When you wake in Mammoth Hot Springs you go out and explore Mammoth Hot Springs because that’s the way we do things.

We were travel noobs when we made this trip, no warm weather clothes, no rain gear, just enthusiasm, and these cheap orange plastic rain ponchos from the gift store that, while they worked, also sucked.

And then it had to go and start snowing.

It’s love.

And mud.

It’s grass, water, and algae.

It’s unidentifiable weird stuff that feels like half-cooked chicken.

And then it’s almost over.

We had to drive back down south through the Tetons once more and through Jackson to make our way to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where we flew in nearly a week ago. The impact this trip had on me cannot be understated, as it was enormous and will continue to affect me well into the future.