We’re all home, well kind of. One leader stayed out in the Tetons for another ten days, one leader is in Massachusetts for a family event, one boy went fly fishing on the Snake River in Idaho for a few days, and a few more are staying with grandparents or friends for another day or two. But most of us are home – albeit about ninety minutes late. Our flight was early leaving Jackson Hole Airport and arrived in Dallas-Ft. Worth a tad bit early. But our flight from there to Greenville-Spartanburg had a couple of delays for mechanical reasons. But we’re not going to let an hour and a half change the successes of our 12-day adventure. It’s all an adventure right?

It was a great trip. We did a lot and the boys and leaders learned a lot about living and working together in a big group. We had 20 boys and four leaders on this trip – the largest group I’ve ever taken. It was a group that got along amazingly well. We had three sets of brothers, also another first. And our group was complimented at least eight times and possibly as many as ten depending on who was counting. This has never happened. We usually average three or four compliments in a good year and zero in a bad year. Don’t get me wrong. We got zero compliments last year and I attributed that to our large group of seventeen boys and those guys last year were a great group of kids. But this year’s group proved the theory wrong that big groups couldn’t get compliments. Twenty boys this year and a mess of compliments and I am very proud. I’m sure I still owe them some treats! They didn’t ask for IOUs, but I’m sure those boys who come on a future trip will remember exactly how many treats they’re due.    

To recap, we spent four nights in Jackson, Wyoming; four nights in Gardiner, Montana; two nights in Cody, Wyoming; and one night in Dubois, Wyoming. We hiked in the Grand Teton National Park and in Yellowstone National Park. We explored lots of geothermal features in Yellowstone and saw tons of wildlife including four bears, hundreds of bison, elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and more. We witnessed Old Faithful and eruptions of other smaller geysers. We rafted on the Yellowstone River, took a horseback trail ride in Cody, and attended a rodeo. We had a docent-guided program about Buffalo Bill at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and another docent program at the National Bighorn Sheep Center. We chowed down on a western chuck wagon dinner at the Bar J Ranch and were entertained by the resident singing (and joking) cowboy wranglers. We drove into Idaho to have a world-famous milkshake at the Victor Emporium and we explored all the small towns and cities where we were staying. We saw incredible views of mountains and rivers and valleys. We went swimming in our motel pools, folded our laundry at a Laundromat, found three geocaches, played miniature golf, and picked up enough souvenirs to help several local economies. We saw a cowboy shootout (re-enactment) and walked the dusty street of a recreated Western town. And we ate a lot – a whole lot.

Boys were able to see friends they hadn’t seen in a year and many boys made new friends. I personally feel that everyone experienced some personal growth during our adventure.

I want to thank my three adult leaders for all their help and friendship – Ray Thompson, Howard Yarborough, and Jeff Peisner were incredibly capable and willing to step in and do whatever was necessary to see that the trip ran smoothly and safely and that everyone was having a great time. I also want to thank my student counselors – Mark Gilbert, Stephen Baker, Jack Lozyniak, and Hunter Smith for again showing me how misunderstood older teens can be. These boys were absolutely wonderful. I would take them anywhere and actually, three of them already planning their next adventure with me for the summer of 2013.

And thanks also to my upcoming student counselors – Jack Eatherly, Ben Bryan, and Jon Bryan. They were also very helpful and stepped up to the plate many times to lend a hand.

Of course, thanks to the younger boys who made the trip so much fun – Jack Riley, Becker Andry, Avery Wall, Thomas May, Brooks Sullivan, Will Rasco, Robert Harlan, Wills Clarke, Jackson Woodard, Aidan Lamb, David Gilbert, Connor Hovendon, and Ras Andry. I don’t know where they get their non-stop energy, but it’s contagious. It keeps me young.

Each year boys usually ask how much longer I plan to run these trips and I tell them as long as “I’m” having a good time. And so, did I have a good time? You bet! I can’t wait to next year.

Thanks boys, thanks leaders, thanks parents.

And that’s a wrap. MindStretch Travel Adventures Wyoming & Montana 2012 is now history    

Click to see some photos from our 2012 adventures.

Today's adventures started with a visit to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody. We let the boys explore a little on their own before having a guided tour focusing on the life of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. We were divided into two groups for the tour and the kids were excellent. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is a world-class museum - actually five museums in one.

From Cody, Wyoming we drove to our night's destination in Dubois, Wyoming. It was a long trip but the scenery was absolutely worth it. We drove through the Wind River region of Wyoming along the Wind River Mountains and even passed through the Wind River Indian Reservation.

We got into Dubois just about the time most shops were closing which probably wasn't a bad thing, though most boys aren't quite shopped out and still have money left. We did have time for some swimming, hot tubbing, basketball, and walking the wooden sidewalks of Dubois and then walked a hundred feet to the Cowboy Cafe for dinner where amazingly the boys picked up their sixth and seventh sincere compliments. This is by far a record - and compared to last year's zero number of complements - nothing short of phenomenal.

We are heading into Jackson tomorrow morning for our final couple of days. Lots ahead.

Click to see photos from our trip.

Several boys went to the Cody Nite Rodeo in Cody, Wyoming this evening. It was the first for most of the group that decided to go. Becker Andry made us proud as he was one of three of about a hundred kids 12 and under who got a ribbon off of a calf's tail. Okay, you had to be there to appreciate this part of the rodeo - which in Cody is king! Becker's prize - a free horseback ride on a ranch. So Andry parents...I guess you'll be planning a trip back out here soon because I think the prize expires in September. Becker's name and home city were announced over the PA system.

But not to worry, a large group of boys went horseback riding this morning up in the hills above Cody. it was just over a hour's ride and for most of them, that was just about all they wanted. 

At the same time the one group of boys was out trail riding, the remaining kids visited the reconstructed Old Trail Town, which is made up of over two dozen authentic buildings brought to this settlement. It's quite an impressive collection including the cabin of Butch Cassidy. The guys also saw the grave site of John Johnston, AKA Jeremiah "Liver-Eaten" Johnson who was reburied on this property several years ago.

Another big activity today was LAUNDRY. So now if you if moms keep noticing your boys wearing the same clothes, it's not because they don't have clean clothes to wear. We do encourage them to change clothes and most comply, but they seem to think wearing the same clothes day after day is the cowboy way. It's hard to argue with their reasoning! Jeff Peisner and I got the laundry done and in the dryers and then the boys came to help finish off the process including sorting their clothes and folding them. I think that might have been a first for some of these boys - another MindStretch Travel Adventures life lesson.

There was also time today for swimming in the motel pool and for a round of miniature golf in the town park. A few groups went into downtown Cody for a little shopping. Our motel is actually in downtown so we can be in the city center in about a five-minutes walk.

So that wraps up another busy day. It was a whole lot of fun.

Click to see photos from our trip.

After a breakfast at McDonalds, we headed into the Grand Teton National Park for our first major hike of the trip. We chose a hike to Leigh Lake for several reasons, one being it is considered one of the less crowded hikes in the park. It was also nice because it followed very flat terrain through an evergreen forest along side of Leigh Lake. It was still a very warm day and the hike ended up being about 5 miles long. Lots of great photos taken by kids along the way.

A couple of boys spotted a deer and several saw some geese, but that was the extend of our wildlife spotting for today. That will change tomorrow as we head into Yellowstone National Park.

One funny episode (to me anyhow) during the hike was when Will Rasco started a business on the way back to the trailhead of carrying others' backpacks for 50 cents each. (I think that was the going rate.) He was carrying four at one time counting his one. He had quite a business going until he got busted! So everyone had to end up carrying his own pack. I don't know if Will ever collected the money or not.

The hike was great fun and the kids did really well. They're ready to go again.

We returned back to Jackson with a stop at an overlook of the Teton range and had plenty of time late afternoon for some swimming and hot-tubbing in our motel pool. We walked to dinner to Bubba's Barbecue which was another 1.5 mile round-trip hike. Boys were tired after today and so are the leaders.

After dinner we gave the boys time to chill in their rooms with friends and/or swim some more. We also told them they needed to have on clean clothes for breakfast tomorrow.

Compliment Tally: Great news. The waitress at dinner tonight gave the boys a sincere compliment and that means a treat is coming their way. I'm so proud of them. They're such a great group of kids. Thanks parents!

Click to see photos from our trip.

Hello from Jackson, Wyoming – a bit of the old West and the first day of our trip. Yes, we’re here and the flight was uneventful. We like it that way. As is to be expected, travel days are long and boring but the boys made the most of it. And I will have to say they were angels. YES, angels. I’m not kidding! We were an hour late getting into the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport. That wasn’t a problem except we were to meet Avery, the brave adventurer from Tulsa, Oklahoma - so we were a bit concerned that our delay would somehow or other cause a problem with our meeting him. No worries. His mom was allowed to accompany him through security and we were able to have plenty of time to make introductions, grab snacks, and play video games on a myriad of devices these boys are packing.

Excitement started building as our flight made its descent into the Jackson Hole Airport. We all were thrilled to see these snow-capped mountains with elevations over 12,000 feet. It’s quite an impressive site.

It was a long day and the kids were great sports.

Compliment Tally – none today but I will say they were fantastic!

It took about an hour to arrange to get luggage, pick up one small van at the airport, drive into Jackson to pick up the two passenger vans, and then return to the airport to pick up the boys. They were great sports about the wait time. We made our way into town to our motel, checked in, and then walked to dinner at a restaurant called the Sidewider. The boys discovered that the restaurant had an arcade, but don’t worry – we didn’t let them spend too much time there. We finished dinner – it was a late one – walked back to our motel and settled in for the evening and the big adventures ahead.

Everyone gets to sleep in tomorrow, but by 9 we hope to be getting a late breakfast and heading out for a hike in the Grand Teton National Park.

Our excitement has been building for months and tomorrow morning it all reaches a frenzy as we meet the boys at the airport. We're off for our 12-day adventure to the mountains of Wyoming & Montana including stays in Jackson, Cody, and Dubois in Wyoming and Gardiner in Montana. We'll hike, explore, raft, horseback ride, geocache, take in a rodeo, a couple museums, a tram, a chuck wagon dinner...and a whole lot more. Everything is a highlight on this trip, but getting to hike in the Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks is truly magical.

Check this blog out each day for updates on our adventures including photo or two and a link to a full set of photos from the activities.

Thanks to all the parents and grandparents for your support.

It might still seem like a long time away, but 70 days or so from now we'll be exploring the wonderful natural areas of Wyoming & Montana. It's been four years since I've been there and I can't wait to get back. And neither can the kids and leaders. In fact, several of the kids and leaders were with us on the last trip out there in 2008. 

Now moms, don't worry....we won't intentionally get as close to a bison as it might appear in this photo and no, your son won't come home looking like a pint-sized version of Buffalo Bill. This photo was "borrowed" from the Wyoming travel guide and it just looked like a perfect intro to some of what we'll see and do.