Road trip 2021 - Black Hills, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Badlands

The most important things in life are not things. They're the people and places and memories and pictures. They're feelings and moments and smiles and laughter.

In this busy world we live in, sometimes we need to slow down and spend time with the people we love and live in the only moment that really matters: now. Over the past nine days we disconnected from social media and the internet. We packed the car and drove west to see some beautiful natural places. Along the way, we made memories to last a lifetime. You only live once but if you do it right once is enough.

The journey west never gets old: from the tall pines of northern Minnesota to green corn fields and grass prairies of the plains where the horizon seems to stretch on forever, over and around buttes and rivers, through tunnels and around the needles of the Black Hills of South Dakota, and finally past the ranches of Wyoming until we hit the impressive Rocky Mountain range bursting up from the horizon in Colorado. A road trip out west not only allows for endless possibilities to expand your own horizons but also is an opportunity to ditch the endless email inboxes and Epic in basket messages and reconnect with the outdoors. Having recently submitted three grants it's refreshing to forget about grant writing and online meetings for awhile and reconnect with the land we were born on. (It also helps when you have Verizon and there is literally no cellular service for days and days and the campground doesn't offer WiFi so you can't browse Facebook or check your outlook email while laying in your sleeping bag.)

I woke with the sun at 5 A.M., unzipped the tent, slipped on my running shoes and wandered off for an early morning hike or jog among the mountains. Wildlife is always more active at dawn and dusk and the temps are always cooler, which is why waking up early and walking alone in nature is so special (see pictures below). Walking by an old cabin or homestead also mades me appreciate our many modern amenities that we generally take for granted, such as cars, air conditioning, hot water, electricity, grocery stores and refrigeration.

Being out west reminded of the quote by John Muir, "The mountains are calling and I must go" and the second half of the quote goes, "And I will work on while I can, studying incessantly," which can mean various things. Yes, I have worked and studied medicine but Mr. Muir says we all should also study nature and work to protect it. As a child, I became a junior ranger in the various national parks we visited. I now enjoy helping my kids get their badges and getting our passport books stamped at visitor centers. I enjoy talking to the rangers and learning about the geology and history of the park. We go to these places to not only connect with nature but with each other and those around us. We bond by exploring new places, hiking to new heights, camping in new places, and in seeing new things. We enjoyed throwing the frisbee, playing card games, and staying up after sunset playing Qwixx dice game under a lantern in the tent. I once read that if you don't enjoy the journey then you probably won't enjoy the destination. I was also given a quote that hangs on my wall and reads, "The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Sometimes all you need is a road trip with a good friend (or friends) and full tank of gas. Sometimes all you need is to step out your door with an open mind and notice the little things and be thankful. Feeling rested and refreshed, I can't wait to see where our road trip 2022 will take us!

Seth's top 10 memories:

Driving through the narrow tunnels on Needles Highway through Custer State Park.

2. Searching for bison on the dirt roads in the 18-mile Wildlife loop in Custer State Park and finally finding them.

3. Later, eating bison steak for Father's Day dinner at Sylvan Lake Lodge and walking around beautiful Sylvan Lake at sunset

4. Driving through Badlands just before sunset and having bighorn sheep and bison walk next to the car.

5. Hiking along Saint Vrain Creek with endless water falls and then sitting on a rock near the base of Ouzel falls while being sprayed gently with water from the falls.

6. Seeing the wooly mammoth fossils at Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD.

7. Playing 18 hole mini-golf at YMCA of the rockies.

8. Seeing the moose at Sheep Lake in RMNP.

9. Driving up Trail Ridge Road in RMNP and sitting on Rock Cut on the top of the world at near 12,000 feet watching pika and marmots among the rocks.

10. Listening to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame channel on SiriusXM for 9.5 hours while driving home to Duluth from Badlands

Marit's top 10 activities:

Camping in a tent
Playing spoons and Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza card games
Painting my nails
Seeing big horn sheep in Badlands
Outdoor rock climbing, mini-golf and doing archery at YMCA of the Rockies
Panning for gems at Mammoth Site
Doing arts and crafts (mosaics and coloring) at YMCA of the Rockies - Estes Park
Seeing Theodore Roosevelt on Mt. Rushmore
Making dream catchers at Crazy Horse Memorial
Becoming a Junior Ranger at Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave, Rocky Mountain and Badlands National Parks. "As a Junior Ranger, I promise to help protect [Park Name] National Park, my neighborhood parks and all other natural areas by taking care of the environment. I will help keep wildlife wild by not feeding animals. I will help protect plants by not picking them. I will help keep parks beautiful by placing trash in recycling bins or trash cans. I will enjoy nature safely and be a good examples to others."

Mommy's top 10 hikes:

Our first big hike - climbing down over the rocks along the creek on Sunday Gulch Trail in Custer State Park (4.0 miles, +797 feet elevation)
Hiking with the family past Nymph and Dream Lakes to Emerald Lake in RMNP (4.2 miles, +698 feet elevation)
Carrying Marit up "Huffers Hill," a.k.a 225 stairs, along alpine wildflowers on the Alpine Ridge Trail in RMNP (0.6 mile, +209 feet elevation but starting at 11,796 feet!)
Morning jog around Sylvan Lake trail in Custer State Park (2 miles)
Morning jog to lily pad covered Cub Lake past the elk herd and calves in Moraine Park, RMNP (4.6 miles, +540 feet elevation)
Sunrise jog through Badlands on Castle and Medicine Root Loop trails and getting confronted by a herd of rams (6.6 miles, +337 feet elevation)
A kid-free hike with just Seth and I along North Saint Vrain Creek past Copeland Falls and Calypso Cascades to Ouzel Falls in the remote Wild Basin part of RMNP (5.4 miles, +950 feet elevation)
Scrambling over the rocks up the side of the Alluvial Fan in RMNP. The Lawn Lake Dam broke in 1982 and flooded the park and Estes Park with over 200 million gallons of water and created a fan-shaped boulder field and river (~1 mile).
Leisurely walk on Holzwarth Historic Site trail and playing in the ice cold Colorado River in RMNP. The Colorado River starts 10 miles up stream from where we were and then run 1,450 miles in total through the Grand Canyon before entering the Sea of Cortez. (~1 miles)
Fossil Exhibit Trail in Badlands and digging for ammonite fossils (0.25 miles).