Kristin | Destination Tree

Chasing Montana

November 15, 2015 by Kristin

Montana – We Arrived!

I can’t explain why, but I’ve always wanted to go to Montana. It’s like the mountains and glaciers just called my name. As we drove west and crossed the border into Montana, we hopped out of the truck and celebrated the milestone…we actually made it! (Disclaimer…we were in Montana for about 10 days at the end of September. Yes, I realize it’s now November. I could back date this blog post to cover up this fact, but I’m an honest girl, and I will admit I procrastinated going through our hundreds of pictures to compile this overview post of Montana…so just enjoy it anyway! And if you’re interested, you can check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our cross country routes as well.)

Montana Welcome Sign — Montana – We Arrived!

Turns out Montana is a huge state, with countless miles of flat land and cattle (so much cattle in fact, that all the freeway entrances and exits have cattle guards so that if any cattle happen to stray, they can’t walk across these grates onto the freeway). And while the landscape was definitely beautiful, I was almost holding my breath until we reached western Montana where the mountains rose up and matched my visions.

Montana Cattle Guard — A cattle guard in front of us before merging on the highway in Montana.

The National Bison Range

The National Bison Range wasn’t too far off our course as we headed to Glacier National Park and it was a scenic detour that was well worthwhile.

The mountain scenery was abundant, and I actually started humming… “where the deer and the antelope plaaaaaayyyyyy…” when we saw deer and antelope! The bison on the other hand, they were a bit shy, so we squinted at them in the distance.

Matt & Kristin at the National Bison Range

Moral of the story here, despite bison being the primary draw of the National Bison Range, even without a close up encounter, we were in no way disappointed with our visit.

Spectacular Views at the National Bison Range

Glacier National Park

We chose Hungry Horse, Montana, just outside of West Glacier, as our base camp for settling in and exploring Glacier National Park and the surrounding area. If you’ve ever wanted to go to Glacier National Park, GO. If reading any of this, or seeing any of these pictures (which don’t nearly do it justice) makes you want to go to Glacier National Park, GO. Unfortunately, climate change is a reality, and it’s likely there won’t actually be any glaciers left in Glacier National Park in just a few short years.

Disappearing Glaciers due to Climate Change

One of our first hikes was two-fold. A popular, easy and accessible route on the Trail of the Cedars which connected to Avalanche Trail. We absolutely loved this hike alongside Avalanche Creek and it’s well worth the trek to glacial fed Avalanche Lake.

Trail of the Cedars, Glacier National Park

The color of the glacial water in Avalanche Lake is just too beautiful to be captured in words or pictures. We try though. The magical bluish-greenish color of the very deep and very cold lake was mesmerizing. Also, if you look closely, you can see the very tall, skinny waterfalls carving a path down the mountain from Sperry Glacier to Avalanche Lake.

One of the most popular and iconic things you can do at Glacier National Park is drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road. It’s some of the most incredible scenery you will ever see. We pulled over dozens of times to take pictures and just sit and just soak in the beauty.

Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

I’ll admit, I was white knuckled driving several sections of it, there are some harrowing curves and edges. But if I was nervous driving it, I can’t even imagine the workers who carved and paved this road through and around the edges of mountains. Truly incredible.

Going-to-the-Sun Road, cliffside bridge and waterfall — Going-to-the-Sun road, cliff side bridge and waterfall

Going-to-the-Sun Road tunnel — Going-to-the-Sun tunnel

Roadside Selfie, Going-to-the-Sun Road — Roadside selfie, Going-to-the-Sun road

Some Deep Thinking alongside Going-to-the-Sun Road — Some deep thinking alongside Going-to-the-Sun road

After driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road, we stopped at the St. Mary’s visitor’s center on the east side of the park which had wonderful exhibits on the history of the area and the Native American tribes, including the Blackfoot Indians. We took the alternate route around the south border of the park which led us past the Blackfoot Indian Reservation. Matt has Blackfoot Indian in his heritage and enjoyed learning about his ancestors!

Matt and his heritage, Blackfeet Nation, ice cream cone not included

Would I go back to visit Glacier National Park? Absolutely. I could spend months there. Also, the Grinnell Glacier hike is still on my bucket list, which is near Many Glacier on the EAST side of the park. Turns out, West Glacier was a great base camp, and I’m glad we stayed there, but there’s only one road through the park (Going-to-the-Sun Road, which is NOT trailer/camper accessible) and one road around the park. So, it takes several hours to get to get from one side of the park to the other. Since the Grinnell Glacier hike is a full-day hike, it would have been unrealistic to sandwich it between 5 hours of driving, so we’ll just have to go back. Take note, if Glacier National Park is on your bucket list, learn from my mistake and plan enough time that you can stay on both the East and West sides of the park to explore all the mountains, lakes and glaciers to your heart’s desire.

Kalispell & Whitefish

Kalispell was a very cute little town where we took care of essentials like our grocery shopping and beer tasting. Enter: Kalispell Brewing Company. Great beer, great service, fresh popcorn and even a fun trivia night (although I will admit I am a CHEATER and I look up answers online).

Just North of Kalispell was Whitefish, which was an even cuter town (btw…are you sick of me using words like ‘cute’, ‘incredible’ and ‘beautiful’ yet? Sorry, I need to expand my vocabulary…) But before we stopped in the town of Whitefish, we drove a bit further to the Whitefish Mountain Resort. Mostly known for being a ski destination, (P.S. if you do happen to be an avid skier **shameless plug** be sure to check out this popular ski tree in our shop) they have mountain biking and hiking in the off-season. Let me tell you, anyone who mountain bikes here is either a world-class expert biker, or has a death wish. More likely, I’m just chicken.

We were here for the hiking. However, we weren’t exactly prepared for the Danny-On Trail. We had almost no water, no snacks, and found out it was 3.8 miles to the top where the ski lodge, summit and highest views were perched. Oh, and over 2,000 foot elevation gain. Could we do this? Did we want to do this? Matt planted a seed in my brain that we absolutely could. That was all I needed, I believed it too. So, we gathered our courage, threw out our doubts, filled our water bottles and scraped a few granola bars together to commit to the climb.

A couple things about this hike:

It was past the summer season, and the Fall is considered the “shoulder” season. SO, the chair lift only operated on weekends. We were there on a weekday. If you climb up 3.8 miles, you must climb down 3.8 miles.
We were told the views at the top are INCREDIBLE.

Our previous hiking experience has proven that when you have a quads-a-fire, breath sucking, uphill ascent, that your reward will be a breathtaking summit and well-earned downhill descent. However, a couple surprising things happened on this particular hike. First of all, the views on the entire 3.8 miles to the top were astounding. The fall colors were at their peak, we saw mountains, towering pines, distant lakes, sheer drop offs, fresh bear (and bear cub) tracks and ultimately, scenery worthy of each muscle burning, up-hill step.

The "Danny On" Trail at Whitefish Mountain Resort — The “Danny On” Trail at Whitefish Mountain Resort

Fresh bear (and bear cub!) tracks on the trail

The surprising thing, was that the summit wasn’t the “pinnacle” of the scenery. The ski lodge at the top was under construction, so we didn’t have access to the lookout balcony. The views were beautiful, but not the most beautiful view we’d ever seen (don’t get me wrong, we reveled in making it there and took pictures at the top and also of the ski trail map to prove we made it!).

Proof we're at the top...the summit ski slope map — Proof we’re at the top…the summit ski slope map

But it was a good learning lesson and reminder to enjoy and appreciate the journey as much as the destination. Getting there was even more spectacular than arriving there. And let me tell you, the descent was no piece of cake. It took half the time, but our shins understood the full wrath of a downhill mountain descent.

Dobie asked if we could hop in a gondola or chair lift. Sorry bud! — Dobie asked if we could hop in a gondola or chair lift to get back to the bottom. Sorry bud!

We washed away our muscle aches with some deliciously deserved craft beer at The Great Northern Brewing Company in downtown Whitefish. All in all, it was one of our favorite days in Montana.

Hope you enjoyed some of the highlights from our time in Montana!

Cheers!

Kristin

Our Route Across the Country – Part 2

September 19, 2015 by Kristin

I’ve found it’s easier to break up our route into multiple sections. So, if you’re following along, Part 1 looped us from Ohio to Maine and back to Ohio. And Part II (below) highlights our route across the country from Ohio to Montana.

Part II
September 8, 2015 – September 17, 2015
We have always wanted to go to Montana and Glacier National Park. As it’s already September, we knew we needed to get in some serious mileage to make it in time to enjoy the area before winter descends. Of course, we hit some memorable stops along the way including Serpent Mound, OH, Cahokia Mounds, MO, Sioux Falls, SD, Badlands National Park, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Mount Rushmore, and Devil’s Tower, WY. To view the photo highlights from these destinations visit the album on Facebook.

Then….drumroll, please: MONTANA! Crossing the border into Montana felt like a big milestone and it’s a huge state, so we enjoyed the journey as we traveled further West and watched the landscape change and grow as we approached the mountains. We’re positioned west of Glacier National Park and are ready for some new adventures.

Below is our route map. Read more about the highlights of our time in Montana in this blog post.

Tips: Zoom in and out on the map, and move the map around to get a better look at the route. Or click “View Larger Map” below to get an even better view.

Our journey continues in Part 3 to the Pacific Northwest…

Destination Tree On the Road: Our Route Across the Country

September 18, 2015 by Kristin

For our friends, family and fans that are following our journey, here are some maps of our route thus far. We’ll continue to update this as our destinations and adventures accumulate. Feel free to shout out recommendations, questions and comments. We’ll continue to share pictures on social media, and blog posts along the way, but keep checking back as our cross country adventure continues.

Part I
August 4 – September 7, 2015
Starting out, our primary objective was to drive to the east coast and spend as much time as we could in and around Acadia National Park in Maine. Along the way we enjoyed hiking, kayaking and sightseeing in Adirondack Park & Northern Vermont. After making our way across New Hampshire, Maine, through Portland (and a few breweries) we made our way to Acadia for two weeks. While there, we hiked the many trails of Acadia, explored the coast, visited the easternmost point in the United States at Quoddy Head State Park and even ventured to Campobello Island, Canada. We made another pit stop in Portland on our way out of Maine, enjoyed a few more days on the east coast visiting Glouster, MA, Cape Cod, MA and Gettysburg, PA on our way to Hocking Hills, OH to meet family for Labor Day weekend.

Click here for picture highlights from our first month of adventures and check out our route map below!

Tips: Zoom in and out on the map, and move the map around to get a better look at the route. Or click “View Larger Map” below to get an even better view.

Click here to check out Part II of our journey as we travel from Ohio to Montana.

Top 5 Invaluable Lessons Learned on the Road

August 20, 2015 by Kristin

It’s the ultimate road trip: We’re traveling the country for an entire year! We left our “perfect” life for an “imperfect” future. Sounds like a piece of cake, right? Well, we’re not exactly aimless wanderers, and technically, we’re still entrepreneurs operating our small business on the road…which means staying connected, responding to customers and filling orders.

Fun and inspiration are a big part of the equation though, and we’re absolutely fitting in our fair share of hiking, sightseeing and exploring. However, do not be fooled…we may post the highlight reel on social media, but there are missteps along the way…

766 — All smiles on our first Acadia hike…

Here are five lessons I/we have learned (or rather, been reminded of) on the road:

Everyone’s a New Kid on the Block.

Huh? Not, NKTOB the boy band, but a newbie. In our case, we were newbies to RV-ing. Sure, we read the manuals, watched videos and practiced, but…we were still newbies. #westilldontknowwhatweredoing. So, our first night on the road we met Steve and Rhonda, aka our “RV Angels”.

Basically, they gave pointers, answered questions and were more than helpful as we learned the ropes with our first setup. When we expressed our gratitude, Steve simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “We’re all new kids on the block at some point.”

649 — A little help goes a long way…true for anything in life.

In everything we pursue, we are all beginners at some point. Thank you, Steve, for the wise words, we will pay it forward to other new kids we encounter.

Check the Checklist.

Pilots have checklists for a reason – it’s a matter of life and death. In our case, maybe it’s not life and death, but it’s pretty important when you’re hauling your home and business behind your truck.

We have setup and breakdown checklists which go over each task we need to complete for the trailer hitch, water lines, electricity, etc. Those are some of the big things, but even not doing a little task, like “Check for loose items inside and outside the trailer” is important. A coffee cup on a counter will slide and shatter, duh.

However, we also have racks of supplies and tools in the back for the business. These are all bundled and strapped down with bungees to stay secure when we’re traveling. Unless we forget. We learned that the hard way when we opened the door to shattered shelves, supplies and glass. It was actually WORSE than it looked. There was a lot of broken glass under all that.

Duly noted. Check the checklist.

Enjoy the Ride.

Sounds easy enough. But after years of schedules, deadlines, and my Type A personality, it’s a little harder to employ. Visions of multi-tasking danced in my head…which turned out to be completely unrealistic.

Typing a blog post on a bouncing laptop, while scrolling through social media, and also calling out upcoming turns and merges was not only unproductive, but I was missing all the scenery right in front of me.

704 — The beauty out the window as we drove through Vermont. And I almost missed it!!

So, screens away. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the view. Be okay with taking a few wrong turns. Good advice for a road trip…and for life.

Stop Making Excuses.

It’s too cold. There’s too many mosquitoes. There’s a storm coming. These were the lame “excuses” in my head for why I didn’t want to go outside and look at the stars. I can be a real baby.

Fortunately, I listened to Matt and laid side by side with him on top of a picnic table. The pitch black sky, glittery stars and misty milky way were my reward. The impending storm lit the sky with silent lightning and we counted the meteors until the storm clouds rolled in.

I don’t know why I was making excuses, but I’m glad I didn’t listen to them. Sure, I got a few mosquito bites, but it was worth it.

P.S. No pictures of this. 1) Because a picture wouldn’t do it justice, and 2) Because it was a technology-free night.

Less is More.

We knew this going into it. As we sold most of our belongings, it felt good to declutter, freeing to get rid of things we didn’t need, or use. But the lesson is reiterated again and again as we learn to live in a smaller space.

Sure, we pared down a lot, but even with much less, we’re still only using a fraction of what we brought with us. (Why did I think we needed 4 coffee cups instead of 2? I’m not even going to tell you how many t-shirts, yoga pants and shoes I brought…)

Anyhow, the less “stuff” we have, the easier it is to keep our space organized and livable for two people and two dogs. Less stuff actually gives us more happiness.

And in case you missed it, here’s a tour of our cozy, small space, with less stuff:

Look Out For Dysentery, Cholera and Broken Wagon Wheels

August 7, 2015 by Kristin

Destination Tree on the Road — Destination Tree On the Road

Why the Oregon Trail reference? Well, if you’re following along on our journey, you know we’re on a year-long adventure of growing our business and exploring the massively diverse beauty of the United States. However, before we officially set off on our adventure, we loaded our new horse and wagon (i.e. truck and travel trailer) and drove up from Cleveland to Michigan to spend a week with our awesome family.

When it was time to go, it was hard. And could have led to lots of tears. However, we knew it was just good-bye for now, and not forever. After all, it’s not the Oregon Trail and a Conestoga wagon, it’s not, “Good-bye, I’ll never see you again,” or “Wish me luck with the cholera outbreaks!”

In all seriousness, we’re able to pursue this journey because of modern technology. We have a cozy home on the road and a mini-workshop to run our business in our travel trailer, with reliable transportation. Giddy up!

We also have wi-fi, a data plan, cast iron cookware and social media. Online orders roll in and we create and ship inspirational artwork from wherever we happen to be. (It’s a modern day Pony Express!) We are sharing the inspiration of our adventure via blog posts, pics on Facebook and Instagram as well as videos on YouTube. We’re also emailing, texting, calling, FaceTime/Skyping, and sending the occasional telegraph.

Geez, that’s a LOT of technology. Fortunately, we’re going to unplug along the way as well. Enjoying the journey and the beauty of our national parks can’t be accomplished if our faces are glued to our screens constantly. We could miss herds of buffalo! In fact, I think we can all admit less screen time would be a big improvement in all our lives. Our technology is a double edged buck-knife. It give us an opportunity to keep in touch with our loved ones, but it can also consume our time, attention and the beauty of the present moment in front of all of us. But not if we consciously set down the screen, look around, smile, take a deep breath and enjoy the people and experiences right in front of us.

So, we’re not saying goodbye forever, rather good-bye for now. And see you on the journey. And hello to new experiences, new people and new adventures.

We’re extremely grateful for the love, support and quality family time in Pure Michigan. Feel free to scroll through some of our picture highlights, but then I encourage you to set your screen down and create some of your own highlights without any technology at all.

Yee haw! Live Life Inspired!
Kristin

P.S. I make no apologies for my excessive Oregon Trail references. Actually, I do. But they still make me giggle.

Pete, Matt, Kristin, Dotti, Dobie & Lucy at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron

Matt, Kristin, Dobie & Lucy at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron

Mike & Jean at the Kelsey Museum of Archeology, Ann Arbor MI

Kristin & Matt at Michigan Union, Ann Arbor

“A Certain Way” Sailboat Docked at Lake Macatawa

Chad & Michelle, Captain & First Mate Aboard “A Certain Way”, Lake Michigan

Andrea, Jaden, PD, Matt & Bryce in Downtown Brighton

Mmmm, beer. @ New Holland Brewing Company

Perfect is Overrated. A Little Crazy is Inspiring.

July 25, 2015 by Kristin

This is the story of why we left behind our ‘perfect’ life in pursuit of an ‘imperfect’ future. A real-life “Choose Your Own Adventure”.

Sometimes in life, we chart a path and we set goals and then we never stop to see if we’re still going in the direction we want. But it can be hard to stop and re-evaluate. It can be hard to change.

Ah, change. We let ourselves believe that change is difficult. We get comfortable. In our routines, and our jobs and in the security we think we’ve built. Or, we allow ourselves to fall into the Busy-Trap. Busy with schedules. Busy with chores. Busy, busy, busy.

I’m setting up a scenario here that’s a good description of my own life. Go to school. Get a job. Get married. Build a career. Buy a house. Buy stuff. Be busy all the time. Those aren’t BAD things. I’m glad I did all those things. I WANTED to do all those things, and they made me very happy. It was very much a ‘perfect’ life.

But Matt and I reached a point where we started asking ourselves some thought provoking questions. What did our future look like? How were we spending our time? Were we doing things we were truly passionate about? Up until this point, we had been extremely satisfied with our trajectory, but after doing some soul searching we chose to outline a new plan.

First of all, we wanted to downsize. Our beautiful home and all of our belongings were more than what we needed. We also wanted to build our business full time. Matt was already on this course, but I knew I wanted to do more than part-time night and weekend marketing support. And lastly, we wanted to travel more. Call it wanderlust, but we crave new places and new adventures.

And so it began:
Outline a plan: Check.
Set a budget: Check.
Sell the house and 98% of our stuff: Check.
Research and buy an RV (big enough to fit a 6’6” man!): Check.
Quit my job (fear & guilt abundant): Check.
Hit the road: Check.

615 — Part of the plan…good-bye house. Hello freedom on the road.

Think about it this way. Typically, you read a book from front to back. Page by page, chapter by chapter. But remember those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books? The ones where every few pages you’re faced with a choice and you flip to the continuation of your story based on that decision? And you can take that story in any number of different directions because YOU CHOOSE what happens next?

Well, we’ve been moving forward in our book of life but we didn’t want to get to the end of the book and have regrets. So, we changed our genre to a Choose Your Own Adventure book. We stopped, gave ourselves some choices, and are steering the direction of our story. A new journey, a different destination.

So, our next adventure is two-fold.

Build our online business: Destination Tree. We are passionate about the purpose and fulfilled in the process of creating inspirational driftwood artwork.
Travel the US. Yup, a good ole’ fashioned road trip. We know we’ve seen a fraction of the natural beauty our country has to offer and so we’re taking a year to go coast to coast and national park to national park. And of course there will be some brewery and winery stops in between (we have to stay hydrated!).

Our "Horse & Wagon" — Our home, our workshop, our ticket to adventures across the country.

The two pieces of our adventure go hand in hand. Our mission with Destination Tree is to inspire each other to enjoy and appreciate life’s events, challenges and destinations. What better way to inspire ourselves (and hopefully others!) than to go on an adventure like this?

So, are you ready to quit your job and hit the road? No? Good. That’s not our intention (and that’s NOT choosing your OWN adventure!). Everyone is inspired by different experiences. Yet, we must all strive to live our life without regrets. So, choose your own adventure and don’t be afraid to change the course, or do things “now” instead of “one day”. Because “one day” may never come. Don’t regret the things you didn’t do, the things you didn’t say and the risks you didn’t take.

We are grateful and eager to embark on a journey of adventure and entrepreneurship. We’re not perfect. We might be a little crazy. But we hope as we share our journey via blog posts that you find some inspiration in our story.

Matt and Kristin Rogers...ready to leave a perfect life for an imperfect future. — Matt and Kristin Rogers…ready to leave a perfect life for an imperfect future.

I’ll leave you with a quote I find inspirational: “If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.” – David Viscott

Now, go choose your own adventure!

Live life inspired,
Kristin
(& Matt, my better half, & our two crazy pups, Dobie & Lucy)

Chasing Montana

Montana – We Arrived!

The National Bison Range

Glacier National Park

Kalispell & Whitefish

Our Route Across the Country – Part 2

Destination Tree On the Road: Our Route Across the Country

Top 5 Invaluable Lessons Learned on the Road

Look Out For Dysentery, Cholera and Broken Wagon Wheels

Perfect is Overrated. A Little Crazy is Inspiring.

This is the story of why we left behind our ‘perfect’ life in pursuit of an ‘imperfect’ future. A real-life “Choose Your Own Adventure”.

Now, go choose your own adventure!

About Us

Our Mission

Helpful Links

Montana – We Arrived!

The National Bison Range

Glacier National Park

Kalispell & Whitefish

This is the story of why we left behind our ‘perfect’ life in pursuit of an ‘imperfect’ future. A real-life “Choose Your Own Adventure”.

Now, go choose your own adventure!

About Us

Our Mission

Helpful Links

Connect With Us