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.
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.