Happy Monday!

The TODDLER (!!!) is finally napping and I feel like for once I can start writing again. I’m the worst, I know. I planned to write last month, but it was consumed in preparation for a vendor fair, and the endeavor that I undertook was both wild and rewarding. I’ll talk more about that later though.

I figured since it’s basically summer in America, it would be a great time to share pictures and my thoughts from last summer while we were there, or at least at the tail end of it.

You see, the State Department requires that if you live overseas for them, at the end (or sometimes in-between) of your tour, you then spend minimum 20 days in the U.S. It’s congressionally mandated so you don’t turn native to wherever you were posted.

So there we were, essentially transient, traveling the country to retrieve our dog from H’s aunt and uncle in Arizona. They kept Stitch when we returned to Togo to finish out the four months remaining, because if you weren’t aware, the U.S. Government and airlines make it extremely difficult to bring your pet to and from, with little to no exceptions for people on government orders, and that includes the military.

Write your Congresspeople.

So off we were, planning to car camp (we only did once…) and head west. We landed in Chicago, spent a few days in Galena, flew to Atlanta, and then embarked on our cross country journey. When we crossed into Arizona, we decided to go the route that took us into Petrified Forest National Park, and I was seriously worried about the heat. Although I found it was welcome after coming from hot and humid 24/7, to a nice consistent dry heat. I felt like I was baking rather than melting.

We had planned to take a long detour back to Illinois, so we purchased a National Parks Pass for $80, and I will never ever regret it. It paid itself back over in 3 parks.

We spent a few days baking near the border of Nevada and Arizona, and finally retrieved our beloved Stitch. I think he was very confused, but he was well loved.

We then drove from Nevada, through Utah with a stop overnight in Salt Lake City.

From Salt Lake, we drove through Idaho and into Wyoming to try our hand at (car) camping…..in Grand Teton National Park.

We got in kinda late, so it was a quick drive around and then to our campsite. At this point, I was hopeful that I would see a bear. No such luck, but we did see a Moose and her two mooselings.. Night quickly was falling upon us, and the tent took awhile longer than anticipated. Needless to say, in the dark, we began to hear wolves and so we got into the car part of our tent and slept the best we could. It got extremely cold, as you can see from Stitch’s face, he was less than enthused. But at one point, we woke up and could see what felt like the whole galaxy, the sky was incredibly clear and lit up with stars. It was magical.

The next day, we drove through our next park, and by this time, the pass paid for itself. Yellowstone National Park. It was way more crowded, and honestly, this is where we saw the worst people getting way too close to Buffalo, and just being really reckless. I wasn’t enthused with this park, but we were on our way to Billings, Montana to visit friends from Togo, so we had lunch in a little lunch spot in a wildflower field and Fi at this time got to chow down on a tomato which she loved.

Still no bear sighting 😦

We made our way to Billings, and it was lovely. We even got to go to the Montana State Fair, and it was probably the hottest day of the year, but still cute. I really love this donkey quilt.

From Billings, we continued on back east. With a stop at Devil’s Tower National Monument, I got to see my next favorite wildlife, Prairie Dogs.

With a stop in South Dakota to see Dead Wood and Crazy Horse, we raced against the daylight to make it to Badlands National Park. We made it, and it did not disappoint in the slightest.

That night, in what felt like the longest drive ever (and by this time it felt we had been on the road for like 40 years, but it was only like 2 weeks or something, was crazy), we made it across the border to Iowa, stayed the night in Sioux City, and made the 6 hour drive back to Galena the next day. Random end of trip photos, but we stopped at the nicest gas station I’ve ever been in, Stitch was more than exhausted also.

We made it back in time for Fi to have a homemade meal in what felt like eternity, and Stitch got to enjoy a backyard with a view and some grass after so many months in the desert.

I wish we could’ve stayed and enjoyed each National Park more. However, I will say that Petrified Forest was likely the most important for me (as it’s disappearing), and then my next favorite is a tie between Grand Teton and Badlands, with Yellowstone being dead last for feeling over commercialized.

Nonetheless, it was a spectacular trip to see how magnificent the landscape of America can be and also be really full on fry bread. And now that we’re in Madrid, the landscape often reminds us of Utah near the mountains. It’s really crazy and unexpected.

But if you are a responsible and nature loving person/family, etc. Please, support our National Parks and purchase a pass, take a long trip, clean up after yourself, respect wildlife and your park rangers, and see them before they’re gone.

Next up on my last summer series as a professional procrastinator, hiding in the Halfmoon.

See you then!

Carrie

PS: because it’s an election year, National Parks are meant to stay National Parks, no matter what resources lie below them. They are not for private corporate greed and profit. Vote.