Normally, I'd rather be hiking, camping, fishing, rafting, climbing, and/or cycling. But on Sunday, September 27 at 7 p.m., Rocky Mountain PBS and the Colorado National Monument have partnered to present, “THE NATIONAL PARKS - AMERICA'S BEST IDEA,” live at the Avalon Theatre, 645 Main St in downtown Grand Junction.

Other sponsors include the Colorado National Monument Association and the Grand Junction Visitor and Convention Bureau.

This is a FREE event, but you'd better come early for a good seat.

THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA is a six-episode series directed by Ken Burns and written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan. As their publicity states, our National Parks “...remain a refuge for human beings, seeking to replenish their spirit, geographers of memories and hope where countless American families have forged an intimate connection with their land and then passed it along to their children."

This series was filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature’s most spectacular locales – from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, Everglades to our very own Colorado National Monument.

This documentary not only discusses how parks remain a refuge for people, but it also discusses trees, rocks and wildlife.

On trees: ". . . trees still growing that were already saplings before the time of Christ, before Rome conquered the known world, before the Greeks worshipped in the Parthenon, before the Egyptians built the pyramids. Trees that are the oldest living things on Earth, and the tallest, and the largest."

On rocks: "Where scientists say a river has patiently carved its way to expose rocks
that are 1.7 billion years old - nearly half the age of the planet itself."

On wildlife: "They became the last refuge for magnificent species of animals that otherwise would have vanished forever."

Don't miss this must-see presentation. Remember, it'll be at the Avalon Theatre in Downtown Grand Junction on Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 7 p.m. And, it's free.