Martinsburg Sisters Visit Country's Nearly 400 National Parks
By: Sujata Khandelwal
Updated: September 24, 2012
HARPERS FERRY, WV- Whether it's relaxing on a rock or trying to snap that perfect pic, 12-year old Maria Sobinovsky is at home in the outdoors.
Maria has 348 pins and badges, one for every national park she's visited.
"I don't know how to explain it. It's just really different in a cool, neat kind of way."
Maria is a Junior Ranger, a program most national parks offer to teach kids about the park's history. Her parents say summer vacations are hardly a holiday.
"We would, every year take a trip to a family reunion and we would take a different route each time," says Maria's father, Joe. "So, we would plan those routes to go by different national parks."
And the ride would be cozy because her younger twin sisters are Junior Rangers too.
Gina and Lisa Sobinovsky are nine-years-old and have been with their older sister at every park along the way.
"Sometimes it is very tiring, and sometimes I just want to get there," says Gina.
The latest park they visited was the one closest to home, and it had a little more meaning for the girls.
In 1988, Joe Hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. He says being back with his three daughters is pretty overwhelming.
"You must be pretty proud of them? I am, very much. I'm glad they've put up with me this long and played along."
The Sobinovskys say they're ready to move on to other countries and begin exploring their national parks.
Maria has 348 pins and badges, one for every national park she's visited.
"I don't know how to explain it. It's just really different in a cool, neat kind of way."
Maria is a Junior Ranger, a program most national parks offer to teach kids about the park's history. Her parents say summer vacations are hardly a holiday.
"We would, every year take a trip to a family reunion and we would take a different route each time," says Maria's father, Joe. "So, we would plan those routes to go by different national parks."
And the ride would be cozy because her younger twin sisters are Junior Rangers too.
Gina and Lisa Sobinovsky are nine-years-old and have been with their older sister at every park along the way.
"Sometimes it is very tiring, and sometimes I just want to get there," says Gina.
The latest park they visited was the one closest to home, and it had a little more meaning for the girls.
In 1988, Joe Hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. He says being back with his three daughters is pretty overwhelming.
"You must be pretty proud of them? I am, very much. I'm glad they've put up with me this long and played along."
The Sobinovskys say they're ready to move on to other countries and begin exploring their national parks.
Comments
I'm speechless and thrilled!
C S.
September 24, 2012 at 6:44 pm
C S.
September 24, 2012 at 6:43 pm
