Wandering Bixbys

Wandering Bixbys Trisha & Dennis Bixby's Travels

How can staying outside Glacier National Park for two months be bad? For us it’s not!!! We are truly enjoying our time h...
07/16/2026

How can staying outside Glacier National Park for two months be bad? For us it’s not!!! We are truly enjoying our time here so far.
While we have to work 5 days a week for 3 hrs a day we still have had time to relax and explore. Working 5 days in a row has taken some getting use to again. The work is physically demanding but good for us. We clean rustic cabins with bunk beds, lodge rooms, clean restrooms, and odd jobs. One thing I learened is that we will never have bunk beds. I am over making them. Lol. The best part is we have met some great people.
Exploring the park late in the afternoon has been great. Less crowds!!!! The wait in the morning to get into the park has been over 2 hours. The most we have waited is 5 minutes.
With us being here over a holiday, and now a major concert/rodeo weekend, we have been avoiding the major tourist spots. We have driven the Going to the Sun Road several times, relaxed in Lake McDonald, and visited St Mary’s. Our favorite has been a drive to Bowman Lake.
In the next few weeks we hope to get in a few hikes and kayak lake or two. Any suggestions on where to hike of Kayak?

So glad to have the opportunity to share our RV life with some great friends. Steve and Desi, I know the living quarters...
07/02/2026

So glad to have the opportunity to share our RV life with some great friends. Steve and Desi, I know the living quarters were tight and the rides were long but the views outside made up for it.
We started out our 2 week road trip in Las Vegas, where it was 111*F, ended in Hungry Horse Montana, with rain and lows in 30’s. In between, we made stops at Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks.
Each park had very different experiences. Zion, was hot, crowded and stunning views from a bus. Bryce, we boondocked, less crowds and even better views. Capital Reef, was added last minute and short, will definitely need to go back. Grand Tetons, very little wildlife, shopping, good food, evening boat trip, and early morning photo shots. Yellowstone, wow the wildlife did not disappoint. Glacier, well let’s just say when it rains it pours, flooding and closures. (Steve and Desi we will need to come back)
Oh I forgot about driving the Hogsback road in Utah and the Beartooth Pass. The Hogsback is a winding road with stunning views. Dennis did great with the 14 percent grade for 4 miles in the RV. The Beartooth we took the Jeep.
All in all, traveling with friends made the trip. 😊

Time sure goes by fast when you are visiting family. We spent the last two weeks in Michigan and Ohio. Graduation party,...
06/16/2026

Time sure goes by fast when you are visiting family. We spent the last two weeks in Michigan and Ohio. Graduation party, moving storage, dr appointments (check ups) hair appointments (much needed), family dinners, shopping with Stephanie, Movies with James, lunch and car maintenance with Becca, a trip to the 180th fighter wing with Evan. Wow we were busy. Would not change a minute. Well except to add more minutes. We already miss them all but we will be back in October. If we didn’t see you this trip we will see you then. Now back to the RV and the heat. (104 in Las Vegas). It’s time to travel in the RV!!!

Well it’s been 6 months and our time at the refuge is over.(for now) Our time spent there was filled with learning new s...
06/11/2026

Well it’s been 6 months and our time at the refuge is over.(for now) Our time spent there was filled with learning new skills, sharing our knowledge and abilities, seeing new places, and most importantly making new friends.
The month of May brought spring to the refuge. This meant song bird migration and nesting waterfowl. Seeing and learning about all the song birds and it
The weather started to heat up and the winds started to blow even more. The dry dirt caused duststorms. The dust in the desert is no joke. We had a storm go through that was almost a haboob. It looked like rain in the distance but it was dust. The campground had trees fall. So we got to test out the chippers Dennis fixed. The temps got up to around 100. It was time to leave. But not before an important hard labor opportunity. The refuge needed help removing plastic mesh that birds and reptiles were getting caught in. It was tough but rewarding. Even if someone decided to get the truck stuck twice. Nope wasn’t us! I will not name names. lol
All in all our time was well spent and we look forward to going back next winter for three months. We know better than to stay through May. It’s to damn hot. lol
June is bringing a vacation back home and then traveling with friends! We are so excited.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone. Hope you enjoyed your day!

Is it May already? April seemed to fly by. They have been keeping us busy at the refuge. Dennis has fixed more equipmen...
05/04/2026

Is it May already? April seemed to fly by. They have been keeping us busy at the refuge. Dennis has fixed more equipment, from skid steers, wood chippers, to golf carts. You would think that they would run out of things for him to fix. However the desert takes a toll on the equipment. I have been keeping busy working in the visitors center and getting some seat time in the skid steer. No I did not break the skid steer lol. I also made some coat racks for the shop and offices. A trip to San Bernadino and Barstow to pick up equipment was a long drive, but got us out and about. The biggest highlight at ttime to get out and explore the area more. One trip took us up to Elko, NV to see the iconic Big Boy 4014 steam engine on his coast to coast trip to celebrate the Nation's 250th birthday. A couple of Jeep road trips; the first was Mormon Wells RD with our friends/fellow volunteers, Tim and Lynette. The second was up Mt. Irish Rd with our visitor services coordinator, Olivia.
As the weather starts to warm up we have started to see more wildlife. Some pretty neat ones and a few spicy ones. Lets hope the spicy ones stay away.
We welcome May even though it is our last month here at the refuge. But it means we get to fly home for a much needed visit. he refuge this month was the Carp rodeo. We manned the registration booth and helped set up/tear down.
We have taken some

Our fourth month at the refuge has been filled with ups and downs. Well mainly just in the temperatures. Day time temps ...
04/03/2026

Our fourth month at the refuge has been filled with ups and downs. Well mainly just in the temperatures. Day time temps in the 90’s and nights in the 50’s. These temperatures and the rain brought on a superbloom in Death Valley National Park.
We decided to take the RV and spend a week in Death Valley. The flowers were stunning. Seeing the desert come alive in spring was a bucket list item. We were also able to see water in Manly Lake at Badwater Basin, which is typically a dry lakebed. While in Death Valley we stayed at “The Pads” - a boondocking spot just outside the park. It was quiet, convenient and free.
Back at the refuge, we finished our heavy equipment training and did some duck biology. Dennis worked on more equipment and I reorganized the utility room with their wadeers and boots.
Being at the refuge was not all work. We did a 4 mile hike hoping to see some cacti in bloom. We did see some buds but nothing open yet. Still a little early here. Lots of birds returning to the refuge though. We’ve also had a few campfires with some new friends(fellow volunteers). Spending the spring in the desert has been wonderful. Oh, Trish also experienced her first earthquake - a 3.2 magnitude about 20 miles away.

As February is coming to a close we think back on the month and our adventures. Boy we have had a busy month. Volunteeri...
03/01/2026

As February is coming to a close we think back on the month and our adventures. Boy we have had a busy month. Volunteering at the Refuge has been a great experience. We are doing things we never thought we would be able to do. From helping build a guzzler for big horn sheep, helping with duck research, and being trained to drive heavy equipment. One of my hopes while being here was to get to experience snow in the desert. Well that happened too.
On my bucket list was seeing Bryce Canyon with snow. Well we watched the weather and noticed they were to have a large snowstorm. So we headed out with just the Jeep on a 4 hour drive. The views on the way to Bryce were stunning. When we arrived,there was 2 inches of snow and blue skies. We relaxed in a hot tub that evening while the snow storm started. Overnight Bryce received about 2 feet of snow and it continued to snow most of the day. All I can say is wow!
On our way back to the refuge we drove through Zion hoping for snow. Well, they had just a dusting and predicting 2-5 inches over night. Unfortunately we were not able to stay this time. Hopefully we get to see Zion with snow next year.
We went out a few days in hopes to seeing fighter jets in action during Red Flag. (A large international air warfare exercise, sponsored by the US Air Force, hosted at Nellis AFB) We did see some, but they were way too high for pictures. However it was fun to be out in the middle of the desert watching our Military do its thing!
One of the best things that happened this month was an unexpected trip to Las Vegas to see family. Their light was canceled and they needed to overnight in Las Vegas.
We have some exciting adventures planned for next month too.

I forgot the two most important photos. The snowman and us! Last year I got a photo of a snowman in a palm tree in Flori...
02/25/2026

I forgot the two most important photos. The snowman and us! Last year I got a photo of a snowman in a palm tree in Florida. Now a snowman in a Joshua tree in Nevada.

We got to experience snow in the desert. At Pahranagat and Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuges we got snow last week....
02/25/2026

We got to experience snow in the desert. At Pahranagat and Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuges we got snow last week. I got the pleasure of photographing the refuge. Here are a few of my favorite.

Address

295 Mather Dr
West Glacier, MT
59916

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Wandering Bixbys posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category