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The story starts with a mistake: a spur-of-the-moment zin and a stubborn first cigar that ends in a parking lot spiral. From there, the road opens wide. I head for Zion expecting Angel’s Landing and find something better—quiet miles beyond the crowds, a reminder that the best parts of a park often live past the famous lookout. In Moab, I trudge a sun-baked gravel road that turns into a rocky off-road climb where jeeps crawl and hikers fly, then step onto a cliff-edge viewpoint that makes fear and awe feel like the same breath.

Pike’s Peak brings a different kind of intensity. The summit is busy with cars and a train, but the descent is where things get real—dark clouds, fast choices, and that electric sense that mountains make their own rules. On the way out, curiosity shifts shape. I “rescue” tiny conifers, water them with cucumber-lime Gatorade, and start thinking about roots, survival, and the strange urge to nurture. Omaha is a softer gear: a date shake that finally lives up to the legend and a zoo day with baby elephants and giraffes that kick up my old fascination with animals and ethics.

Then the crash: a hotel parking lot cigar has me dry-heaving, the next morning’s drive turns dangerous, and a test back home names it—COVID. Two locked-down weeks turn into a blueprint. I dive into hardy-tree research, map out sun and shade, fence everything against deer, and start planting. Ginkgos for autumn gold, Dawn Redwoods that rocket skyward, cold-tolerant maple hybrids that bring color to a Midwest winter. Year by year, the yard fills in. What began as a chaotic road trip and a string of bad nicotine choices becomes a practice of growth you can see and touch.

If you like road stories, national parks, hard-won trail wisdom, and the slow satisfaction of building a living space you love, you’ll feel at home here. Listen now, share it with a friend who needs a nudge to take their next trip or plant their first tree, and tell us: which place—or project—changed you the most? Subscribe, leave a review, and join us for the next adventure.