National Parks Tidbits

The Badlands, Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton...I did trip recaps on all of them, which you can read by clicking on the word, but there are some little tidbits left as well as some things I'd like to call attention to that might have been lost in the long ass re-cap posts.

1. Lodging varies. How's that for vague? If you need five star, there are few options for you, but if you need five star I don't really see you on a National Parks trip anyway. We had wifi in our room in the Badlands and in Grand Teton, but the strength was weak in most places throughout the trip. All of the rooms we stayed in in the parks were clean, and that's all I was expecting going into this. If you're there to really get the full experience, you are in the room to sleep and use the bathroom and that's about it. My favorite place to stay was Cedar Pass Lodge in the Badlands (I actually wish we spent more than one night there) and Signal Mountain Lodge in Grand Teton. The place I liked the least was Lake Hotel in Yellowstone, and that was the fanciest. Go figure.

2. Huckleberry is everything. I had no idea what it was until I got to Yellowstone. One day I had huckleberry ice cream twice in one day. I also had huckleberry pie, huckleberry candy, and huckleberry pancakes on this trip. And came home with huckleberry chapstick and huckleberry jam, which we ate like ravenous dogs at home. Do not pass up the opportunity to have the huckleberry ice cream if you get it.

3. Speaking of food, the food wasn't bad. It was pricey, but not bad. The pie and ice cream everywhere were freaking amazing.

4. Depending on when you go, you have to be prepared for all kinds of weather in Yellowstone. The afternoon this was taken, I was sweating in capris and a short sleeve shirt. On the whole, it was much warmer in Yellowstone than we thought it would be.

5. People do really stupid shit on the roads in National Parks. I had read about it a lot on Trip Advisor, but when I saw it with my own eyes I was all WTF. Take your time, pull over and let chains of douches on CB radios chasing wolves pass you, and you'll be fine.

6. They're very big on the gathering in the common spaces. There's no TV in the rooms and no wifi hardly anywhere, but there are a lot of places to sit in front of a fire and read a book or play some cards, and a lot of outdoor spaces to enjoy in a central area with others.

7. I was happy with 15 minutes at Mt. Rushmore. Really. See the faces, marvel at them, look at all the flags, walk through the gift shop, go to the bathroom, be on my merry way.

8. I wish we saw Crazy Horse from the road instead of paying to go in. The view is pretty much the same and even the people working there seemed sort of sheepish to be taking the $22 we paid to get in.

9. If I knew how cool the area surrounding Devil's Tower was, I would've skipped that weird town and gone right there instead. Not to mention I would've liked to just sit at the base of the tower a little longer, It was a spiritual place.

10. I still can't believe some of the stuff we saw and the animals we were in close proximity to. The other day we were talking about our upcoming trip to Africa, and MFD said, "I'm still not over the National Parks." Neither am I, and I responded that I hoped I never would be...part of what I love so much about travel is how the experience becomes a part of you.

Linking up for Wanderlust Wednesdays with Kate, Emily, and Kerri

On the travel agenda

Last month I talked about why we travel. This month I thought I'd do an update of where we're going over the next year. These days, we're trying to do a nice mix of familiar (long weekends at the shore or to visit framily, those do not appear on this list) and new. Up next on the vacation agenda of places we haven't been:

Emerald Isle, NC - At the end of the month we're headed for our first sit down week-long beach vacation in five years. I cannot wait. Bonuses: we've never been there and it's a family vacation with my Dad & Carol, Stephen & Aubrey, and some of Stephen's college crew.  

Badlands, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Parks - Our wild west fifth anniversary trip this September. We'll also check out Mount Rushmore, which has been on my list forever. It'll be heavy on the driving and light on the sleep, but I cannot wait to see all the things there are to see in these amazing places. 

South Africa: Cape Town and Safari - January 2016. This is a major stretch for me and will mark the longest flight I've ever been on but MFD will get to cross a huge bucket list item off. Currently trying to dissuade him from including cage diving with sharks on the Cape Town agenda. 

New Orleans - MFD has been. I've never been so I'm hopping down for a weekend in February 2016 while he's at a conference there. I'm playing the airline miles game for free tickets and I am enjoying it. A lot. 

Paris, London, Ireland - Quick dips into Paris and London and a longer time going around Ireland in October/November 2016 as part of my dad's 60th birthday trip. I've never been to Paris or London and while I have been to Ireland, I haven't been to some must sees (I'm looking at you, Cliffs of Moher). 

We turn 40 in 2017 so that entails a long weekend with my girlfriends and families and a friends trip to a yet to be determined location. The list of places we want to go is a mile long.

Some places on my short list: 

Wild West Part Dos: Grand Canyon/Four Corners/Rio Grand Gorge/Roswell/Monument Valley

PCH
Charleston
Seattle
Savannah

Italy

On MFD's short list:

He dittos my list (easy out)

Newport/Cape Cod/Martha's Vineyard

Carcassonne/South of France
Angkor Wat

Tibet

Morocco

Germany 

Norway

What's on your vacation horizons?

Linking up for Wanderlust Wednesdays with Kate, Emily, and Kerri

Why We Travel

Via

Note: This is a bad day to have this scheduled with news of last night's Amtrak crash fresh on all feeds. My thoughts go out to passengers and crew on train 188 and my utmost respect and appreciation for Philadelphia's first responders who handled the scene efficiently, professionally, and with compassion as well as medical staff treating injuries on-site and in area hospitals. 

I love the Jersey shore. I always have and I always will. If I could choose to go anywhere for a weekend, it would be there. Owning a home there is a future goal of ours. I grew up going there, my memories are buried in that sand, and every year I look forward to eating my traditional boardwalk treats and sitting my ass in a beach chair looking out at the same ocean I've looked out on my entire life. I love how comfortable and at home I feel there.

For a long time, our week long vacations were spent at the Jersey Shore and I loved every second. If you would've asked me 10 years ago where my vacation spot would be, I would've confidently answered the shore - one week every summer. But it hasn't turned out like that. The last time we did it was for our wedding five years ago. We've spent weekends at the shore but reserved our weeks for expanding vacation horizons. 

Some of our 2014 adventures - long, weekend, and day trips included

If I had a dollar for every time someone said, "must be nice," to a vacation shot of us, I'd be able to fully fund all trips for eternity. Yes, it is nice. And we've worked quite hard for it. It's something we set money aside for and where we prefer to spend our extra. We often say it's what we do with the money we don't spend on the kids we don't have. What we're actually buying is experiences, and I feel like it's an investment - the return we get is so much more than the dollar amount we put out.

Why do we like to travel? It feeds our desire to see places we've only read about or seen on TV. It gives us feelings and beauty and memories and stories and it pushes us outside of our comfort zones. Even planning the adventure can be fun, from deciding where to go and what to do, where to eat and what to visit. When you’re traveling overseas you do have some paperwork to deal with, visas and things from usa-esta.com and you might need travel jabs too which aren’t the most fun. But overall, travel is SO worth the time and money spent and creates memories to last a lifetime. 

MFD does well outside of his comfort zone - he has a wonderful sense of adventure and is spontaneous and very YOLO in nature. Me, as a person who lives inside of a routine and comfort zone to the extreme...I need that push. It's good to operate in places you're unfamiliar with sometimes. I think it can show you a lot about who you are as a person and how you function. 

Is travel a high priority for you?