Travel

Wyoming & Montana Road Trip: Jackson Hole, WY (Day 2)

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Joseph & me exploring Jackson Hole, WY

After a long day of traveling, there is nothing better than a good night’s rest. Joseph & I slept in, appreciating the feeling of sleeping in a comfortable bed. Starting tomorrow & for much of the trip, we will be camping, & there will be very little separating us from the ground beneath.

We left our Airbnb around noon, stomachs grumbling. Our only plan for the day was to visit Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a quaint town right on the edge of Grand Teton National Park. The 45-minute drive to the town led us winding around the sides of mountains with incredible views of the valleys below. 

Jackson Hole is an adorable town filled with old western charm. The buildings all have a log cabin feel, & many of the shops carry hiking gear, comfy socks & authentic leather cowboy boots. The park in the center of town square has large archways at each of the corners made from what look to be moose antlers (whether they are real or not, neither Joseph nor I could determine). And despite the busy streets, there is a horse-drawn carriage riding through all day, offering rides for a small fee.

The first objective when arriving at Jackson Hole was coffee & food. We settled on Cowboy Coffee Co. for the amazing reviews, & because it would satisfy both of our cravings in one trip. Joseph ordered a hot americano & a chicken sandwich. I ordered a basil pesto & mozzarella panini & a cold almond milk latte. 

Jackson Hole, WY

The coffee was amazing. Smooth with just a enough bitterness to give you the kick we needed, it was the perfect pick-me-up for our lazy day. And the sandwiches were quite literally the best I have ever had. The perfect crunch of the bread sunk into the gooey mozzarella cheese & a burst of flavor from fresh tomato & roasted red bell pepper, followed by a mellow earthiness from the basil pesto to round out the bite. 

After our brunch, Joseph & I decided to explore. We perused the shops to buy souvenirs for loved ones & items we still needed for our trip. I had intentionally planned this lazy day into our itinerary for two reasons – one, we would need the rest after a long day of travel (something I had learned after many trips where I had neglected to plan such a lazy day), & two, we needed time to buy groceries & gear for our many days of camping. We bought freeze-dried meals (something I have never tried & am still nervous about at this moment) & a JetBoil stove to cook them. I also bought some new hiking socks, remembering my one pair from our previous trip was looking rather worn. 

After dipping into too many shops that our wallets had no business being inside of, we finally decided it was time for dinner. We always try to taste some local flavors on our trips, so we settled on eating at Liberty Burger to try what was voted one of the best bison burgers in the area. Neither Joseph nor I had every tried bison meat before, & I was actually shocked by how much I liked it. Most of the time, I eat pescatarian or plant-based, but I try to step outside of my comfort zone when we travel. For my conscious palate, Liberty Burger did please me with their promise of cooking only sustainable burgers. Joseph ordered the South of the Burger bison burger & skinny fries. I ordered a Crunch Salad served with a bison burger patty, & I was pleasantly surprised by how satisfied I was from the meal. The greens were fresh, topped with juicy green apples, tart cranberries, sweet nuts, & crunchy homemade croutons. The bison meat was subtly sweet, a difference I noticed immediately from beef, & it actually paired beautifully with the fresh greens & tangy balsamic vinaigrette.

Joseph enjoying his meal at Liberty Burger

A storm was rolling in after dinner, but we couldn’t resist staying in town a bit longer to treat ourselves to some nationally famous ice cream. Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream is a renowned ice cream shop, known for its local Wild Huckleberry flavor. Joseph ordered a large waffle cone with a scoop each of Belgian Chocolate & Vanilla. I ordered a bowl with a scoop each of Wild Huckleberry & Chocolate Cabernet. 

I cannot remember the last time I ate so much ice cream. Halfway through the first extra-large, ice cream-parlor sized scoop, I realized my stomach was in trouble after just eating such a large meal. But it was simply too good to sacrifice a single bite. We licked the edges of our treats like kids & savored the thick & creamy delicacy that melted on our tongue. The Wild Huckleberry ice cream was divine – sweet & tart, the flavor was reminiscent of a tangy mixed berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream scooped on top. The Chocolate Cabernet flavor was the perfect compliment – the rich, luscious chocolate paired beautifully with a subtle cabernet flavor that was reminiscent of cherries but somehow still captured the dry taste of red wine. 

Me enjoying my ice cream from Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream

After our ice cream, we made a quick stop by the grocery store to pick up some food for breakfast, lunch & snacks, & then we headed back to our Airbnb. We tried to go to bed early, knowing we had a full day ahead of us, but still, we found ourselves lying awake, both from having such a relaxed day & from excitement for the activities we planned for tomorrow. Today had been a true vacation, but tomorrow, the real adventure would begin.

Trip map courtesy of Wanderlog, a vacation planner app on iOS and Android
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Travel

Wyoming & Montana Road Trip: Flying to Bozeman (Day 1)

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The view from our flight to Dallas Love Field Airport

When people ask why Joseph & I decided to drop everything & fly out to Bozeman, MT for an 12-day road trip, there are many different responses I have used to explain. The first & most practical – we had flight credits that were going to expire this September, so we had to go somewhere. The most exciting – Joseph offically graduated from Messiah University as a Clinical Mental Health Therapist last week, & we wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate. One of my personal favorites – we are going to commemorate our one-year wedding anniversary. But the truth is, we just couldn’t resist – it had been too long since we had breathed in the fresh mountain air, & we simply couldn’t survive any longer without going out west.

It was an early start to our day of flying. My alarm went off at 1:30am, far earlier than I am accustomed to waking. I dragged myself out of bed, slipped on my running clothes, and went for a very humid jog in the early morning Maryland air. How was it already 75 degrees? The whole run, I kept thinking about how wonderful it would feel to run without humidity in a few days.

Joseph’s good friend, Matthew, picked us up to go to the airport. We drove through the empty streets to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Joseph & Matthew talking in the front seat, me relaxing in the back of the car. When we arrived, we grabbed our luggage, thanked Matthew for driving us, & officially began our adventure.

Our first challenge came from our luggage. When we were packing, we thought only about keeping our luggage under the weight requirement for Southwest to fly free. What we didn’t think about was how heavy 50 pounds actually is, especially when your bags don’t have wheels to roll them. Panting and sweating from the exertion, we trekked the 30 feet into the airport. Luckily, the bags were dropped off quickly, security went smoothly, & soon we were excitedly seated on our plane, waiting to take off into the sky.

During the first flight, we tried & failed to get some rest after what had already seemed like a long morning of traveling. We arrived at Dallas Love Field Airport bleary-eyed & hungry. We ordered some coffee from Starbucks & then went on the hunt for food, finally settling on sandwiches from Jason’s Deli. We then walked through the airport, trying to find something to occupy our time for the four-and-a-half hours we had to wait for our next flight.

The view from our flight to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport

Our second went by faster than the first. We talked with fellow passenger, Joe, who was traveling to Yellowstone National Park with his family. Joe is an accountant who homeschools his three children, & we enjoyed talking to him about he & his family balance homeschooling with their careers, travel & relationships outside the family.

When we arrived at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, it was clear from the moment we stepped off the plane that we were in Montana. The airport was full of rustic wood & tall windows that gave a beautiful view of the mountain range that surrounded us.

We picked up our rental vehicle & then drove to Chipotle for some much-needed sustenance. On our way out of Bozeman, we stopped by a Safeway to buy champagne to celebrate. We also picked up our Montana Starbucks mug.

On all of our travels, Joseph & I have a list of things we must accomplish in order to earn our souvenir, a Been There Series Starbucks mug. We must walk a main street, hike in a national park, visit a tourist attraction, & eat or drink something local. Normally, we wait until we have completed all of these tasks before picking up our mug, but there has been such a shortage of Starbucks mugs lately that we wanted to make sure to snag our souvenir the moment we saw it, trusting my thoughtfully planned itinerary that we would still check off all that we had to do before the trip was over.

Our final destination for the day was our Airbnb in Driggs, ID, which is only a short distance from the Wyoming state line. On this trip, we will start at the Grand Teton National Park, & then work our way north, hiking in Yellowstone National Park & finishing in Glacier National Park. It’s going to be full of hiking, but today, we were just happy to drink in the sights of Big Sky Country on our drive. The setting sun cast a warm glow on the tall mountains covered in dark green pine & fir trees. We wound up the sides of mountains & drove past fields of cattle & horses. All the while, we listened to music & made silly jokes to keep ourselves awake. By now, we had been awake nearly 24 hours after only three hours of sleep, & the exhaustion was kicking in.

For our Airbnb, we chose a quaint, German-style inn. Our host, Nancy, greeted us at the door & showed us our room. With thick quilts & old paintings & photos of the surrounding areas, the Airbnb has a homey feel, much like visiting grandmother’s house. Joseph poured two glasses of champagne in the disposable water cups at the sink, & we toasted the beginning of our latest adventure & the many, many reasons we have to celebrate this month.

I don’t know yet what this adventure will bring, but after a year since being out west, getting married to the love of my life, & road tripping across the country, I am as grateful & excited as always to be traveling with Joseph by my side.

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