Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are the Romies. We are married.

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To each other.

Speaker 1: 0:08

Right, we are a touring musical duo.

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And our music has taken us to all kinds of places all around the world and keeps us always on the go.

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So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while running around working to keep all your plates spinning.

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And we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle and feed your inner travel bug.

Speaker 1: 0:31

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Romy's podcast. Today, our special guest is Jennifer Broom. Jennifer Broom is an expert Excuse me, I'm sorry, something in my throat, sorry, jennifer. She's an expert on our national parks and national monuments.

Speaker 3: 0:46

Are you not doing that voice the whole time? Come on, yeah, sure I'll do it.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Okay, you have to commit now.

Speaker 1: 0:53

Yes, she's an expert on the national parks and national monuments and she has been seen on television all across the country and, I'm sure, internationally as well, and we are so blessed to have her as our guest today. Welcome, jennifer Broom, to the podcast.

Speaker 3: 1:09

And yes, you are correct, television in the US and abroad.

Speaker 1: 1:13

That's right, baby. That's how you started your career television star.

Speaker 3: 1:16

That's right. Tv meteorologist. Still do a little weather every now and then? Yeah, of course.

Speaker 1: 1:22

Rainy days and Mondays.

Speaker 2: 1:24

Well, we are so glad that you have graced our episode with your presence and your knowledge.

Speaker 1: 1:29

This time we're going to talk about winter places to visit, national parks specifically to visit, and national monuments. Perhaps in the wintertime in the US, take it away.

Speaker 3: 1:42

My number one favorite national park to go to in winter and this might surprise you yellowstone in the winter yes, yes, I know y'all are like what that's a lot of snow and cold yeah, you're like wait a minute, don't they have like temperatures that drop to 30 below zero?

Speaker 2: 2:04

Yes, they do.

Speaker 3: 2:05

Yes, they do, but it is truly Yellowstone season of snow and steam. You will not have crowds because of one major reason being that most of the roads in Yellowstone are closed in winter. And yeah, there are still some roads on the northern side, so Wyoming, going into Montana, that area is still open and then around West Yellowstone also still has some, so you can get some access from that side. So on the northwest and the western side of it and then also down towards Jackson, but the majority of the park, the roads are closed and so the only way to see the park is to see all of it is to jump on a snowmobile and go on a grand adventure and I had the opportunity to do this going from Cody, which is kind of the East gateway to Yellowstone, and it's just incredible.

Speaker 3: 3:02

So you drive over from what the know what Theodore Roosevelt called one of the grandest landscapes in America, and so you go in from Cody, you jump on your snowmobile and my guide Dean and I, when we hit in the national park and we're driving along, we didn't see anybody for hours. I mean it was, and honestly I'll tell you the number of bison that we saw outnumbered the people tremendously you know tremendously and we did you know?

Speaker 3: 3:31

we did see some bison on the roads there. You know, look, they're going to be smart and take the path of least resistance, and that's the road.

Speaker 1: 3:39

Thanks for clearing this for us.

Speaker 3: 3:41

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm honestly going to say it is a little bit nerve wracking. You know, when you're on a snowmobile and you come up and it's like whoa, there is a massively large bison.

Speaker 3: 3:50

I'm very thankful that I had a highly trained guide, very experienced, and told me what to do, and that we just keep cruising on but I just it's almost like, don't look at them, just go, don't make eye contact, just go.

Speaker 3: 4:05

But then to see that, but then we would have other times that we would see in some of their main kind of winter feeding meadows, just to see so many of them together and it just really to me was such a special, special opportunity and as grand as it is to see, like the bison, I mean, we spotted fox, we saw a coyote on a recent kill, which is not necessarily something that you would see. You know that happens in wildlife, that is part of the circle of life, not necessarily something that you might witness in the summertime and you know, just seeing like this incredibly beautiful fox just sitting there on a hill and being able to just watch its fur blow in the wind, also on the road, having a coyote come right by us hunting for its dinner, could have cared less that we were on the other side of the road, that you know, but it was so because we weren't a threat to it.

Speaker 1: 4:55

No, you're in his world.

Speaker 3: 4:57

Yeah, we're in his world and you know, it was just kind of like we kept our distance and just watched, you know, and having that opportunity to witness that, but to also get all of the geothermal features to go into, like Norris Basin, to see Steamboat Geyser, that was just incredible. But then we, with my experience that I did, we got to stay at Old Faithful Snow Lodge, which is just open in, the only open in the winter. But we overnighted there and so we got to Old Faithful. It's about 430. So you know, winter that's getting right there at sunset and there were less than 10 people, including the two of us, less than 10 people watching Old Faithful go off.

Speaker 3: 5:42

And so that in and of itself to to me is for that reason alone is why you should go to Yellowstone in winter. But it's also, if you, you know, beyond the snowmobiling from kind of the Old Faithful snow lodge, you can do things like cross country ski snowshoe. There's some opportunities like that. So if you don't want to do all the snowmobiling adventure, I understand that you can. You know can can also do some things from there. But Yellowstone in the winter by far and I've been in Yellowstone in every season and in cause.

Speaker 3: 6:11

I love it I truly do love it, and it is 1000%. My favorite season is winter. Wow, and if you're wondering, okay, what about? How do you deal with the cold? So it's Gary Fales Outfitters that I went with out of Cody, and the other ones do this too. They provide you with a snowmobile suit. You still want to make sure that you have on multiple layers underneath, but they do give you that extra protection for those times, especially when those temperatures are, you know, are certainly quite frigid.

Speaker 2: 6:42

Okay, so we've got that, yeah, yeah, okay.

Speaker 3: 6:45

So just south of Wyoming or just south of Yellowstone, I'm going to take you over into Moab. You know a lot of folks are like what go to Moab in the winter and by all means. I had a local tell me I was staying at Airbnb and was chatting with the local that owned it and she just gave me some great advice. She's like when is the best time to come? And she said November and February are the two best months. I'm giving out all the secrets. They won't be now, I know, I know You're welcome Moab the two best months to go because you don't have crowds, you don't have to get up at oh dark 30 to hit a trail, you can have warm afternoons.

Speaker 3: 7:30

You know, and she's right, you know, as somebody who's also been in Moab in every season, you know it is a spot. It's only for me from Denver, it's drive time, it's about six, six and a half hours. So you know it's very approachable to do, you know, a three-day weekend over there. But I love the winter because of the less crowds. It is the opportunity to. And I'll just tell you, I went in January and a couple of years ago and we had great weather in the afternoons. I mean, I literally was at some points down to a t-shirt in the afternoons in January.

Speaker 1: 8:01

Wow.

Speaker 3: 8:01

Of course you dress. You do need to dress warmer. You are in desert, so you know it's dry conditions.

Speaker 3: 8:07

But if you're going to go in the winter and you want to do something like delicate arch it is one of the most iconic hikes in arches and if you want to do that hike, you want to make sure you take some traction devices, because there's a backside of it that's really shaded and traditionally, especially in January, we'll have at least a little ice, so you have to be prepared for that. So trekking poles and traction devices on your feet are a great idea for that particular small area. But in January look, the reality is you can have delicate arch with less than 20 people, versus the summertime, when you are going to have hundreds of people there.

Speaker 1: 8:43

Literally.

Speaker 3: 8:45

Literally hundreds of people. Wow, yeah, it is one of, if not, and I actually think it's the most popular hike in Arches, and don't underestimate it. A lot of people say, oh, it's three miles round trip. It is on Slickrock. You do have a couple of significant inclines with it. It is not easy and I'm a hiker and a trekker so I was like, just be prepared, don't do it in flip-flops. A lot of people do. People do all the time, especially on a slick rock.

Speaker 3: 9:17

You want to make sure just any time of year that you do have some good treads on your shoes on that hike. But it is wonderful, but you get that, and then you can also go and see the windows, watch sunset right there at the windows, without the crowds. You can do an easier hike and do sand dune arch, tapestry arch and broken arch. That's an easy, flat hike. One of my favorite hikes in arches one of them is 00 arch. That is a little bit more strenuous so you do have to watch and I would not do that one in winter without traction devices on my feet. That one's one, but the other one that I just love is Fiery Furnace, and you can. It's a little bit easier to get that permit? I believe the only permit. It's 50 or 52 permits a day for Fiery Furnace. That's not a lot.

Speaker 3: 10:05

I believe they only permit it's 50 or 52 permits a day for fiery furnace? Um, it is, it's not, it's not. And so the odds are that you could potentially get that, especially on a weekday in the winter, or much higher. I mean, honestly, we ended up I took my best friend's youngest son, um, you know, and of course we went into fiery furnace and and it is um very loosely marked, very, very, very primitive trail Trail. Yeah, I feel like you're choosing your words.

Speaker 3: 10:32

They're literally like, actually not even that big. They're about that big little arrows, that kind of point the way that you follow Maybe you can see yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:42

Maybe you can see we got lost.

Speaker 3: 10:43

at one point. We were like we had to retrace our steps because I was like I cannot tell her. I was like, oh gosh, this is just not good. I was like her son is with me, this is not going to be good, I have to bring him home alive. I mean, we laugh about it now, but that was part of the fun and it is that moment of you have to depend on all of your senses and you might have to do what we did and backtrack just a little bit.

Speaker 3: 11:11

But there are unmarked arches in there, like I said. I mean, there's points where you're really scrambling on all fours. There's little narrow, slick rock areas where you're like you're like Spider-Man, like stuck, you know, climbing through very, very near a canyon wall. So I love that. So, so arches and, of course, canyonlands. Just as I talked about Delicate Arch, mesa Arch in Canyonlands and the Island in the Sky unit because there's three units to Canyonlands and the Island in the Sky unit Mesa Arch is and not just in the National Park, I even think in all of Utah.

Speaker 3: 11:48

well, it's one of the top spots in the country really to catch sunrise because of how the sun comes up on that arch, and in summertime you will have hundreds of people there at sunrise. In winter you might have 20 or 25 at that at the most. What's the difficulty in getting to it for sunrise?

Speaker 1: 12:03

the most. So what's the difficulty in getting to it for sunrise?

Speaker 3: 12:06

It's not so for Canyonlands. You do have to allot that. It's a 40 to 45 minute drive from downtown Moab, so you do need to allot for that time. But then you get to Mesa Arch and it's a short hike it's less than a half mile.

Speaker 3: 12:20

So I mean it's a very easy hike to Mesa Arch, which is part of the reason why you have so many people that go there, because it is a more accessible. It's not fully accessible, but it is more accessible to a wide range of hikers being able to get in there. But so, yeah, and I would also say, don't miss the state park that's right there. So after you've gone for sunrise, make sure you stop at Dead Horse Point State Park. One of the best views in Moab is in that state park.

Speaker 1: 12:46

Come on.

Speaker 3: 12:48

Point State Park. One of the best views in Moab is in that state park. Come on, it's so incredibly spectacular and you know it is fun just to get Moab in those in wintertime when accommodations are a little bit less.

Speaker 3: 12:56

It may not be anymore, A little bit easier to get into some of the restaurants and enjoy some of the spots without the crowds. You've got that. Take you into West Texas. Several years ago, I did a road trip with a dear friend of mine. Well, it was 2017. First time I went to West Texas, a dear friend of mine from San Antonio took me and we did a. It was two chicks, five days, thousand and one mile road trip in West Texas. It was epic Go girls.

Speaker 1: 13:34

Yes, yes, my friend Carol and I had the best time.

Speaker 3: 13:37

But since then I've been back multiple times and one of the big reasons is because of Big Bend National Park. They're in Terlingua, texas, and Big Bend is the only national park with an entire mountain range within its borders. It does sit on the US-Mexico border, so if you're going, take your passport, because there is a passport control where you can go through and it's so much fun, it really is so much fun to do this. There's this the Mexican town on the other side is called Boquillas and there are about 45 or 46 families that have lived in Boquillas for generations. So you know, so you go through, you get to, you get to the Rio Grande, you go across in a rowboat. So make sure you take a little cash with you, because that rowboat oh, it's so much fun.

Speaker 3: 14:23

That's awesome so it's like five or seven dollars to go across on the rowboat. Then you get to the other side and you can go one of three ways. You can jump in a truck. Well, you can go four ways. You can walk if you want, jump in a truck, or you can ride a burrow, or you can ride a horse. We chose to ride the burrows because why would you not do that? Right, I will honestly tell you. I actually we did that adventure in June and it was 117 degrees. I would much rather do that in winter.

Speaker 3: 15:02

You know, I mean it's just, it's so. That's why I suggest and I have been in Big Bend in the winter and I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy it. So so, yes, you go across, then you can go have a fun lunch, incredible Mexican food, as you would expect. It is very safe in that town. And so you go, you have your lunch and then come back across and there's hot springs once you're back on the US side. But you have to have your passport because you are crossing the border and so then when you come back to the US side and you're back into Big Ben, you can go. There's hot springs that are not far from that border crossing.

Speaker 3: 15:26

But just the epic drives. I mean Big Bend. They always say everything's bigger in Texas. Well, I mean Big Bend is massive, massive, and I mean it's just an incredible landscape to enjoy. Some of the other areas to go to in Big Bend Santa Elena Canyon is a phenomenal, it's beautiful, the canyon walls and you can hike up in it and see it. You know, like I said, the drives, and then the Chisos Mountains.

Speaker 3: 15:54

Now I will say they are doing some construction at Chisos Basin. That is one of the places. It is the place where you go if you want to do the windows hike, lost Mines both of those are two of my favorite hikes in the park, so just be aware of that. But they are doing some renovations. They are doing adding in more accommodations and upgrading some stuff.

Speaker 3: 16:12

So, just to alert you, you are going to need a little bit of time and going to have to deal with that as we go through winter and I think it's going to last. I think it actually lasts for a whole nother year. So just a heads up make sure when you're checking which you should always do for Indian National Park you should go to that National Park website and also, on National Park Service app, you should go onto the park and save the park that you're going to save it for offline use. So you have maps, so you have. And if there's like a, if there's a auto tour, all of that's in there so you can listen to the different parts of the auto tour, at least read about the different spots. So make sure you save in the app, the National Park Service app, that you save for offline use. So just and to have the maps that's a big thing to have.

Speaker 3: 16:59

But on those, whether it's the app or their website, they always have the alert sections and it's invaluable to make sure that you're reading and knowing what the alerts are. And that could be for everything for a construction closure, for the road closures that happen seasonally, because in winter some of the roads do close in national parks for the winter conditions, but then also, you know, potentially for wildfires or significant weather impacts that have happened. All of that is going to be in that alert section on the website or in the app. So, big Bend, west Texas oh it's, it's. That's one of my favorite places on earth, so I'm sharing all my favorites but another one that I also love to go to in winter, and the final one for the winter section is Saguaro National Park in Tucson.

Speaker 3: 17:41

It is Tucson, first of all, was the first and only one of two UNESCO cities of gastronomy in the United States.

Speaker 2: 17:49

The other is San.

Speaker 3: 17:50

Antonio, and so you know it's kind of like when you go. Oh well, that makes sense because they are both. You know, you think of the unique kinds of food that both of those two cities San Antonio and Tucson that they have, but you definitely want to make sure you allot time to eat your way through Tucson.

Speaker 1: 18:06

We have no problem with that. Yeah, no, I'm up for it.

Speaker 3: 18:09

And I know you guys love music. They have a phenomenal music scene in. Tucson, Especially, put this one on your list. Hotel Congress.

Speaker 1: 18:18

Hotel Congress.

Speaker 3: 18:19

Okay.

Speaker 1: 18:19

All right.

Speaker 3: 18:20

Iconic spot. Oh yeah, you guys need to stay there. Lots of history, there's ghost tours, all sorts of stuff there, and even there's ghosts related to music.

Speaker 1: 18:30

So yeah, put that one on your list. I've got a few of those following me around.

Speaker 3: 18:37

I know it sounds like a country song, right? Yeah, so you know the Ghost of Me. So yeah, I'll write that now yeah.

Speaker 3: 18:47

So, but it's such a cool. Saguaro National Park does have two units and they are on the east and the west side of the city. They also have in Tucson very new and it's the only spot in the world that I'm aware of and I wrote an article for Condé Nast Traveler on it. It's the Astro Trail and it came out this year and it is such a cool thing that they've connected the different spots from observatories to include places like Saguaro National Park, which is an urban dark skies place. It's one of the few in the world. It is an international dark sky park, but if you love stargazing, it's one of the spots to do that. But I love this park because of the giant saguaros.

Speaker 3: 19:26

I mean, they are the giants of the Sonoran Desert, the cactus, the cacti if you're talking about them, plural that just dot the landscape and they're not the only ones. You know there's barrel cactus and the ball cactus and the organ pipe cactus, you know there's just, there's a variety of them, but the big giant saguaroas that are hundreds of years old, you know they're just iconic and beautiful. So it's a credible spot. You know I have done several years in a row, kind of just done a quick solo trip down to Tucson just to get away, down to Tucson, just to get away.

Speaker 3: 20:03

And there's something so healing and wonderful about that spot of just nourishing your soul and giving you a little bit of of just rejuvenates you and takes away the holiday stress, um you know you're in between Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays. So so it is such a beautiful park. There's tons of great hiking If you're a cyclist, especially in the East unit. There is an incredible paved loop if you're a road cyclist, and it's also a scenic drive for those of us who aren't necessarily.

Speaker 2: 20:28

I used to be a road cyclist back in the day.

Speaker 3: 20:30

Don't so much anymore, but it really is a mecca for road cyclists. But it's beautiful there and on the West side there really is incredible hiking. Signal Hill is my favorite on the west side. It's very short. I believe it's a half mile round trip. It is so worth doing it, though it is in the west unit, or the west district is what they call it. It is on the scenic drive but you go up and you do the short little. You know quick little quarter of a mile hike up to the top and you get up there and there's rock art everywhere and then you're looking out over a sea of saguaros, and it's just what a contrast.

Speaker 3: 21:08

Yeah, you know, I mean it's just. It's like wow, I feel so blessed to stand here and see and tap into ancient societies, but also enjoy this phenomenal landscape that is the American Southwest.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 3: 21:20

And to do it in such an incredible city that has so much history and culture. And I could go on and on about why you should go to that national park and also about Tucson, but just put it on your list. And if you haven't thought about going in December, by all means do it. If you go in December and promise you it won't be your last, I actually went and you guys will love this, because you know I love a good road trip. The reason I went the first time was because I was checking off all the national park service units that I'm doing, but I was able to visit nine within three hours of Tucson, nine different units within three.

Speaker 3: 21:52

Yeah, I wrote a huge article for AAA national on it.

Speaker 2: 21:55

And there, so there's a lot.

Speaker 3: 21:57

there's a lot to do, Um, and surprisingly, in Southern Arizona, you know, it's just incredible. So so there you go, I'm taking you from season of snow and steam in Yellowstone to the season of I don't know what cacti splinter.

Speaker 1: 22:13

Yeah, that's right, that's good. Right, that's your name in your article.

Speaker 2: 22:20

There you go. Well, we can use that in the podcast. Yeah, that's right. Awesome, awesome, and we'll also put in the show notes referenced your guide and things like that, and, of course, all of Jennifer's info will be in the show notes. Jennifer, do you want to just tell us real quick how people can find you? Sure.

Speaker 3: 22:37

Eas easiest is to hit me up on my website, that's sweptawaytodaycom.

Speaker 2: 22:41

Also, follow me on Instagram, tiktok, whatever, and it's at Jennifer Broom travel and of course, it's Broom like a sweep width with an E on the end Awesome Again, that will be in our show notes. You'll also find it on the socials and we've been sharing just some of the highlights that Jennifer has shared with us on our socials, so we hope that you enjoy diving into that and checking out these sites visually there. Jennifer, thank you so much. We really, really appreciate having you. Thank you for all your expertise and just your fun. Personality and the way you describe things is so great and rich and poetic and we just love that. Thank you for this whole season, this whole year of national parks that you've shared with us.

Speaker 1: 23:23

I've got some things to put on my bucket list. Now, yeah, dang, for reals.

Speaker 2: 23:27

Because we are already in Texas. Hopefully we can take our listeners to Big Bend with us this year We'll have to see if we can get that worked out. Hey, I'll meet you guys there Come on baby All right, that'd be super fun. All Come on, baby. All right, that'd be super fun, all right. Well, we'll see you there or on the next one.

Speaker 1: 23:43

Yes, you've been listening to Jennifer Broom, national travel expert and expert on the US Park National Park System. Thank you so much, jennifer Broom, for being with us.

Speaker 2: 23:58

We hope we've inspired you this episode, so join us next time. Please subscribe to rate and share our podcast with your friends or you know whomever? And please like and follow us on Instagram, youtube and Facebook.

Speaker 1: 24:08

We are also on X and on all social platforms. We are at TheRomies, that's T-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S, and our main hub is our website. At wwwtheromyscom, that's right, that's D H E.

Speaker 2: 24:25

R O A M I E Scom. We'll be there until next time. Thanks for listening, bye.