What I Learned, Looking Forward, Looking Back: August 2026

Happy Monday! As I mentioned in my last post, August was a full month! I definitely saw a lot of great things, connected with some great people and logged a lot of miles. I also took over 4,000 photos and that does not even include ones that other people took for me on their phones and shared! Buckle up and stick around to find out more! 

As always, I'd love to hear what you're up to! Please copy and paste the questions at the end and add your answers to the mix! 

Where was I? Montana, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska & Iowa (phew, that was a mouthful!) 

What country related books or documentaries did I watch? 

Read: NONE! My reading in August was basically non-existent

Watched: NONE! Woof. 

Did I complete any other items on this year's looking forward list? 

✅New food <-- Huckleberry bear claw, which is a big thing in the Glacier NP area (my take? Despite loving bear claws and huckleberries, I found it a bit overrated!) 

✅New beer (*new category) <-- too many to count! However, my favorite was Mustaches and Man Buns! How's that for a name? 

✅ New States  <-- Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota (which leaves me with only three more to finish all 50!) 

✅ New National Parks  <-- Cuyahoga Valley, Indiana Dunes, Theodore Roosevelt, Yellowstone & Badlands (+ Mt. Rushmore, which is not an NP)

✅ New thing <-- So many! Here is one: Floating on the Flathead River, which reminded me of my childhood (we did A LOT of rafting and tubing)

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1. What is the name of last month's chapter? 

January: Devouring the Sweet Potato

February: Back in the Groove

March: Serenity Before the Storm

April: Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

May: The Ring of Fire and Ice

June: On The Road Again

July: A River Rides Through It

August: That's What Friends Are For

August was the month of visiting and hanging out with friends, both new and old. My oldest friend I visited was from high school and I had not seen her in about six years! 

2. What did I learn last month? 

I learned a lot about capitals and capitols! We visited four state capitol buildings, Bismarck, Helena, Pierre and Lincoln, and in that I learned a lot about the buildings themselves, the towns and the states as a whole. For example, I did not know a lot about the Montana gold rush, or the fact that North and South Dakota are the 39th and 40th state, but this was not deliberately chosen; the papers for statehood were shuffled around, making it fair that one would be first and the other second but not actually choosing one over the other to be ahead in line. 

My quick take on capitols: there are lots of circles! 

Various things found in ND, MT, SD, NE
(Check out Birchie's blog for more detail coming soon!)

3. What was the weather like? 

It varied. The weather in Montana was great, but very smoky. Then Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota were humid and hottish. North Dakota, Montana (again), Wyoming were good temperatures (50s- 80s for the most part) and not humid. South Dakota was hot (90s) but not humid, then as we headed back east, the humidity came back! I am not sure I am cut out to live in the Midwest, more due to humidity than the extreme cold (I lived in Iowa over a winter and it got down to -30 f, but I still think that's better than super humid!!!) 

4. What event last month was my favorite?

This is too hard to choose, so I will do some quick bullets. 

- Staying with my HS friend and going tubing with her, having great catch ups and hanging out. 

- Hiking in the Bob Marshall Wilderness with Bugsy

- The Blogger Extraordinaire Road Trip with Birchie (her posts so far: Days 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12)

- Seeing many bison in the wild 

- Visiting five national parks, including some sleepers

- Many small exploratory hikes and runs

- Meeting Doggo

- Meeting several bloggers IRL for the first time

- Meeting up with several bloggers for a second (or more) time

....and too many more to list! 

A taste of the national parks. 
(stay tuned for more)

5. What was the best thing read, listened to or watched last month? 

Book: On the Banks of Plum Creek (one of only TWO books I read this month! 😒)

Movie/Show: Traitors UK (I had seen an episode or two before, but Birchie and I started watching it from the beginning)

Podcast: Elisabeth's two interviews on BOBW and The Reframe

6. Tell us one funny recent story. 

I liked the story about how Helena actually cheated in order to get the capital status, and this was not found out until much later when restoration work was being done on some of the officials old houses and they found a bunch of hidden votes (for the other city of Anaconda)! 

7. What am I looking forward to this month?

Catching up on admin, having a routine, and seeing another old friend or two! 

Your turn! To copy/paste, highlight the text below and click CTRL-C, then put the cursor in the comment box and click CTRL-V.

AUGUST:

1. What is the name of your last month's chapter or the theme of your last month if you prefer that?

2. What did you learn last month?

3. What was the weather like where you are?

4. What event last month was your favorite?

5. What was the best thing you read, listened to or watched last month? 

6. Tell us one funny recent story. 

SEPTEMBER: 

7. What are you looking forward to this month?

Bonus question! Tell me about your oldest friend! When was the last time you saw them? 

Since You've Been Gone

You may have noticed my lack of posting recently, but one of the things that I've decided to do more, especially in summer, is to live life and to try to be off the internet more. I know; it is not easy! There are so many things that can suck me in! I've done a lot of blog reading here and there, but not much commenting, so I apologize for that! I am going to do a rapid fire summary of some of the things that kept me from being present in this space over the last few months and then you will also be seeing some recap posts about some of my favorites along the way. Some will be a little bit of a repeat of prior posts but I will try not to bore anyone! 

After being in Bangkok for the month of April, which meant hot hot temps and a general lethargy due to the humidity (despite or maybe also due to eating lots of good food), I was kind of ready to go home and see people and be in cooler temps! It started with a flight home on May 1st. 

May: (recap here) I had a great time with friends on our "regular 12" loop around the Marin headlands, then set off on a 10 day Alaska cruise. This is something that I would recommend to you even if you are not a cruiser. My Mom is not a huge travel fan, mostly due to the getting there and away aspect, but even she was wowed, and now talks about doing it again! We saw animals, glaciers and lots and lots of beautiful scenery. Plus I went to Glacier Bay, a new National Park!

Glacier Bay NP

Then, after visiting some friends, I headed to Tucson, where I started a 2,700 mile bike ride from Mexico to Canada. It was hard at first, and quite hot and dry, but soon I had my legs and it was so fun to see some of the interesting smaller towns and beautiful dirt road scenery of Arizona. Fun fact that most people may not know: Arizona has a lot of pine forests, not just desert! Another fun fact: Tucson public transit is free! Yippie. 

Mogollon Rim, AZ

June: (recap here) When I arrived at Flagstaff, I headed back (by bus) to Phoenix to fly to San Francisco for the World Cup. I took the Greyhound, which was not bad. Also, the Phoenix local bus system was not too shabby either. I stayed at a very swanky hotel using points, met up with a high school friend and her son, then headed to SFO. After the game there, I spent time with family, then headed to Seattle for more family time, another game, and a fun trip to Bainbridge Island (Fun fact: for $10 you can get a nice ferry ride, a great view of the skyline, and a nice wander, and plenty of options for lunch and coffee). The World Cup was fun and is something that I am really glad I did, despite the cost. 

Bainbridge Ferry, WA

After the game, and the wonderful weather of the Bay Area and Seattle, I headed back to the oven that is Arizona, and pedaled north. I visited the Grand Canyon and had a harrowing ride through the Navajo Nation before accepting a ride with a semi truck driver to Kanab UT. From there I headed north through UT, skirted Bryce, saw a cattle drive, finally had more water options and camping in the shade, and got to ride on Skyline drive (a 100 mile stretch of road above 10,000 feet). 

July: (recap here) I rode through Utah, including the Park City area, dipped into Wyoming a bit, then skirted the border of Idaho and Montana for a while before riding through a really cool section called the Magruder Corridor, which is about 100 miles of complete wilderness. I made friends with motorcycle riders, camped near some beautiful creeks, and rode up hills that I never would have thought I could (go legs!) I then popped back into Montana for the final stretch north, where I arrived at the Canada border near Roosville. Along the way, I had a nighttime encounter with a bear, but he and I parted ways amicably! 

Lots of cows (WY + everywhere)

August: (recap pending) The first half of the month consisted of hanging out with an old high school friend in Montana, then meeting up with my hiking partner, Bugsy, for some time in Glacier NP and a seven day hike in the Bob Marshall wilderness. This was great, except for the fires and smoke, and some major "bushwhacking" through downed trees due to some crazy winter microbursts. At some points we were climbing over piles of downed trees that were easily 15 or 20 feet high! 

Bugsy in the trees! (MT)

After leaving Bugsy, I headed to OH, a new state to me, to meet up with Birchie. She showed me around the state, introduced me to my new favorite beer, and made sure that when I said that I had "been to OH" before, I really meant it (not just through the airport as I had in the past). Then we set out for The Blogger Extraordinaire (TBE), a roughly 4,000 road trip from Ohio to Montana and back, with a goal to see lots of capitol buildings, national parks and PEOPLE. And that we did! We also ate good food, stayed in some interesting accommodations, learned a ton of different things, talked about everything and did some hikes and runs along the way. More recaps will be coming soon about this. Let's just say that it was good, but stay tuned for more! 

While you wait for my road trip recaps, you can read Birchie's posts: Days 1-3, 4-6, 7-9

Stay tuned for some favorite places, animals, eats and lots of fun rating systems where I rate runs, accommodation, national parks, new states and more! 

What fun things have you been up to this summer!?! Lay it on me! 

What I Learned, Looking Forward, Looking Back: July 2026

Happy Monday! I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer and is getting plenty of time outside in the sunshine! As you are reading this, Cristof and I have just completed Segment One in Montana and are celebrating with ice cream, beer and a well deserved swim! In case you have not been following along, this means we are done! 

The last leg was quite smoky unfortunately and I spent a lot of time dodging fires again. 

Captured on 07/25/26
Not shown: Canada fires

And as you often ask after a journey like this, what's next? I will be staying in the US for a couple of months, doing some hiking, road tripping and housesitting before setting off for another international destination. More on this later! 

I'd love to hear what you're up to! Please copy and paste the questions at the end and add your answers to the mix! 

Where was I? Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana

What country related books or documentaries did I watch? 

Read: finally finished On The Plain of Snakes by Paul Theroux (Mexico)

*Also read these, not related to this year's travel plans, but good all the same! 

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (China)

First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung (Cambodia)

Watched: The Real Story of the Sunshine Mine Disaster which is about an incident in the 70s at the Sunshine mine near Kellogg, Idaho, when a mine fire filled the tunnels with deadly carbon monoxide. Ninety-one miners lost their lives, making it one of the worst mining disasters in U.S. history and leading to major improvements in mine safety and emergency equipment.

Did I complete any other items on this year's looking forward list? 

✅New food <-- Fry Sauce (apparently a UT special, made from mixing mayo, ketchup and a few other spices etc. I love mayo, so of course I was a fan!) 

✅ Book about country <-- On the Plain of Snakes (Mexico)

✅ New thing <-- Saw ospreys and a muskrat in the wild

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1. What is the name of last month's chapter? 

January: Devouring the Sweet Potato

February: Back in the Groove

March: Serenity Before the Storm

April: Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

May: The Ring of Fire and Ice

June: On The Road Again

July: A River Rides Through It

I rode along many creeks and rivers in July, thank goodness. It was a welcome relief from the dry, hot plains and deserts I had been near before! 

2. What did I learn last month? 

I learned about fry sauce, what the difference is between an osprey and an eagle, the difference between the screech of a hawk and a falcon, and that a muskrat is MUCH smaller than a beaver (PS beavers are huge). 

I also learned (noticed?) that people in ID and UT don't fly their state flag as much as people in AZ do (or it is not as obvious?) and that the ID state flag has the state seal on it, and this seal is notable for being the only U.S. state seal designed by a woman. The UT flag and highway signs all have a beehive on them, which is a symbol of hard work, cooperation, and perseverance, specifically due to the early settlers, who were part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

I also learned (just now, when I was going to use the acronym "LDS") that church leadership asks people to avoid using "LDS" or the nickname "Mormon" as a substitute for the name of the Church. Preferred terms if a shortened name is used, are "the Church" or "the Church of Jesus Christ."

3. What was the weather like? 

It was great! Sure, sometimes it was hot, in the 90s or even above 100 a few times, but for the most part, nights were in the 40s and 50s and daytime temperatures were in the 80s. The only issue really was the smoke, and it was heavy (and really smelly) at times! 

Red sky in the morning, firefighters take warning

4. What event last month was my favorite?

Again, it really is too hard to decide. I am going to do a post later with a wrap up of the bike trip, including some favorites, so for now I will say that the animals I saw were a highlight! Here are some interesting additions from July.  

🌟Water animals, including a muskrat, a river otter and one dead weasel/ferret. 

🌟A plethora of birds, including three baby ospreys in a nest (It was huge! I thought it was an eagle's nest at first), two juvenile (and curious) owls, pelicans, sand hill cranes, many waterfowl and various flitting and flapping and chirping other birds that I cannot name. Oh and many hawks, who screamed and screeched above my head as I was riding. 

🌟 Rodents galore and of various sizes, including marmots, squirrels, chipmunks, ground squirrels and probably prairie dogs (I honestly am not sure of the difference between the last two). 

🌟So many hooved animals, including deer and elk, tons of Bambis, many MANY cows, horses, goats, pigs, buffalo and llamas. 

🌟Randoms such as bunnies, snakes (mostly dead, only two rattlers), butterflies, and bees. 

Note: I did not see any bears; nor did I see any prints or scat. I am not sure why not!  

5. What was the best thing read, listened to or watched last month? 

Book: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. Set in 1933, this is the story of a little girl in a Mississippi orphanage, the vice squad, who at the time was trying to get rid of all illegal activities, such as gambling, drinking and prostitution, a childless "old maid" named Birdie and her social climbing sister, and many other intriguing characters, who are all tangled together in some interesting ways. 

Movie/Show: I haven't really watched TV at all, but I do have a few Jim Gaffigan standup bits saved on my YT for nights when I need a pick me up. I especially like this one where he roasts Canada (while, of course, performing in Canada). If you like it, there is a full length version. 

Podcast: This episode of Lives Less Ordinary, which made me cry a little while riding my bike, about a family getting lost at sea while trying to escape from Vietnam by boat after the Vietnam War. 

6. Tell us one funny recent story. 

I finally finished the bike route, and took myself for a second breakfast to celebrate. [Quick backstory: I probably burn between 3,000 - 5,000 calories per day most days. I generally eat breakfast around 6:00 am and by 9:00 am I am already hungry again]. I walked into the local breakfast joint around 10:00 am and there was a large table of older gents (Montana rancher and cowboy types) all eating and chatting. 

Tuesday Breakfast Club

When I am hungry, I want it all, and can never decide between sweet and savory, so I ordered biscuits and gravy (with eggs and hash browns) and a side of pancake. When it came out it was a lot of food, but I knew I could do it. Not one, but several of the cowboys commented, saying things like, "are you expecting someone else?" and "there's no way you will finish all that!" and "don't worry; they have to go containers." Um, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, gents! So I ate it. All of it. By the time I was finished they were gone, but I told the server to make sure she let them know the next time they were in that I DID IT. 

What? I am a Taurus, people. Plus, seriously, I really was hungry! 

Table for two one!

7. What am I looking forward to this month?

Spending time with friends! 

Your turn! To copy/paste, highlight the text below and click CTRL-C, then put the cursor in the comment box and click CTRL-V.

JULY:

1. What is the name of your last month's chapter or the theme of your last month if you prefer that?

2. What did you learn last month?

3. What was the weather like where you are?

4. What event last month was your favorite?

5. What was the best thing you read, listened to or watched last month? 

6. Tell us one funny recent story. 

AUGUST: 

7. What are you looking forward to this month?

Bonus question! What is the weirdest animal you have seen in the wild? Have you every had Fry Sauce?