South Dakota Hikes: Badlands Saddle Pass Loop

I feel incredibly lucky to live an hour from Badlands National Park, which gives us the opportunity to quickly take advantage of breaks in the weather to explore this beautiful area. Such was the case last week when our January temperatures rose into the upper 50 F / 10 C for a few days. Although …

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2025 Travel Recap

Our 2025 was filled with new adventures and lots of travel to spend time with loved ones, both domestic and abroad. We started the year with road trips around the Mountain West to visit friends and family in Colorado and Utah and hike in new-to-us national parks in Utah and Nevada, including Capitol Reef, Bryce …

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South Dakota Hikes: Buzzard’s Roost

Despite a late start on what ended up being a rainy morning, we managed to get out of the house and over to the Black Hills to check out a hiking area we've been eyeing since we moved to the area called Buzzard's Roost. The multiple trails in this area can be connected into various …

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South Dakota Hikes: Silver Creek-Flume Loop

The temperature finally dipped below 85 degrees for a day so we headed for the (Black) hills to do some hiking on the Silver Creek Trail and part of the Flume Trail. It was an interesting stretch of relatively flat trail with some creek crossings and lovely wildflowers in bloom. There were lots of people …

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Manitoba: Riding Mountain National Park

We decided to take a short road trip to southern Manitoba - our first time in this Canadian province! - for my birthday this year. While our move to South Dakota a couple weeks prior didn't leave me with tons of planning time, I did map out a four-day itinerary that included spending a couple …

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Things to Do: Cheyenne, Wyoming

It's hard to believe we moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, three years ago. A lot has happened during that time, not the least of which is that we managed to find all kinds of things to do in and around the state capitol as well as in neighboring cities and states. Although it would be impossible …

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Road Trip Wrap-up: Nevada to Utah on Route 80

On our way from Baker to Elko, Nevada, we planned to take the scenic route around the Ruby Mountains and check out the Lamoille Canyon drive. Mother nature had other plans, and the low visibility due to the ongoing snow storm sent us directly to Elko, saving Lamoille Canyon for a day with better weather. Elko, …

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