Jackson Hole, New Friends, and Revisiting Old Dreams on the Road
Our week in Wyoming left a permanent mark on our EarthRoamer LTS — not any pinstriping like so many other souvenirs from the road, but something we now keep tucked in our magazine holder: a small watercolor painting of our rig.
One of our campsites was right along a beautiful, shallow river. We set our chairs in the water, dipped our feet, and watched the dogs wade and chew sticks. A camping neighbor wandered down to fish, and we struck up a conversation. At one point, he said, “With a rig like that, I’m assuming you’ve got Starlink. Any chance I could borrow some internet? I’ve got an email to send for an online class I’m taking.”
It turned out this man, probably in his 70s, was taking a watercolor course. In exchange for Wi-Fi, he offered to paint our EarthRoamer. The next morning, while we took our meetings, he painted, and then left the piece on our steps for us to find.
He wasn’t the only stranger who surprised us with kindness that week. A few days earlier, another couple offered to share their campsite when we couldn’t find an open spot. Before we started traveling full-time, plenty of people warned us to “be careful out there” — but honestly, our experience has been the opposite. We’ve met so many kind, open people who add to our adventures and leave us with memories we’ll carry long after we part ways. These friendships are often temporary, sometimes lasting only an evening, but they form quickly and leave a lasting mark on our travels.
From there, we headed to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Jacob had learned about the Loam Pass — a relatively inexpensive pass that gives you two days of downhill biking at each of a number of participating ski resorts. It’s not ideal for locals who just want a season pass at their home mountain, but for us, traveling from place to place, it’s perfect (and if you use it enough, it works out to just a few dollars per day at each resort).
Downhill mountain biking has been on Jacob’s list for a long time, so getting started at Jackson Hole felt like hitting the jackpot, though it might have set the bar impossibly high for every other resort. With lower elevation than we’d been riding in Colorado and perfectly groomed trails, he quickly found his rhythm, clocking 25 mph on multiple runs. It didn’t take long to figure out how lift service worked either. After his first attempt to roll the bike into the gondola (and a chuckling employee suggesting the bike lift instead), he had the routine down. Of course, it also meant adding another massive full-face helmet to our already tight storage.
Traveling into Wyoming also meant preparing for grizzlies. After our moose and mountain lion sightings in recent weeks, we decided to be a bit more prepared and bought bear spray. We even read up on what to do if you see a grizzly, or worse, if one charges. The summary? As incredible as it would be to see one, we’re really hoping we don’t.
Our next stop was Grand Targhee, a place we last visited five years ago. Back then, we had just gotten married. It was the middle of the pandemic. Jacob was working in an entirely different industry, and I was about to start a new teaching job at a brand-new school. We still loved road trips, being outside, and dreaming about the kind of life we’re living now, but at the time, it felt like a far-off possibility.
This time, we returned in our EarthRoamer instead of an off-road Jeep with a rooftop tent. Jacob finally got to try the downhill biking he had only watched wistfully from the base of the mountain five years ago. Revisiting a place we’d seen in such a different chapter of life was a reminder of how far we’ve come — and how much of the dream we’re actually living now.
Watch more of this week’s adventures in our video!