Friday, July 30, 2021

Travel and Leisure

TL;DR -- The T&L magazine has its 50th this year. Some articles on areas of the U.S. caught our attention. But, it was the visit to Yellowstone and the Tetons that was first seen. The author even mentioned the trappers and traders as well as the American Indians who were familiar with the area. 

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This is an unusual post. Since travel has been restricted the past year, Travel &Leisure (T&L) had various articles from the past, for a while. Then, we had people writing of their trips to local sites that were close to where they lived. That was a nice touch. Everyone recognized that they had overlooked some great opportunities when opting to venture far away from home. We might look at some of those. 

What motivates this is the 50th anniversary edition that is just out. As well as looking at travel since 1971, they also offer some trips that had been thought about for a while but not done. There are two articles with an U.S theme. One was a loop by a French couple through the literary landscape of New England. Stops were made in Concord, Amherst, Lenox, Pittsfield in MA and Hartford in CT. Many names were mentioned, however the sites visited were connected to Alcott, Dickinson, Melville, Wharton, and Twain. We will look further into that later. 

As an aside, the 400, 300, 250, 200, 100 is on the horizon. SAR has a clock on their site. That's for the 250th part. The 400th still needs definition. According to the Gloucester MA folks, it's 2023, a mere two years. But, we say there are 10s of MA towns that will be celebrating for a few decades. Too, are presence will be persistent and consistently oriented toward the then and the now. T&L mentioned this. 

Which brings up the 2nd article. It was of the west. The author writes that in her 19th years, she and a friend boarded a bus in New York. After 40 hours they ended up in Billings MT after being glued to unfolding as they went west of the U.S. landscape. Their destination was Yellowstone. Of course, Gardiner, the gateway city on the northern end, was mentioned. The two were going to spend the summer working in the Yellowstone Hotel. In this return trip, she brought her son. Of course, they covered the area, including being in Jackson Hole WY. 

What got our attention was that the author really enjoyed her first experience which had a lingering effect. So, we got to see her reminiscing but also talking to experts about the changes. She mentioned the awe that the American Indian and the trapper/trader must have had on seeing Lake Yellowstone for the first time. We have been looking at rivers in that vicinity in our look at waterways associated with movement to the west. And, we appreciated that the author took time to report details that are important. Here is the article to read (thank you, T&L). 

Why I Took My Son on a Classic Adventure
Through Yellowstone and 
Grand Teton National Park

Let's look at a couple of lists that T&L put together for people in the U.S. who might want to do a car trip this year. Lots of people are buying travel trailers with that in mind. 

  • Best US Cross-country Road Trip - nothern route -- It starts in the west with Seattle WA. Then we see Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. They only did nine so we're already five. Then, we have Minneapolis MN and Chicago IL. The final two are Pittsburg PA and NY NY. They mention the need to stop in Yellowstone. In the article mentioned above, there are notes about the early exploration plus the push to make the area a National Part. 
  • Best US Cross-country Road Trip - southern route -- Again, starting in the west we have LA CA, Sedona AZ, the Santa Fe NM, Amarillo TX, OKC OK, Hot Springs AR, and two in TN (Memphis and Nashville). Then, they go to NC and VA. They had to go out of the way to get to Sedona AZ but did put the Grand Canyon on the list.  
In terms of the western expansion, Santa Fe was there early in New Spain. The map of the routes west shows their following somewhat along the natural terrains (Western expansion) that allowed the early travel. 

Again, this is a landlubber post which we will balance with posts of nautical themes. 

Remarks: Modified: 04/07/2022

08/05/2021 -- Added the TL;DR. 

04/07/2022 -- Change Native Americans to American Indians. 



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