Mountains Await

We are excited about our upcoming trip, a road trip that will likely total over 5000 miles. The destination is Yellowstone and Grand Teton Nationals parks, then the San Juan mountains in Colorado. It’s fair to say this will be a mountainous trip. We set out on Saturday, which just so happens to be Amanda’s 2nd heartiversary and will return just shy of 3 weeks and our 20th wedding anniversary. 

A grand celebration for a grand occasion. 20 years married and together since 1999. Some days it feels like yesterday, and some feel like ages ago. Over 15 of those years, Amanda has been sick. Hard to believe we’ve been fighting that battle for 3/4 of our marriage. Things are looking up and have been since the transplant. We’ve been through more in our marriage than many married twice as long. It’s only made us stronger; we’re just better together. 

The trip we’re about to embark on will start with a mad dash to get out of the state. I initially wanted to fly and rent a car out of Salt lake. However, Amanda wanted to drive up, so the compromise was that we drive 12 plus hours the first day. We’ve seen everything multiple times to the Colorado border. I originally wanted to make Colorado Springs, but I’m now shooting for Fort Collins just north of Denver. Either way, we’ll only have two days of driving to get there. 

Our first stop is Moose, Wyoming. We have a one-bedroom cabin located just inside the Grand Teton National Park, directly on the Snake River. Originally I wanted to split the stay between Yellowstone and the Tetons. The cabin we found was a steal with their winter rates, and Grainer, on the north side of Yellowstone, wasn’t an option since the flood a few months back. So we decided to stay in Moose just north of Jackson Hole. We’ll be there for ten days, then make a mad dash for our following location, about 8 hours away. 

For Colorado, we’re staying in Ridgway, Telluride/Ouray area, in a beautiful 3-bedroom house on a horse farm. It has a Mountain cabin vibe with glass windows to the peaked 2-story roof line and overlooks mountains to the front and back. This stay will be seven days, and another couple will join us there. They are flying in, and we’ll stay for a long weekend. 

Then the decision to make a mad dash for home or take it easy, staying somewhere halfway, say Ruidoso or El Paso. We’ll make that decision when we get there, but I imagine we’ll be plumb-worn out and probably take it easy. 

We won’t do any guided tours unless we float the snake river but looking at the forecast, that may not be on the horizon. I like to plan things, whether they be events, trips, or anything. I’m very logistical when planning trips, and I enjoy it. I have a rough draft of our days, and events will alternate between Yellowstone and the Tetons to not burn us out on windshield time. I’ll figure out the details of each day when we’re there. I like the flexibility, this way we can swap things around. I still don’t have a plan for when our friends will be there; I will probably get a feel for the area and then decide. Honesty, I could just hang around the cabin with a cup of coffee or a drink in hand and just chat all day too. 

I’ve been working out of state in Iowa and flew into San Antonio to pick up a rental car. I stopped to meet up with a couple of new friends, who have also been working in Iowa, but we’re back home. Then made the two-hour trek home. We chose TURO because we could be assured we would get a 4×4. You never know with the weather this time of year in the mountains. It’s a car-sharing service; consider it the Airbnb of cars. We picked a Subaru Outback for the room and gas mileage. They left it at the airport for pick up and remotely unlocked it, making things easy for me. 

I felt like Amanda packing this time with all my overstuffed bags. It’s hard packing for this trip. Most of my winter clothes, plus a ton I’ve bought, were in Iowa. I won’t need them for Texas, but it looks like the temps for our trip will be crisp. So I have a lot of bulky items, and I like boots in all shapes and form. Packing sizes 13-14 isn’t easy, especially in boot form! I also had my hiking backpack and trekking poles along with Amanda’s pack and poles. I’d just grabbed the tub and threw it in the car when I came to Iowa, not realizing I had brought hers too. I fit almost everything leaving a pullover and pair of boots behind. I’ll have to cope with three and the pair I’m wearing! I’m telling you, Amanda has woken clothes buying monster in me. Years before, I’d have packed no shoes and worn the same cowboy boots the entire trip! 

As soon as I got home, it was a puppy trip to town, getting Chick-fil-A grilled nugs and puppuccinos for their dessert with some takeout for us. We had dinner with my parents; I’ve missed our talks since being gone. We worked on packing and getting things sorted for the trip. Then off to bed well after midnight to get ready for a busy next day ending with a heartiversary party with close friends on the eve of our big trip.