Yellowstone! Grand Teton! Yosemite??

Began our day being woken by a field of cows out our back window. Mornin!

Guess it's time to rouse ourselves.

How psyched were we to discover that the KOA had a pancake breakfast that morning! You'll also see that Mark splurged on our campsite that night. We got a swing AND, most importantly, real pavement next to our driveway instead of stones. (You might have no appreciation for what it feels like to get out of a van at 3am to pee and land on stones.)

Pavement: This is living!

We then go for our morning run. Judy encounters a fox, which is thankfully distracted by a deer. Mark takes this video of a memorable run.

Driving to Yellowstone from Cody. Purple mountains majesty, indeed.

Welcome to Yellowstone!

Yellowstone Lake is beautiful.

Some of the land was destroyed by fire back in 1988. Click photo below for NPR story.

But the wildflowers have certainly made their way back.

As have the bison.

The Yellowstone River is indescribable.

And after a long hike, we couldn't resist.

Hey, why didn't anyone tell me about this current?!!

And yes, Mr. Sexy (A-Team joke) dove in too!

Next day, we headed to Grand Teton National Park.

Ate lunch by the lake.

Then went for a bike ride. It was flat and easy...

Until the hills came and we went our separate ways, affording me the rare opportunity to sing out every Indigo Girls song I knew, followed by Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Shania Twain, and Eagles "Life in the Fast Lane," featuring a perilous one-handed guitar solo. Worth the risk. We haven't ridden bikes in years, and singing and riding is fun!

But lest you think we are the only Aronson's in a National Park this week, we'll sign off today's with this map, so you can see Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and YOSEMITE, where Lizzie, Dylan, and our grand-dog Summer (Barbara and Michael, that's for you) enjoyed a Yosemite adventure while we were in Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

Summer hiked 8 miles that day!

This Land is Your Land - Mark's Weekly Update

This land is your land... thoughts from week two of H2.0 (what we're calling our second honeymoon).

First, take that Jacob and Sam: two weeks and I'm still here!

Our second week started with our stay in a hotel! We stayed at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge in Lead, SD. What a great choice this turned out to be. I started by looking for Starwood properties in Rapid City (points!) and came across the Spearfish Canyon Lodge, which turned out to be a great move. It is a small lodge nestled in a canyon surrounded by real beauty. And, we had a bed, a fireplace in our room, and our own bathroom. A great way to start week 2. Woke up in the morning for a hike and then took a private shower (without flip flops).

Week 2 has been a real joy. We have spent the week in South Dakota and Wyoming. This is a beautiful country and this is what I have been waiting for. Mt. Rushmore, to my surprise, was not a disappointment. It is remarkable and stunning. For my whole life, I have been saying that I wanted to see Mt. Rushmore, and now I have. Honestly, I never thought I would.

Friday night, after a martini and a London mule, Judy and I struck up a conversation with our KOA neighbor, Hans. He operates the Dug Up Gun Museum in Cody, Wyoming. Not only did we not know there is such a place, but we did not know that tourists came to see the exhibits of dug up guns. Our conversation did, of course, evolve into politics, and it was both interesting and enlightening. As strongly as we feel about Trump and the associated current issues on BLM and Covid, there are definitely people who see this through a different lens.

Visited Yellowstone, another place I always talked about and never thought I'd actually make it to. Despite some of it being very crowded, there were parts that were very cool - but I must say, all the talk and warnings about what to do when you see a bear on a hike didn't do much for making the hike relaxing. We then went from Yellowstone to Grand Teton National Park, and that place is amazing! Very beautiful and much less crowded than Yellowstone.

We finished our week renting bikes in Jackson Hole and riding through Grand Teton. Judy and I have different versions of my "attitude" as we rode up a mountain today, but we ended up together, laughing, so it couldn't have been that bad...right?

Of course, the age of Covid is awful and we all know it sucks. But, we never would have done this trip under normal circumstances. It is something we may have always talked about, but I cannot see us taking 6 weeks to do this if life were normal.

So, you may be wondering what week 2 has been like (even though you know a lot from the postings and photos on the blog). Here are some tidbits from the week:

* When I am driving, I listen to podcasts of "Planet Money" or country music. When Judy is driving, we listen to "The Bully Pulpit - the story of Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft (yawn) or the Iliad (double triple yawn).

* Each night, as we get ready for bed, Judy says, "This is amazing, I can't believe I'm doing this," and I say "How can somebody really enjoy this, I can't believe I am doing this."

* At a recent Visitors Center in Buffalo, Wyoming, the woman said, "This is a great town if you like history and nature." You can imagine how Judy reacted. It's like if they said to me, "This is a great place if you like sports and TV."

As we continue our journey, I often find myself thinking about how this world will look next summer. It's hard not to think of the sadness we are all going through right now with Covid. In speaking with Jacob and Rachel the other night, and Lizzie and Dylan the night before, we actually had the conversation of what needs to occur before we can hug each other when we see them next week. How strange; having a conversation about feeling safe to hug your children. Judy and I have visited a number of places but not gone in due to the need to social distance (hot spring baths, saloons, etc.). So, as wonderful as this trip has been so far, it is not lost on me what a strange time we are in.

Observations from week 2: * KOA's are a great place to find white Wonder Bread, but not Killer Dave's Thin Multi-Grain.

* The speed limit in SD and Wyoming is 80 mph!

* South Dakota and Wyoming are breathtaking.

* Getting Judy to stay at a hotel once a week will go down as some of my most successful negotiations EVER!

*Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night without putting on shoes is totally underrated.

* After 40 years together, Judy and I can sleep in a van and still laugh every night when we go to bed.

* The Cody Wyoming KOA offers a free pancake breakfast on Saturdays. You should try it!

* When Judy wants to cook, she is damn good! Camper stoves inspire her.

Here was our week 2 itinerary:

Day 9 - Spearfish Canyon Lodge, Lead, SD (Yippee!!!)

Day 10/11 - KOA - Custer, SD

Day 12 - KOA - Buffalo, WY

Day 13 - KOA - Cody, WY

Day 14 - KOA - Yellowstone Park/West Yellowstone, MT

Day 15 - KOA - Jackson, WY

And yes, two more days until our next hotel! So excited....

Why Wyoming?

Their politics may be...ummm...different than ours.

But ahhh the wonders of nature -- this we can agree on.

After a beautiful day hiking, we rustle up Friday night vittles and enjoy our weekly splurge on martinis and mules...

Keepin' the night spiritual with two sacred mosquito shabbat candles.

Readying the bed...

Pulling out the mattress...

Setting up the pillows and blankets...

Lovin' this trip from sun up to sundown. Laila tov...sweet dreams...here's your invisible dust...