I have just returned from a two-thousand four hundred and twenty-four-mile road trip to my homeland of Montana and back. It wouldn’t be summer if my family and I didn’t spend some of it in Montana.
Last winter my nine-year-old son, Noah, asks me, “How many times have we been to Montana?”
My answer, “Lots. Why do you ask?”
Noah says, “I can not believe we have been to Montana so many times and NEVER been to Yellowstone National Park”
Then I say, ” Looks like you are the right age for a trip to Yellowstone!”
We went to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Great Falls, and Bozeman. We camped at four different glorious sights and saw miles of explorable public lands. We managed to eat out only four times over three weeks! We kept on car pantry and cool stocked with the following:
- Milk
- Cereal
- Oatmeal
- Cold-cuts
- Pickles
- Bananas
- Berries
- Apples
- Rice cakes
- Tortillas
- Rice
- Bean
- Carrots
- Kettle chips
- Beef jerky
- Sunflower seed butter
- Jelly
- Popcorn
- Almonds
- Pretzels
- Pistachios
I managed to eat gluten-free for the entire trip. Well, at least before my race! I have been trying to figure out for over a year now why I get this pressure across the bridge of my nose. Turns out is something called turbinates that everyone has. The swell when irritated by dust, dirt, temperature changes, pollen, and altitude. If I am sensitive to gluten, there is a slim chance that could also contribute to inflammation. So I gave it go and afterward treated myself to a fully glutenized, hoppy as ever, IPA!
PUBLIC LANDS:
This road trip did open my eyes to how much I depend on access to public lands to connect myself to nature, people and the planet. Health and humanity are quite dependent on access to public lands that will only be around if we work to keep them public.

and protect our connection to nature
COOL VIDEO
I am always inspired by guests of the Adventureprenur Playbook podcast by Jeremy Jensen. Thanks to Jeremy for delving deep into people’s stories and to Patagonia for telling stories that matter!
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