“Cowboy Country” – The Review

When my nephew asked Nana, “where are we going THIS summer?”, I tried to convince her that a nice dude ranch out west would be a good idea.  Luckily, she trumped me and decided to book our whole family on the Tauck Bridges trip out to Yellowstone.  Bridges is the multi-generational brand that Tauck developed to cater to families traveling together.  I of course have loved previous Tauck experiences we’ve had, but was curious how a “bus tour” would be with a bunch of “kids” on board.  I put those terms in quotes because Tauck (along with many other tour companies) chooses to use much nicer terms like “guided vacation” and “young adults” – but to be honest, I was looking at a week on a bus with a bunch of kids – or so I thought.  If you’d like to see the official details about our trip, check it out directly on Tauck’s website, otherwise keep reading for an honest opinion about this tour.  (Spoiler alert- I loved it!)

I’ll try to keep this brief and focus on the aspects under Tauck’s control, and will save my drooling over the destinations for subsequent posts.  So- first off, the itinerary.  We traveled in the eastern direction, so we started in Jackson and ended in Rapid City, which I feel like has got to be the better way.  I say that because the first several days were mostly spent in/around the national parks – Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.  I won’t call these the only “highlights” of the trip, because there’s other great stuff to see on this route, but they’re definitely the most impressive.  Plus, we started the first few days of the week mostly in one place, with the latter half of the week we were crossing the state, so we had days with long stretches in the bus in the morning, followed up with fun afternoons & evenings.  Because we’d had the first few days to get the rhythm of the trip, and to get to know each other a bit, those long stretches in the bus didn’t seem so bad.  There was also a really good variety to what we saw and did each day (rafting, walking through crazy thermal landscapes, wildlife spotting, waterfall viewing, horseback riding, rodeo watching, ect).  It never got monotonous, so to me that means we were moving just quickly enough.  I’m sure they manage it fine the other way around as well, and some people may prefer to finish with the biggies, but to me it worked out really well.

Second major aspect of a guided tour is of course the tour guide!  As usual, Tauck delivered and we had a simply wonderful guide.  Sommer set the tone on the first night letting us know that she was not an “-isher”, meaning that if she said the bus leaves at 9am, that doesn’t mean 9-ish, that means wheels are rolling!  Said with a smile, of course, but I’ll say that we rarely missed a departure time, so it’s good to start off the tour in a no-nonsense way.  Her ability to keep the “young adults” involved and yet entertain the older folks on the bus as well was really special.  Her passion for the destination shone through every time she talked, and she really made those long bus rides during the latter half of the trip fly by. For example, we had an interactive moose drawing competition one day that was seriously fun and hilarious for everyone, and definitely entertained us for a good half-hour or so.  She was always enthusiastic about helping us organize our free time (of which there was plenty), and we quickly learned to listen to her advice as it was spot-on.  

The third thing under the tour company’s control is of course the bus and driver.  It’s the one you think about the least before choosing a trip, but seeing as how you spend a good portion of your time on the bus, it’s definitely something to consider.  Our bus was clean, modern, and comfortable.  It did offer a bathroom, but after Sommer’s explanation at the start about how the bathroom functions, I think it was used strictly in emergencies – I never noticed if anyone actually used it at all.  Tauck has a wonderful “round-robin” seating policy for the bus, which means that you aren’t relegated to one particular seat the whole trip, just because you happened to be late on morning one.  In this case, each family shifted rows each day, so we could swap around family seating as needed.  But that said, we only had 40 (or just under) on our trip, so there was room in the back for taller guys to stretch out or kids to group together if they wanted (which did happen from time to time!).  Our driver was really wonderful as well.  Something you hardly ever think about, but he definitely deserves a mention because he was the one who often spotted wildlife, or reacted quickly enough to stop so that everyone on the bus could see the moose down the hill before it disappeared into the woods (for example).  We never lurched around, nobody got car sick, and he kept the bus SUPER clean for us, so we never really had window spots in our photos.  

And finally- where we stayed and ate is the final piece of the puzzle.  This is really one of the biggest benefits of going with an escorted tour, because they really have the relationships and the connections.  There is only ONE Old Faithful Inn, and you not only get to stay there for two nights, you also get to eat in the grand dining room for dinner both nights you’re there (if you want – there is another option as well).  Keep in mind that this amazing, historic Inn sells out ages in advance, so being able to stay there in the height of summer was really impressive.  We also stayed inside the park down at the Tetons, at the Jackson Lake Lodge and it’s spectacular views out over those amazing peaks.  I think everyone’s favorite overnight was spent at the utterly charming Ranch at Ucross, whose nice cooling pool is complemented by mooing cattle, tennis courts, miles of fields to run & play in, and of course a campfire for roasting s’mores.  The last night’s little lodge even had views directly onto Mount Rushmore!  I will also add that the night at the Holiday Inn in Cody, with air conditioning and televisions, was a welcome change in the middle of the week, though it won’t win any awards for beauty or charm.  🙂  As for the food- I was coming in with low expectations, but again was pleasantly surprised!  Nearly all of the meals are included, and most were on-site at the hotels.  We had more variety than I expected – in other words it wasn’t ALL hamburgers and steaks – and we always had plenty of choice, even in buffets.  They even organized several meals where the young people all ate together so that the parents/grandparents/ect could have some “adult-time”, which was welcomed – plus the kids LOVED those nights.  A stand-out included meal was our lunch at the historic TA Ranch (location of the stand-off in the Johnson County “war”) which was homemade (of course), delicious (from brisket to cookies), plentiful (almost too full to ride!), and served up by the cutest-little cowboy-in-training (a grandson if I’m not mistaken).  The few meals we had “free” gave us the opportunity to branch out from buffet fare, but I will say that on a family trip- finding tables for 8 or 10 last minute in the high season isn’t the easiest.  Needless to say, we were all quite happy with having most meals taken care of.  🙂

So those are the basic needs for a trip taken care of, and Tauck did a great job on each account.  But what makes Tauck so special, to me, is all the little extras.  Each day brought a new little surprise, from snacks on the bus to keepsakes we’ll have forever.  They’ve partnered with the excellent documentary filmmaker Ken Burns on these trips, and though he may have had some say in the design, where you really see the fruits of the partnership is in a series of video vignettes.  Periodically we would get to see little 5-10 minute films on various subjects from Ken and his producing partner.  These ranged from evocative history nuggets, to their own family stories (and old home video) of their past trips, and what the national parks mean to them.  They really added an emotional edge and help root you to what you were about to experience.  My sister and I honestly got teary at one of them about how great it is traveling with your family – and that’s the point.  Tauck did such a great job taking care of us, that we really got to enjoy the time together as a family!  We weren’t stressed about timing or where to eat or where to stop for the bathroom.  We could just enjoy each other’s company – and enjoy watching the kids make new friends, become engaged with the nature around us, and really grow up a bit before our eyes. I’ll stop now with a selection of photos from the trip that hopefully help illustrate just how great I thought the trip was – remember to just click the picture to move to the next one.  (And no- Tauck didn’t pay me for this or my trip, nor do they know I’m writing this.  These are my honest opinions!)