Home

When we returned from our whirlwind travels, we landed back in Arizona at my mom's house. We recovered and did a whole bunch of errands for a few days. We discovered the trailer had a roof leak while we were gone, requiring some new roofing membrane. After that, we hitched up the truck and trailer, put sweet Hazel in the back, and hit the road.

We started off at the Grand Canyon. William had never been, so we added it on to our agenda. We didn't do any hikes because we didn't have much time, but we got some great views from the rim.

After that, we drove to Petrified Forest National Park, in northeast Arizona. We were actually blown away by this park. This area used to be a giant forest in the late Triassic period. Fallen trees became buried and covered by sediment. Instead of decomposing, they became fossilized into a type of quartz. When tectonic plates shifted and the Colorado Plateau was formed, erosion started to expose the layers beneath. Over time, the fossilized logs were discovered. There are thousands of these petrified trees in the park, and they are spectacular. I was blown away that I could see the rings in the tree just like I was looking at a freshly cut stump, yet I was touching a rock. And the colors were incredible!

After spending a few hours at the park, we drove to Colorado and visited Mesa Verde National Park. I actually don't have any pictures of the park, since I left my phone in the car and only took the GoPro. Mesa Verde has some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan sites in the world. This includes cliff dwellings, which are massive houses carved out of the cliffs. This picture is from the internet, but you can get a sense of the size and architectural wonder of these dwellings. Most of these were built in the 1200s and are still standing today!

From Mesa Verde, we drove to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The Gunnison River carved a narrow canyon, so steep that parts of it only see 33 minutes of sunlight a day, leading to the name of Black Canyon.

Again, we didn't have much time to hike, so we mostly just drove the South Rim and walked out to viewpoints. It definitely was a steep and narrow canyon!

After that, we drove to Great Sand Dunes National Park. This is located in southeastern Colorado, and the dunes seemed to come up out of nowhere!

The last four parks were dog friendly, and Hazel especially had a blast playing in the dunes!

From there, we drove north to the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. This was one of the most beautiful stretches of our road trip. We drove through many mountain passes and ski towns, including Breckenridge. We stopped off the highway for a break and found this beautiful lake.

Hazel got a chance to stretch her legs.

Next, we headed to the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. This area is huge. We spent the night in National Forest land outside of Grand Lake, Colorado. The next morning, we drove through the park, stopping at the Alpine Visitor Center, elevation 11,796 ft, the highest visitor center of all the national parks. We did a short hike there and could definitely feel the altitude. Next, we headed east out of the park to National Forest land near Estes Park. We had a great spot and stayed there two nights. From there, we drove into Boulder to resupply and check out the town. After being out in the boonies, it felt incredibly crowded, and we were happy to return to our little trailer. The next day we went back into Rocky Mountain National Park to do some hiking, leaving Hazel back in the trailer (no dogs allowed in this park).

We then headed north to Wyoming and stayed the night somewhere between Laramie and Jackson. The sunset was incredible.

The next day we drove through Jackson Hole to Grand Teton National Park.

We did a short hike along Jenny Lake and marveled at the jagged mountains in the background.

From there it was a short drive up to Yellowstone National Park, where we explored the vast geothermal areas.

We even got to see a few bison on the way! Hazel was incensed at the big fluffy cows crossing the road.

From Yellowstone, which is located mostly in Wyoming, we crossed the border into Montana, our new home!

Last year, I accepted a position at the Billings Clinic in Montana to start their orthopedic oncology program. Currently, there are no orthopedic oncologists in Montana, Wyoming, or North Dakota. Patients requiring this specialty typically travel to Seattle, Salt Lake City, or Denver to get care. I am thrilled to be starting the program in the region and providing care for patients closer to home.

Several weeks prior to this trip, I found out that the annual Montana State Oncologic Society meeting was taking place in Big Sky. I registered and was able to meet some of the medical oncologists and other cancer specialists that work in Montana. All of them were really excited that I was going to be starting the program in Billings, which I was very thankful for. After the conference, we drove to Billings and moved into our new home. We decided to rent a furnished house for six months to get the lay of the land and settle in. So far, we have loved Billings!

We live in an old neighborhood right by the hospital. There is a park about a half mile away that Hazel already loves!

About a fifteen-minute drive from our house, Riverfront Park gives us access to the Yellowstone River.

Another fifteen minutes in the opposite direction is trail that overlooks the Yellowstone River.

I'm still in the very early stages of starting out. I will be travelling a lot in the next few weeks, going across the state to meet other physicians and make them aware of the new service we have in Billings. I am excited to see how things unfold, and it feels great to call Montana home!

Our road trip in a nutshell:

And of course, the video.