I’ve been helping Yellowstone visitors plan their time in the park since 1987–first at the Old Faithful Inn and the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, then back home with friends and family and even people I’ve met on the internet. Here are a few favorite places and tips for mapping out a satisfying Yellowstone vacation.
What’s true on the trail is true in life: Planning a trip to Yellowstone might be intimidating but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Just take it one step at a time.
Yellowstone Basics
Let’s go to Yellowstone!
Postcard from Yellowstone: Bobby Socks Trees
Once upon a time, I worked in Yellowstone—at the Old Faithful Inn Gift Shop, where I spent part of each day restoring the great wall of postcards. These days, the postcard wall is smaller, which makes me sad. Postcards are more than souvenirs. They’re a way of looking...
Lesson from Midlife | New Footing for a New Life
Early this winter, before the cold set in and the snow headed south (both with a vengeance, I might add), I wore my hiking boots to a basketball game. This is significant because, up until that evening, I had never worn those boots anywhere but Yellowstone. That...
Postcard from Yellowstone | Clear Lake
Once upon a time, I worked in Yellowstone—at the Old Faithful Inn Gift Shop, where I spent part of each day restoring the great wall of postcards. These days, the postcard wall is smaller, which makes me sad. Postcards are more than souvenirs. They’re a way of looking...
Postcard from Yellowstone: Mallard Lake
Postcards. They're more than a souvenir. More than a way to say Thinking of you! or Wish you were here! They're a way of seeing and sharing. Small by design, a postcard from Yellowstone can capture a moment. In that spirit, for you: A postcard from Yellowstone Hi...
Lesson from Yellowstone: From Old Faithful to Everyday Life
I have a love-hate relationship with paper. I’ve never met a notebook, or a post-it note, or a planner I didn’t like. At the same time, I have no idea how to manage the mountains of paper that find their way into my home. Because my husband is efficient,...
2025 Gift Guide
It's that time of year. We're searching for ideas for that special something for that special someone. Last year, one of my author-friends asked me to pair my book with a gift idea for her readers. This year, I asked some of my nature-writing friends to do the same....
Postcard from Yellowstone: Great Fountain
Once upon a time, I worked in Yellowstone National Park. It was 1987--just shy of forty years ago. Numbers are not my first language, so this is always something of a shock. I digress. Specifically, I worked at the Old Faithful Inn Gift Shop, where I invested a good...
Lessons from Yellowstone: Seven Mile Hole in Midlife
Going Down I’m not sure I’d even heard of Seven Mile Hole, a challenging trail into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, until I was in my thirties—a decade when I was still a reluctant hiker, a very reluctant hiker. By my mid-forties, I had developed an...
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to pray in and play in, where Nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” ~ John Muir
