the end, only 39 out of 55 delegates signed the final document.

7

Delaware, the First State

Although Delaware is traditionally regarded as the 13th colony, and it functioned as such with its own assembly, it had always been part of Pennsylvania, only becoming an independent state with the start of the Revolutionary War. The second-smallest state beside Rhode Island, Delaware was the first to unanimously ratify the new U.S. Constitution , less than three months after it was signed, making it the first state to join the Union and earning it the nickname of "The First State".

8

The Bill of Rights

The inclusion of a Bill of Rights had been debated during the Constitutional Convention, but it had been rejected under the argument that it could imply that any right not mentioned did not exist. However, this posed a later issue, as some states flat-out refused to ratify a Constitution that lacked protection of individual rights. To ensure ratification, these states were promised that a bill of rights would be added. The Constitution was fully ratified on May 29, 1790, and the Bill of Rights, composed of ten amendments, was added on December 15, 1791.

9

What about slavery?

The terms "slave" or "slavery" do not appear in the original text of the Constitution, but this doesn’t mean the institution was not contemplated or protected in the document. The text spoke of people "bound to service", counted three-fifths of them towards a state’s population, prevented Congress from banning the import of enslaved people until 1808, and included a clause to return fugitives to their enslavers. It was not until 1865, with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, that the text of the Constitution formally addressed slavery, abolishing it across the U.S.

10

Amendments

Article V of the original text delineated the mechanism to amend the Constitution, contemplating that the government should be able to change as the nation changed. Any amendment requires a majority vote (two-thirds) of both chambers of Congress, plus the ratification of three-fourths of the states. Since the inception of the Constitution, more than 11,000 amendments have been proposed to Congress, but only 33 have been approved and sent to be ratified by the states. Of those, only 27 have been effectively ratified, the last one, concerning changes in congressional pay, fully ratified in 1992.

1

Macaroni, JFK’s daughter’s famous pony

Macaroni, a 10-year-old Shetland gelding given to John F. Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, as a gift by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, became a beloved White House celebrity.

The famous pony was seen roaming freely on the South Lawn, received endless fan letters, and even appeared together with Caroline on the cover of Life Magazine in 1962_._ A photograph of the pair together is also said to have inspired Neil Diamond to write the hit song "Sweet Caroline," although the song wasn’t released until 1969.

2

Balto, the sled dog who became a hero

In January 1925, a black-and-white Siberian Husky named Balto led his team through brutal winter conditions, including a blinding 50-below-zero blizzard, on the final 53-mile leg of a relay known as the Great Race for Mercy to deliver life-saving diphtheria antitoxin to the people of Nome, Alaska.

In doing so, he not only became a national hero, but also an international icon.

3

Sergeant Stubby, the WWI war dog

Sergeant Stubby was a stray dog who served with U.S. troops during World War I. He became famous for reportedly warning soldiers about mustard gas attacks and helping locate wounded men.

He served 18 months, participated in 17 battles, saved countless lives, and became the only dog known to have been promoted to sergeant through combat . He was later hailed as one of the most decorated war dogs of World War I.

4

Toto, the dog behind The Wizard of Oz

Toto in The Wizard of Oz (1939) was played by a female brindle Cairn Terrier named Terry and earned a reported $125 a week during filming. It was an unusually high salary for an animal actor and more than some human performers on the production.

She also survived several injuries on set, including when a cast member stepped on her paw, and became so well known for her role that eventually her name was changed to, you guessed it, "Toto".

5

Theodore Roosevelt’s extraordinary menagerie

Theodore Roosevelt’s children brought an astonishing assortment of animals (over 40) to the White House, including snakes, a badger, a macaw, a hyena, guinea pigs, and a pony named Algonquin, who was once taken up the White House elevator to visit Roosevelt’s sick son Archie.

Carefully looked over by each of his six lively children and the 26th president who encouraged their adventures, this wild collection turned the Executive Mansion into quite a vibrant and chaotic home.

6

Lassie, America’s most beloved fictional dog

Lassie first appeared in a 1938 story by Eric Knight and the 1940 novel Lassie Come-Home , before becoming a movie and television icon, with the classic TV series running from 1954 to 1973.

The true stories behind the real-life animal actors are equally fascinating. A male collie named Pal became the first in a long line of collies to portray Lassie, helping to turn the fictional character into a beloved American icon; he stunned the director with his ability to swim against the current.

7

Millie, the presidential dog who became an author

Millie was an English Springer Spaniel who belonged to George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. The pup became a published author in 1990 with Millie’s Book , a children’s book written by the First Lady from Millie’s perspective .

It became Number 1 on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list, with proceeds benefiting Baraba Bush’s family literacy foundation.

8

Smoky, the tiny WWII hero

This four-pound Yorkshire Terrier, found in a New Guinea foxhole in 1944, not only became a World War II hero, but is also widely regarded as one of the first therapy dogs.

Handled by Corporal William "Bill" Wynne, she survived 150 air raids, flew 12 combat missions, and helped pull a communication wire through a 70-foot pipe only eight inches wide, while serving alongside American troops and assisting patients in military hospitals.

9

Rebecca, Calvin Coolidge’s Thanksgiving raccoon

A raccoon was sent to President Calvin Coolidge’s White House in November 1926 by a Mississippi supporter, intended as a potential Thanksgiving dinner . Instead, the animal-loving First Family spared her, and First Lady Grace Coolidge named her Rebecca.

She became a presidential pet, roaming freely around the White House and even escaping from the grounds several times.

10

Socks, the White House cat

The stray black-and-white tuxedo cat from Arkansas, Socks, was adopted by the Clinton family, became a national celebrity, and even appeared on the White House website.

Known for his press room podium appearances and for becoming an early internet celebrity, Socks was one of the most recognizable pets of the 1990s. He even inspired a children’s book, Dear Socks, Dear Buddy , before dying at age 20 in 2009, and his rivalry with the family’s dog, Buddy, also became a memorable White House story.