This lake (pronounced Lake Pon-der-ray) is the second largest lake in Idaho and a popular destination. It’s near the Washington border, north of Couer d’Alene and south of Sandpoint. We’d planned to stop somewhere in Montana after we left Yellowstone,…
Yellowstone National Park
We drove into Yellowstone the first day the South entrance opened, so there was a still lot of snow, but the sun was shining and it was a warm day. Our plan was to stop at Old Faithful, where we…
Grand Teton National Park
This is one of my favorite national parks. The mountains are too steep to traverse by car, so the roads through the park mostly go alongside the range, offering incredible views and access to beautiful lakes and trails. No twisty,…
Gros Ventre Wilderness
We stayed at the Gros Ventre Campground, which is in the Gros Ventre Wilderness area between Jackson and the Grand Teton National Park. (It’s pronounced Gro-Vahn, not Gross Venture.) We’d been to here once before, when we were on a…
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
From Colorado, we drove north into Wyoming, with the Grand Tetons as our destination. Our friends in Colorado had warned us that Wyoming was known for its strong winds, and sure enough, the wind kept us gripping the wheel as…
Rocky Mountain National Park
The day we were leaving Longmont, temperatures dropped 30 degrees and a storm was coming. Our friends said we could stay as long as we liked, but I was eager to actually do some camping in the Rockies. There was…
Colorado Visit
I met Marianne in the University of Michigan Theatre Department in the 70s. She was a grad student and I was a junior, and I don’t even remember how we met but by the time we both graduated we were…
Remote Lake in Nebraska
We were headed to Colorado. But if we drove just a bit north, we could put our front tires in Nebraska and add it to our map of states we’ve visited. Better yet, we could drive just a little bit…
Swedes in Kansas
From Tulsa, we headed north into Kansas and came across a cute little town that calls itself Sweden U.S.A. Lindsborg was founded in 1869 by Swedish immigrants and still holds tight to Swedish culture. In fact, 30% of the current…
Star-Crossed in Tulsa
When we left Springfield, Missouri, we took my sister Beth with us in Bessie and had our girls’ overnight at the alpaca farm in Oklahoma. Beth’s husband, Don, drove to Arkansas for a solo hike and campout. We all met…
Alpaca Farm in Oklahoma
We had one night in Bessie with my sister, and I wanted it to be memorable. I looked at state parks outside of Tulsa, but they required a two-night minimum on the weekends, and this was a Friday. I checked…
Intentional Ghost Town
When we left Springfield, Missouri, we drove toward Tulsa, and my sister joined us for this short leg of the trip. We would stay overnight along the way, then meet up with her husband in Tulsa. Beth remembered an odd…