Trip Tales: From Family Camping to Life as a Ranger

Winner of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, The American Legacy Book Awards, and the International Book Awards!

What’s the wildest thing that ever happened to you during an outdoor adventure?

Did you accidentally set your boots on fire? Get attacked by hungry raccoons or investigated by a curious bear?
Ever roast marshmallows and almost set your camp on fire? How do you run from a tidal wave?

What’s it like to be a park ranger? What happens when you get bucked off a horse, dangled from a cliff, bitten by bloodthirsty horseflies, or fall smack-flat onto your butt while leading a group of people down a trail?

These hilarious and eye-popping adventures will capture your imagination and carry you right into the experience of what it's like to be an outdoor adventurer, camper, and park ranger. With vivid descriptions of our beautiful state and national parks, children and adults alike will laugh out loud reading these comical short stories. A fun beach read, or great stories for families to share, you will love this book! Chapter favorites include: The Stolen Picnic Table, Rain Forest Reveries, The Magic Pond, Tent Trailer Woes, Blue Poop, Cabin Life, Bears and Backpacking, and Ranger Rules to Live By.

Here are some of the many professional reviews this outstanding book has received:

"This is a remarkable book. I laughed. I cried. I now want to take my family camping after previously swearing that would be a bad idea. Rosanne depicts her own family with such tender affection and lucidity that you will fall in love with these delightful people and their raucous outdoor adventures. You'll also get to follow along as those very childhood experiences influence her to become a fully-fledged interpretive park ranger, caring for and sharing our nation's natural heritage. Her zeal for the rugged outdoor life, and her respect for its humbling dangers and grandeur---is positively contagious."
Genevieve Parker Hill, Author of Experience Over Stuff

"Get ready for adventure and big laughs as Rosanne McHenry regales you with tales of her coming-of-age during family camping trips up and down the Western United States and Canada. Trip Tales continue when she gives readers numerous rare, up close and unflinching views of the ups and downs of the life of a ranger---the job she was born to do."
Barbara L. Moritsch, Ecologist and Author of The Soul of Yosemite: Finding, Defending and Saving the Valley's Sacred Wild Nature.

"A delightful tale of adventure in the great outdoors---from childhood camper to park ranger---a life joyously lived and charmingly told with heart and humor. Bravo!"
JoAnn Levy, Author of Yosemite Farewell: An Untold Tale of the California Gold Rush, and They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush

"Rosanne's engaging stories of her family's vacations in our national and state parks are an inspiration to parents and teachers. Her adventures led to a fascination with nature, and a career as a dedicated and passionate National Park Ranger."
Kitty Williamson, Trip Leader: Sierra Club Inspiring Connections Outdoors, and a Certified California Naturalist

"In Trip Tales, Rosanne McHenry displays her stellar storytelling skills as she takes us with her on her journey from hapless camper to rock star ranger. With humor and insight, she shares the lessons learned along the way as well as her deep and abiding love and respect for the land."
Dianne Milliard, National Park Ranger, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve

"A fun and insightful read into the joys of being outdoors, and the trials and tribulations of the early life of a park ranger."
Mike Lynch, California State Park Ranger, Historian, and Retired Park Ranger Superintendent."

Rosanne McHenry lives in Auburn, California with her husband, Vernon. Their home is next to the American River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada foothills.Rosanne has worked as a National Park Ranger and a California State Park Ranger in many different locations over the years, including the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Mt. Rainier National Park, Auburn State Recreation Area, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, and Death Valley National Park, among others.Her time spent on camping trips with her family as a child gave her a tremendous love for the outdoors as well as a deep understanding of how important it is to protect our natural resources.Trip Tales talks about how her childhood experiences shaped her decision to become a park ranger, and her first assignments working for the U.S. National Park Service in California and Washington."Being a park ranger gave me a unique opportunity to talk to people about our natural world, and to instill a deep sense of stewardship in each person I met. This beautiful planet, our Earth, is our shared heritage, and we all play an important role in protecting it."