Jackson Hole, named for its placement down in the valley of the Teton range, was our last stop on our trip, and a good one! Known for its quaint downtown, as well as its many outdoor offerings, there was no shortage of things for us to do. On our first morning, we decided to take…
Tag: travel
Glacier, Grizzlies & Generosity
As we exited Canmore, the impressive glacial peaks gave way to farmland, low rolling hills and even what I guess would be called “high desert.” We were surprised to drive through Calgary and experience even less traffic than we’d had on the outskirts of Lake Louise. Because of where we were staying in Montana, we…
Touchstones
When someone asks us how things are “really” going, I find it hard to say for sure. The kids seem to be rolling with the transitions from place to place pretty well. We encounter the occasional meltdown over fish sticks, wasted water (some of us are becoming very Eco-conscious), or the lack of elephants at…
Fear (Or, why this isn’t for everyone)
The night before we left Las Vegas, I lay awake. Everyone else was sleeping; the five of us were packed in to a double-Queen room with a rollaway, and although I’d initially fallen asleep between Claire and Peter, when I woke, I couldn’t escape the gnawing anxiety about our drive the following day. I grew…
A Big Preference
Sometimes you need to try something to know it does not suit you. And sometimes vastly different experiences create strong preferences. Our family learned we prefer what God made over what man made In just one day, when we awoke beside the South gate of Zion National Park, drove to Las Vegas for an afternoon…
On the Road
A couple of years ago, Mary Laura Philpott wrote a series for the New York Times’ Motherlode column about her family’s move from Atlanta to Nashville. Recently, I ran across her essay “And Then The Dog Died,” again. It’s about all the stuff that got in the way of maintaining routine in the midst of…
Saying Goodbye
Partly because of the full lives we lead, and partly because we’re slightly scattered and kind of like to procrastinate, we have always been last minute packers. A week before a trip, we will consider the glories of getting out the door at 7:30 in the morning, kids fed, van packed and ready to go;…
Sabbatical
John Muir, the author, scientist and renowned conservationist, was an absolute fanatic about nature. He climbed trees in gale-force winds to see what it might feel like to be the branches; he stood at the precipice of waterfalls to sense what the water might be feeling before its plunge. He thought nothing of walking fifty…
Who’s Bessie?
Bessie is our car. Since we’ll be driving her over eight thousand miles this summer, we had to name her. This is a job we left to the kids, and their brainstorming session was pretty hilarious. We suggested that they consider names from good books they’ve read, or that they had some other connection with, but they…
Bessie Breaks Away 