October 1 and 2, 2026 - we returned home from Bozeman, Montana. 1st - We left the Tetons and drove 4 hours from Teton Village - through Idaho - to Bozeman. You can see from this map how we made a clockwise circle during this trip. We stopped for lunch at a diner with a working soda fountain. This is potato and hamburger soup and a tuna salad. I had a malted milk for dessert and this was a good malt. We stopped by a place the Rock Creek Campgroud along the Madison River whi

Our last stays on this trip were in Grand Teton National Park. We had two stops: Jenny Lake Lodge and Grand Teton Resort. The original park was established in 1929 to protect the Teton peaks and six glacial lakes. It was expanded significantly in 1950 after land donations from John D. Rockefeller, Jr.and the integration of Jackson Hole National Monument. It is the only national park with a commercial airport inside its boundaries. On a personal note, it was probably the l

September 21-23, 2026 - stay at Devil's Tower Lodge and hike. September 21 was a transfer day. The weather was not so good, but we drove via The Badlands anyway and we were glad we did. There were some lovely views, but hard to choose just two of them. The ubiquitous prairie dogs were also there. We also went to Wall Drug and saw a bit of Americana. For those who don't know, Wall Drug started as a struggling small-town pharmacy in 1931 and transformed into a world-famous

From 17-21 September, 2026 we are in Custer, SD A note about this AirBnB. This AirBnB was SO small (how small was it?) that I had to unpack outside and there were not hangers, shelves or drawers, so my stuff was either draped on the bannister, or stuffed onto a small window sill. 18th - Hike 1: Black Elk Peak (a.k.a. Harney Peak Lookout) - 6.91 miles with 1600' elevation gain. Coddiwomple score: 8/10 (no wildlife, overheated). Weather - hot and sunny. This trail goes to th

September 12-15, 2026 we stayed at the Lake Lodge Cabins at Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation freshwater lake in North America, sitting at an elevation of 7,732 feet. Its deepest area is 139 feet, so relatively shallow. We drove over from Mammoth Hot Springs via Norris and Canyon Village. Along the way we stopped at these falls (I've forgotten their name, but they weren't so spectacular). There was a huge raven hanging out and, evidently, a

From September 7-12, 2026 we were in Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. Here are some highlights (then you don't have to read the rest of the post): Days 1 and 3: Saw an amazing bull elk and his harem. They came through at about the same time on two days. (sound on during the video to hear the call). Day 2 - A buffalo blocked our bridge and ended up walk right by our car Day 4 - Osprey Falls Day 1 -A home-run day because we saw lots of animals and had a good hike. The h

September 4-7, 2026. We are in Yellowstone for about 10 days total, but in three different areas. For these days we were located at the Old Faithful Inn next to the Old Faithful Geyser. It so happens that these 4 days were over Labor Day Weekend. Who plans to stay in Yellowstone over Labor Day Weekend? We said good-bye to the tall straight trees of Mount Rainier, and we flew from Sea-tac Airport to Bozeman Montana. Our experience with the American Airlines lounge was mu

The goal of this section of our trip is to explore Mount Rainier National Park which was established in 1899 as the nation's 5th national park and covers 369 sq miles. Prior to that, for over 10,000 years the area has been the ancestral homeland of various indigenous peoples, including: the Nisqually, Puyallup, Cowlitz, Muckleshoot, Yakima, and Coast Salish. Unfortunately, when we were there, Sunrise - the Park's highest area for hiking - was closed due to fire. The Park wa

21-28 August, 2026 - AirBnB in Brinnon Washington. I realize I didn't include a map showing the travel at the start of this leg of the around the world ticket (ATW), so include it now. The map for around Brinnon becomes rather complex, so will show it a bit later. I started out with the "breakfast of champions" which included Garrett's cheese corn and coffee. followed by champagne in the American Airlines lounge which wasn't as bad as we feared, other than the entrance Nazi