4. road trip

I haven't had the most positive work experiences over all. After getting my PhD, I was laid off from my first job (after less than a year!) during the height of the 2008/2009 recession. Thankfully I got a new job really quickly and really enjoyed it for a few years, particularly with the flexibility it afforded me as I pursued fertility treatments. But then I took on a leadership role without realizing that the company would basically be willing to pay me to work myself to death; it was only after getting totally burnt out (and clinically depressed) that I was able (through the help of my amazing therapist) to see how the work environment was not a good match with my personality, particularly given my spectacularly impossible job description. So I regrouped and took on a new job back at the place where I had done my postdoc many years prior. It started off great, but I quickly discovered some interpersonal dynamics on my primary team that ultimately interfered with my ability to do my job and, quite frankly, started to negatively impact patient care.

Seriously! Enough already!

So, to cope, Husband and I decided to plan a massive road trip vacation. Or, rather, we decided to take a massive road trip vacation, with me doing the bulk of the planning - because that's what I like to do, and because planning would help distract me while I figured out what to do next about my latest terrible work situation.

It was around late winter/early spring of 2015 that we (I) started to plan, and we (I) pretty quickly settled on a two-week trip highlighting the national parks of the north. I had had such a great experience at Yellowstone, and I wanted to both share the awesomeness and also test out whether other national parks would be similarly awesome.

After reading MANY guidebooks and even more websites, we ultimately landed on the following itinerary:

Day #	Day	Date	Event	Sleeping	Cost
1	Sat	6/18/2016	drive to Badlands	Cedar Pass Campground	$20/night
2	Sun	6/19/2016	hike in Badlands	Cedar Pass Campground	"
3	Mon	6/20/2016	explore Black Hills	Horsethief Lake	$26/night+$9 fee
4	Tue	6/21/2016	explore Black Hills	Horsethief Lake	"
5	Wed	6/22/2016	drive to Grand Tetons	Colter Bay tent cabin	$65/night
6	Thu	6/23/2016	explore Grand Tetons	?	$25/night
7	Fri	6/24/2016	explore Grand Tetons	?	"
8	Sat	6/25/2016	explore Yellowstone	Old Faithful Inn	$115/night+tax
9	Sun	6/26/2016	explore Yellowstone	Old Faithful Inn	"
10	Mon	6/27/2016	drive to Glacier	fish creek	$23/night
11	Tue	6/28/2016	explore Glacier	fish creek	"
12	Wed	6/29/2016	explore Glacier	rising sun motor inn	$165/night+tax
13	Thu	6/30/2016	explore Glacier	rising sun motor inn	"
14	Fri	7/1/2016	drive to ND	Cottonwood Campground (South Unit)	$14/night
15	Sat	7/2/2016	explore TR NP	Cottonwood Campground (South Unit)	"
16	Sun	7/3/2016	drive home	home!	FREE
17	Mon	7/4/2016	buffer day at home

Packing my tiny car with all the food and gear we needed was no small feat, but we did it. And the whole trip was amazing!!!! It turns out that national parks are really, really cool. Who knew?!?!  :)

We also learned so much about ourselves. The three of us travel well together, and we're entertained by similar things. (Okay, so Kid wasn't quite as stoked about long hikes and Husband and I were, but she was a trooper! And someday she'll enjoy hiking, darn it!) We also all enjoy similar scenery: the combo of mountains and water was a grand slam for all of us. While we enjoyed the Badlands, Black Hills and Yellowstone, we really fell for Grand Teton, and were absolutely, 100% in love with Glacier.

crappy cell phone photo from the parking lot at our glacier hotel

As we started our drive home, Husband and I both agreed that if there was ever an opportunity to live in Montana, particularly near Glacier, we would jump on it. Too bad we wouldn't be able to seriously consider such a thing until retirement.

Or could we?