Open range

We spent a lot of time, and miles, in open range on our road trip. We saw more deer and elk near the roadways than cattle, but were always on the lookout for anything with four legs. Especially moose, once we arrived on the west side of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. And ironically, in that country, the high country of eastern Idaho, we found that moose... but also found more cattle on roadways than anywhere else on our trip.

East of Island Park there's a long back road that leads to Cave Falls, and an unexpected back door into Yellowstone National Park. I lost track of the number of times we had to slow down to shoo cattle off the road, sort of a Pilot-as-cowboy move that had us in stitches.

This country speaks to me, the high grasslands and rocky mountains of the West, and I've grown to love its scenery. There are enough trees to keep the landscape green and interesting, but enough open land to let you see for miles.

Being there reminded me of a friend from the Tri-Cities. Chris grew up on the western side of the Cascades, and loves the trees and mountains and sheer green of western Washington. But he prefers the east side of the state. "Trees are beautiful," he always said. "But not when they get in the way of the view."