Tour-ons. I love it. The buffalo and bear stories underscore, in an outrageous way, some of what we said earlier about travel safety. When people are on vacation, many seem to let their common sense go on vacation, too. Carefree turns into careless. I feel sorry for the Estes Park bear (and the people on the other side of the hill!)

I haven't been to Estes Park but have been to Denver, Colorado Springs and up to Breckenridge. I remember driving through a tiny little town called Alma. It looked like a set for a western movie.

On our "Ribbons of Highway" journey, the kids and I stayed in Cortez in Colorado's southwest corner. We used it as a base from which to visit Mesa Verde. Cortez bloomed with banners that read, "Thank God for Firefighters!" The whole area was alive with wildfire and wildfire threat that summer of 2002, and this made for some unique experiences and encounters, which you'll read about in the book.

On the "Ribbons" journey, we crossed the Continental Divide about six times in different places and states. When we crossed it for the last time on the trip, I felt sad because I knew it meant we were pointing east toward home and the eventual end of our journey. I started feeling nostalgic for a beautiful journey that still had thousands of miles left in it. The trip was a gift in so many ways and on so many levels, and I just wanted to keep unwrapping and unwrapping and unwrapping it forever.

You don't have to have perfect spelling skills to homeschool your kids. You just have to always know where the dictionary is and point them to it. [Smile] How old are your kids? Have you always homeschooled them?

I've been noodling an article idea around in my head and might shoot a query off to a homeschooling magazine: travel as an educational tool. Have you ever used travel as part of your homeschool curriculum? There are such rich opportunities to teach and learn about art, history, government, the environment, language, theology, cultures, geography, geology, and just about everything else. As homeschooling families are not bound by a set school calendar, I'd think you could scoot out for journeys of discovery -- big or little -- more frequently than families tied to a formal academic year. More chances to get out there and poke around.