Will and I at Cascade Lake in our twinsy souvenir shirts!

Whoa, I just looked at the date! Today would be my dad’s 77th birthday! Crazy! He only lived to 56, and he was already becoming the cutest old man. I can only imagine how adorable he would be at 77. I was in the musical theatre club in high school, and I distinctly remember him bringing my food to rehearsal one day, prompting another student to say, “awww, who’s grandpa is that?” I proudly responded, “that’s my dad!”

Our relationship was complicated, since his vices often won his time and attention. But I know he loved me very much and always tried his best. The world was cruel, and he wasn’t exactly set up for success, so I try to give his memory as much grace as I can. I still think it would’ve been really awesome to build a relationship with my dad once I became an adult, but since he died when I was 17, I’ll never get that chance. Anyway, happy birthday Dad. I turned out pretty okay, and I’m sure you’d be extra proud.

So this blog post is super late, but I have a great excuse. Will and I were having the best time in Yellowstone National Park, with no cell service and no internet. I did however discover that the iPhone allows you to send iMessages, emergency calls, and GPS location via satellite. It doesn’t work every time, but it’s still pretty cool conceptually. It probably just needs to cook a bit longer before it’s a viable alternative to a satellite phone.

I think we made excellent use of our time in the park. We explored the whole grand loop, visited most of the gift shops, and saw a ton of wildlife. Will even ticked off a few new birds. We saw loads of Bison, a few bears, some elk, an eagle, and even had to stay very still when we encountered a coyote on our hike to Cascade Lake!

We entered the path from the south after driving up from Colorado Springs. We were there for Nikki’s wedding, and had a mini The Black Foxes reunion. It was really nice to gather 6 of the 8 of us for the first time Sea Otter last spring. It was a good time, and I’m so happy for Nikki and her new husband, Vitaly. They’re very cute!

So yes, after a few days in Colorado Springs, running, cycling, and catching up with old friends, we made our way north to Wyoming. As you may recall, I was VERY excited to see the Tetons, and Friends, they are spectacular! I didn’t get any great pictures of them, but the old memory bank won’t ever forget those pointy peaks. If you ever get the chance, it’s well worth the trip.

In order to get to the Yellowstone south entrance, you have to go through the Tetons National Park. It still blows my mind that you can get an annual pass to enter any national park for $80 US dollars. That is absolutely a steal in my opinion. As long as the pass owner is in the car, everyone in the car (up to 6 people) also gain entry. You have to show government ID and the pass card. I asked one of the rangers if you could use one annual pass for multiple people on bikes. He basically said it’s technically only valid for the one pass holder, but he usually lets other bikes in with them, up to as many folks would fit in a car.

So yea, go buy a national park pass if you can. A solid investment, and maybe you’ll be encouraged to go visit a national park near you!

We entered the park from the south, and watched the sunset as we made our way up to the Madison Campground that would become home for the next few days. The next morning, we packed up the Bronco Sport and made our way back south towards the Tetons for a guided horseback ride. It was so much fun, and breathtakingly beautiful. Neither Will nor I had ridden a horse since we were kids, but our the folks at Wilderness Trails were super accommodating, the horses were perfect, even tho my horse, Mesa, preferred to take the steepest line every time, and thought it was funny to hug the edge of the trail so I had to duck to avoid trees and bushes. Regardless, she got it done, and we climbed up and down with no issues. A highly recommended experience. Gwyn was an excellent guide, and we had a great time.

After that, we made our way back into Yellowstone and stopped at Grant Village for lunch. It was delicious. Everything was flavorful from the garlic fries to the jalepeño cheddar biscuits (y’all know I love a biscuit). The burger was excellent, and Will seemed to enjoy his chicken thigh sandwich. Real ones know the thigh is the best part of the chicken!

After lunch, we decided to do the whole grand loop and see what the park had to offer. What a beautiful place. Honestly, even if we’d never gotten out of the car, I think I still would’ve had an A+ experience. The weather was perfect, and the wildlife was showing off. I was thrilled that Will let me borrow his second pair of binoculars. They were the exact tools necessary to enjoy the wildlife from a safe distance. I LOVE Bison, and I saw so many of them over the three days we were there. Yellowstone owes me nothing. I am satisfied.

The second day Will and I went for a hike to Cascade Lake. It was 2.2 miles in each direction (a little more because we made a wrong turn on the way back) and provided a range of views from forest to open plains, and of course Cascade Lake. . We even saw some new birds and met some interesting people. It wasn’t as popular as other locations in the park, so it was mostly quiet, and we enjoyed a nice lunch sitting by the lake.

Our last night in the park, we decided to start a campfire and make s’mores. We also made an Old Fashion with a kit we’d bought. Neither of us like chocolate, so we both only had one actual s’more, and decided we’d rather just roast marshmallows instead. I think next time I wanna use a peanut butter cup instead of a chocolate bar. I feel like it would be super delicious.

Before we left the park on the third day, we decided to drive back down to Grant Village to buy a hat Will really liked. Along the way we stopped at Old Faithful, and while there we mailed some postcards to a few family and friends, and met the coolest seasonal post office worker wearing a Dave Matthews Band t-shirt (I was in a DMB cover band in college) who showed us gnarly photos of Wolves eating a bison carcass, and a coyote dragging around a whole furry bison head. The circle of life is WILD, but it sure is efficient.

After all that, I was pretty cooked, but Will made sure I crossed the final item off my bucket list. The Grand Prismatic Spring. It was worth it. The warmth and the colors coming off of it were really mindblowing. Also, we learned that there are several individual ecosystems that form around the spring. They also learn a ton about the past from all the different life forms and rock formations and such in the park.

I don’t know all the details, but apparently, Yellowstone sits on a Volcano and once that baby blows again, it’ll pretty much end the world. Or something like that?

Anywho, we’ve since moved on from Yellowstone, but I’ll share more about that next time!

When we left the park, I was bombarded with news from the outside world. The UCI world championships are happening now in Kigali, Rwanda, and I’m so happy for the African Nations that have easier access to this opportunity. That being said I’m still very upset about so many things surrounding the UCI and their handling of things. It makes it hard to enjoy bike racing at the moment. And in no surprise to anyone, America’s cycling darling showed her ass again with a sticker on her Time Trial bike standing with the recently assassinated, incredibly divisive far-right political activist. I’ve been giving her grace over the past few years, hoping that she’s learned that being a jerk isn’t a good move. But alas, she needed to remind us all that she absolutely aligns herself with a human being who said Black women “do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”

Hard not to think about how she feels about her Canyon SRAM Generation teammates that present as Black Women. It was a big reason why I spoke up about her transphobia and alignment with racist values back in 2020 when she “got in trouble” the last time. Beyond my personal opinions on the matter, that sticker definitely breaks UCI code of ethics, still, I highly doubt she’ll experience any real repercussions, yet again. But why would she?

Anywho. The world will continue to burn, and I have decided that regardless of all that, I’m going to do my best to find joy wherever it resides. This week that was in Yellowstone National Park!

We have few more adventures in store on this trip that we’ll dig into once their done (for safety), but if you’re in Asheville NC on October 3-4, I’ll be leading a MTB ride as part of the Bronco Campout. It would be great to see you!

And of course, keep spreading the word about Thee Abundance Camp October 10-12 in LA!

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

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