Traveler's Rest

The Decemberists on stage

As I write this I'm sitting in a camp chair listening to Sylvan Esso rock out and watching crowds of people dance and get lost in the music. Here we are at Traveler’s Rest, the first ever music festival hosted by a band I've loved for over 12 years: The Decemberists. This is the reason we've traveled thousands of miles and encountered so many wonderful surprises along the way.

If you don't know them, I recommend looking The Decemberists up right now. If you don't like their music, at least look up the lyrics to their songs. It's poetry. All of the other bands here have been great, but nothing compares to seeing, in person, the people who've written songs that still make me stop and say, “Holy cow! Where did they learn to put words together like this?!”

The second day of the festival with the mountains behind me

Then, there's the venue. This festival is taking place at an amphitheatre nestled in the mountains of Montana. We're in a little oasis of sound. The food trucks aren't half bad either. At the moment, we're scoping out the various taco trucks for dinner.

Friends, there may be ugly things going on in the world right now, but if you surround yourself with sounds and sights that bring you happiness, you'll have strength to smile another day.

I love and miss you.

Swimming with Mule Deers in the Boiling River

Smokey skies in North Yellowstone

No trip to Montana is complete without a trip through Yellowstone National Park. Neither of us have ever visited this part of the United States, so we were eager to spend a few hours seeing the sights. We knew that there was no way that we'd see everything in Yellowstone. The park covers 3,471 square miles! Just to give you an idea of how big that is, a round trip from Indianapolis to Missoula, Montana is a mere 3,071 miles. So, we could have spent our entire vacation (6 days) in Yellowstone and it wouldn't have been enough time to see all parts of it.

Ideally, I would have liked to see Old Faithful, but it was too far to drive in the time that we had. Instead, we decided to visit the Boiling River near the North entrance of Yellowstone. The Boiling River is a natural phenomenon where hot water from a hydrothermal terrance nearby blends with cold water in the Gardner River. The mixing of the two water sources creates a natural hot tub comfortable enough for people to use as a soaking spot. This special spot is a short hike away from the road and is always packed with people. Mr. Lucas and I tried to find a secluded spot further from the source of the hot water, but the strong currents made it hard to relax. Luckily, a nice man made room for us directly under where the thermal river water was falling in to the Gardner River. It was quite an experience! The Gardner River is full of very fresh and extremely cold water, but the thermal river water is scalding! It was like soaking in a hot tub with an occasional jet of freezing water.

Look at the deer right behind me!

We didn't get to relax for very long because soon after we found a good rock to sit on, a herd of mule deer decided it was a perfect time to cross the river. At least, I think they were mule deer. They looked like the deer we see in Indiana, but twice the size and with darker coats. We couldn't believe how fearless they were around so many people. I mean, there were hundreds of bathers in the river and these deer acted like it wasn't a big deal. They were intent on walking right in to the crowd just like you or I would cross the street. A nearby Frenchman joked, "The deer are coming to their zoo to see the humans."

The "human zoo"

After our short visit to the Boiling River and a lovely drive through scenic North Yellowstone, Mr. Lucas and I had a nice dinner and then began our journey to Missoula, Montana. Missoula is where the worst of the wildfires are, and we kept hearing about how the smoke was affecting the city, but we were still excited. Being in Missoula meant that we were close to our final destination: Traveler's Rest.

Duckies in Bozeman

I'm sorry, friends, I might have to move to Bozeman, Montana and live there forever. We had such a great time and encountered many surprises. We originally wanted to spend a few days here because we had hoped to do some kayaking. We booked a white water “duckie” trip on Gallatin River for very early in the morning. We were worried that we'd be too tired from the LONG drive, but after fueling up with a delicious breakfast at a local cafe, we felt ready to take on the rapids.

I am not new to rafting and kayaking in rapids, but this was Mr. Lucas’s first time and I was anxious to see how he liked it. We decided to kayak in “duckies”, or inflatable kayaks made for one person. The water was cold, so our guide suggested that we wear wetsuits. I was really happy with our decision to go early, because we were the only people on the river and had a guide all to ourselves. Our guide’s name was Harrison and he was born and raised in Bozeman. He pointed out some interesting landmarks and taught us how to tell if trees had fallen due to a landslide, an avalanche, or a forest fire. There have been lots of fires in Montana in the last few weeks, so the sky looks really smokey. Just from where we were on the river, we could see thicker patches of smoke in the distance where a fire had just been. Apparently, it's worse in Missoula where we're headed next.

In between the rough patches of rapids, we were able to drift and talk with Harrison. He's a college student in Bozeman and lives in a tent by the river during the summer. I asked him if he worried about the fires, and he said that he was more worried about bears. It hit me then that we were actually in the wilderness, and that I might actually see something dangerous! He laughed at my surprise and told me that bears typically stay away from people unless they smell food. It also just so happens that Harrison is attending the same music festival this weekend, so we might get to see him again.

The rapids weren't as difficult as I expected, but they made for a pretty exciting ride. Before getting into the water, Harrison had to teach us how to strap ourselves into the duckie so we wouldn't tip over. But, just in case we did fall out, he showed us how to roll back in without flipping the duckie over and losing it. He warned us about jagged rocks and the importance of letting the water carry us to an “eddie”, or a calm section of water near the bank of the river. If you tried to stop yourself by standing up in the shallow water, you could get stuck in the rocks at the bottom and drown. Scary stuff aside, we had life jackets and an experienced guide, so we were confident that we could handle it all.

Harrison quickly realized that we were willing and able to tackle more challenging rapids, so he taught us how to “surf” rocks and “power through” rapids without falling out. At one point, I think he was disappointed that we were staying in our duckies. It wasn't until the very end of our trip when Mr. Lucas tried surfing a big rock and flipped over it backwards. I had already pulled my duckie up on the river’s edge when I saw the rapids quickly carrying him without his duckie. I was nervous that he would pass me and get carried downstream, so I ran into the water with my paddle for him to grab hoping that I would be strong enough to pull him in against the moving water. Luckily, he was strong enough to swim (still holding his paddle) to a shallow enough spot to stop himself. I guess it wouldn't be an adventure if we didn't have problem to solve, right?

Our trip down the river ended sweetly with a steaming cup of fresh coffee and the most delicious wild raspberries I've ever tasted. Since our trip was early, we had lots of time to take a nap afterward and then wander around downtown Bozeman through the evening. We were surprised to walk right into a street festival with music and food trucks. With our bellies full of poutine and ice cream, I thought to myself that I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Mount Rushmore and Motorcycles

After a long day of driving, we finally made it to Keystone, South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse memorial. Much to our surprise, Sturgis was going on at the same time. Sturgis is an annual motorcycle rally that takes place in South Dakota. On our way to Keystone, we noticed quite a few motorcycles on the highway, but just assumed that it was because the weather was nice. When we arrived at Keystone, we were welcomed by thousands of leather-clad bikers. I don't think I've ever seen so many motorcycles in one place! It made for fantastic people-watching. I almost asked a biker wearing a leather vest and top hat with a feather in it if I could take a picture with him, but I was too nervous.

Mount Rushmore is a short, but dizzying drive from the Keystone, SD shops and dive restaurants. I loved driving on the winding roads through the mountains (as did the GAZILLIONS of bikers we had to drive behind). We saw Mount Rushmore from the road, but decided to pay the $10 to park at the museum so we could stretch our legs and get a good look at the presidents' heads. It was totally worth it. When we walked through the entrance of the museum, we saw the "Avenue of the States". This was a walkway lined with all of the state flags and columns engraved with the date each state entered the union.

The Mount Rushmore National Monument is truly spectacular. It was created by sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, and took 14 years to complete (click here for a video that talks more about its history). Mr. Lucas and I had the opportunity to walk the trail around the monument and saw George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abe Lincoln from all angles. Along the trail, there are placards that talk about each president and their accomplishments. At the end of the trail, there's a small museum about the construction of the monument. In the museum, I found out that there's a vault built behind Abe Lincoln's head called, "The Hall of Records". Gutzon built this vault in hopes that it would become a safe place to store priceless documents important to our nation like the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, the vault was never finished and it is now just an empty space.

After Mount Rushmore, we visited the Crazy Horse memorial. This monument was built in protest of Mount Rushmore to bring attention to the terrible way Native Americans were treated as the United States were born. Crazy Horse was the leader of the Lakota tribe and serves as a symbol for the preservation of Native American culture and traditions. You can read more about this monument here.

We concluded our day by driving 6 more hours (yikes) in order to make it to Bozeman, Montana for our next adventure. Stay tuned for a post about whitewater rafting in something called a "duckie" on the Gallatin River.