Prologue: The Grand Adventure, Part Two

The Forces of Nature Tour began as a sequel to last summer's Grand Adventure, a continuation of our quest to visit as many of America's National Parks as we can.

Originally the trip was to include Badlands and Yellowstone. But a friend encouraged us to include Glacier because, as he pointed out, the glaciers for which the park is named will likely all be gone (melted) by 2030 or so.

Then, mere weeks prior to our departure, we realized that at Glacier we'd be so close to the Canadian border -- why not include parts of Canada on our trip?

So with a firm itinerary finally in place, we mapped out our 5000 mile round trip. The picture compares last year's Grand Adventure to this year's adventure.

Wait ... Did I say "firm itinerary?" "Final?" When two curious, intrepid travelers and a loyal, fearless dog have a sturdy and roadworthy SUV at their disposal, nothing's final. The itinerary became fluid, flexible. There were changes. Read on ...