We entered Grand Teton National Park from the North entrance which meant we had to do a quick drive through Yellowstone first. Woof…. both these parks are poppin with thousands of people. Luckily, this helped remind us to get back into our good system; early evening activities, sleep a little, and get back at it around sunrise. Best way to avoid the crowds! When we arrived, we stopped at Flagg Ranch first for information. From there, Mike biked to Colter…
I didn’t know much about this park and wasn’t expecting much because…. it’s North Dakota. Boy, did it surprise me. For hours, during our drive there, it was the typical mostly flat plains, grassland, farms…. your basic midwest scenery. I was definitely not getting excited for Theodore Roosevelt National Park. But then BAM! We drove over an itty bitty midwest hill and it hits you. It’s a rugged landscape, full of badlands type rocks under all these open hills. It’s…
After Badlands, we stopped by Mt Rushmore for a quick $10 selfie and then on our way to Wind Cave. Not really worth it to us… especially since someone ran into us and ruined Mike’s bike rack. Either way, we got to Wind Cave early afternoon, and drove to the visitor center. Being only a hop away from Badlands, it’s not surprising that the landscape was prettyyyy similar. Once we got to the visitor center, we grabbed my Jr Ranger…
We’re back at it! After about 7 months of grinding and saving in Fort Collins, we are off to finish this thing! The plan is to head northwest up to Alaska, hitting up the parks we haven’t done yet along the way. We tried to visit South Dakota a few times while we were in Colorado since it wasn’t a bad drive, but the weather always foiled our plans. Thus, Badlands National Park became our first stop in Adventure: Part…
Dear Diary, After a long winter break, we’re finally back in the road again. It was a little hard to leave Xena… mostly because she wanted to try the long distance thing. But I was like “girl, I gots things to do, and I need to get my scent everywhere, if ya know what I mean.” Mom and Dad sold the van/my big kennel on wheels! They got a nice red truck (why are they obsessed with red??) though where…
We’ve been living in Colorado for about six months working away. And we FINALLY made it to the beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park. And to be honest, we still didn’t give it the time it deserves. It’s been pretty tough with our work schedules, but I still didn’t want to give up the one day we had to explore. We went on the first day of National Park Week, which was also National Junior Ranger Day (4/20/19), so OBVIOUSLY we…
Acadia National Park holds a special place in my heart. My dad’s side of the family all live in Maine so I’ve been lucky enough to visit this park quite a few times. Due to a ridiculous amount of van issues caused by a cotton headed ninny muggins dealership This time, I was #blessed that I got to see Acadia in three different seasons this time; summer, fall, and pre-winter! Summer If you have never been to Acadia, and want the…
After my friend-venture week, Mike and I headed to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia! It was a perfect place to spend our first anniversary together! We were a little nervous to be there during Labor Day weekend and expected it to be crazy busy, but it turns out most people visit during October to look at the foliage. Shenandoah is an extremely long and narrow park. It’s main road, Skyline Drive, is over 100 miles from North to South. We entered…
Dear Diary, Remember how people said I had gained weight? Well, I found the best way to trick the humans into thinking I’m losing weight! Shedding! My hair, that is. My feelings were a little hurt when they said I was bigger now, but I have the last laugh now. Mom and Dad are so distracted with trying to clean my fur up that they aren’t even paying attention to my diet anymore! I shed my fur everywhere I go…
Cuyahoga Valley National Park is nestled between Cleveland and Akron, following 22 miles of the Cuyahoga River. While this park did not blow me away in terms of the scenery or wildlife (it reminded me a lot of my local state and city parks), it certainly deserves our respect. It’s part in our American history is bigger than the river itself, but what is most impressive to me is how it came to be a National Park. The local residents…