​I love when people ask me if I’m traveling for work or pleasure because I always answer with, “well this is a cookie business trip”. I could not think of a more exciting/delicious adventure. Well this trip was all made possible because my good friend let me be her co-pilot on her ACTUAL business trip. My trip to Wyoming started with a 6am plane ride to Denver then an 8 hour plus drive to reach Jackson, WY.
 
Side note – If you decide to road trip through WY make sure you stop at every available bathroom. You can go about 100 miles without a place to stop… let’s just say I learned this the hard way. 

​1st stop: Rock Spring, WY
 
This was not a plan stop on our journey, however, I was not prepared to go 8 hours without stopping to go to the bathroom. Let me start off with after this road trip I have not been to so many gas station bathroom before in my life and I’ve grown to have a new appreciation for them. So as an effort to not get altitude sickness, I was downing water so we had to make a pit stop in Rock Springs, WY. Rock Springs was the first town I have seen in MILES and it even had a Starbucks! #Basicgirlproblems We ended up finding the cutest brewery with extremely friendly staff. This place was called Bitter Creek Brewery, home of the beer named Bob. (Clearly I had to purchase a shirt with that saying on the back.) If you are ever traveling and need a stop make sure to stop at Bitter Creek and enjoy their awesome brews and DEFINITELY get the nachos.

1. The Rose - It is an awesome bar with their own specialty drinks. Make sure you try one of Wolfgang’s (our fabulous bartender) creative delicious drinks. They truly go above and beyond here on their presentation and taste.  
​

2. Picnic – They had the most amazing avocado toast I have ever tasted. I enjoyed this after attempting to run (like exercise) around town and sight see, however, the altitude got the best of me. I’m not a college athlete anymore, its okay to walk right? More importantly, If you are looking for a great place for coffee and food, I highly recommend it.

3rd Stop: Grand Tetons
​
Right outside Jackson, we stopped at the Grand Teton National Park where I made my friend partake in a “cookie photo shoot.” This surprising did not take that long since these mountains are truly breathtaking. Our cookie gets its name after this beautiful 55 mile long mountain range. Fun Fact -- The Grand Teton National park is the only national park with a commercial airport. If you ever get the chance to fly into it I can only imagine the views you would see! 

​​4th Stop: Cody, Wy
 
This was a small town on our way out of Yellowstone. This was a experience to say the least. This was the first time I ate, “Rocky Mountain Osyters”… let me just say my friend did not tell me what it was until I took a couple bites and then shortly after I lost my appetite. If you’re in the west it’s something you must try then look up what you are actually eating :)

​
This is also when I started to gather my ingredients. I picked up some local honey, Bryant Honey, to drizzle on top of the cookie. It is a four-generation operation, which started in 1915, when the first 50 colonies of honey bees were brought to WY by railroad. Read more about their journey on their website!

5th Stop: Laramie, Wy
 
This was our last and final stop as our road trip came to a close. Laramie is where the gorgeous campus of University of Wyoming is located. This is when I decided that I was going to enroll as a cowgirl for the class of 2022. TOTALLY KIDDING, however, it was fun acting like we were their for summer orientation. And remembering what it was like to only have to worry about what was being served in the cafeteria or making sure you set three alarms so you can roll out of bed to get to class on time. Moving on, this is where our cookie got the rest of its ingredients. Their mascot was the cowboy, cowgirls or pokes. After doing some research, Wyoming is actually called the cowboy state so I decided to use the main ingredients of a cowboy cookie: coconut, pecans, and oatmeal. These were made for cowboys/soldiers back in day to help sustain them throughout the day. 

Lastly… a little fun fact The state of Wyoming is the largest producer of coal since 1988 giving the cookie its dark chocolate brown color. (to look like coal.. obviously)

After fully exploring the state of Wyoming,
 I am excited to announce
the“Grand Teton”
 
Dark Chocolate, Oatmeal, Pecan, coconut, chocolate chip cookie with a honey chocolate drizzle. 

"Taste the Feeling," why does that sound familiar to you? Well its because we have heard/seen this slogan on billboards, commercials, and in stores. It was one of the slogans of the famous Coca-cola. Why does this matter? Well fun fact, the first bottle of coca-cola was bottled in 1899 by 3 businessmen in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

So for my adventure to Tennessee, I decided to visit the capital of the state, Nashville. This place has become more significant to me as I have recently found out my sister and her family will be moving there this summer. So it seems like this is one of many trips that will take place this year. Nashville is not only known for its country music, live music, ELVIS, whiskey, but also it has become the hub for bachelor and bachelorette parties. And this is where my trip began.... Since I flew out on a Friday, my plane was not filled with one but THREE bachelorette parties, ready for their "NASH BASH" or "LAST BASH IN NASH." If you need any shirt ideas, let me know, I saw plenty.
I've been to Tennessee many times before but only once after college did I do the "broadway" scene. After graduating college, me and my sister road-tripped down the coast and back up through Nashville so we did all things tourist would do like visiting Broadway. This is a strip of bars and restaurants with cowboy boot shops (in case you forgot your boots and decided to buy a pair at 1 AM) located in downtown Nashville.

After my visits these were some of my favorite things about the state:

1. Mike's Ice Cream - this place has some of the best ice cream I've ever had. And i'm clearly a cookie person so unless its a chick-fil-a milkshake I don't normally "do" ice cream. I had to try the Tennessee Fudge since I was making the Tennessee state cookie. It was INCREDIBLE!!! 
2. Wild Horse - At this place you can do it all. There is TONS of space and levels so you don't feel crammed or crowded. There is a dance floor where they teach different dances to a variety of country songs. They have awesome live performers. And lastly, they have this legendary shot that called the "Jedi." It is no longer on the menu so if you visit there you need to ask for the creator, Bernie... your welcome and may the force be with you.
4. Colt's Candy: A Memphis native, Mackenzie Colt created, "Colts Chocolate, The Good Chocolate Company." Read more about her chocolate journey on her website. Hands down my favorite candy of hers was the truffle babies! They are filled with creamy peanut butter with an almond surrounded in pure milk chocolate. This inspired the peanut butter aspect and topping of the TN cookie. 
5. Jack Daniels: Tennessee is also known for the famous whiskey of Jack Daniels. This inspired the main ingredient of our cookie, Tennessee whiskey maple syrup. So amazingly good in our cookie, coffee, tea, and on top of pancakes.