Downsizing is a natural reaction to a complex world with stress levels sometimes off the charts. There is a growing nostalgia for a simpler time with fewer choices – not more. The recent orgy of acquisitiveness (not unlike that of the Roaring Twenties, which we all know was followed by the biggest downsizing of them all) has led us to rethink our priorities. Do we really need to possess gigantic wardrobes or live in “McMansions” to be happy?

This excess doesn’t just apply to material goods but also to experiences. When I first started in the tour business – over thirty years ago now – it was the norm to cram as many miles and stops into a day as physically possible, in the belief that the longer the list of attractions and the more exhausted the traveler was on return, the happier he was.

That type of tour is still out there – alas – but an increasingly larger number of today’s travelers are more interested in quality than quantity, and tour operators have responded with itineraries which provide a more in-depth experience rather than a laundry list of sites. In other words, less is more.

My company, Shebby Lee Tours, is a very small one. We don’t offer cookie-cutter tours or scores of departures. Each program is custom-designed to provide meaningful travel experiences specifically designed to expand travelers’ understanding of what they are seeing and how it got to be that way. While travelers wanting this kind of experience have always been out there, I personally have been gratified as time goes on to see more and more of them knocking on our door.

So if you are looking for more distinctive, personalized, and authentic travel experiences, you’ve found the right tour operator.

Let us help you find just the right excursion to fit your desires.

After all, it’s not the destination, it’s the journey.

Shebby Lee is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West. Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO. She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

As I grew older I added summer camp in northern Minnesota to my vacation schedule, and that too was something delicious to look forward to.  One Christmas vacation I attended a camp reunion in Minneapolis.  It was a joy to see these summertime friends again and in addition to the festivities held at a swank country club, we took an excursion to the site of the camp north of Brainerd.  It was disorienting to see the familiar cabins and paths buried in several feet of snow and my beloved lake – the scene of so many happy hours spent sailing and canoeing, swimming or challenging the waterwheel – was frozen solid.  It was so cold, not even the ice fisherman were out that day.  I have never returned in the winter again.

As a theatre major in college I was expected to do summer stock to build experience, and thereafter summer theatre became a treasured part of my annual routine for many years, even after marriage and children.  But old habits die hard and I continued to spend my winters mooning about the delights ahead if I could just survive another upstate New York winter!

In fact, I liked summer so much that Spring was my favorite time of year – because it meant summer was on the way!

Looking back from this high hill of my life (to paraphrase the great Lakota spiritual leader, Black Elk) I realize this has become a lifelong habit:  I still spend my winters pining for spring, so I can do what I really like best.  Only now it is not Grandma’s house, or summer camp or summer stock that awaits me.  It’s sharing the history and grandeur of the Great American West with visitors seeking a unique travel experience.  Admittedly, travel is a year-round business, but the enjoyment of my favorite locales is somewhat limited by a northern clime and mountainous terrain.  Unless you are a winter sports enthusiast (and I most assuredly, am not) your best bet is to make plans for warmer weather.

I have often joked that my reward for spending winters at my desk with my maps and calculators planning tours is being able to spend the summer on the road, sharing the amazing natural and historic wonders of the West with participants.

If your thoughts are also turning to spring and travel options, why not take a vacation of historic proportions this year?  We have a full plate of adventures to choose from and are ready to welcome you with hearty Western hospitality.

Shebby Lee is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West. Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO. She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

But at Shebby Lee Tours, we have another springtime phrase: “Wagons roll at the first greening of grass”.  Our ‘wagons’ are figurative of course, but the implication is that we are re-tracing paths first made by migrating wildlife, then followed by Native Americans, explorers, fur traders, and eventually Euro-American settlers (or as we are known here in Indian Country: non-Indians).

Our ‘wagons’ have lavatories, video monitors and state of the art suspensions and we don’t have to gather firewood for dinner, or worry about forage for the livestock, but you get the idea.

Western wildlife still welcome their next generation in the spring of course, and that includes buffalo.  Bison were very nearly annihilated by the end of the 19^th century, but thanks to preservationists and a reversal of national policy which espoused the philosophy that if you killed off all the buffalo, the Indians would soon follow, they are no longer on the endangered species list. (Neither are Native Americans by the way; the US census lists them as one of the fastest-growing demographics in the country.)

In South Dakota’s Custer State Park, we now have so many buffalo that we must cull the herd, so each fall we round them up, vaccinate and brand the calves, and sell off the same number of five year olds as were born that year.  Without calves born in the spring, we would be missing out on this unique Old West tradition in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.  You can see this awesome ritual for yourself, plus visit the sites where the last great gold rush in American took place on the Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup program (Sept. 25-30).

Spring inevitably means flowers and one of the most renowned places to see them is the International Peace Garden on the border of North Dakota and Manitoba.  Over 150,000 colorful floral displays are spread out across the 2,330 acres of Formal Gardens, terraced walkways and reflecting pools.  The Peace Garden is just one of many unique stops on our exploration of Legendary North Dakota. (July 21-27)

And finally, it was in the spring when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out from St. Charles, Louisiana Territory on their epic Voyage of Discovery, not knowing where they were going, or if they would return, but with the confidence that they were setting out on the adventure of a lifetime.  They did return of course, and the detailed journals they brought back (over a million words, all told) contributed to the world’s knowledge of science immeasurably.  Modern day travelers with a sense of adventure can follow the trail in August as we set out once again on the surprisingly unspoiled Lewis & Clark Trail. (Aug. 2-17)

Is it any wonder I like spring so much?  It’s a renewal, a beginning, a reawakening – and time to make those travel plans for the upcoming season.

See you on the trail!

Shebby Lee is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West. Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO. She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

There are several titles on Sacagawea, about whom we know almost nothing. I even found one in my collection on the Sakakawea statue* (on the Capitol grounds in Bismarck) when I was rummaging through my bookshelves the other day.  Don’t have any information on the woman?  Write a book about the statue!  (By the way, I haven’t read it, so it’s not on my list.)  There are also several books on Lewis’ dog, Seaman, many aimed at children – which is cool, I think, to get kids involved in the story.  But again, how can you write an entire book about a dog who is seldom mentioned in the journals and seems to have vanished when the Corps returned?

There are so many Lewis and Clark books in fact that it has gotten to be ridiculous. The Bicentennial Celebration spawned a gajillion of them, but many are quite good, and I’m all in favor of anything that generates interest in American history.  However, there is at least one organization, which shall remain nameless, which has published so frequently, for so many years that it has literally run out of topics.  I subscribed for a year but when an article appeared enumerating the tally of wildlife killed and consumed by the Corps of Discovery over the course of 28 months, I bailed.  Granted, the expedition has been called one glorious hunting expedition and for good reason, but there are still too many really good books out there to be read for me to waste my time on minutia.

I’m actually reading another Lewis & Clark book right now: the new Thomas Jefferson biography, “The Art of Power” by Jon Meacham.  This isn’t my first Jefferson biography.  From my travels and research I have come to appreciate just how much influence our third President had – not only on promoting the Corps of Discovery’s expedition – but on the entire westward expansion movement.  (There is a life-size statue of him at the entrance to the museum at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, even though he himself never ventured further west than his Virginia hilltop.)  This visionary with feet of clay is endlessly fascinating to me.

Soon I will be re-reading Stephen Ambrose’s  ”Undaunted Courage”, an annual springtime ritual when this program is on our tour schedule.  I never grow tired of it, and it remains the most readable of all the Lewis & Clark books, with the possible exception of James Ronda (anything by James Ronda).  Both are natural story tellers which make their books real page-turners, even when we know the outcome in advance!

Story telling is actually the heart of history and in its own way, of our tours as well.  We started our Vanishing Trails Expeditions in 1994, and with it, our tradition of providing a recommended reading list for background and to enhance the actual travel experience.

But recommended reading lists are just that: recommendations.  This isn’t a classroom. We do find however, that our participants appreciate the suggestions and usually read one or two books prior to departure.  On longer tours, we even bring some of them along as reference and allow books to be “checked out” overnight if someone wants to take a good book to bed.  I remember one lady on our very first Lewis & Clark expedition checked out Ambrose every single night, finally admitting that she regretted having blown off the reading list idea and now realized how much more she enjoyed the experience with a better understanding of the expedition.

Our reading lists are there for you to use or not – at your pleasure.  And if you sign up for a program that doesn’t usually include one, such as a national parks program, feel free to ask for one (somebody did, just last month!)  Fortunately, national parks have stories too!

* The story about the spelling of Sacagawea will have to wait for another time, I’m afraid.

To learn more about the Lewis & Clark Trail, check out our history website http://www.explorethelewisandclarktrail.org
or http://www.shebbyleetours.com/tour-schedule/lewis-clark-trail/

Shebby Lee is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West. Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO. She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

One could argue – I would – that some of the most enjoyable days I’ve spent on tour were those covering many miles of what early settlers mistakenly took for the “Great American Desert”.  It’s ironic that these settlers – nearly all of them farmers – didn’t recognize fertile agricultural land when they saw it.  But because they didn’t, much of this land has remained unbroken and undeveloped, for us to enjoy today.  One of the reasons our travelers are so taken with the West is that many modern city dwellers have never in their lives seen endless horizons or vast treeless plains – what the explorers, pioneers, trappers and Native Americans encountered every day of their lives.

As we travel westward following a Vanishing Trail (it is almost always westward, the exception being the Nez Perce Trail, which runs eastward from Oregon to Montana), I remind our participants that our forebears traveled these same trails, usually on foot, to reach the promised land.  Or like Lewis & Clark under military orders to find “the most direct and practical water communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce.” [Thomas Jefferson].

We talk about the hardships they endured, read from their journals, and discuss how their determination affected those people who were already here.  (One of my favorite quotes sums up the Native viewpoint in two simple sentences:   “They called it wilderness.  We called it home.”)  It is somehow easier to contemplate such philosophical thoughts in the quiet stillness of the open prairie.

The historical value of such a journey is self-evident.  The mesmerizing terrain turns out to be a bonus.  There is much to be said for just how unique the wide open spaces of the Great American West are in today’s increasingly urbanized world.  80% of Americans live in or near urban areas, so the vastness of our own country not only comes as a surprise, but also a welcome respite from hectic urban lifestyles.

Lest you think our days are filled with endless, mind-numbing highway miles, let me describe a typical “travel day” on one of our excursions.  First of all, we avoid interstate highways like the plague.  In fact, our routes are so notorious that coach drivers have been known to compete for assignments on a Shebby Lee Tours’ itinerary, because they know the road will be winding, it will be scenic, and it will be interesting!  And since we are following history, not interstates, many of the day’s highlights are also off the beaten path.

Even on long travel days, we never just sit.  We have frequent breaks to stretch and take nourishment.  We play games (NOT, God forbid, Bingo), but interesting trivia and mind-teasing challenges related to the theme of the tour, and supervised by volunteer fact-checkers with fabulous prizes.  We watch interesting documentaries and examine artifacts and replicas from the time period such as a pioneer woman’s sunbonnet, a carrot of tobacco, a beaver pelt, or the blue beads which were so popular in Lewis & Clark’s time.  We discuss different aspects of the Vanishing Trail we are following or the history of the West in general, the original inhabitants, the wildlife, the settlement of the West.  There’s just SO much to discuss!  And learn!

But there are times too when we just kick back, read the newspaper, doze off, listen to period music, or perhaps the sound track from Ken Burns’ seminal documentary on the Lewis & Clark Trail.  It’s during these times that participants can really reflect on our American heritage and take a good look at the landscape outside those oversized coach windows.

And that’s just on the bus!  On the Lewis & Clark Trail for example, the historic sites we explore, the historians and re-enactors we meet, the authentic meals and music, the astounding museums, the nature walks including Spirit Mound and Pompeys Pillar,  the boat rides on the iconic Missouri River, all contribute to a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will forever dwell in your memory book.

There’s a reason our slogan is “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”.  After participating in your own Vanishing Trails Expedition, we think you’ll agree.

Shebby Lee is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West. Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO. She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

He was born and raised in New York City, later building a beautiful home in Oyster Bay, but as a young New York politician he had chucked a promising career and headed for the West following the tragic loss of both his wife and mother on the same day.  He had already visited northern Dakota on one of his numerous hunting trips, and had fallen in love with it’s wildness and serenity.  It turned out to be just the place to put together the shattered pieces of his life, and for four years between 1883 and 1887 Theodore Roosevelt claimed Medora, Dakota Territory, as his hometown, though he actually lived some 7 miles south of town on the Maltese Cross Ranch.  The “big die-up” blizzard of 1887-88, put an end to his cattle ranching, and his fortune, so he reluctantly headed back East, never forgetting the people and the experiences of Dakota.

Now admittedly, “Legendary North Dakotan” is a fluid term.  All states claim famous people who sometimes have a tenuous relationship with that particular state.  In actuality, North Dakota didn’t even exist until 1889.  And it took almost fifty years after Lewis & Clark passed through for it to  become a territory – thanks to their explorations in the area – but they too are Legendary North Dakotans!  So are Custer, Sitting Bull, and a host of others.  Many lived here before statehood, but that doesn’t negate the fact of their residence – and influence – on the development of the state.

And by the way, the 26^th President himself acknowledged the importance of the years spent in northern Dakota during his formative years, claiming that he never would have become President if it weren’t for the time spent at his beloved ranch on the Little Missouri River.  Many of the Roughriders who followed him into battle in the Spanish American War were recruited from his friends and neighbors in Dakota.  They adored him, and were proud to march in his inaugural parade when he finally won the Presidency in his own right.

There are more recent celebrities who claim a birthright in North Dakota, of course, and we learn about them too in our exploration of the state.  New York Yankee Roger Maris was from Fargo, Angie Dickinson took her stage name from her hometown in North Dakota, Peggy Lee and Lawrence Welk, Louis L’Amour, Eric Severeid – it’s really quite a long list.  But we’ve only got a week, so we have picked out some whose trails are still visible, with reproductions (and sometimes even original buildings, such as Teddy’s cabin) and certainly landscapes that the legends would actually recognize.  Along the way we’ll encounter interpreters and living history reenactors who bring the legends to life, making our sojourn a truly memorable experience.

You can read all about the legitimate connections of these Legendary North Dakotans – whether life-long or transitory – at Legends of North Dakota.

And after you’ve done that, consider heading up to North Dakota with us next July for a Legendary experience on the Plains.

Now I ask you, do you really think this photo was taken at Oyster Bay, Long Island?

Shebby Lee  is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West.  Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO.  She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

First, a little background. My great, grand uncle was the first Poet Laureate of the State of South Dakota. He was a cowboy poet, and as such his title was sometimes mangled to “Poet Lariat”, but he didn’t mind. I always felt that his stories about the Old West which, in his words he had “the great good fortune to experience first hand”, were every bit as good as his poetry, and I loved to hear him describe his experiences trailing cattle on the range.

Shortly before his death he was persuaded to record some of his most popular poems along with the introductions he had perfected over years of campfire talks, commencement addresses, on the Chautauqua Circuit, and what he described as his “hot air” tours. It is one of these recordings that now haunts me: in it he describes how the primary entertainment on the range was talking, and after a couple of cowboys on the trail had run out of facts while sharing their entire life stories, they would often branch out into fiction – fiction that he called – wait for it: “road talk”. OK, it’s not exactly “Trail Talk” but it’s close enough to make me uncomfortable.

As a historian, the information I disseminate, whether in my blog, on my history websites, or to my travelers on the trail had better be the truth, and not just “road talk”. And while maybe not great literature, I do go to considerable trouble to make my little essays accurate, and even – whenever possible – have a point.

The fact of the matter is, I have to be accurate because I’m not clever enough to make it up, especially on the fly! I probably wouldn’t have done too well on the range.

I have actually lived on a ranch, with no running water or electricity, and I consider the experience to have been character-building. Still, I’m not exactly the cowgirl type. I’m just a city girl who happens to love the West and enjoys sharing its beauty and history with vistitors.  But I am very proud of my uncle, and perhaps my selection of this particular title was – at least in part – a tribute to him and the way of life he represented. I guess I’ll just have to learn to live with the connotation that what I write every month is “just road talk”!

Shebby Lee is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West. Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO. She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

I’m a big fan of Antiques Road Show myself, but I am a relative late-comer to this popular PBS series. In fact, I actually resisted it for years because I thought it was about antiques! But as the host, Mark Wohlberg, stated in a recent broadcast, “Collectors like the story. That’s what they buy.”

Who knew??

As a historian, I have always been attracted to the story – what was quaintly called “social history” when I was a college history major struggling to memorize dates and battle strategies – the standard curriculum at the time. I couldn’t have cared less if the Vikings came over the hill that-a-way and the Druids came over the hill this-a-way (substitute “cavalry and Indians”, or “Huns and Mongols” and you’ve pretty much got how history has been taught for hundreds of years. No wonder it was the least liked subject in high school).

I need only cite the hundreds of avid Civil War re-enactors to assure you that there are still plenty of people out there who love the minutia of battlefield maneuvers. But there are many more who want to know the human stories behind the mechanics. And these are the people who travel with us.

In fact 79% of all U.S. leisure travelers participate in cultural and/or heritage activities while traveling, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The trust defines such activities as experiencing the places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.

Notice the choice of words here: “activities”, “experiencing” – not studying, or looking at, but actively seeking knowledge and understanding through doing. Now you’re talking my language. Our tours have always provided learning opportunities within the travel experience. These stories are what give meaning to the places we visit, the people we meet, and yes, even objects in museums and historic sites especially if we can try our hand at actually using these items. And these experiences are enhanced even more by the lively discussions we encourage among participants, where we all share and learn from each other.

Our goal is to give meaning to a place or an event beyond what you can read in a book, or see driving by. Take over the tiller of an exact replica of the Lewis & Clark keelboat, learn what the various dances at a traditional pow wow represent and step out on the grass yourself, try a cradleboard on for size to appreciate what it must of have been like trudging all the way to the western sea with a growing infant on your back, walk in actual wagon ruts which have survived more than a century of sun, wind and weather.

If this type of experiential excursion appeals to you I invite you to join one of Shebby Lee Tours’ journeys of exploration and discovery. Learn wonderful stories about the people and events, places and landscapes that give meaning to our nation’s development and to our own lives.

As they say on Antiques Road Show: it’s not the objects of our lives which are important, it’s what memories they provide. Just substitute “experience” for “object” and you’ve got the essence of what great travel opportunities await.

See you on the trail!

Shebby Lee  is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West.  Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO.  She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

So when I decided to launch Trail Talk a couple of years ago, I decided that – rather than dash off something silly or forgettable every single day – I’d try to make my few entries count. As Teddy Roosevelt said when asked to control his famously obstreperous daughter, Alice, “I can control Alice or I can run the country. I can’t possibly do both!” (I believe the exclamation point was his.)

Like the 26^th President, I know my limitations. As I write this our summer touring season is still underway. Not only is it our peak touring season, but it is also the time that we are receiving requests for custom group tours in the West from tour professionals and group leaders. It is always challenging to find time to plan our own roster of unique western adventures while all this is going on. But this year I’ve had a few additional obligations vying for my time, plus an ongoing illness (an infuriating time-waster).

So we are a little behind schedule in announcing next year’s roster of expeditions, but we are making progress. The actual theme, routing, inclusions, and costing of a given tour is weighted with decisions and therefore shouldn’t be rushed, but it has been discussed in a previous Trail Talk (February 2011 – What Goes Into Planning a Successful Tour?), so I’ll just briefly describe some factors which played a prominent role in selecting this year’s roster:

• how long has it been since we offered a particular destination or program?
• have we had increased requests from clients?
• is there any compelling reason for going there such as an anniversary (timely Civil War battle commemorations, for example) or some new attraction which is spurring interest in an area?

Our fist announcement is a brand new program highlighting our most-requested destination: North Dakota! (It’s a Bucket List thing). We have included North Dakota on a number of itineraries, but few did justice to Legendary North Dakota - the state’s own slogan. This 7-day itinerary (July 21-27) follows the paths of legendary North Dakotans Theodore Roosevelt, Sacagawea, George Armstrong Custer, and Lewis & Clark, plus explores the Scandinavian heritage of the state. You’ll see a Viking Ship which mirrored the ocean voyage of many of those immigrants, only backwards (from the New World to the Old), three authentic white buffalo, restored forts, the world’s only Peace Garden, and even Louis L’Amour’s writing desk. Did you know he was from North Dakota? Neither did I.

Most of our programs are not destinations at all, of course, but trails, and right now we have a small but dedicated following who would love to explore the Lewis & Clark Trail. This was an extremely popular program for us during the Bicentennial Commemoration a few years back but lately, not so much. However, because of steady requests and the fact that some folks want to do it so badly they have offered to help spread the word, we have decided to schedule it one more time. It takes a minimum of 15 participants to make this tour happen, so If you’d like to join them, please let us know. As far as I know, this is the only program that follows the entire trail from St. Louis to the Pacific and provides a thoroughly immersive Lewis & Clark experience. Expedition dates: Aug. 2-17.

That’s all for now. I need to finish planning tours that you will want to take in 2013. See you on the trail!

Shebby Lee  is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West.  Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO.  She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.

Gary Lentz as Sgt. Gass

There is a category of my business known as “adventure travel”. It evokes images of llama trekking in the Andes, zip-lining across the Amazon, hang-gliding or similar vigorous pursuits which would have made Teddy Roosevelt proud.

By this definition, we don’t do adventure travel at Shebby Lee Tours. But – in my opinion – adventure travel doesn’t have to be dangerous to be appealing. I think that the tours we offer are adventurous because they encourage participants to step outside their comfort zone, to learn something or go somewhere they never expected to go, meet interesting people and expand their horizons. This is what we do every day on our journeys, and after 35 years I personally am still learning, still expanding my horizons, and still enjoying what I do.

While participants in the Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup program don’t exactly herd these magnificent beasts from horseback (actually we observe this annual ritual from the safety of a fenced-in viewing area), we are still privileged to observe an Old West tradition which gives us a rare glimpse into the past. And when the herd is safely inside the corral we have the opportunity to see these pre-historic mammals very close indeed.

Perhaps you might call the experiences we provide for our participants adventures of the mind. Many of these involve living history reenactors who might convince you that Lt. Col. Custer and his lovely wife have just stepped out for a horseback ride on the prairie and will return momentarily. Or as you step onto the beach under a sign that states you are now in 1805, the rag-tag members of the Corp of Discovery demonstrate how they are boiling sea water for the salt, and are anxious to barter what few possessions they have left for any food that isn’t dog meat or “pore” elk.

Such experiences enrich our lives without risking life and limb. Explore first-hand the sites where pivotal events of the history of the West actually took place, walk in actual wagon ruts, experience other cultures through their cuisine, music, or dance – all of which help us gain historical perspective.

Our pre-tour documents include a suggested reading list, which provides not only background for the adventure ahead but creates a commonality not usually achieved by travelers until several days into the tour. Friendships flourish under such conditions, and nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing people who were strangers just hours before with their heads together sharing knowledge about the topic at hand.

Our mantra has always been: It’s not the destination, it’s the journey, and it’s never been more true than today. What could be more adventurous?

Shebby Lee  is a historian, writer and tour operator specializing in the historic and cultural heritage of the Great American West.  Her early training was in the theatre and she served a tour of duty as an entertainer with the USO.  She is also an Admiral in the Nebraska Navy.