During a flight between Heathrow and O’Hare, I passed some aviation magazines to my flight attendant and asked her to give them to the crew. They responded by inviting me up to the cockpit of the giant Boeing 747-400. As I sat in the right seat, talking with the crew about procedures and how to land such a huge airplane without breaking it into a million pieces, the distinguished-looking British captain interjected, “But you know what my very favorite thing to do is, in all of aviation? When I have a bit of time off, I’ll airline to Boise, Idaho, rent a 172, and fly to Johnson Creek.”

Cody, Wyoming, is known as the “Eastern Gateway to Yellowstone Country.” But this authentic Old West town makes a great destination in itself, especially in summer, when each evening brings a selection of dinner/music shows, a shootout, and a rodeo. Don’t miss the five incredible museums that make up the “Smithsonian of the West.” My favorite stop: the final resting place of the real “Jeremiah Johnson.”

Join the Historic Trail Flyers on their next adventure as they retrace America’s most important Western trails from the sky. It’s a fun way to make new pilot friends, see new places, and get the lowdown on local history from experts you’ll meet with personally.

Explore Utah's Cedar Breaks National Monument, the park with hoodoos similar to those at Bryce Canyon, but without the crowds. The Scottish-Mormon homesteader Ebenezer Bryce once called the hoodoos “a helluva place to lose a cow.” He never could have guessed the then-tiny settlement of Cedar City would someday host a Shakespeare Festival hailed as one of the world’s foremost regional theaters. Each year more than 150,000 fans of the Bard flock to the five-month season of plays and musicals, presented in the brand-new Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts.

“…in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that eventually a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it…”