Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Road Trippin' Part Deux

 A month long journey through Colorado, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico

Driving on Hwy 285, Vaughn, New Mexico

It was official. After our 3 week road trip adventure from last summer, Matthew and I were bitten by the road trip travel bug and spent all year ambitiously talking about how we might make an even grander, longer adventure a reality.  And somehow, through all the dreaming, we talked ourselves into a month long escapade through Colorado, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico.  But, how, you ask? We found a way to make the daydreams real life by embracing the lessons learned from our last summer trek (see my previous blog post Roadtrippin' during 'Rona Season) - applying the successes, rethinking the mishaps, getting creative with the work/play balance and staying open to the unexpected.

Early morning hike on the Ouray Perimeter Trail in Ouray, Colorado

Extending the adventure

Early in 2021, we knew that the summer would start off with a bang. We were ecstatic that the Thornton clan was planning to spend our annual family vacation back in Ouray, Colorado, and my brother and his soon-to-be wife, were planning an all-out wedding celebration in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Since the events would be less than a week apart, we used these two locations as the basis for our itinerary planning.

In my first attempt to choose the locations for the trip, I tried to keep in mind the mantra that we used last summer. Stay at least 2 nights in each location, and drive less than 6 hours from point A to point B. So, I set out to map the locations starting from home in Austin, traveling with the familia to Colorado, and then branching off for a short jaunt in Utah before celebrating my brother's nuptials in Vegas. After that, we had the flexibility to choose how far we'd go and for how long.  When all was said and done, we agreed that 30 days away from home was realistic, within our budget, and could give us plenty of time to unpack, stretch our legs, explore and call a few places our temporary home.  

Road trip destinations starting/ending from Austin, Texas


To summarize, we visited the following destinations (with links to the lodging we used): 

Mesmerized by Meowwolf, Las Vegas 


Road Trip Must-dos 

We learned our lessons from last summer's travels. Get your car serviced and prepped a month or two in advance. Start packing early and don't be afraid to tote along items that make life on the road comfortable and convenient. At least once each week, intentionally select lodging with an in-unit washer and dryer.  Freeze 4-6 bottles of water and pack in the cooler instead of ice. Download plenty of podcasts and travel apps before you embark on the journey.  Leave room in the schedule for spontaneity.  Choose a few times along the way to intentionally splurge.  Be open to the unexpected. 

So, did we heed our own advice? We sure did. We even upgraded our Thule Cargo box so that we could cram more stuff on the roof and keep it out of the backseat (worth every darn penny, and luckily we ordered this early because these are hard to come by in the height of the revival of the Great American road trip), and most importantly, it was sooo much easier to close because of the super smooth SlideLock system that automatically locks the lid in place. 

Our upgraded Thule Motion XL XT


Boy, oh boy.  Did we sure eat our words on our last three "must-dos."  On day ONE of our stay in Colorado (yes, that would be day 2 of the trip) our very active, very agile pup tore her ACL chasing her beloved tennis ball at the park.  Not only was that totally unexpected, but a total bummer.  After a few trips to the Ridgway Animal Hospital, a bottle of NSAIDS and pain killers, our Bodhi girl would manage to tripod her way through the rest of the trip. Good thing we left some room for splurging and the unexpected!  Nonetheless, at least the experience inspired episode 35 of our Creative Moonlighting podcast, Control Your Inner Control Freak.  And Bodhi’s surgery is scheduled for next week. (Phew!)

Bodhi girl enjoying the cool grass at our hotel near Zion National Park

The formula to avoid the crowds

Matthew and I both agreed that the quickest buzz kill is a crowd of people.  Sure, we can tolerate a few folks here and there, but our adventures have been most enjoyable when we can avoid battling people on a trail, bus, or at a restaurant. This summer required us to zig when the crowds were zagging, and that created our own formula for avoiding the masses.  

As we learned from last summer, national parks are notoriously cram-packed all summer long.  We had a lot of luck avoiding the crowds this year by entering the national parks later in the afternoon or early evening. For example, we arrived at Zion National Park at 3:30 pm and strolled right through the gates and on to the shuttle bus. When we stepped off the bus to hit the trail, we passed a mile long line of people (no exaggeration) waiting for their return trip. Meanwhile, we were pleasantly surprised to have the trail to ourselves, stopping and appreciating the empty landscapes along the way.  When we returned, we strolled back on to an empty shuttle (we took the last ride at 8:15 pm), got dropped off at the park gates and immediately walked over to the Zion Brewery for a cold brewsky.  Zig when the crowd is zagging and you won't regret it! 


We applied this same formula when we went to Arches National Park to hike the Delicate Arch, and again at Bryce Canyon National park to see the hoodoos on the Peek-a-boo Trail, Navajo Loop and Rim Trail

Delicate Arch Trail, Arches National Park 

Peek-a-boo Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park 


Another way to zig when the crowd is zagging is to find hikes that are outside of the national parks.  We used the All Trails App (thanks to our server last summer at Uberbrew in Billings, Montana) to find almost deserted trails in Moab and sand caves in Kanab, and asked local guides for recommendations (Kanab Tour company was spot on with their guidance to explore the Buckskin Gulch slot canyon via Wire Pass Trail).


Kanab Sand Caves, Kanab Utah

  Buckskin Gulch Slot Canyon via Wire Pass Trail, Kanab, Utah

Toadstools Trail, Grand Staircase Escalante, Kanab, Utah

And finally, choose a few places on the trip that are off the beaten path and a destination in itself.  Most people choose not to drive a few hours out of the way or waste a night in a remote destination, so take advantage of these secluded spots! While in Park City, we made the 2 hour trek to the Bonneville Salt Flats and it felt like we stepped out on another planet!  Endless views of thick crusts of salty soil that was worth the 4 hour round-trip ride. 


Bonneville Salt Flats, near Wendover, Utah 

On our way back home, we decided to make a stop through Monument Valley near the Arizona-Utah state line to see the collection of vast sandstone buttes.  Since the Navajo Nation reservation is still closed due to COVID-19, Gouldings Lodge was quiet and enjoyable!  We took advantage of the on-site hiking trails to Gouldings Arch and appreciated the sunbaked views of the valley. I'm not raving about the in-house restaurant, but you can't go wrong with some sub-par chicken strips and fries when you have a view like that! 

Gouldings Arch, Monument Valley, Utah

Enjoying the view of Monument Valley along with some chicken strips and fries! 


Finding your bliss and planning for future exploring 

Only you and your travel partner can determine how you want to experience your road trip adventures. For Matthew and I, we've found that at 40 something years old, we enjoy active days at a slow pace!  When you find a restaurant that prepares delicious, unique food (run, don’t walk to the Love Apple in Taos, New Mexico), a hike that takes a little longer than expected (Toadstools Trailhead or the Buckskin Gulch slot canyons), or a brewery that serves an ice-cold beer (thank you for that delicious hazy ipa, Zion brewery), make time in the schedule to savor and enjoy! And if it's possible to work remotely (that's how I made this month long trek possible, worked 2-3 days per week for a month instead of taking off 2 weeks straight), plan an adventure for as long as possible! (We had so much fun at our last stop off in Taos, New Mexico that we decided to extend for a night.) Be sure to leave room in your itinerary for some impromptu adjustments so you can relish in every moment of the adventure.  

Buckskin Gulch Slot Canyon, Kanab, Utah

Rio Grande Gorge, Taos, New Mexico

Horseshoe Bend, Page, Arizona



If you're like us, you can't wait to plan your next adventure.  And, if you want to continue to check off your bucket list, then make notes of your travel lessons learned and commit to making travel a priority.  I rarely meet a person that says they regret their travel experiences. I know I have no regrets, only fond and vivid memories of the places we've been, the sights we've seen and the people we've met along the way. 

Cheers to adventure seeking and wonderful experiences! What are you waiting for? Get out there and explore!

xoxox,
Denise 

Home sweet home! 5229 miles later


P.S.
Interested in learning more about the places we explored in Utah, Colorado or New Mexico?  Feel free to comment below with your questions, or share what you're most eager to hear about. I'll do a follow up blog post to give you all the deets! 

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Roadtrippin' during 'Rona Season

5479 miles. 21 days. 7 states. 6 national parks. 12 hikes. 10 cities. Countless small towns. 8+ hours of drone footage. 573 photos. Unlimited buffalo. 

Wildlife Loop, Custer State Park, South Dakota

In the time of the 'rona season, I didn't realize just how much my hubby, our spoiled mut and I would appreciate hopping in and out of our Mazda CX-9 to explore the Great American West.  After all, we had been quarantined in our house in Austin, Texas for over 121 days (minus a few weekend trips home to Corpus Christi, 4th of July in the Texas hill country and a secluded birthday getaway with the family to Arkansas). Like most Americans, we were getting restless and we wanted to feel a sense of control amidst all of the chaos. So, what did we do? Planned a three-week road trip across the good 'ole U.S of A to fulfill our wanderlust and have the opportunity to remove our face masks and breathe in some fresh mountain air.

Blue Bell Lodge at Custer State Park Resort, South Dakota

"Three-weeks!?! How, where, what, when and why?" As my husband, Matthew, and I prepped for the adventure, we eagerly shared our road trip plans with friends and family. With each conversation, many of our framily (Yes, you read that right. friends+family=framily) shared a deep level of curiosity of how we were able to make a trip like this possible.  I've found myself feverishly sharing the trip planning tips with others, so figured this might be a great opportunity to share our experience in making an epic road trip possible.  Matthew and I share additional commentary on road trip planning and creating content on the road on episode 17 and 18 of our podcast, Creative Moonlighting.  You can listen to it for free on Apple Podcasts or Spotify


Creating the itinerary

First things first. As with any vacation, we went back and forth on creating an itinerary that fit our time frame and budget.  So, how did we ultimately decide on a three-week adventure? Matthew and I each made a list of the places we wanted to explore while on the road.  The ground rules? The lists could be a "free for all" and each of us could include places that we've always wanted to visit, regardless of time or budget. Once we both had our lists created, we sat down together and compared the two lists. At the same time, we pulled out a map of the US (well, we pulled up a Google map of the US) and looked at the distance between each of the locations that were on our lists. From there, it was easy to see that some of the locations were too far away (and those places were crossed off the list), while the remaining locations naturally created a path that made sense in terms of time and distance.  

Here's the map of what we ultimately came up with (starting and ending from home in Austin, Texas. As I created this, I found that the maximum destinations you can add in Google maps is 10. Just fyi.): 

Road trip destinations starting/ending from Austin, Texas

To summarize, we included the following destinations: 
  • Amarillo, Texas
  • Boulder, Colorado
  • Custer State Park, South Dakota
  • Billings, Montana
  • Whitefish, Montana, 
  • Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
  • Jackson, Wyoming
  • Moab, Utah
  • Santa Fe, New Mexico
  • Marfa, Texas


Realistically budgeting for the adventure 

Since the itinerary and budget were heavily dependent upon one another, the agenda changed several times throughout the planning process.  I am a heavily left-brained thinker (aka, OCD) and pulled out my pencil and paper and went to work to find out just how much a three-week road trip might cost. The categories I considered were:

Trip Budget Categories:
  • Lodging + Pet Fees
  • Gas
  • Food
  • Entertainment (National Park Fees, Museums, etc)
  • Shopping & Miscellaneous
When creating a trip budget, it is likely that lodging and transportation will comprise the majority of your expenses. To minimize the lodging costs, many people choose to camp or sleep in their cars along the way. (Let's be real. I'm 40 years old and the closest I'll get to camping over a three-week period is if it's "glamping"in a yurt with a/c, a toilet and a hot shower. I actually looked into it in Moab and Yellowstone and it was more expensive than a rustic cabin. Needless to say, we did NOT camp or glamp and chose to set aside enough of our budget to sleep comfortably every night. To each his own, right?)

Throughout the trip, I kept a running total of the cost for gas. We filled up our Mazda CX-9 gas tank a total of 18 times (mid-grade gas) over the three week period.  A full tank of gas cost anywhere in the range of $26 (Sheridan, MT) - $44 (Pueblo, Co), and our grand total for gas was $568.63. (That's a steal given the going rate for roundtrip airfare into Jackson, Wyoming and out of Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, MT is around $600-$800/person.  Car rental fees for a two week period are about $800.  Ouch!).

The last two categories in the budget will differ depending on how much you want to set aside for entertainment, shopping & miscellaneous expenses along the way.  I'll comment later in the blog post  on how we budgeted for food (see "Small ways to cut costs along the way" and "Staying healthy and engaged in your adventure").

If you're planning on visiting two or more national parks, the America the Beautiful National Parks pass is the way to go.  It's only $80 for a year membership into any of the national parks.  A one-time visit to a national park is $35.  You can do the math. :)

For our trip, we visited the following parks:
  • Custer State Park, South Dakota
  • Glacier National Park, Montana
  • Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
  • Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
  • Arches National Park, Utah
  • Guadalupe Mountain National Park, Texas
We planned to visit Canyonlands National Park in Utah, but we were mesmerized with Arches National Park that we decided to skip it.  

If you are going to visit a national park, you MUST...I repeat, you MUST download the Gypsy Guide app and use it during your travels through the park. We have used the app previously in Maui, and it's like having your own tour guide (that you can mute when you feel like it).  The guide is GPS activated, so you don't need a cellular connection for it to work. Be sure to download it when you have a good internet connection.   It usually costs $5 for each park.  If there is an app that has two parks in one, it will cost $9.99. It's worth every penny spent! 

Useful road trip apps


Clever ways to save money on lodging

Once we had come to consensus on the itinerary, I created an agenda that included the date, destination, driving time and distance and set out to tackle the lodging plans first. Although I wasn't willing to camp or sleep in the car the entire trip, I did try to get as creative as possible to minimize the hotel and Airbnb fees along the way.  So, what did I do?  I did my research on different credit cards and tried to find ways to earn and use points to pay for lodging. Luckily, (pre-covid era) I traveled often for work and stayed in Hilton hotels for each trip.  Since I was already earning Hilton points for each of my work stays, I looked more closely into the benefits of opening an American Express Hilton credit card.  When I did the math, I realized that despite the annual fee for each card, the bonus point incentives and free night certificates were worth the cost of opening the credit card.  Considering that the average cost of a night anywhere in the US was around $175 night, after taxes and fees, and in locations such as Jackson, Wyoming, the average cost of a night is $400 + tax, it was a no brainer that the card would pay itself off in less than 2 stays. 

Ultimately, here's the chicken scratch document that I created and revised (and revised again and again!) to help track our plans: 



[Full disclosure.  I opened the credit card at least 6 months prior to our trip.  I used the card to pay for everything I could possibly pay for with credit and at the end of each billing cycle, I made sure to pay off the balance in full so I didn't pay any interest fees. In doing so, I watched the hotel points rack up and was able to secure at least one or two free hotel nights per billing cycle.

When all was said and done, I was able to save and use a total of 363,000 Hilton points and two free night certificates to pay for 10 of the 21 nights we were gone.  If I hadn't opened the American Express Hilton credit card, I would have never been able to save as many hotel points over a six month time period!  And most importantly, the credit card earned enough points to cover the lodging costs for half of the trip. (You're probably wondering what the total amount would have been for those 10 nights at Homewood Suites, Home2Suites and Hampton Inn, right? Drumroll please......we saved $2762 - give or take a few)!] 

However you choose to go about your planning, I encourage you to find ways that can help cut the costs down.  In this particular experience, by opening the credit card at least 6 months prior and saving (hoarding) hotel points, we were able to extend our road trip from two to three weeks and see so much more of the US!!

For the remaining locations, I booked pet friendly cabins directly through the National or State park, as well as found cute guest houses through Airbnb.  We loved every location we stayed at.  If you're interested, here they are: 

Pet Friendly Cabins and Airbnb
Oh, and one other very important consideration about lodging. If you want to avoid hauling dirty clothes across the country for more than a week or taking time out of your vacation at a laundromat, try to be strategic and book at least one lodging each week that is equipped with a washer and dryer within the unit. For our trip, I alternated between hotel suites and Airbnb, and made sure to have access to a washer and dryer at least once every 7 days.  I also made sure the last property we stayed at on the trip had a washer and dryer so we could return home with all clean clothes.  It made unpacking much less painful!

Other considerations before embarking on the journey
Prior to leaving, I also considered safety and comfort while on the road.  For peace of mind, I joined AAA just in case we had a flat tire or needed the car towed or repaired along the route. Since travel is limited right now, AAA was offering a substantial discount on membership, and I was able to purchase a year-long premium membership for only $58 (and it also covered an additional household member, so I donated that membership to my mom as a bonus!). Additionally, AAA offers hotel and travel discounts, so I always look for or ask for the discounted AAA rate for lodging or entertainment. 

I also wanted the car in tip-top shape, so I made sure to get the tires rotated and the oil-changed before our trip. Of course, we found out that the car needed new brake pads the week prior to leaving, so that was an expense that we weren't anticipating. Why am I sharing this? For two reasons. In hind site, I would have gotten the car serviced at least a month or two prior to our trip so I could've accounted for the repair and service fees. We use a mobile mechanic that is very reliable and considerably more cost-efficient than our neighborhood auto shop, so next time we prep for a road trip, I will definitely budget for car repair fees and get the car serviced at least one or two months before we leave.  If I would've had the car serviced further in advance, I could've booked the repair with our mobile mechanic and saved money.  Lesson learned! 

The "2-2-2" Rule

As I did my research on each city prior to the trip, I took notes in a journal that I planned to carry with me along the way.  I reserved two pages for each city that we planned to visit.  One page was for notes I'd taken prior to leaving (mostly of locations we might want to visit when we got there), and the other was a blank page to take notes on once we arrived.  


The notebook was a lifesaver, especially when we got to Billings, Montana. Our server at the Uberbrew brewery was an avid hiker and mountain biker and he gave us several great recommendations for hiking locations and restaurants outside of Billings. The recommendations he gave us led us to our favorite hike of the trip in Roscoe, Montana on East Rosebud Trail. As he passionately shared trails and pictures off the AllTrails app, I took copious notes in my journal so that we could research more when we got back to our hotel that night.  


After revisiting my notes, we decided to hop in the CX-9 early the next morning and make our way to Elk Lake.  One of my favorite memories of the trip! (We did have to trek our SUV 12 miles on a dirt road to get to the trailhead, but it was worth every bump and rattle!)


Elk Lake off East Rosebud Trail, Roscoe, Montana

In addition to my two page journal rule, I also stumbled upon the "2-2-2 Rule" that most RVers use to make trips more fun and less exhausting.  The rule is:
  • Stop every two hours to stretch your legs. 
  • Don't travel more than 200 miles per day. 
  • And, finally, once you arrive at a destination, stay there a minimum of two days. 
I'll be honest. We didn't follow the "2-2-2 Rule" exactly, but we did abide by the two-night minimum rule. When traveling over 5,000 miles round trip, it was nice to not have to pack/unpack/repack the car every day of the trip. We did it once in Yellowstone, but everywhere else, we stayed at least 2 nights at each destination.

Sometimes we stopped every 2 hours and other days we forged ahead since we were eager to get to our destination. I did take into account driving distance and driving time, and the longest drive we made over the three week period was an eight-hour trek between Moab and Marfa. Otherwise, I tried to limit the driving time/distance to under six hours between destinations and/or less than 400 miles.

The 2-2-2 Rule will help define the timing of the trip as well as where you will stop for breaks and for the night, so thought it might be helpful to share as you map out your adventure!

Small ways to cut costs along the way

In the past few years, Matthew and I have learned to travel light.  I am a huge Rick Steves fan and abide by his rule of, "If you can't carry it, you don't need it on your trip."  We almost never check bags when we fly (the exception is when we go snowboarding) and we can always make our way with two bags each.  This road trip was the first time in five years that we were able to liberally pack our suitcases and SUV with things that we might want on the trip, not just need.  It was so refreshing to not worry if the bags would fit in an overhead bin (or better yet, if my five foot body could lift the darn suitcase into that overhead bin!).  

As a result, I was able to pack more than just the essentials and it definitely helped us cut costs along the way. Here's what I'm glad we packed:

Road trip essentials for the car
  • Thule cargo box (Major space saver for inside the car! We used the cargo box to put our two main suitcases of clothes and shoes, as well as a full 5-gallon gas can, 2 fold up camp chairs, hiking poles, clorox wipes, and dog toys. It freed up space inside the car for perishables, Matthew's film equipment, and toiletries. Full disclosure - we borrowed our neighbor's Thule cargo box, so we didn't account for this expense in the budget. If we go on another road trip and we can't borrow it, I will definitely spend the money to purchase one.) 
  • Two coolers (one large cooler that served as a "mini-fridge" between cities and one smaller cooler that fit all of our beer and wine.  We probably could've used one more small cooler, but we made due with what we had. Also, I preferred a soft-cooler, but you could avoid loading/unloading with a hard-sided cooler since it stays cold for multiple days.)
  • Various sized hydro-flasks and Yeti cups (for water, wine, coffee, etc)
  • Travel hat box (This was a lifesaver! It kept all of our hats organized and uncrushed!)
  • Bread, sandwich meat and/or PB&J (We pulled over for a picnic in every park we stayed in and saved money on lunch and avoided the crowds!)
  • DIY cleaning spray (I made two bottles of this spray and used to wipe down light switches, desktop surfaces, pillows and remote controls.  This recipe can kill viruses in 10 seconds.  Don't leave home without it!) 
  • USB plug-in fan for the pup (Our pup, Bodhi, doesn't prefer the car, so it was a must to have a fan that circulated air in the back of the car.  Get one that can plug into the USB.  It will circulate air better than a battery operated one).  
  • Face masks (lots of them! We ended up purchasing a few neck gators from Upslope brewery in Boulder and used them the whole way.  I hand-washed and air-dried them each night so they were clean the next day). 
  • Packable daypack (We have two packable daypacks that never leave our suitcase.  We used these on every single hike and on most outings in town.  They fold up so small, but they are durable and handy too!) 

Staying healthy and engaged in your adventure

With every travel adventure comes unexpected experiences.  As tempting as it might be to cram as much as you can into each and every day, we learned quickly that travel can be equally as exhausting as it can be exhilarating.  In order to avoid getting sick along the way and on "vacation overload", we were cognizant of including downtime and rest on a daily basis.  Our routine after arriving at a destination was to unpack and kick up our feet or take a nap for at least a few hours.  This routine also helped us to avoid the daytime heat and sight-seeing crowds.  We left all of our hiking and exploring to early morning sunrises or late evening sunsets which also allowed us to capture the brilliant colors and sights of each location, without a million people in each image or video!

Hancock Hill Desk, Alpine Texas

Giant Reata Art Installation, Marfa Texas

Taggart Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Corona Arch, Moab Utah

View from the Double Arch, Arches National Park, Moab Utah

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

Matthew filming at Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park

We also used the downtime to upload photos to our Photo Circle (a great way to share your adventures with friends and family back home) and Matthew would offload and organize his drone footage so that he could delete unnecessary files and brainstorm how he would cut together each of the vlog videos when we returned home. The first week of our trip, I worked remotely, so this also gave me time to catch up on work emails and take zoom calls.  

Also, we were mindful of our consumption along the trip.  We chose to eat out only once a day (usually for happy hour) and made coffee and breakfast in the hotel or Airbnb.  On really busy park days or long drives between cities, we'd pull over to a nice picnic spot and make sandwiches and take a load off in our camp chairs. The weather is glorious in the Northwest, so it was a welcomed pit stop with beautiful scenery and cool breezes. We also both tried to stay hydrated the entire time. We definitely enjoyed many Hazy IPA's along the way, but made sure to get a good night's sleep and daily exercise to stay active and healthy.  

The Post Brewing Co, Boulder Colorado

Mt. Rushmore Brewing Company, Custer South Dakota

The Grizzly Bar, Roscoe Montana

Pounding Fathers Restaurant, Custer South Dakota

Snake River Brewing Company, Jackson Wyoming


Traveling with a pup

A big factor in our planning was the decision to bring our four-legged fur baby, Bodhi, with us.  Although she is a very low-maintenance pup, we still had to consider a few things throughout the trip and on our daily excursions.

First and foremost, we had to account for the additional pet fees that would accompany our lodging costs. For the three week period, we anticipated paying an additional $375 in fees for pet friendly properties (included in the advertised additional pet fee for each property we stayed in).  In reality, we only ended up paying $85.  Why? Given the current situation with Covid-19, most of the hotel properties included virtual check-in/check-out using the hotel app.  In doing so, we never interacted with the front desk personnel and were able to avoid the additional fees.  (Shhh...don't tell!)

The next consideration was that most national parks do NOT allow dogs on hiking trails (for safety purposes).  All I can say is hallelujah for that! Most people are escaping from quarantine and heading to national parks. One day on an early morning hike to Fairy Falls in Yellowstone, Matthew and I encountered two buffalo eating right off the trail!  I was already scared out of my mind of being gored by one of those giant animals, so I am thankful we didn't have Bodhi with us at that time.  Given that none of us have seen a buffalo face to face before, I can only imagine how Bodhi might react. I repeat, SAFETY FIRST!

Finally, the two best hikes of our trip were the hikes that were outside of the national parks and were pet friendly.  Since most of the tourists are headed straight for the park trails, we were able to explore the same landscape and avoid the masses of people.  It was a pleasant benefit of bringing our pup with us.  And even better, we got to experience each location as a family!  Hands down, the best part of the trip was having her with us the entire time.

Bodhi hiking on East Rosebud Trail, Roscoe Montana

Hancock Hill Trail, Alpine Texas

Corona Arch Trail, Moab Utah

Picnic and ukulele session, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Prada Marfa, Valentine Texas

I was a bit obsessive with making sure that Bodhi's paw pads were taken care of on a regular basis.  Since she wasn't used to hiking over rocky terrain and up and down mountain sides, I was worried that the constant gripping and hot sand would take its toll on her paws.  I packed up a Bodhi arsenal kit and doctored her paws before and after every hike. Over the course of the three weeks we completed 12 intense hikes and tons of in town walking - and she handled it like a true mountain goat! I think a big key to her recovery from each hike was that we made sure to give her a day of rest in between each hike.  


Bodhi's pup arsenal kit


The puppy kit included:
  • Lubrisyn Wound Gel (Antiseptic and antibacterial gel with hyaluronic acid that promotes healing)


Take it in, Take it all in! 

The most common question we've been asked since our return has been, "What would you do differently if you could do it all over again?" I've found myself pondering my response, and ultimately, keep coming back to the same gut reaction.  I would go for a longer trip, of course!  

I'm so thankful for the experiences that Matthew, Bodhi and I had during our three-week adventure.  I wouldn't change them for the world.  However, given the time and resources, I would've loved to stay in Montana longer (at least 5 nights) and explore all 5 of the national parks in Utah.  Next time we embark on a 5k road trip, I'll definitely go for at least a month!!

5479 miles later.  Home sweet home! 

Happy trails!!! 

You only live once, so what are you waiting for?  Get out there and explore!! 

xoxo,
Denise