Campfire Stories Part 3

Mary Zinn is a long-time consultant for FIRE Light Group and Wisconsin Meetings and Events. She is traveling with her family this summer in an RV named Loretta and will be blogging for us from the road. She and her family will share their photos, stories, and travel tips as they adventure their way from Wisconsin to San Francisco and back on a 10 week journey.

Campfire Stories Part 3

After an expensive brake job, we managed to get back on schedule at Yellowstone where we took in what we could on our short stay. We got lucky with a fantastic first come, first served campsite at Lewis Lake Campground they referred to as as the “honeymoon suite.” It was a very large campsite with complete privacy and its own path down to a virtually private beach at Lewis Lake. We seemed to have remembered everything we needed from the camp store and set ourselves up comfortable…or so we thought. The tent was great, but the sleeping bags that were rated to 30 degrees were not adequate and both nights were COLD!

The next afternoon, we saw Old Faithful erupt just as we arrived. Then after hiking around it, we managed to get a front row seat for another close up.

While Old Faithful is very crowded and touristy, it’s still a very cool place to visit (but in my opinion just once!). There are other larger and more regular geysers in the park, but Old Faithful is the largest, most regular geyser of them all erupting every 90 minutes give or take a few. When we checked, she was predicted to erupt at 3:01pm and it happened at 3:04. Pretty accurate!
The next day was our final chance to see Yellowstone; we visited both the upper and lower falls. Again, it was very crowded with people taking selfies all around, but Artist Point in particular was amazing (photo below). It felt a little like we were checking things off the list, but we did enjoy them—it’s hard to slow down and soak it all in when you’re surrounded by dozens or even hundreds of other tourists.

Rather than staying a third night at our “honeymoon” campsite, we decided to head back to Jackson, WY so we could get going the next morning and make it to Glacier National Park in one long drive. It took us 10 hours to get to Glacier, but we quickly settled back in Loretta and took it easy the first day. From our campsite at Fishcreek Campground, we had a short walk to a fantastic glacial lake (Lake McDonald) and of course had to show how brave we were by going in for a swim! The lake is shallow to about 15 yards then it suddenly drops off and at its deepest, it’s almost 500 feet deep.
While at Glacier we did a tour on an old boat around the lake (photo below) and a full day of white water rafting on the Flathead River. The rafting in particular was memorable. We all had to paddle (which was a first for our 7 year old) and the trip was over 6 hours. We stopped for an incredible lunch prepared by the tour company and all of my boys (including dad) had to swim even though the water was 56 degrees! The second half was a bit more exciting with class 2 and 3 rapids which were thrilling. All in all, it was a huge deal because before we left home, our 7 year old was refusing to do such a thing!

(photo of McDonald Lake)

Today we are headed to Sex Peak Lookout Tower in Kootenai National Forest (if you want to know more about how it got its name you can read it here) and from there another lookout tower in the Lolo National Forest called the Up Up Tower.

Latest Tips:
• Don’t trust the warmth rating of sleeping bag; be conservative because you can’t sleep when you’re freezing!
• WalMarts aren’t too bad when you need something—and we have needed lots along the way!
• Prepare for crowds at the major National Parks and keep realistic expectations. Unless you’re really adventurous, you’ll be surrounded by lots of other people.

Next Up: Our lookout tower visits and how we get from there to California!

Campfire Stories Part 2

Mary Zinn is a long-time consultant for FIRE Light Group and Wisconsin Meetings and Events. She is traveling with her family this summer in an RV named Loretta and will be blogging for us from the road. She and her family will share their photos, stories, and travel tips as they adventure their way from Wisconsin to San Francisco and back on a 10 week journey.

Campfire Stories Part 2

We are in our fourth week of our ten week journey. Our next stop after the Badlands was Custer State Park which was a mere 2 hours away. While both Custer and Badlands are stunningly beautiful, the contrast is significant. The dry, virtually treeless rocky hills of the Badlands was very different from the soft, rolling, tree-covered hills and beautiful views at Custer. Every time we get to a new place, it seems as though it becomes my favorite, but Custer really is a special place. Shortly after we drove into the park, we saw a huge bison at the side of the road. Thankfully, visitors are pretty good about slowing down and pulling over safely, so we can take it all in.

While at Custer we hiked around and swam in Sylvan Lake (below) and I got the laundry done while taking in the view.

The second day, we drove the Wildlife Loop and saw an endless number of prairie dogs, dozens of bison (some from afar, some up close) and burros. The burros were brought into the park in the nineteen century to help visitors get around. When the company closed down its business, they let the burros go free and they have lived there since. When we came upon them and got out to visit, we almost immediately felt threatened and ran back to the RV. They seemed very interested in us and wondered if we had food. A moment later another family pulled up and jumped out of their car to pet them and feed them doughnuts and fruits and vegetables! We got such a kick out of how frightened we were at first and how tame they really were. They are indeed “begging burros.”

As we left for the Grand Tetons, we suddenly had brake problems that forced us to skip Mount Rushmore and head directly to Jackson, WY. After 8 hours of skillful driving by my husband, we were able to leave Loretta to get checked and fixed. Instead of staying in the RV at the Colter Bay RV Park as planned, we rented a car and stayed at the Jackson Lake Lodge. Again, we had to consider ourselves “lucky” that we were able to get a 3 night reservation on the 4th of July and find an available rental car.

The highlight of the trip for all of us up to this point was the 2+ hour rafting trip on the Snake River. (below). Our rafting guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the area and told many stories (some surely tall tales) about the park bison and bears and its history.

We have friends moving to San Diego for a year who were at the same campgrounds as we were at Custer and we met up again in Grand Tetons and for dinner and drinks at the historic Jackson Lake Lodge. The view at the lodge is absolutely incredible, but you don’t have to spend money to eat at the restaurant or stay at the lodge—you can get it for free (below).

It seems like this blog is more about us and our troubles than the trip and sites as I had expected, but that’s sometimes how life goes. It looks like our brake problem is going to require several days to get the parts and get it fixed, so we kept the rental car and bought $600 of camping basics and went along our way to Yellowstone where we are currently. In the next couple days we will explore Yellowstone before heading back to Jackson to get Loretta.

Next up more about our visit to Yellowstone and whether or not we made it to Glacier National Park.

As we continue our journey, we’ll share pictures, tips, recommendations and more so jump in, join us and share your favorite places to camp, eat and visit. You can reach me via email at maryz@firelightgroup.com.

Tips from this part of the journey:
• Take the wild animal warnings seriously. There have already been 4 bison attacks this season in Grand Tetons alone.
• Everything will take extra time. The roads can be slow and you want to have time to see the unexpected.
• Just because a sleeping bag says it’s good to 30 degrees, doesn’t mean it is. Do your homework. It’s not possible to sleep well if you’re freezing.

Highlights of our itinerary: June 13-August 20
• Badlands
• Custer State Park
• Grand Teton National Park
• Yellowstone
• Glacier National Park
• Portland
• Sequoia National Park
• Death Valley
• Las Vegas
• Sedona, AZ
• Grand Canyon
• Zion National Park
• Mesa Verde National Park
• Dead Horse Point State Park
• Moab, UT
• Rocky Mountain National Park

Airbnb Now Specifically Targeting the Business Traveler

I am occasionally surprised by which trends really take off. For example, when fluorescent high-top sneakers and zubaz came back into style, I was shocked and horrified. Or when my Boomer CEO- who frequently describes herself as tech-incompetent and is generally weary of unregulated things- expounded the virtues of her Uber app, I was amazed.

Real, metal keys. Am I right?

However, the large-scale adoption of Airbnb as a go-to for leisure travelers was not a surprise. Many of the Millennials I know- and to some extent Xers, like myself- don’t wish to follow the prescribed course for travel but prefer to find a deeper connection to the places they visit. It made sense to want to explore a destination like a local to really gain a different perspective of a location. The best part though? Keys. Real keys to a house- not cards that lose their magnetism when they get within three feet of your phone. It seems trivial but there is something comforting and reassuring about having a cut metal key to a door. It really drives home the sense of inclusion, the feeling that you are welcomed and belong. Or perhaps that's just me. I digress.

Still, when I blogged about a new trend of people using it for business travel last October, I thought it was interesting but possibly fleeting. Frankly, we tend to think of business travel as cold and impersonal. Get on a plane, check into a hotel, have a meeting, check out, fly back. Rinse and repeat. In addition, many large companies only allow their employees to use predetermined hotel brands to control costs. Some people may even prefer the anonymity of a hotel or be swayed by loyalty programs. In spite of these hindrances, this trend towards using Airbnb and like services for business travel seems to be picking up serious steam.

Airbnb has now launched a new targeted website that gears their service specifically to the needs of the business traveler. Most leisure travel happens over the weekend whereas the majority of business travel occurs during the week. Why not leverage the same comfortable space for both uses? Airbnb has incorporated some stringent guidelines that have to be met first so not all active rentals will apply, keeping business travelers happy by meeting certain expectations. One of the best features of the site is their new "coupon" system. A company just has to set up an account and employees can book their own travel and put it to the company account. Smart move, Airbnb. 

So what do you think? Do you see this as a successful venture for Airbnb? Are you allowed to make your own travel choices for business travel? If so, is this a service you would use?

- Anjee Sorge

Campfire Stories Part 1

Mary Zinn is a long-time consultant for FIRE Light Group and Wisconsin Meetings and Events. She will be traveling with her family this summer in an RV named Loretta and will be blogging for us from the road. She and her family will share their photos, stories, and travel tips as they adventure their way from Wisconsin to San Francisco and back on a 10 week journey.

Where the journey begins
While the travel part of our trip has just begun, the planning of our summer adventure started several months back. Once we decided to do it, we bought a used RV named Loretta. She comes with a history of having traveled across America just last summer where her owners blogged from the road just like we are doing.

We have an incredible agenda mapped out (see full itinerary below), but I was particularly excited about our first 10 days exploring Wisconsin. Maybe because it was the first part of the trip and I was anxious to get going, or maybe it's due to fun travel memories from childhood and remembering how beautiful our state is.

The trip started with 3 nights at Wyalusing State Park which is located at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. The weather was good, we were fresh, and the park was gorgeous. We had one small “emergency” when our 7 year old jumped off a rock and badly hurt his knee, but we were fortunate to find a ranger who gave us a ride back to our campsite and even transported our bikes! Wyalusing is a gem—the campsites are very nice, have all the amenities and there is lots to explore. There are biking and hiking trails and three different caves to visit which are all very accessible and great if you’re traveling with children.

From Wyalusing, we headed “Up North” to the state parks in the Superior region. We were pleasantly surprised at how grand the waterfalls were. We had a nice private campsite at Amnicon Falls and took a drive to first see the Big Manitou Falls at Pattison State Park which is the highest waterfall in Wisconsin at 165 feet. The boys were very excited as they’d never seen anything like it.

The next day, we hiked Amnicon Falls which we thought were even more spectacular! They are extensive and there are various places you can swim in the river. One word of caution: there are leeches in the river—our 7 year old got one and boy are they hard to get off!

From Wisconsin, after a five day urban detour for a work conference in Evanston, Illinois, we got back on the road and headed to Sioux Falls as a brief stop on our way to Badlands National Park. Falls Park was much more than I expected. It’s a bit touristy and crowded, but what’s great is you’re allowed to walk anywhere so you can find a place to view the falls and take pictures without the crowds.

On our way to the Badlands, we paid a visit to the almost obligatory Wall Drug. Our expectations of it were low, so we left thinking it was a pretty cool place. We had hoped to hit a few other places while in the area, but didn’t end up getting to: the drive-through wildlife park, Bear Country USA,; Lewie’s Burgers and Brews in Lead, SD (voted best burger in South Dakota); and Jewel Cave (the third largest cave in North America).

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing. Traveling can be tough on any family, but throw in things like a broken power steering line, which also affects the brakes and required us to leave Loretta behind for 5 days in Superior while we went to Evanston for Mike’s conference. Then, as we were ready to leave for the Badlands, the generator fell off on the highway and we had to get towed. It could have been much worse. Thankfully, we were able to get a cabin for the night, have a welder reattach it the next day, and stay in Loretta the following night.

Next up Custer State Park and Grand Tetons; until then, jump in and join us! Share your favorite places to camp, eat and visit. You can reach me via email at maryz@firelightgroup.com.


Tips so far:
• Get AAA before setting off on a long trip. AAA has been invaluable!
• If you can swing it, mid-week camping is much less crowded.
• Expect bumps! Plan for the worst and hope for the best.
• If you choose to wear a skirt in South Dakota, make it a fitted skirt. It’s windy there!

Highlights of our itinerary: June 13-August 20
• Badlands
• Custer State Park
• Grand Teton National Park
• Yellowstone
• Glacier National Park
• Portland
• Sequoia National Park
• Death Valley
• Las Vegas
• Sedona, AZ
• Grand Canyon
• Zion National Park
• Mesa Verde National Park
• Dead Horse Point State Park
• Moab, UT
• Rocky Mountain National Park