The second week in September saw us driving northbound through Texas, up through the Texas pan handle and into northeast New Mexico. Our first stop was Capulin Volcano National Monument (extinct) in New Mexico, which has a road right up to the summit. It was quite cool and somewhat rainy that day as well, with the peak occasionally emersed in clouds. It was nice to get out of the heat of Houston.

We then drove north to Great Sand Dunes National Park, hiked to a waterfall, observed the dunes, and got Cory’s truck stuck on a sandy road. Fortunately, we had a little help and were able to get unstuck fairly quickly. After spending a little time at GSDNP, we traveled to Colorado Springs and stayed with Cory’s sister Stacey and brother-in-law Mitch for a night.

The following day, the Pikes Peak and Manitou Springs Cog Railway took us to the summit of Pikes Peak. It was a cold, windy day, and quite cloudy, but we got up above the clouds and the views were still fantastic with the mountain peaks piercing the clouds. We also visited Garden of the Gods while in Colorado Springs – a natural area with interesting rock fins – before saying goodbye to Mitch and Stacey and turning north once again.

The following day, we drove over the Bighorn Mountains of north-central Wyoming, where we visited the ancient Medicine Wheel. The drive across much of Montana was very hazy due to a lot of wildfires. We had dinner in Bozeman, Montana, with a friend from college, then turned due north the next morning.

Finally, Glacier National Park. We camped for several days and did a lot of hiking. We saw (and heard) a lot of wildlife including black and grizzly bear, mule deer, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep. The alpine scenery was absolutely amazing: knife-ridged mountains, glacial valleys, waterfalls & streams, green lakes, dark pine forests, mountain meadows – you name it. It was hard to leave, but we had a few things to look forward to on the journey home.

Our next major destination was Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. We drove through some incredible mountain wilderness in Montana and central Idaho and stayed in Ketchum (Sun Valley). We didn’t ever think of Idaho as a potential retirement location, but it is on our radar now! We spent a half day at Craters. The old lava fields and cinder cones were fascinating, but the most fun was exploring the lava tube caves.

South through the mountains, deserts, and buttes of Utah – we spent a night in Provo, then moved south and east to Moab where we visited Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Back in Colorado (this time the southwestern corner), we took guided tours through two of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park - Balcony House and Cliff House. Our last two days on the road took us south through New Mexico (Albuquerque and Roswell) and east across Texas. It was a great road trip.