Fire Star Press: The Great Road Trip of 2019

For the last few weeks I have turned my back on all things writing-related to take an epic road trip with my husband. I didn't even take my laptop. The focus of this trip was to spend time together seeing new sights and just enjoying each other's company. And, in the interest of full disclosure, to see if we can spend that much time together without getting on each other's nerves. Except for a couple of bobbles (read arguments) we did pretty good. So, instead of talking about books and writing this month, I'm going to give you the highlights of our trip and share some of my favorite photos.

Stats:

17 days
6048.5 miles
Vehicle driven: 14 year old Toyota Highlander

Thirteen states:

Alabama
Mississippi
Tennessee
Arkansas
Kansas
Oklahoma
Iowa
Missouri
South Dakota
Wyoming
Idaho
Montana
Colorado

National parks/monuments visited:

Badlands
Mount Rushmore
Devil's Tower
Glacier
Yellowstone
Grand Tetons

I took dozens (maybe hundreds) of photos on our trip but this is hands-down my favorite. Someone left these shoes on this log at Yellowstone and this picture is stinkin' adorable even if I do say so myself.

Yellowstone National Park

I don't wear hats. Ever. Why? Apparently I have a huge head and it seems most women's head wear is "one size fits all." While that may be fine for most people, one-size-fits-all doesn't fit me. Yet, while we were in South Dakota, we visited Wall Drug Store - a must-see if you are in the area - and my hubby and I both bought western head wear. (It's amazing the difference actual sizes can make.) I love my new hat and wore it everywhere; it definitely helped protect this fair-skinned redhead from sunburn. Well, the hat and SPF 70 sunscreen.


We suck at selfies but we love our hats - and Badlands National Park

My husband gets a kick out of the facts that I love rocks. I was basically in heaven once we reached Montana and the multi-colored rocks there. These were located in Glacier National Park. So pretty!

We drove the Going-To-The-Sun Road at Glacier which was quite an experience and not for the faint of heart. The scenery was gorgeous but my fear of heights and anxiety worked together to make it an emotionally draining experience. This is another of my favorite photos from Glacier.

Glacier National Park

Visiting Devil's Tower was a big fan-girl moment for me since it was the primary location for one of my all-time favorite movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Fan-girling at Devil's Tower

We learned several things from this trip. First, yes, we can spend an extended period together without the proximity resulting in homicide. Second, we're going to make a separate trip to Yellowstone at some point in the future and spend a week there. The two days we had allotted on this trip just weren't enough to see everything. Third, we need to build more "down days" into our schedule where we don't have to go anywhere or do anything. We only had a couple of those days this trip and we were both pretty well exhausted when we got home. Fourth, I LOVE the state of South Dakota. It is absolutely gorgeous and just gets prettier as you travel from east to west.

I returned from the trip refreshed (once the exhaustion wore off) and with inspiration for new stories. I can't wait to get started! So, until next month I'll leave you with one last photo - a hysterical panoramic photo fail from Grand Teton National Park.