One of my ever-lasting passions is for movies which toy with the space-time continuum, or time travel. There are tons of them out there, so many that they can even be broken down into sub-categories. But the reason Hollywood keeps making them (and movie-goers keep watching them) is the very human urge to search for something better. This is escapism at its finest, because it actually poses an alternative outcome, even though it often turns out that what the protagonist had in

I’ve written about this subject before (Wide Open Spaces, Jan 2013) but it is never far from my mind because I not only live in what has been derisively called the Empty Quarter, I have introduced hundreds of travelers to it’s amazing vastness, and I might add, it is a never-ending fascination. For one thing, the luxury of space is rare on our shrinking planet. But geography is in the eye of the beholder. I happen to find the thick pine forests of the Black Hills of South Dak

I recently ran a Facebook promotion featuring Teddy Roosevelt as a “Legendary North Dakotan”.  I knew that few Americans are aware of TR’s residence in northern Dakota back in the 1880’s, but I was surprised at the pushback I received from people refusing to accept the legitimacy of North Dakota’s claim. 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 West f

The conventional wisdom is that a successful blogger produces some words of wisdom every single day, but if you are a regular reader, you know that I’m lucky to post once a month. There is a pretty good reason for this: I am a tour operator, not a professional blogger. 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 sai

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 out

Remember how you used to look forward to field trips when you were in school? It was a chance to break away from the routine, experience something new, anticipate an adventure, and get out into the greater world beyond that stodgy classroom. That feeling of adventure is exactly what you get when you explore the great American West with Shebby Lee Tours. On a Vanishing Trails Expedition you might take a horseback ride across the open prairie; thrill to the excitement of a wild

Although Shebby Lee Tours started as a local sightseeing company with the slogan, “we lend insights to the sights”, it wasn’t until 1993 that we expanded beyond our standard fare of western national parks and moved toward what would become our hallmark.  That was the year we developed that iconic symbol of America’s westward expansion movement, the Oregon Trail.   Beginning in Kansas City, the itinerary followed the trail across the plains and mountains, ending in Oregon City

Ever since park rangers started rounding up some 1,200 head of buffalo each fall for the annual branding, sorting and vaccinating of the herd, visitors have been fascinated by this Old West tradition. In 2008 over 11,000 people witnessed this one-of-a-kind event in western South Dakota, and the festivities grow every year. Custer State Park covers 72,000 beautiful acres in the southern Black Hills. Located just fifty miles from the Wyoming border, this wildlife sanctuary is c

The hit movie, Bucket List, reminded American travelers that they may still lack travel destinations to complete their list. And on that roster of 50 states, the one most likely still remaining is North Dakota! If  this is the one state remaining on your ” bucket list”,  Shebby Lee Tours can take you there. We offer a variety of North Dakota itineraries including “Teddy Roosevelt’s Dakota”, “East Dakota”, “West Dakota”-  July 22-28, 2010, “American Legacy”, “Custer’s Trail”,