The America's National Parks Podcast is sponsored by L. L. L. Bine believes the more time you spend outside together, the better.

That's why they design products that make it easier to take longer walks, have deeper talks,

and never worry about the weather.

Discover clothing, outerware, footwear, and gear made for every type of adventure with the outside built right in.

Because on the inside we are all outsiders.

Be an outsider with L.L. Beam. The ubiquitous road trip now as much a part of the American identity as apple pie and banjos

came into the public consciousness largely due to a man synonymous with the automobile,

along with a few of his famous friends.

When Henry Ford introduced the Model T to the market in 1908, the famous nature essayist John Burrows condemned it as a demon on wheels that would seek out even the most secluded nook or corner of the forest and befowl it with noise and smoke.

Ford, also a fan of the outdoors, believed his affordable car would allow families greater access

to the beauties of our landscape. He sent Burrows, whom he had long admired, his own new

model T, sparking a great friendship.

Ford introduced Burrows to two other famous American industrialists, inventor Thomas Edison, and tire manufacturer, Harvey Firestone.

In 1914, coinciding with the beginning of World War I, the four influential men loaded their automobile the trips. They called themselves the Vagabonds, and they toured places like the Everglades, the

California coast, and the forests of Vermont for two weeks, nearly every summer for 10 years.

Paved roads were sparse, often peppered with hand-drawn road signs.

Edison navigated with a compass and maps. Service stations were rare, so Ford

kept the cars running. Burrows led nature hikes. Though the men slept in tents, they were hardly roughing it.

The Vagabonds travelled with dozens of Ford's cars, a battalion of assistance, a film crew,

and a refrigerator and stove truck.

They had a huge dinner table that spun like a lazy Susan.

Their tents were monogrammed with their names

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