Beauty in the Badlands and the men of Mount Rushmore

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Beauty in the Badlands and the men of Mount Rushmore

I’ve visited many places I thought qualified as the middle of nowhere. As a teenager, I thought my college town in western Kentucky was remote. A recent visit to Great Basin National Park in Baker, Nevada took me six miles off the “Loneliest Road in America.” And Big Bend National Park was all the way in southern Texas, on the Rio Grande and the US border with Mexico.

But nothing feels as remote as the Badlands, especially when you’re still 35 miles from Wall, South Dakota, and your gas tank light comes on. That was my harrowing experience earlier this month.

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Jackson, Wyoming: A Wild West Adventure Epicenter

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Jackson, Wyoming: A Wild West Adventure Epicenter

Jackson, Wyoming is the epitome of the mountainous, wild west I had in my imagination. If you’re looking for an adventure with dramatic mountains, two stunning national parks, copious wildlife, and a small-town feel, Jackson is the place for you.

Even though I visited this month, in a “shoulder season,” I could tell that summer and winter possibilities here are plentiful. During my six-day stay, there was a balance of all seasons: two days of sun, two days of snow, and two days of rain. Despite the weather (or because of it), I found so much to do and can’t wait to plan my next visit.

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Going to the Sun in Glacier National Park

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Going to the Sun in Glacier National Park

I recently spent a few days in Glacier National Park. I will definitely be back – and can imagine this park being amazing any time of the year.

Glacier is in Montana’s Rocky Mountains, northeast of Whitefish. I arrived, played, and left just as snow-filled clouds were rolling in. I needed to be moving fast at this point on the road trip, but I regret not being able to stay at least four days here earlier in the season.

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Recommendation from Laura Megivern, Board of Directors, IMPACT Conference

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Recommendation from Laura Megivern, Board of Directors, IMPACT Conference

“Michelle completed a full website redesign for us at the IMPACT Conference. She was great to work with – flexible, prompt, and really took the time to understand our unique needs, organizational history, and capacity in order to find sustainable solutions for us. I highly recommend Michelle for organizations looking for marketing and design work!”

Laura Megivern

President, Board of Directors

IMPACT Conference

Learn more about the website work I do with nonprofits.

Recommendation from Laura Megivern

Using Google Analytics to inform a non-profit website redesign

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Using Google Analytics to inform a non-profit website redesign

A non-profit website redesign is an exciting prospect, presenting an organization the opportunity to modernize options, rethink user needs, and update, well, everything, from text to images to site architecture. But a new website should lean heavily on one major component of the old website and that’s analytics. If you have Google Analytics (GA) installed on your current website, it’s likely a treasure trove of information which should inform your redesign.

Here are the ways you should use Google Analytics to inform your non-profit website redesign:

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Notes from 100 Coffee Shops in 7 Months

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Notes from 100 Coffee Shops in 7 Months

When I embarked on a road trip across the US, I wanted to see new cities and states, national and state parks, old friends, and new views. As the wheels kept turning, it became obvious that my real purpose was to take a coffee tour across the country. Of course, I knew I was addicted (ahem, passionate) about lattes, pastries, and coffee shop life before embarking on my travels, but the way I enjoyed coffee shops at home had almost become second nature – they had become my “third place” each weekend and even many mornings and evenings.

On the road, my enthusiasm for coffee (and coffee shops) became vital once I could no longer rely on the routines of home. Soon I found myself visiting one or two, sometimes three, new coffee shops in a day. Coffee shops became the places I had breakfast, picked up local newspapers, overheard local chatter and accents, got my caffeine fix, and continued to work for my marketing clients.

On August 30th, I rolled into Eugene, Oregon and visited my 100th coffee shop on this, so far, seven month road trip across the United States. Tailored Coffee Roasters was a great landing spot for my 100th and I enjoyed a small iced caramel latte, a slice of really great avocado toast, and good conversation with the barista.

Here’s a best-of recap of the 100 coffee shops I’ve visited in the previous seven months.

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The most romantic Crater Lake National Park

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The most romantic Crater Lake National Park

If you want a romantic getaway in a stunning setting, Crater Lake National Park would be my suggestion. Even though I was camping in the park this month, I decided to treat myself to a little bit of luxury and Crater Lake certainly offers the best of it.

Crater Lake National Park is in southern Oregon, in the Cascade Mountains. Its namesake isn’t actually a crater, rather it’s a caldera. A caldera is the depression left by a collapsed volcano and Crater Lake’s Mount Mazama is thought to have lost 2,500 to 3,500 feet in height around 5700 BC. In the following 700 years, the lake slowly filled in with fresh rainwater and snowmelt.

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