After nearly two years we have said goodbye to the lesser-known but fifth member of our family: the car.

How do you pack for a two month road trip with the following criteria:

• four people
• summer through to winter conditions
• swimming, camping, fishing, boating and hiking gear
• assorted kids toys and entertainment
• one night hotel stays through to seven-day fully self-catered stops
• transport and consumption of vintage wine unable to be shipped home (obviously)
• in a surprisingly small mid-sized vehicle
• without taking four hours to unload and reload your vehicle each time

(plus two kids in there somewhere….)

The answer is 1) with difficulty and 2) carefully.

Everything has its place, even the hair dryer

Green = cooking, Red = coffee & cocktails, Blue = food

This component of the trip required a lot of pre-planning and thought, but has become remarkably well oiled.  We had some 24 bags of various size, shapes and purposes squeezed into the Q5 so that a) we could utilise every available piece of space and b) it allowed us to grab only what we needed for the type of place we were at, and the activities we were intending to do.  Everything had a very specific home to allow the roof and trunk to actually close.  A one-nighter took about half-hour to repack, the most elaborate stop-over took about two hours to get reloaded.

There’s obviously the minimum for any stop (Clothes, Valuables, Electronics, Toiletries), plus optional Swimming Gear.  But National Parks generally required the Hiking Grab Bag.  City breaks (art galleries, museums and restaurants) clearly required Dress Shoes.  Self-catered stops had any combination of Coffee & Cocktails, Cooking and the food Cooler grabs – or all three.  A bear-free country leg opened up Camping Gear.  Given some of the remote locations, the Emergency Grab Bag (Bear-spray, Torches et al) was re-assuring but fortunately little used.

No vintage wine wasted

Oops, lucky Daddy brought the First Aid Kit

Mmm, home cooked food

Always carry Bear Spray

Hiking champs

Civilisation

Why is this so hard?

Apart from the essentials, the things that we found super useful and well utilised for those considering something similar:

1. B&O Speaker (essential jazz whilst sipping cocktails in a beautiful location)
2. Expresso Coffee Maker (expresso each morning is not a treat, it’s a necessity)
3. Coffee Thermos (drinking that same expresso in a National Park is a true luxury)
4. First Aid Kits (scrapes, blisters, splinters and rashes are part of being outdoors)
5. Bear Spray (not utilised, but very reassuring when you are remote and in grizzly country)
6. Hiking gear (it’s rather dirty work being in nature)
7. Water Shoes (there water, but it’s not all sandy beaches once you leave the coast)
8. Cooler (eating something that isn’t fried, and for transporting that organic and gluten-free stash to somewhere less accommodating)
9. TripAdvisor (where’s good to eat say about two hundred miles from here?)
10. Kids iPads and Headphones (there’s only so much eye-spy and 6-8 year old music the car can bear).

Things that just didn’t get used – some surprisingly, some not:

1. Travel Pillows (just one single hour nap in at least a hundred hours of driving?!)
2. Running Gear (running in bear and mountain lion country is simply asking for trouble)
3. Snow Gear (just lucky given snow both a week before and after in a couple of spots)
4. Umbrellas and Raincoats (awesome; about 6 wet days in 8 weeks!)
5. Yoga Mat and other assorted stretch equipment (what were we thinking!)

The Thule (the big black box on the top of the car) is on some old freighter on its long and slow journey home: finger’s crossed we see it again!

And we will be following shortly.

It’s always good to end on a high note, and apart from a final wind-down in Vancouver, our leg in the Canadian Rockies was always going to be the psychological end of our trip.   And what a fitting end!

After leaving Glacier National Park, we travelled for hundreds of kilometres up a single enormous glacial valley with mountain ranges on either side (see the satellite pic below).  Neither of us had seen such features of the Earth’s continental activity before on such as massive scale.  Two plates crashing together have pushed the Rockies to their current (and increasing heights), whilst vast glaciers carved the U-shaped valleys and sharp peaks that are a feature of this end of the range.

We have seen many beautiful parts of Northern America on this trip, but the Canadian Rockies have taken our prize for the most spectacular.

Beautiful Lake Moraine

Lake Louise

Girls ride the Gondola

Bow River Parkway

Banff Springs Hotel

We stayed in an intimate lodge in the Kicking Horse valley, under the shadows of Cathedral Mountain – a pass famous for being the most difficult piece of railway track on the Canadian Pacific Railway’s route.  Just above us were two spiral rail tunnels, built to allow a train to climb or descend the steep grade (the infamous ‘Big Hill’) by circling around and over themselves in a figure eight structure under the mountains.

Train loops over above itself on the lower spiral

The tunnel system

Banff was beautiful, but our favorite was the brilliant blue waters of Lake Moraine, and the busier but grand Lake Louise.  We rode the chairlifts and tried to spot grizzly, and although no bears the view of the mountains from the top was absolutely worth it!  We spent some time warming our bones in Banff Hot Springs, and generally just relaxed, savouring some really good food.

Canada has been a great transition for us – there’s a lot of similarities to Australia (I guess it’s the Commonwealth thing, not just the fact that everyone in the  service  industry has been Aussie!).  One big surprise for us has been Canadian wine!  Who knew?  But it is great, they should export it!

Rowing on Lake Moraine

Lake Louise in bloom

At the falls

This is a magical part of the world and fantastic that it is largely protected for the future.  All Canadian Rockies photos here: next and final stop, Vancouver!

“National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” [Wallace Stegner, Author, 1983]

As the National Parks Service celebrated its 100th Anniversary this year, it’s been fitting for us to visit the one that inspired them all, the world’s first: Yellowstone.

In 1869 this area was still an unknown and unexplored part of the country.  In just three years and three expeditions, the remarkable wonders of this area had resulted in the creation of a vast public and protected expanse – nearly 3,500 square miles (9000 sq kms) of spectacular lakes, mountain ranges, canyons, rivers and plains.  Bridging the continental divide, it sits atop one of the world’s largest active super volcanoes and contains half the world’s geyser’s.  In an era of unchecked development, it was a visionary and bold step; one that would set a precedent emulated around the world.

It’s difficult to capture both the sheer scale of this park, and the varied concentration of unique and beautiful geographies in one location.  It takes hours to drive just a quarter of it – but it is an ever changing catalog:  winding along a pristine rushing river, climbing through conifer forests, descending immense glacial valleys, being enveloped by steam from geothermal hot springs and then looping through desert-like landscapes.

And of course the wildlife.  Yellowstone is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem which includes YNP, but also encompasses Grand Teton NP, five bordering National Forests (and their included Wilderness Areas) and the National Elk Refuge in Jackson – around ten times the area of the park itself.  This is one of the last large remaining intact ecosystems in the northern hemisphere, home to most of America’s megafauna.

Elk, mountain lion, mountain goats, big horned sheep, deer are all there.  Bison roam in healthy numbers – even though by 1902 there were only about two dozen remaining in Yellowstone until the US Army critically stepped in to protect them.  Wolves were exterminated from the park in a misguided but managed program to protect Elk, but in one of the more successful conservation efforts were reintroduced back in 1995.   Yellowstone was also a key component of successful efforts to protect the endangered Grizzly Bear.

Black Bear

Yellowstone

After a very unsociable early start, we enjoyed a really poignant guided tour by Shauna from the Yellowstone Association.  She had been studying the wolf population for 13 years, and had immense insight and knowledge of the packs and personalities of these incredibly social and intelligent creatures.  Elusive as they are, we were fortunate enough to see two from one of the packs atop a bison carcass in the cold of the morning.

The girls really enjoyed the geothermal attractions such as Old Faithful and Great Prismatic Springs – something they had not seen before, and were also were captivated by stories of real-life wolf soap operas which brought to life the complex social networks of the animals.  However, we still managed to do some pure kids stuff – white water rafting down the Yellowstone River, and some high country horseback trail rides in the Gallatin National Forest; something the adults enjoyed too!

Riding in backcountry Montana

Rafting down Yellowstone River

We have stayed in Montana in two different locations as part of this leg – two lovely cabins in this beautiful State, and one that we will explore further as we travel to and explore Glacier National Park next.  All photos from Yellowstone here.

After rapidly climbing over 9658 feet through the Continental Divide at Togwotee Pass, we descended down to the Grand Teton National Park and one of our new favourite places, Jackson Hole.

Apart from visiting yet another scenic wonder, the town of Jackson was earmarked as an R&R destination – the most upmarket town on our route west of Chicago.  Neither the Tetons or the town disappointed!

Grand Teton National park includes the Teton mountain range which is a spectacular series of granite peaks thrust upward by the push of the Teton Fault, the valley below (Jackson “Hole”) and the Snake River that winds its way through it.  Whilst nearby Yellowstone was created in two years, this park took more than 50 years to incorporate due to local resistance, overcome in the end and with support (and pressure!) from John D. Rockefeller who had bought up land for the park.

We saw some great wildlife – a distant but very large Grizzly on top of a bison carcass, a lone wolf and a couple of black bear (the one below is chewing on what looks like a deer). One of the highlights was finally seeing Moose – both a bull early in the valley, and best of all a mother and calf that wandered into our resort one evening.  These members of the deer family are gentle giants, just beautiful to see up close like this.

Moose and calf in our resort at dusk

Mule deer in the valley

Pronghorn on Antelope Flats

Black bear chewing something delicious

Bull Moose, early morning

This area was settled by mountain men trapping for fur; braving a hostile environment – remote, with poor soil, bears, wolves and of course the bitter winters.  Today’s Jackson bears little resemblance to this pioneer environment.  It’s a great town – attractive, classy and friendly; we enjoyed great restaurants and some good shopping.  It’s joined Queenstown and Cape Town in our short list of favourite escape destinations.

We explored Jackson Hole Mountain resort – 4,100 vertical feet of nearly all advanced and intermediate skiing, the largest (continuous) rise in the U.S.  No snow for us in September, but the views were expansive, and down below we tested ourselves on the Ropes course and the vertical Bungy, plus some relaxing in the beautiful village.  One of the trip highlights so far was going to the Rodeo – an awesome experience with a party atmosphere, a shot of adrenaline and a lot of skill.

Ana on the Bungee

Excited for the Rodeo

Pleased with her Rope climbing

Bucking Bronco

Storm over The Rustic Inn

This is one town we will definitely visit again.  All photos of Jackson Hole and Grand Teton here – next stop, the inspiring Yellowstone National Park.

We’ve spent nearly a week in South Dakota, a concentration of attractions in a small area around the historical Black Hills – a place sacred to the Lakota Sioux Indian tribe but also rich in Western history.

Mount Rushmore was awe inspiring – far more spectacular than we had envisaged and a tribute to one man’s vision.  The carving took 14 years to complete, with Borglum (the sculpter) dying just a few months before completion.

Mount Rushmore

Across the Black Hills, the immense Crazy Horse mountain honors one of the great leaders of the Native Americans.  Only partially complete, it is vast in its scale and ambition – funded entirely by private donations and visitor revenue.

This area is a treasure chest of parks: Jewel Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park and of course Custer State Park where we stayed.

Wind Cave is one of the largest cave systems in the world – 143 miles mapped to date and an estimated 90-95% remaining!  We went down about 200 of its 500 feet depth, somewhat intimidating if you are claustrophobic but an opportunity to experience TOTAL darkness.

Custer State Park is famous for its herd of about 1600 Bison and this was certainly one of our highlights – experiencing them both in the park and then unexpectedly in our lodge area one morning!   It’s hard to imagine these herds so large that they stretched to the horizon – just driving through a small herd was intimidating enough.

Pronghorn Deer

Bison on the move

A stern bull

Other highlights included a Daddy / Daughter hike to Cathedral Spires, a brisk swim in beautiful Sylvan Lake, and some family adrenalin at the Adventure Park.

Sylvan Lake

Hike to Cathedral Spires

Lazy lunch at Sylvan Lodge

All Custer photos here – next stop, digging for dinosaurs in Wyoming.

We really felt as though we had arrived in the West as we entered Badlands National Park, South Dakota.  Immense rock structures stretch across the landscape, surrounded by  endless grass prairie.  The structures are a result of both deposits (the area was at some point covered in prehistoric forests, inland seas) and erosion, as about 500,000 years ago the Cheyenne and other rivers started to wash away the softer material leaving the park as we see it today.  Whilst harsh, they are beautiful, with subtle and constantly changing colours as the light moves during the day.

We saw quite a lot of wildlife – Deer, Bighorn Mountain Sheep, Prairie Dog, Pronghorn and some glimpses of Bison in the distance.   The Prairie Dog towns were a lot of fun, the girls thought they were adorable (“can you have Prairie Dogs as pets”).

Our cabin felt pretty remote out on the prairie – we were one mile from the homestead, which itself was about 9 miles from the nearest town: Interior – population 67.  It’s pretty dark out there when the sun goes down!

The Prairie

Badlands

Bighorn Sheep

Praire Dogs

Endless views

We had great fun at 1880 Town, a museum that has gathered a bunch of buildings from the era between 1880 to 1920 and filled them with authentic period pieces.  Best of all was dressing up in gear from the era and hanging out in the town, including an old saloon.  The girls’ imaginations went wild – very quickly they were a team of cowgirl vigilantes of sorts taking on a slew of bad guys with their guns (and girl-power attitude).

No visit to the region (or at least driving on I-90 here) is complete without visiting the only remaining Corn Palace (yes – you did not misread this, a building part made out of corn), and of course Wall Drug.  After seeing scores of roadsigns, we had to visit this institution from the 1930’s that made its name and fortune by giving out free iced waters to parched travellers traversing the state.

Ana’s propensity to convert nouns to verbs generated a new addition to the trip vocabulary – “Hey Amelie – let’s double-adapt“.  Meaning: let’s watch the same program at the same time.

Gunslingers at the saloon

Lovely lady

Bad girls

It’s a shootout

Family at the saloon

All Badlands photos here: next stop The Black Hills and Custer State Park