Memorable Travel Experience(s)

- My family took a big cross-country road trip every couple of summers when I was growing up. When I was in the ninth grade, we drove from our home in Central Arkansas to Boise, Idaho by way of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. I loved all the quirky stops and beautiful scenery we took in on that trip: the Corn Palace, the Badlands, Yellowstone, and my first ever rodeo in Cody, Wyoming.
- When I was in graduate school, I was accepted to present at a conference in Iowa. I was living in Nashville, TN, and having more time than money, decided to drive there in my dearly missed black Honda Civic (such a good car--we got nearly 300,000 miles out of it before it finally died). While I was there, I took the opportunity to cross the final midwestern states (Nebraska and North Dakota) off my list. After my conference, I drove to Omaha, picked up my husband from the Omaha airport (he flew one-way from Nashville), and we took a 3-day road trip up to Fargo, ND. I remember enjoying the Viking Museum and historic soda fountain downtown, seeing a rare albino buffalo that had just been born, and stopping for selfies (before they were called that!) at all the giant animals we saw on the North Dakota highway, including the World's Largest Buffalo.
- After I finished my Ph.D., my husband and I took a celebratory trip to the Pacific Northwest. We rented a car at the Seattle airport and drove it 1100 miles over the next 10 days. My favorite and least favorite memory from that trip was our Mt. Ranier hike. It was wonderful because it was a cool, clear day and the scenery was outstanding; it was awful because we forgot sunscreen and got a horrible sunburn that hurt for days.