Author: Nancy

Our basecamp for exploring the Tetons was the Fireside Resort, a 15 min drive on the outskirts of Jackson Hole, about 6 miles from Teton Village. We’d decided to stay here after reading reviews from people who awakened to moose foraging in the woods near their cabins. Another good omen as we approached – there…

Our final days in Yellowstone were reserved for seeing the park’s must sees – the Grand Prismatic Spring, Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone . The Grand Prismatic Spring, located in the Middle Geyser Basin, is in the western region of the park. The morning of our visit was overcast and single digit…

We’d come to Yellowstone to see its wildlife so were eager to visit the Lamar Valley, the area we’d most likely find elk, bison, bighorn sheep and wolves. Before leaving Gardiner mid afternoon, we drove along the outskirts of town and immediately spotted a female bighorn sheep bounding up a hillside. Resembling goats more than…

We woke to a white world – almost a foot of snow had fallen overnight and looking out the hotel window, we could see the mounds of white, fluffy snow piled atop the vehicles in the parking lot. We had a quick grab and go breakfast provided by the hotel, eating in our room as…

We left Idaho Falls for the two hour drive to Jackson Hole; we planned to spend the night at a downtown hotel and meet the naturalist from Jackson Hole Wildlife Tours early the next morning who would guide us through Yellowstone for the next several days. Skies were heavily overcast but as of yet there…

Yellowstone has long been on my bucket list but the logistics of getting there as well as tales of summer traffic jams, large crowds and lines to hike its iconic natural attractions was a deterrent. As COVID hit and shut down dreams of international travel, we started seriously looking at the US National Parks on…

Like yesterday, today dawned cool and overcast in Southwest Micigan with one difference – a gusty breeze had blown in from the west overnight.  Collars turned up against the wind, we walked downtown looking for breakfast and hopefully, a short wait.  Fortunately, we found Caffe Tosi, a small Italian style café in downtown St. Joes…

I love Chicago, but sometimes the urban congestion and traffic are overwhelming, especially in the fall when nature’s colorful foliage beckons. So one late autumn weekend during the height of the pandemic (2020) we opted to meet my son and daughter-in-law from Chicago outside the city for a weekend of hiking in southwestern Michigan. Leaving…

The historical fiction novel, America’s First Daughter, opens with seven-year-old Patsy Jefferson’s recollection of her family’s hurried departure from Monticello across the mountains to Poplar Forest, a small plantation her father had inherited from her maternal grandfather. Her father, who was Governor of Virginia at the time and a vocal separatist, had been warned that…

We’d seen an advertisement for an alpaca farm that gave tours, located about twenty miles south of Roanoke near the Smith Mountain Lake Reservoir. Per its website, Pacabella was open till 4pm – our plan was to tour the farm, play with those cute fuzzy alpacas and then find a restaurant on the reservoir for…