Easter Time 1997 Dad's Funeral

My father was a career Air force Sergeant. I loved him and  he loved me but he also could often be violent and mean toward my mother mostly but also toward me. His death left me conflicted in so many ways and that confliction has remained with me even today. Much of my violence, anger and struggle can be directly attributed to our relationship. There were things I will never put down in writing or reflect publicly about. I later learned I was not the only person to grow up with this situation.

His funeral was at Arlington national Cemetery - a place reserved for heroes and maybe he was. I don't know. He had an overpowering outgoing personality which I inherited and still have. It embarrassed my children just as it did me. Still this was my father  and I was at his funeral. 

August 1998 -Sturgis

By this time Linda and I were settled in Wichita and had going computer business. We had sold twenty or so computers to a Christian School near Mitchell, South Dakota. After delivering them and taking care of some money drama we headed home via the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. We only passed through and stayed in Rapid city. It was amazing to us to see so many people our age or older and dressed in such revealing and open manner. We found the short time we were there to be very exciting and interesting.

 

Mushroom State Park-1999

In November of 1999, Linda and I took our 4 then very young grandchildren to Mushroom State Park. This is a tiny park but the rocks do look like mushrooms and they enjoyed climbing on all of them!

Washington DC

Another early trip was in 1999 and included my mother's funeral  in Washington DC. On the way back we stopped at Nikki's for a very short visit. During that trip we also visited the Shrine to Mary which is beautiful.

 

Our 35th Wedding Anniversary Trip-2000

This was the first of many anniversary trips and we did not journal as we did in later years. We left and went to Oklahoma City where we visited with Linda’s mother and father. We slept on hard twin beds in the guest room of their new home. This was to be their final home and I think Linda’s father never really liked it. To this day I am not certain why he bought it. Probably just because he wanted to please his wife and simply wanted to get the matter settled.

We left and went to Laredo where we purchased medicine at a very good price and we had a nice trip. I remember the traffic as we went through San Antonio. On the way out of Laredo, we stopped to take a picture of a bird and a very big black hairy tarantula which jumped under our car and we hurried away. A bobcat scurried across the road in front of us.

 As we left to go toward Big Bend National Park we stopped to visit the Judge Roy Bean location.  We finally made it to Big Bend NP where we went to the gift store and looked across the Rio Grande River into Mexico. The river was full and we could have taken a small boat across but chose not to. We took pictures of donkeys on the other side of the river in Mexico from the Texas side. We saw deer, and wild pigs which took pictures of.  We took a picture of a road runner.

We went up from the 100 plus degree weather into the very coolish 50 degrees of the mountain campsite. We were surrounded by mountains which led to Mexico. That night we could hear the wind coming in a rush from far away it seemed and out tent would lay flat on top of us.  Linda tripped and gave us a scare but was fine and we left fairly early on our way to Carlsbad Coverers.

 We passed a strange but beautiful hill sticking up in the fog in Texas and of course took a picture. We visited a world famous telescope and Linda and I both trudged up the stairs for a firsthand look.

The McDonald Observatory was very impressive.

Carlsbad was the same as it had been many years ago when we were children first married and in the Army stationed at Fort Bliss. It was a nice interlude.

We drove through Roswell and took pictures of the “alien” atmosphere. We saw people dressed as “aliens” and it was fun.

We went on to Denver through Santa Fe where we visited the Cathedral, the Market and just relaxed. We visited Taos and went out pass the Viet Nam Memorial on the way to Denver where we took in a baseball game.

We left Denver and got as far as Cheyenne where we made a very important decision. We chose to stay where we were and got a motel back in Fort Collins and the next few days were to change us and our attitude toward Colorado forever. We discovered the Poudre River and the road to Walden. We found moose and later beautiful Big Horn sheep, solitude and a great camping spot. This happened because we finally got tired of rushing from place to place. This also was the beginning of  what was to become a long term and ongoing love affair with this beautiful area. We camped way up on Long Draw road just below the Rocky Mountain NP summit. We were only a mile or so straight down from the Park but well over  a 100 miles driving time. It was bitter cold one night and we got up and went to the car where we woke to see a huge group of Elk walking slowing and quietly pass us so close we could have reached out and touched one.

 

We took many pictures but our memories are even clearer. We found joy in each other and pleasure just being together in a way we had not experienced for many years. This was an especially good time and trip!

The Labor Day Trip with Tim and Kids

to the Poudre River and Rocky Mountain NP -September 2000

This was a spur of the moment trip that we convinced Tim to come with us and left late at night. We  drove all night and got to Long Draw road in the afternoon where we found a free camping spot and had a great time. We had to go back to fort Collins to get some warm clothes and the trip had many highlights including watching Tim drive on the high mountain road and stopping on a very steep place to take a quick potty break. It was there we yelled at Grant not to step backwards. Zach fell victim to a practical joke that haunted him for years. Seeing moose up close and personal and driving across the national Park also was great fun.

April 2001 - Our 36th Trip-2001

This was to be a short but interesting interlude for us as we traveled to Mexico to get medical supplies and then we cut across country to meet Gigi and her family at Carlsbad Caverns. We toured the Caverns with them and then went on to the North rim of the Grand Canyon where we camped for a couple of nights before rushing home. On the way we passed an area filled with satellite dishes that seemed almost like an "alien" listening post. We stopped briefly in the Badlands and took a few pictures. We also visited  Monument Valley and toured and took many pictures.  The moon was particularly beautiful at the Grand Canyon.

Christmas Trip- 2002 -SD Zoo 1st Rose Bowl

This was to be an extraordinary trip which we could never duplicate. I suppose that is true of all of our many trips. Each has been so very special in it's own way. This however gave us many first experiences which we have really enjoyed remembering. Driving through Albuquerque we saw a hot air balloon. We saw and drove through the Painted Desert with snow on it.

We went to the Grand Canyon where we enjoyed the splendor a majestic sunset. 

We cut across the desert  on our way to San Diego. We passed by sand dunes with people in sand buggies, trucks and atv's racing on them. We passed by a turtle reserve. 

We went whale watching San Diego going out through the San Diego Naval Yard.  We took amazing pictures of airplanes close to the San Diego skyline.

 

We took the tram around the San Diego Zoo Animal Park.

 

At the regular Zoo we made a decision to go to the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena and it was an incredible time.

We spent the night on the street with newly met friends and stayed warm and loaned out cell phones and just enjoyed everything including the parade.

If that wasn't enough we drove through Zion NP in the winter and then on to Jackson , Wyoming for a winter visit. We took many stunning pictures of animals and the Wonderful Grand Tetons - all covered in snow.

Then to top the trip off, we took a day trip into Yellowstone NP from the Flagg Ranch. Just before getting to the Ranch, we saw and took pictures of a huge moose crossing an icy snow covered river.  This was something that we will never forget seeing.

We bounced all day in one of their snow buggies. We saw Old Faithful in the middle of winter with snow all over.


 

 

37th Anniversary Trip -2002

We spent a short time in the Poudre River Valley just being together and trying to take it easy. This was to be the "Flowers Road" trip.  We camped out on the beautiful Poudre River and took our 4 wheel drive Tracker on an adventure. We drove up "Flowers Road". This was a steep and elephant sized pot hole road. The holes were larger than the Tracker and as exhilarating as it was, it was also frightening. The further we drove up this narrow rocky road the more we became aware we could not turn around. We came up and over a ridge and out of a densely wooded area onto the top of a rocky mountain. We could see people way below us looking at us through binoculars and we were concerned but not too frightened. When we made it down we were informed we had missed the road and instead taken a horse route down a 11,000 foot mountain. Wow! The Forestry Service employees who had been watching us said we were really never in any danger but we were glad to be down. On this trip we drove up to Long Draw Road where we sat next to a grazing bull moose and watched him for over an hour without any company. This remains the very best and closest we have ever been to such a huge and beautiful Moose.

Florida Trip-2002

We also went to Florida this year and visited with my sister. We drove down almost to the Keys and after suffering a black swarm of mosquitoes, we drove up to the Great Smoky Mountain NP and then home. It is always difficult to visit family and sometimes stressful. It still was a good short and nice visit. We drove through a small Florida community that was obviously poor and it alost was like driving in a different country. we saw a massive amount of birds in  Everglades NP and really enjoyed our visit there.

 

July 2002 - Nikki and Strat-o-Matic Convention in DC

I am a long time member of the USBA Strat-o-Matic fantasy baseball league. We had a small convention at my friend and fellow Strat player, Rolf Larssen's home in Washington DC this year. On the way there we stopped in Michigan and visited Nikki our middle daughter.  While there Nikki, Linda and I spent a wonderful day at the Detroit Zoo. The butterfly house along with walking underneath a swimming polar bear were highlights of the day. It was the first such day we had spent with Nikki in a very long time and was very much overdue.

We stopped in Baltimore Maryland and visited  someone from our past, Mary Bragg Evans. Mary and I had gone to high school together and at one time was very close to my wife Linda.

At Rolf's beautiful home where we stayed, we had a fun gathering and attended a ML baseball game in Baltimore. There was much fun and Linda and I had a very enjoyable trip. We took a long and tedious walk down and back up Dark Hollow Falls in the Shenandoah NP.

We took a picture of the bridge at the bottom of this long walk

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February 2003  - NYC Trip

Our grandchildren attended The Independent School in Wichita. We substituted there and became close friends with the principal. it was a way for us to remain involved with our grandchildren as they grew older. We were invited to go on a spring trip to New York with them and their school  We sat in the back of a large but very uncomfortable bus  as we went with them to New York where they sang as a chorus at Carnegie Hall.

We had the pleasure of taking them "street" shopping and taking a boat out to the Statue of Liberty.

The first stop however was at Hershey Park where Linda and I rode the water ride and to everyone's delight got soaked.

 

W

We visited the Empire State building at night with Tim's mother Annabelle.  We took pictures of them as they posed in various locations.

We went to a Yankee game. We took an evening cruise. It was another of those wonderful times of Grand parenting.

March 2003 38th-Hutchison, Denver and Omaha Zoo(4011)

This trip remains  clear in our mind as a great interlude where we did for us the very unusual. we met adult friends and their children for a brief but joyous visit in Denver Colorado.  Linda and I got their early and spent a couple of days up in the Poudre river Valley. We camped near Long Draw Road and took many pictures of the moose, the valley and the beauty of the area. Also took pictures from a distance of some beautiful grazing Bighorn sheep.

We sat, watched and took pictures of a young moose suckling it's mother. This is not something that could be planned but is memory that will last forever and resulted in several super photographs.

With our friends and their children we went to a wonderful theme park in downtown Denver where we again took pictures of the  Hutchson's and us and the park.

We also took pictures of Gary driving our Miata with his children also in or on the car.

White Sands with Gigi and Grandchildren-2003

In May of 2003 we took a very neat trip with gigi and our Grandchildren. We played cards in the van as we drove. Our first major stop was White Sands. We climbed to the top of steep while hills of sand where we buried each other in sand and played hard.

We drove on and stopped in the Painted Desert again where we walked and took pictures.

We arrived at Sea World of San Diego where Portia informed us that "she just wanted to have fun" and we just wanted to plan what we were going to do. A neat moment.

We rode the tram around the Animal Park.

We then went to the San Diego Zoo  where we took pictures of both the Red Panda and the wonderful "regular" Pandas.

Gigi took the kids y herself to Disney while Linda and i had a nice day of driving around. This was a special trip which we all enjoyed with much laughter and joy!

2003-Nov Trip to Denver -Big Horn Sheep Up close and Personal

We had sold our 1973 Mustang which we had poured money and time into. We lost our shirt and then some.

We drove to Denver and Colorado Springs to look at a replacement car which we did not find. We visited the Garden of the Gods State Park.

We then drove the "loop" back over the pass into Fort Collins. We went up Laramie Road but turned around and tried Long Draw road where we ran into a snowy ditch, got out and headed toward home.

 Because of the delays, we came across a huge close up encounter with the most beautiful Big Horn sheep we have ever encountered. We took many pictures.

December 2003-04 -January White Sands, 2nd Rose Bowl w/family

With Gigi, Tim and the kids , we went to the rose Bowl Parade. Our first stop was in White Sands where  we frolicked and had a good time.

We camped out on the Parade route and watched people all night long. It was cold so we huddled together. The parade was spectacular but being there with family was even more special. the sights, sounds, and just the experience was so very right for us at that moment in time.

 

2004-39th Trip -Weekend in Colorado

We drove to Colorado where we spent few quiet days looking at Sheep on the rocky mountainsides of the Poudre River Valley.

We stopped at the summit of the mountain pass on highway 14 going to Walden and turned around because of the snow

It was snowy and looked out of our motel window to see the mall in front of the wonderful mountains.

We drove home through Taos and saw a herd of wild horses n the road.

OUR GREAT ADVENTURE  Maine  July23, 2004--August 5, 2004

OUR GREAT ADVENTURE

Fourteen days of Adventure with our Family from July 23, 2004 through August 5th, 2004.

Each day we wrote about the previous days activities!

Day 1  July 23, 2004

Summary:  We left around 5PM and drove very late into O'Fallon, Illinois where we spent the night with Tim's mother

5:46 PM July 23 :  I expect everyone to try hard to have a good trip.  I hope we avoid fighting.  I expect this to be a great trip.  Grandpa

I expect to have a fun time on the trip.  I hope we all have a fun at Negara Falls (Niagara Falls) and rafting.  I hope that there will be seals on the beach in Maine.  Portia

I hope to have a fun time playing cards with everyone.  I hope to have very little or no fighting on this trip and most of all I hope Grandpa's gas doesn't kill all of us on the trip!!!  Zach

I don't like the seating arrangements.  BLAH.  I hope we have a fun time playing cards and not fighting.  I hope Portia and Grandpa doesn't eat too much lacksatives so the won't fart and blow us all away.  Mercedes

I hope to get to drive in the bug.  I expect to beat Grandpa in card games.  I would like to surprise Mom with how well I drive in the bug.  Grant

I hope for lots of laughter.  I expect to beat people at cards.  I would like to have fun.  Grandma

I hope everyone has a great time. I expect everyone to behave themselves. I would like to spend more time alone with Gig. Tim

Grant taking up backseat leaving Grandpa NO where to sit!

Yesterday was long and interesting. We got to Annabel's very late.   I let Grant and Zach get a early lead on me in cards. Tim and Linda do not play password well.  Grandpa

Yesterday was pain because we didn't do anything expect sleep, drive and play 1 half of O Hell.  and I was kind of excited because there were baby deers but I didn't get to see them because I wasn't fast enough!  WaWaWa.  Mercedes

I saw the first wild animals on the trip...3 deer...also we saw some really nice corvettes.  Tim

I hope to see the animals first today.  I expect to make fun of Grandpa and get away with it.  I would like to play more password.  Grant

We played O Hell.  Even though we got half way done, it was still pretty fun.  Dad saw 3 deer on the side of the road.  We were driven mad because of someone's farts.  Zach

I didn't get to do anything yesterday except sit in my seat. Portia

It was a long day because we didn't get to Annabel's until 2AM.  Had fun playing password.  Had some strange clues from John and Grant.  Linda

DAY 2  - July24, 2004

Summary:  We left around 8:30 AM from Annabel's.  We drove to Fort Wayne where we stopped for about two hours and visited Phil Pocock, a baseball friend of Grandpa's.  We arrived in Utica, Michigan around 10PM.

Grandpa stunk up the van and sent people flying fro the back to the front!  Portia

We went to Grandpa's friend's house and played in the back yard.  Grandpa never won a single game of password.  When we went to Aunt Nikki's, Andrew showed me a lot of his figurines.  Zach

Yesterday Grandpa was so ackting like a dummy because of password I chose bobble as the word because he got a bobble-head.  Mercedes

Grandpa's baseball friend Phil , and Ichiro!

Telepathy should be outlawed in password.  Dad and Grandma cheated so badly.  How do you get smog from dirty?  Grant

Visiting Phil was a great treat!  I was accused of oderous smells.  Linda and Tim were allowed to win at password.  My partners gave bad clues! John

Tim and I tromped everybody in password.  John smelled up the van.  Saw Nikki's family.  Nice to see how Andrew is growing up.  Grandma

At Nikki's

We saw a lot of cool cars on the road today.  Gave John athlete's foot on the head. we tromped him so bad at password.  Tim

DAY 3 - July 25,2004

Summary: We left Nikki's and drove to Niagara Falls, Ontario. We spent the afternoon and evening there. We rode the Maid of the Mist and had a good meal.

Wow seeing Nikki was great! Everyone ganged up on me at passsword. I really liked the Maid of the Mist boat ride. A lot of laughing which was great. Linda walked really well. John

I really enjoyed seeing Nikki and their dog.  He is so cute and I loved seeing Negara Falls and riding on the Maid of the Mist. I also enjoyed watching the fireworks and Negara lit up with all the different colors. It was so pretty it reminded me of July the 4th. Mercedes

Grandpa hurt me because he did bad in password. I enjoyed being at Nickys. I can't wait to be with mom and get home to paintball and  Snickers. Grant

Negara Fallls was really cool and Grandpa kept saying he was going to throw someone over. Grandpa was mad at Grant for losing password. -Zach

It was nice seeing Niki's family again. Linda and I stomped John and everyone he teamed up with in password. Niagara Falls was amazing especially at night. It's hard to imagine that much water going over the Falls that fast. Tim

I thot Niagara  Falls was buitifful!  It was allmoset the most buitffullest thing I have ever seen in my life,  And all the floweres too.  Had a fun time....Portia

I enjoyed seeing my daughter and Andy and Andrew who looked really good.  Tim and I continue to tromp all over everyone in password.  Enjoyed seeing Niagara and boat ride.  lots of laughter!  Grandma

DAY 4 - July 26, 2004  

Summary:  We left the Falls and drove to Gigi's in Lewiston, Maine.  We stopped for a couple of hours at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York

Cooperstown was incredible.  Linda and Tim think they stomped me one day more in password,  Grant drove well.  Lots of laughter.  John

Cooperstown was awesome.  The Hall of Fame was really cool. We got to see Reggie Jackson having an interview.  Grandpa was the most excited I've seen him in a long time.  Zach

I hope that the Wail in the Wail show will splash me.  I am so excited.  Portia

I did really well when I drove.  Mom told me I have poison ivy on my neck and chin.  Grandpa still hasn't won even a single game of cards or password.  Grant

I almost died by laughter because Grandpa.  Two of the funniest was when Grandpa took off his pants and rubbed his but against Grants pillow and when I scratched Grandpa's face.  The Baseball Hall of Fame and the cow dressed as a ballplayer and "Babe" Ruth's baseball bat and ball...it was so cool..   Mercedes

Although today was long, it didn't seem all that long.  Went to Cooperstown; always nice...Tim and I still dominate.  Lots of great laughter, my jaws hurt.  Saw Gigi's work place...what a place!  Never saw anyone eat so slow as Grant did.  Lots more laughter.  Good day...Grandma

I hope this trip is interesting and memorable.  I expect everyone to be polite, respectful and have fun.  I would like to keep fighting to a minimum.  Gigi

Still stomping John at password.  Very long drive today.  Really enjoyed the Baseball Hall of Fame.  I was a nice distratiion. Got to see Gigi.  Tim

DAY 5 - - July 27, 2004  Whale Watch Day

Summary:  We drove to Bar Harbor, took a whale watching cruise, had lobster dinners and then drove to a lodge at The Forks, Maine.

We wrestled in the back where Grandpa tickled Zach and made him kick me.  I forgot that two days ago.  It took me 30 minutes to eat a single cini-mini from Burger King.  We saw Triton who is a humpback whale.  Grant

The whales were awesome especially the humpback.  The dolphins were really cool.  The lobster we had for dinner were awesome.  Got to see some really beautiful country on our drive to and from Bar Harbor.  Got to spend time with Gigi.  Tim

Whale watching was exciting.  We got to see close encounters with wild dolphins.  Then we ate lobster at the restaurant.  Then tragically Grandpa ran over a baby raccoon.  How heartless!  Zach

It was so cool!  I loved the dolphins...were so so cool and pretty.  They were jumping up and down out of the water and flipping in the air and they were racing toward the boat.  I love um!  The whales were really cool too.  I like the Triton because of the tale flapping against the water.  I have never seen the water spout of an whale and it was like a fountain of water coming out of a a big hole.  I have never seen a hole as big as that on a body.  I love um too.  Mercedes

I like all the dolfins.  They where rele cool and the wales  and the seels noses that stuk up out of the water and Grandpa ran over a raccoon.  Portia

Whales watching was great.  Wrestling with Zach and Grant was even better.  At least I managed not to lose at password.  Ran over a raccoon,  felt terrible.  Lobster was great also.  Zach bit me so hard I am still bleeding.  John

All the dolphins running through the waves were great.  The whales were large and beautiful.  The lobster dinner was so good I couldn't even finish, gave John the rest of mine.  Cabin was nice.  Lots of fun in the car and Tim drove 95 miles per hour a short time.  Grandma

Despite being exhausted from a long night from work, I had a great time seeing my kids being excited watching the whales and dolphins  I thought the humpback was incredible!  But so was seeing 200 dolphins - what an amazing sight!  Wished we had more time in Bar Harbor but I think the kids would have been bored - kind of a tourist trap - more of an adult place at night.  The lobster dinner was exactly what I had hoped everyone would experience in Maine  - fresh lobster, lobster bibs, lots of laughs.  The lodge was nice --pricey but worth it.  Gigi

DAY 6 - July 28, 2004     White Water Rafting

We went white watering  - 2  "4's". Magic was great!  Had a fantastic steak dinner - Tim was allowed to win at 6 handed O Hell.  Linda and Sadie did a Tae Kwan Do routine - the video was exceptional...we were all asleep by 9 PM our time - we needed it ( the sleep), Good Day! Fun!  John

It was so fun yesterday!  We went white water rafting and Mom fell over in the raft.  Then we all ate in the local restaurant and Grandpa says it wa some of the best steak he has ever had in a long time.  At night we played O Hall and Grandpa still hasn't won a single game of anything this entire vacation.  Zachary

Grandpa's losing streak continues - how funny.  The white water rafting trip has to be the most exciting thing we have done on the trip.  I definitely wanted to go again on something a bit stronger.  This was a great first river!   The video they shot really captured the moments.  Great time!  Tim

I got to Kayak with Mom and she kept turning us around.  We went through a class 4 rapid called Magic.  I had terakey chicken, hot chocolate, fried rice and they were delicious.  Grant

Yesterday was so fun.  We went white water rafting and we went through a lot of waves, big ones. I got soaked.  I was always in the front sitting on the side.  We stopped to eat lunch and I had salmon with steak sauce.  When CM took off his shirt, mom was like, O La la...lol!  There were kayaks that blowed up.  They were so cool.  I would like to have one myself.  I got to ride one myself and with little boy that is going into 3rd grade.  I always got caught on the side so I got saved.  It was so fun.  And yes I did have a good score.  Mercedes

I had a fun time raftin.  It was so fun.  I was in the frunt so I was all whet.  I was almost the wettest...Portia

Rafting was a great adventure for all of us.  really enjoyed swimming in a class 2 rapids with the boys.. Both boys need to re learn the right/left directions.  They can't follow directions for paddling in the kayak very well.  Was please that the girls got to enjoy the rapids safely.  Had a great dinner at the lodge.  Lack of sleep over the past few weeks caught up with me---crashed out at 6Pm -up at 1AM then back to sleep...Gigi

DAY 7 - -July 29, 2004

Summary:  We left and drove to Quebec City where we spent the night

I had a fun time in Quebec.  i got a very nice necklace and we ate in the oldest restaurant in Quebec City.  I got poison ivy.  We went out  looking for moose but didn't see any.  Mercedes

I saw a very nice sword for $45 Canadian in Quebec.  I also saw a 55 Catalac with Elvis wheels and playing Elvis music.  I also took 2 pictures of the car and some of grandma.  Grant

I watched street performers do really hard tricks.  We accidentally stumbled upon the oldest restaurant in Quebec.  Grandpa also won his first game of password with Mom.  Zach

I liked watching street performers.  One had a box and he got in a bag and had someone tied it and he got in the box.  The she put locks on it and she standed on top of the box and then he came up then...that's all....Portia

The drive to Quebec Was through some beautiful country.  Quebec City reminded me of Cassis in the south of France.  It was great.  We ate at a wonderful restaurant - the oldest one in Quebec.  Had great prime rib.  Paid $7.10 for a 12 pack of diet pepsi...ouch.  John finally won at password.  Tim

 

Enjoyed walking around in Quebec.  Bought myself a nice fur hat at the Chateau.  Dinner was decent.  Trouble finding a nice hotel - fell asleep early... Gigi

John bought me a pair of dream catcher earrings.  Quebec was a wonderfully European style city.  Had dinner in the oldest restaurant in Quebec.  Gigi bought a beautiful hat.  Saw lots of street artist and musicians.  Took picture of kids with a street statue that was really alive.  Finally found a motel...Grandma

Looked for moose...didn't find any!  Held up at customs.  Quebec City was much nicer than I thought - like I think Europe might be.  Lost my temper at dinner...watched John Kerry's acceptance speech... survived the day...John

DAY 8 - July 30, 2004

Summary:  We drove from Quebec City to Montreal where we spent the night.

I walked the Grandma and Grandpa in Montreal through a music festival and up to the adult street (Soho).  It rained a lot and I saw some cool swords in Chinatown after we walked in the smaller of two indoor malls.  There were some good bands in the festival and the last people we saw we really liked and Grandpa took pictures of me in the Adult street that we walked down and in there I saw some awesome bar, a girl threw herself at Grandpa and I saw some people smoking pot...Grant

I got a little mouse that was a ballarrena.  It is so cute.  We went swimming and we went to some stores.  One store had swords and animal fur.  Another store had a little bear on a cristle and a little box that had a killer wale on it.  And there was a stor that had a $45,000 music box and the stor had things from the old times...Portia

I saw a cool sword in Chinatown.  We went swimming in a very nice swimming pool.  Portia and Mercedes both got a little mouse figurine.  Zach

I got a cute mouse but would like just a couple more that were really cute.  We went to Montreal.  We stayed at this really nice Hyatt with a big swimming pool which we got to swim in while Grant, Grandma and Grandpa were out in a festival in the rain.  Mercedes

We traveled from Quebec to Montreal.  I took a sightseeing trip which wasn't planned.  Stayed at a very nice hotel and did some walking.  John , Grand and I went walking down the street for a festival of bands.  Saw some interesting shops in Soho.  had some interesting deserts and hot chocolate.  Got wet as it rained on us.  Ate some pizza and got a very bad stomach ache ..went to sleep late... Grant couldn't fine the ice... was gone for about 20 minutes...got worried about him ...Grandma

Grant got lost looking for ice .. go figure.  I proclaimed to the world that Tim and Linda were the all time greatest password team.  Walked with Linda and Grant to the festival and through Soho last night.  Linda got a massage and we had a great desert ... nice day.  John

Long drive from Quebec to Montreal ... walked in the old port and Chinatown ...the kids went to the swimming pool while Grandpa, Grandma and Grant went walking to the festival in the rain.  Enjoyed watching the kids play in the pool  -  they are fish.  late night pizza .. didn't settle well.  Gigi

Montreal was a really neat city.  Lots of neat little stores and the underground city was unique.  John finally fulfilled his promise to proclaim Linda and I the greatest password players in the world.  Saw an amazing music box  ... couldn't afford the $45,000 to buy it though.  Tim

DAY 9 - July 31, 2004

Summary:  Drove from Montreal to Killington Peak, Vermont via Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Plant

Drove along Lake Champlain.  BIG ...Drove through Montpelier, Vermont.  Saw the gold dome on capital.  Rained most of the day ...Vermont is a pretty state.  Went to Ben and Jerry's ..Vermont's number 1 tourist attraction.  Neato ...Tim

I got a dolphin light and some Montreal cards.  We stayed at a Comfort Inn but we still haven't seen a moose.  Mercedes

We went to Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory.  Our hotel had a fire which was a false alarm. Mom almost bought me a hat.  Zachary

The ice cream samples at Ben and Jerry's were delicious.  We have seen so many neat cars so far.  We missed breakfast because of a fire alarm went off and we had to walk down 7 flights of stairs...Grant

 

I like Ben and Jerry's ice cream factary.  It was cool.  I liked the chocolat kind of ice cream.  It was rely good and before we went into the factory we went to this thing tha had cows and the cows are what they got the milk and cream and there was a ground hog too.  Portia

Ben and Jerry's was great.  We got free samples.  The mud slide was great.  We saw ground hogs by some milk cows where the ice cream get the milk.  I got cow socks and they are so cute...Mercedes

Today started in an unique way.  The fire alarm went off in the hotel and we couldn't take the elevators down.  Lots of steps from the 2nd floor which really was the 6th level...glad we weren't on the 8th floor.  Drove through some pretty country towns  ..went to Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory...fun tour .. stayed in a nice room...got to sleep late.  Grandma

 

In a great hotel, we began with a fire alarm - false - of course, and a pretty drive through the Lake Champlain islands.  Ben and Jerry's was fine - still - we were tired getting to our hotel.  Grandpa

Slept late...long drive through customs.  Then a nice winding drive through the Champlain islands .. quick tour of Burlington and then Ben and Jerry's hit the spot.  Wish they had been making ice cream that day but tasting was good enough .. nice drive to Killington but long. Gigi

DAY 10 - August 1, 2004

Summary:  We drove from Killington Peak to Old Orchard Beach via Quechee Falls and then on to Lewiston, Maine.

The country up in Vermont and New Hampshire is green and lush this time of year - nice drive from Killington through Quechee (where Grant got lost) to Portsmouth and up coastal Highway1.  Kennebuckport and Kittery were busy little communities - kids were bored until we got to Old Orchard Beach.  Enjoyed seeing the kids in the ocean and on the boardwalk.  An hour later we were in Lewiston  -long day.  Gigi

We went to Orchard Beach where I had been over 40 years prior.  Nice drive.. Tim fed us bad chicken.  Still a good day.  Dad

Grant got lost again and I had to go looking for him.  We had very bad chicken.  We went to Old Orchard beach and we went to the ocean.  Zachary

I like Old Orcherd beech.  it was cool.  The water at the beech was ice cold.  I also liked the French fries with vinnigger.  They wher rely good.  We also went on a trale that had waterfall and Grant got lost...Portia

 

We went to Old Orchard Beach and I got a huge hot dog and I couldn't finish...The waters was freezing and it was hot outside so the water felt good.There was a lot of shirts that I saw and they were funny.  Grant

Went to Quechee Gorge.  It was neat but Grant decided to go down another path and was lost for 20 minutes.  Gigi was beside herself.  Old Orchard Beach was neat.  The ocean water was freezing cold and I can't believe people were  actually swimming in it.  Picked up chicken for dinner at  Wal-mart....remember always check for the time cooked on the package ...3 hours old is not good ...back to Lewiston ..say goodbye to Mom...Tim

At Old Orchard Beach it was so cool but the water was freezing cold.  We had to drop off Mom ..WaWaWA  I miss her.  Mercedes

Got up, had breakfast at the hotel.  Drove to Quechee Gorge took a .3 mile walk ..Grant appeared to be lost because he went ahead and down the other tail.. Gigi gets concerned when someone appears to be lost ...don't blame her ...drove up the coast to Old Orchard Beach with a boardwalk.  Had a lobster roll and clam chowder for dinner ..kids played in the ocean for a short while ..tried to sleep early ..Gramdma

DAY 11  - August 2, 2004

Summary: We left extremely early and drove to Big Meadow, Virginia

We camped at the Big Meadows campground.  On our way we saw a black bear on the side of the road.  Then we went on a "very strenuous" hike where it started to get dark when we had 2 miles to go.  We split up into 2 groups.  I was with Dad, Sadie and Portia.  We went on ahead and we kept on go into the fire road.  Grandpa, Grandma and Grant were followed by a bear.  We walked all the way to the car in the dark and when we had the car, a ranger came by and  "rescued"  Grandma, Grandpa and Grant.  Then in the morning we woke up to see a fawn and another deer very close to our tents.  Zachary

I saw the bear that was full grown and he was on the street and he leaped into the bushes.  And I saw the little bitty bear that was a cub bbd he was just walking on the side of the road and I went  diarea in my cuprese (capri's) and it was really stency (stinky)!!! Portia

It became really dark really fast on the trail that me Grandma and Grandpa were left behind.  Grandma and Grandpa said they heard a bear behind us but I don't remember hearing a twig snap.  The park ranger came with his car and he gave us a ride up the fire road which is longer than a mile.  Grant

Long drive.  We went on the Appalachian Mountain and camped out on them.  We saw 2 bears but I only saw one.  It was black with a little bit of brown on his back.  We walked on a really long trail.  Grandma and Grandpa got the exerciser and walked for 5 days.  At first the trail was going down with a lot of little rocks,  some were medium and most were little.  It was really easy the first half but the 2nd half was hard even if anybody says it was easy.  I spotted out 5 deer and Zach spotted out 1 deer really close.  It was a lot of fun and funny because Grandpa and Portia went diare in their pants and they had to throw undies out in the wilderness. Portia had poop stains on her pants and she had to wipe her butt so Dad told her to put her butt in the water so she put her butt in the water, rubbed her butt on a rock in the water and she fell in.  That was so funny.  Mercedes:30

Today started out very early - 2:30AM - drove most of the day to get to the Shenandoa's and Big Meadows.  We had just entered the park when we saw our first bear.  A little further down we saw another bear.  Wow!  We got to camp and went for a walk on the Rose River Trail ..started at 5:30 ...got very exciting ..got dark and John, Grant and I had to make our way up a very long rocky trail with Portia's little flashlight. We walked forever! until we saw the lights of the Rangers's car only a 100 feet from the fire road.  Was so glad to get a ride up that last mile.. this goes down as one of the most scary moments ...got off the trail about 10PM ...lots of funny things did happen also ...John and Portia got the "runs" big time and we threw 2 pair of underwear out along the trail  ..was a very interesting day ...Grant was really very strong and kept me from slippng or falling as he held my hand while John forged a light path for us   Grandma .

Took a very early start ... drove through NYC very quickly ..boring day ..saw 2 bears and took a walk without bathrooms ..not much else except Linda, Grant and I were rescued by a Ranger after a horrible walking climb that seem to never end.  Truly frightening experience not to be repeated ...John

Had to get up early to start.  Seeing the 2 black bears on Skyline Drive was really cool.  Rose River Falls Loop Trail was very picturesque  -  very easy walk down  --slightly more strenuous on the way up.  Would have been more fun if it had not gotten dark before we got to the  top.  Took Sadie, Portia and Zach up ahead...left Grant with John and Linda.  We had a hard time seeing the trail but after a 25 minute hike or so it seemed we finally got to the fire road. Worked our way up the fire road in the dark.  Was easier than the trail, could feel the gravel under our feet and know we were on the road still.  Had to send Rangers down the trail with a light to rescue the stragglers.  Got to bed late ..no shower ...tomorrow will be a hotel. Tim

DAY 12 - August 3,2004

Summary:  Drove from big Meadows to Frankfort, Ky.

Saw 2 deer in camp when we got up.  Drove much more leisurely down Skyline Drive.  Forgot my phone at Waffle House and had to go back to get it.  Saw 2 state capitals, W. Virginia and Kentucky.  Got to sleep in a real bed and got a warm shower.  Tim

Pleasant drive to Kentucky.  All pretty tired but good day.  Skyline Drive is always pretty.  So is Kentucky and the horse farms....John

I like the dear that was by are tents.  Ther was a mom and a baby.  I also like the capital of West Virginia.  It was rely cowl (cool).  The capital  was rely cowl and the dome was painted gold.  Kentucky was rely cowl.  We stayed in the capital city.   Portia

There was a couple of deer by our tents.  There was a mom and a fawn.  We went through the capital of Charleston, W.V.  The dome wasn't gold but it was painted gold.  The second capital we went through was Frankfort, Ky.  It was cool.  The dome on the Charleston building had really cool designs and it had little bumps.  Mercedes

We went to go see a glass factory that closed 1 hour and 3 minutes before we got there.  We ate at the one waffle house on the trip for Mercedes and Dad left his cell phone there.  We swam in Frankfort, Ky at the Holiday Inn and nothing else happened that whole day except we saw deer walk past out tents.  Grant

We ate at Waffle House and Dad left his phone at Waffle House.  We saw several capitals.  We stayed at a nice hotel with a waterfall.  Zachary

Woke up early and saw 3 deer eating in our camp.  Drove out of  Skyline Drive and saw the pretty views.  Clouds ere over some of the hills.  Got tired but saw several capitals.  Portia gets excited when she sees them..  Stayed in a nice hotel.  John and I had dinner in our room while the kids ate and went swimming.  Fell asleep easily.   Grandma

DAY  13 - August 4, 2004

Summary:  We drove from Frankfort, Ky to O'Fallon, Ill.  where we stayed overnight with Tim's mother.

Uneventful drive from Frankfort, Ky to Mom's house in O'Fallon.  Got to see Tommy in the hospital...pray he gets better soon.  had a nice dinner with Sandy and Mom.   Tim

Had a breakfast buffet at our Hotel, got on the road and drove to Tim's Mom's in O'Fallon.  Had dinner with John, cam back, went to bed early, worried about John's eye...Grandma

We ate a big breakfast and drove.  We got to Grandma's house...little Leo wasn't there so I called and Uncle Leo drove him to Grandma's.  Aunt Lee came and visited and I got to play with Leo.  He spent the night.  It was fun.  Mercedes

We drove a lot and arrived at  Grandma Annibelles house.  We waited for little Leo to arrive and when he did we played tag and gunfighter. We also got to watch Grandma make chocolate cake and banana split cake.  At night we watched Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Payback.  Zachary 

Rode most of the day to St. Louis.  Linda and I had dinner together but were to tired to go to the movie.  John

We just went to Grandma in St. Louis and we went to the hospital and saw Uncul Tomy.  Portia

 

We went to see Uncle Tommy in the hospital and he was doing better.  We ate at Lone Star and I had some really good steak wrapped in bacon and sweet bourbon salmon. I teased  Aunt Sandy a lot and kept nodding off while we watched Paycheck.  Grant

DAY 14 - August 5, 2004

Final Day of Our Great Adventure

Final Thoughts

Thought everything went well - Let Grant drive the bug and I am still alive to write about it.  He needs time to polish his skills a bit.  No major problems except with Grant getting lost - twice - glad he is growing up enough that my fright level is only ankle deep.  The highlight was easily rafting but  I hope that the kids come to appreciate where they have been and what they have seen  (Quebec, Montreal, Bar Harbor , Burlington) thankful that Mom and Dad got to experience this trip with the kids also...Gigi

I had a wonderful time.  The whale watching and white water rafting were great.  We saw so many great cars on this trip, it's mind boggling.  Getting to spend time with Gigi was the highlight.  Canada was a nice experience.  The hike in the Shenandoah Valley was the only tense moment to speak of.  I would do the whole trip again if given the chance.  Tim

My final thoughts are the things I really liked were the Whale watching, white water rafting; Montreal, Quebec, Negara Falls with Angle Falls.  Rafting was really spontaneous.  Whale watching was really cool with the dolphins, the porpoises, seals and of course whales.  Negara Falls with Angle Falls was really pretty.  The mist was so big...Montreal and Quebec was kind of the same to me but in Montreal the underground city was so cool.  I got lots of cool souvenirs.  Ben and Jerry's factory was really cool.  I got to taste some really good ice cream.  The fire road walk in the Appalachian Mountains was cool and funny especially with Portia going diarrhea.  Mercedes

It wa a fun trip and everyone had fun.  I want to do it again someday.  There was not much fighting anyway.  Zachary

I had a fun time...Portia

I got to drive the bug and Mom said I did a good job.  I had fun whale watching, rafting and hiking.  The best part of the trip to me was playing with Grandpa and making him lose in password and  O Hell.  I'm glad I got to spend some time with Mom...Grant

Wasn't too sure how this trip would go but had some wonderful times. There was a lot of laughter in the van especially when people would yell, "Roll down the windowsd"  And of course, Tim and I would beat people in password.  Saw some new places I had never seen before and had a great time being with everybody.  Opportunities like this don't happen every often.  I am glad we went because we had a great time and created some lasting family memories...Linda

It was an incredible trip from start to finish.  It was easily one of the best -  if not the best vacation I have ever had.  Almost my entire family crammed into a van traveling together for almost 14 days and hardly ever a cross word.  I remember laughing so hard I could not breath.  This is what I will always remember .. the joy of this great adventure!  Grandpa

ONE LINERS

What we would change, do again, food we liked and other one liners!

Sadie:  Change nothing, whitewater rafting and food was Ben and Jerry's

Portia:  liked the white water rafting

Grant;  Favorite thing  the Montreal Walk (Soho), Lasagna in Frankfort, Ky. change nothing

Zach:  Favorite thing was Whitewater rafting, food was Grandma Annabell's chocolate cake, change nothing

Tim: Favorite was white water rafting, steak at lodge, leave for walk earlier

Linda:  Change - never do the walk again, liked white water rafting, Lobster dinner in Bar Harbor

John:  Rafting and Steak at lodge

Gigi: Toss up between steak at the lodge and lobster in Bar Harbor, Rafting, spend more time in Montreal, Quebec City and old Orchard Beach just hanging out!

Other Lines

Portia giving the speed limit, it's 35 miles per hour and you are speeding

Grandpa stinks at password

You suck

Thank God for playing cars with Gigi cause I finally won.

Tim and Linda reign supreme at password...

Class 4 rapids are for wimps...

Gigi, is your 100 miles up yet?

Singing keeps the bears away

I'm a good boy (Zach)

Rubber Duckee

Is there anything behind me ... I'm going to wack it with a stick.

Hello! We need to stop! I have a problem, and Portia did

Turn around .. don't look back ...

Fire road ahead....

 

 

December 2004-January 2005 -Christmas trip 3rd Rose Bowl

I am writing this from memory in September of 2014 as we had not written a journal for this trip. At the time we did not realize  we might not ever get back to the Rose  Bowl Parade and we might not.  We are hoping to this Christmas with our Grandson Grant and his young companion Hanna but not certain it will happen.

We drove through the Grand Canyon as is out tendency whenever in that part of the country. we took some nice pictures. 

We went to Sedona where we spent a fair amount of time at the famous chapel there. We always thought this was a  Frank Lloyd Wright building but now know it really isn't. Still it is quite beautiful and very nice to see.

We drove to LA and went down the coast a short ways and visited a seal beach over a railroad track. A short but strenuous walk for us. We took a picture of really high (for the time) gas prices to show Tim what we did NOT spend.

 

We spent a nice night on the Parade route and watched once more in awe the most wonderful parade in our land. We had a nice trip with no real memory of anything exceptionally bad happening.

We made a remarkable stop in Zion NP and walked and enjoyed the Park in the dead of winter. We took some of our finest pictures I think.

 

Our 40th Wedding Anniversary Trip

Day 1 – June 3, 2005  Wichita, Kansas to Grand Junction, Colorado

Can it really be 40 years? It just doesn’t possibly seem that long. Perhaps it has only been 20 or 25 years. No, I am 60 and Linda is going to be 58 in July. We got married at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City on June 5, 1965. We have three daughters and five grandchildren. We have owned our own business, worked for others and worked for the Catholic Church and been hurt badly. We aren’t alone in that matter though and better than most as we have survived. We have survived the Military, our families and even each other for 40 years. This marriage is the best thing I have ever done and both Linda and I would begin it again in an heartbeat. We can’t afford to take this journey that we are about to take but we are on our way.

We could not sleep well as we were anxious to begin and so around 3AM on Friday, June 3rd we began with the firm agreement not to drive too long or too far. We drove to Grand Junction, Colorado, only 800 plus miles through rain storms, heat and traffic. We drove with our top down and with it up, in the rain and in the sun. We left with the top down in a beautiful clear morning night sky with thousands of stars above us. The sounds of Elvis filed our night and we sang along with gusto.  Before we reached Salina, Kansas, lightning began to light up the sky and we stopped and put up our top – just in time as the heavens opened up and we were in hail, lightning and thunder. We struggled through and in Hays the rain let up and we happily drove on to Denver where we intended to get a motel and stop for the night.

We reached Denver before noon and decided to go to the Mile High Flea Market. Of course we missed the turn and went across town on the wrong road. Once we figured out where we were going, we turned around and headed back the other way. The interesting thing is we had passed a huge traffic jam and declared we were greatly pleased to have missed it. On the other hand when we turned around, well, we drove right through it. We reached to Flea Market and found it was open on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday but not Friday. It was getting really hot so we left and drove on west.

 

We came up and over the mountain, through the tunnel and there on the side of the road was a herd of Big Horn Sheep. They were so close we could have almost touched them except there was no stopping on a 75 mile per hour speedway so we kept going. By the way Linda was driving but it would not have mattered as we were driving to protect ourselves from being run over. A little further and two ambulances tore past us. Further yet we passed a train stopped with both ambulances pulled up to the train. Wonder what that was about.

We reached Grand Junction, got a nice room and I noticed how badly our front two tires were worn. We went to a Big O tire store and negotiated the price of replacing the two tires and getting a 4 wheel alignment down to about $108 dollars. While that was being done we had a great Carl’s Junior Cheeseburger. That night we decided to set up a new web site and began to do so with the help of Start Logic. At about 11PM Mountain Time, we fell asleep. Strangely enough, it was a great day as Linda and I talked, held hands and acted as though we were newly married.

Linda

Started the day at 3:00am when we left.  The top was down and there were so many stars-----until ---- the lightening could be seen behind the clouds which told us we just might run into some rain.  Oh Boy!  The rain, the hail and all before 5:30am.  We finally got to Denver and decided that we would go to the Mile High Flea Market.  They were closed, so off we went down the road.  It was beautiful driving through the mountains.  We drove with the top down even when it began to rain.  It’s amazing that you really don’t get wet as long as you keep driving fast.  Don’t slow down or you get really wet.  We saw deer, antelope, and even more amazing we saw mountain sheep right along the interstate, but I was going down hill at 70 miles an hour with all kinds of big trucks on my backside so we couldn’t even pull over to take pictures.  Stop in Grand Junction, Colorado for the evening after 800 miles only to discover that we needed two front tires and an alignment.  We ate a burger at Carl’s Jr. which we don’t have in Wichita and it was pretty good.  Headed for the movies but they only had single seats left and after 40 years with John we decided that we still liked sitting next to each other, so we left and are going to relax back at our motel for the evening.  Pretty good day even if it was pretty long.

John

We drove too long and too far and yet, it was a wonderful day. Linda covered the details so I will just say that we held hands and talked all day even to the point of not knowing exactly where we were. In Denver we took the wrong road on the way to a flea market we like and saw a traffic backup which we were determined to avoid at all cost…so of course we turn around and of course we end up in the middle of it. The Bighorn Sheep were magnificent and so was the drive. Think about it, we drive 800 miles, Stop at 4PM, get two tires and an alignment done, see deer, bighorn sheep, and antelope, and are in our room before 8 and we also began to set up this web site which will be somewhat amateurish until we get home. We also said our daily prayers and read scripture aloud as is our habit. We talked with our children who are wonderful many times during the day. I pray for more days like this only less driving! It is very hard for us to slow down and yet we are trying. We also saw a train derailed in the Rockies. Hope no one was hurt too bad!

Day 2 – Saturday – June 4, 2005 Grand Junction, Colorado to Ely, Nevada

 Well we woke up and lay in bed for about an hour until we both were ready to go. We got up and discussed visiting the Colorado Monument but never saw any signs for it so went on our way west. We drove through some beautiful country. Linda had an ear ache so I was just a little concerned. We started the day with our top up and continued later as she felt better with the top down. We drove through Green River, Utah which held some sort of fascination for me. It was ok but not as I remembered. We took a short cut to I25 and stopped for gas at a gas station where a young woman told me she was a Mormon. She also said her dad had been kicked out of the Church. I reminded her that her dad was loved by God and that God doesn’t kick people out. She made us great cheeseburgers and we also met a woman traveling with her grandchildren.  She was headed the same direction as we were and told us about a cave that was a neat place to visit. We reached Great Basin National Park fairly early and stopped. It was a tiny park or at least the visitor center was small. We took the long walking tour of Lehman Cave which was located there. It was a wonderful cave unlike Mammoth and Carlsbad which we have visited several times. At the end of the tour, the ranger told us to listen for the heartbeat of the National Park. He then shut the door very solidly as we were in the exit tunnel. The resounding sound was easily that of a real heartbeat. It was pretty neat. It was good to stretch our legs. We went into Ely, Nevada which is a unique gambling, mining town. We finally got the last room in a motel and had a fine prime rib dinner at the casino.

John

Wow we ONLY drove 490 miles today. We drove across the Capital Reef NP, into the Great Basin NP where we stopped and took the Lehman Cave tour. We

Took the longest tour which was 90 minutes. It was not very strenuous but very enjoyable. The Cave is quite lovely although the damage done deliberately by groups of people in the past was unusually horrible. People breaking formations so their needs would be met in the cave. We stayed Ely Nevada, a mining and gambling town tonight. There were sand bags next to most of the downtown casinos as they had been flooded a few weeks earlier. Ely kind of sits at the bottom of mountains.  Had a decent dinner and went to bed. It was a nice day with a very nice ending!

Linda

We started the day with our top up on the car because I have been battling an ear ache.  We drove through some very pretty places and as the afternoon got warmer we finally put the top down.  A pretty day.  We went to the Great Basin National Park and took the Lehman Cave Tour.  We have seen a lot of caves and this one has some of the neatest formations.  Not a very big cave but very nice.  We drove to Ely, Utah which is a town of motels and casinos.  We were lucky to get a room as most of them were full.  Strange to see a town out in the middle of nowhere that is so full of people.  Had a nice dinner and went back to get a good nights sleep.  Nice day!

Day 3, June 5, 2005 – Our 40th Wedding Anniversary – Ely, Nevada to Angels Camp, California

 Wow! 40 years and it really seems so much less, at the most 20 years but then we have three daughters of which the youngest is 27 and the oldest is almost 39. Thank You God for this time together. It truly doesn’t seem possible, No question but I got the very best of this deal!

 

We left Ely after a nice morning which I will not go into too much detail…still it was nice and special! We drove out of Ely past dry lakes with white sand hills. We took a back road into Fallon, Nevada past the Salt Wells house of prostitution – a trailer behind a relatively open fence. We found a neat roadside café at the intersection of two lonely roads - one of which is called “the loneliest highway in America” – highway 50. The ceilings of this café were plastered with one, two and three dollar bills all signed by the person who put it there. We assumed the three dollar bills were fake – maybe one’s changed to read three. A nice woman named Frieda, cooked up cheeseburgers for us and we spoke with “bikers” about the best way into Yosemite National Park.  We discovered the road we wanted to take was covered by seven feet of snow. We went through Ebb its Pass and over the Iceberg Highway into Angel’s Camp. We stopped at the most glorious crystal alpine lake and had our pictures taken by a nice couple. We found a great motel in Angel’s Camp after our son in law, Tim, tried to find us a room. To Tim’s credit, we lost our connection with him just as he was about to find a room. We had a great Pizza and spoke with locals about the horrible rise in real estate prices in this area. They couldn’t afford to sell and yet there weren’t many jobs. It was a story we would hear often. We fell asleep after a very nice day!

Linda

Today is our 40th anniversary.  It doesn’t seem that long.  We took a beautiful drive through the Carson Ice Wilderness route across the mountains.  It was a very narrow, winding, steep drive.  Lots of snow left on the ground at the summit.  We had a great time at a strange café stop just before we entered the pass.  It had all kinds of dollar bills with people’s names and messages stuck all over the ceiling and it was a great place to take a break. After the pass drive we decided that we were done driving for the day and stayed in a little town call Angel Camp. We went to the pizza place for dinner, good pizza.  This was not like our first day of marriage but I believe it was so much better.  This is a trip that we have talked about and wanted to take just incase health keeps us from doing this in the future.  It’s a great way to spend an anniversary. 

John

Linda and I were married 40 years ago today. She is my entire life and I have no regrets for that. Nothing else is close! We drove over the Carson Ice Wilderness this afternoon. It was beautiful.  We had lunch at a great place with dollar bills hung on the ceiling. We stopped early and the night is still young. I thank God for these 40 years and I have no regrets about taking this trip as who knows if we will ever be able to do something like this again. Age and health are factors that weigh on my mind.


Day 4, June 6, 2005 – Angel’s Camp, California to Yosemite National Park, California

 

We left kind of early. I think we were both eager to get started to Yosemite. We drove through Sonora and stopped at a Wal-Mart where we bought some fruit and a couple of clearance lightweight jackets. There was traffic and the roads were steep going into Yosemite. We saw gas for $2.89 a gallon but out of loyalty to Tim and Gigi who had provided us with a gas card we kept on driving until we had no choice but to put some $2.73 a gallon gas in. Their kindness and love are what made this trip possible.

Once there, we headed for the valley. At a stop sign just before the valley, in heavy traffic, Linda noticed our car was steaming. The heat was off the wall. We turned right because we were in stop and go and by turning we could be moving. It would have easy to panic. In my not to younger days I would have been screaming and yelling and it would have ruined everything. Today God blessed me with some calmness although the urge was there to yell and shout. Instead we pulled over at the Tunnel Overview and rather calmly opened the hood and immediately saw that the radiator hose had a pretty fair hole in it. We dried it off and my wonderful wife, found a roll of duct tape she had brilliantly brought. We taped the hole and then considered our possibilities…which were up the hills and mountains for 35 miles or 7 miles downhill to the valley where a garage was. The downhill trip would be traffic jammed so we weren’t sure what to do. We found the telephone number of the garage in the valley and called them and they assured us they had our hose. We left for the valley and got to the send stop sign before the tape gave way. We drove to the right with only a half mile to go when the traffic came to a halt. We could see a ranger directing traffic so Linda got out and went toward the ranger and at this moment a tour bus turns toward us. I made a sudden decision to go around the traffic and through the ranger on the wrong side of the road. I yelled at the ranger, “My radiator hose has burst, where is the garage ?” He gestured around the corner and off I went and sure enough, a quarter of a mile and I was there.  Wow and yet the garage fixed the car and we were only there about an hour and the cost was less than $35…wow!!!! God has a way of looking out for us!

A little on the weary side we left and drove out through the valley back up to the Tunnel Overview. We thanked the ranger for helping us with the garage telephone number. We then took everyone’s advice and went to Glacier Point. It was 36 miles one way up a very steep mountain and still it was worth it. The view was perfect and the people were nice. We met a family having a reunion there and took their pictures and they took ours.

We drove slowly out of the park into a state forest campground where we pitched our tent and again met a very nice couple traveling on a Honda Motorcycle. We walked around the park and slept very well until we began to freeze. It was the only uncomfortable night of the trip. We woke up a got into the car and tried to keep warm without much luck.

John

Wow what an incredible day! We are spending the night in a National forest Campground just south of Yosemite. We only drove 175 miles this day but what a drive. We lost a radiator hose about 9 miles from a garage in the Yosemite Valley, got there somehow and got it replaced and it cost only about $35 and took only a couple of hours. Linda and I are going to take a hike in a few minutes. We both thought Glacier Point was wonderful.

Linda

We started the day with a trip to Wal-Mart where we decided to buy a couple of light weight jackets and some bottled water.  We headed into Yosemite which is very pretty.  The roads where some what twisty but beautiful.  We sprang a leak in a water hose but we had duct tape and bottled water which helped get us to the repair shop in Yosemite village.  We went to Glacier Point which was absolutely magnificent.  Found a camp ground, went for a walk and had a very nice day.

Day 5, June 7, 2005 – Yosemite NP to Sequoia NP

We were freezing so we broke camp very quickly and drove into Fresno where we visited a friendly Wal-Mart and purchased two warm sleeping bags and some munchies. We headed up into Kings Canyon fairly early and filled up at $2.19 a gallon at a fruit stand just before we left for the Canyon. We stopped at a huge grove of Sequoias and walked around. We walked through a giant downed tree and Linda took my picture. We met a nice family who owned a gas and general store close to there.

We then drove down into King’s Canyon on a very curvy road. We stopped for a very pleasant interlude at a remote picnic site next to a raging river. Our daughters would cry out…too much information…hey it is our anniversary trip and the neat thing is..We still not only love each other, but like each other and impossible but true, we find each other still attractive…different than 40 years ago but better in many ways.

We drove past a tourist cave and into the valley. We stopped at a ranger station and inquired about the river which was raging way too much to raft.  We went on to Sequoia stopping to take pictures of a beautiful meadow and ending at the main Sequoia campground where a couple of senor citizen type rangers assigned us a great camping spot. We set up our tent and went looking for bears which we found right away. It was a beautiful animal and we took pictures. We drove on to a Circle meadow past a mother bear and two cubs, one black and one brown. Again we took pictures. We walked about .8 mile one way to a beautiful meadow, sat a while and walked back. There were deer next to our car when we got back to the parking area. We went to sleep and we were warm and cozy and it was a great day!

John

Wow! It was cold…we got up and went to the little car to try to get warm…not a chance!  We drove to King’s Canyon NP where we had never been. We drove down to the bottom of the canyon. The road was very steep and windy but beautiful. Linda and I stopped and had a special moment at a secluded spot overlooking a fabulous river. After 40 years I think it is wonderful we can still enjoy each other. The trees though beautiful were not as large as I had remembered. The Bears were perfect. We took a 1.75 mile walk in Sequoia and then had a nice early night.

Linda

We got up after a very cold night and decided that we would be better prepared for tonight.  It got down to about 23 degrees and it was cold.  We spent the day driving to some of the most beautiful places in this country.  We went to Kings Canyon over 32 miles of really curvy roads.  It was a beautiful drive.  Got to our camp in Sequoia and set up camp and went looking for animals.  We found one bear and then we found a bear with 2 cubs.  Great!  The giant trees were awesome, too hard to describe.  Got back to camp and found that it was supposed to be in the 20’s again but this time we were prepared.  Played cards and went to sleep early.  Nice day.

Day 6,  June 8, 2005 – Sequoia NP to Moro Bay, California

 

We got up and went looking for bears again and we found one just by ourselves. We had this beautiful bear alone until another car came up and we shared our animal.  We drove toward Moro Bay and went via San Miguel and San Luis Obispo. We called Gigi and had her look for a motel. She was looking very hard in Santa Maria and could not find a room… we realized later that was because of the Michael Jackson trial. We had a preppy lunch in San Luis Obispo and correctly decided to go on to Moro Bay where we found a nice room not too unreasonable. We had the best single dinner of the trip at the Great American Fish Company located right on the harbor. We had a harbor seat and watched a sea lion play as we ate a super meal.  We drove up toward San Simeon and saw the Sea Lions on the beach and they were magnificent. We took many pictures and finally went back to motel where we worked until very late getting our web site up to date with pictures of the trip to date. Still it was a most interesting and very nice day….the drive across the middle of California was hot and long.

 

Linda

Today we got up early, broke camp and drove around to look for bear.  We found one all by ourselves.  It was beautiful.  We headed across the barren part of California to the coast.  We got a room in Moro Bay and went looking for the sea lions up near San Simeon.  There were hundreds of them and they were so great.  Saw some wind surfers and headed back to the motel and a nice dinner at the Great American Fish Company.  It was really good and fresh fish.  Spent until about 3 am working on this web page.  It is looking good

Day 7, June 9, 2005 , Moro Bay to Vision Quest Ranch, Salinas, California

We left Moro Bay in a very good mood looking forward to Vision Quest Ranch. We stopped at a local store and Linda bought the very best muffins we have had in a very long time.  A brief word on 2005 Mustang convertibles. We counted over two dozen in this short drive today. Every rental on the coast of California must have been a 2005 Ford Mustang Convertible. They were great as were the muffins. We stopped in San Simeon and the Sea Lions were out in force. We drove up the California coast but it was foggy and dreary so we took only a few pictures. The entrance to Vision Quest ranch was closed temporarily due to a gas leak so of course we almost got lost.  We called the ranch with the help of our daughter via the ever present cell phone, and the owner called us back and personally assured us we not miss anything and gave us instructions on how to get there.

We and learned of Vision Quest Ranch, a wildlife refuge where animals are trained for use in movies, commercials and other reasons, in Newsweek. It looked really interesting and too expensive for us but we knew it was something we would really like to do. Our oldest daughter, Gigi, learned about our desire to visit and stay at the place and without hesitation, arranged for us to have a night there.

We arrived to a very warm greeting. The young ladies showed us to our “tent”…a 5 star hotel in canvas. It was great. The room was decorated in a Zebra motif.  After looking the room over and settling in, we went back to the main building where we were given an almost private tour of all the animals. There were only a young brother and sister on the tour with us. We saw all the animals and learned of their fame and background. It was very, very hot but really neat.

Early that evening which was beautiful, while sitting on our “veranda” which included a wonderful view not only of the countryside, but of the elephant area, two handlers brought us a Kinkachew(sp) which we were allowed to hold and play with for almost 30 minutes. Later they brought a lynx right up close only this animal did not want to be touched, still it was neat to have such a beautiful wild animal that close. Later we watched as the elephants ran and frolicked in the water.

Nothing could take away from this day or special night. We had a great pizza brought in and went to sleep listening to Joseph the Lion roar and grunt all night. He sounded as though he was right next to our tent. It was indeed a magical night.

Linda

 

Today has been an absolutely wonderful day.  We started the day by watching the elephant sea lions and they were playing in the water.  Great!  We finally arrived at Vision Quest Ranch.  What a great place.  It is like being in Africa.  You sit and watch the elephants play in the water from you porch.  You hear the lions roar and even that is exciting.  What a wonderful gift.  The room is so special, just like I would imagine if I were in an African setting.  This has been a great day, one to remember and share.

John

What an interesting day! We started at Moro Bay and ended up at Vision Quest Ranch near Salinas Ca. We drove the coastal highway mostly in the fog saw beautiful sea lions and arrived at Vision Quest around 3:30. We were given a private tour of the animals and tonight we had 2 beautiful animals brought up to our 5 star tent…..the tent is amazing…the view of the animals, the sounds of a lion roaring and more. It was a great day!

Day 8, June 10, 2005 – Vision Quest Ranch to San Francisco, California

 We woke up early and went out to the veranda and watched across the elephant area as one of the other tents received breakfast delivered by an elephant. We waited and watched with great anticipation until Lisa the elephant brought us breakfast. We fed her with all kinds of fruit. We would have given her more if knew we had it. She was so wonderful and if an animal could be sweet, well Lisa was sweet. She was huge and when we got off the veranda and “played” with her, touching her tusks, her trunk and constantly rubbing her, well it was great. She posed with us and by our little yellow car. The trainer and the helper both were special seemed to understand just how special a morning this was for us. We did not want to leave but we finally did and left for San Francisco where we stopped for the night after a short drive. We found a mom and pop motel on Lombard street where a young man (working for his mom and dad), gave great advice. We left our car and ventured to the Fisherman’s wharf area via the bus. It was adventure and we met many neat people. We had a yucky dinner at the wharf and bought two jackets that were on sale. We took the train to the SF Giants ballpark but miscalculated and ended up walking about 8 blocks to the stadium. We rode with a younger airline pilot and his sister and talked about United and the loss of their pension plan and the case of the two alcohol drinking pilots. He was quite nice and didn’t like the current president any more than we did. In fact no one in California seems to care much for the Iraq war or the President! Along the way we bought two premium lower box seats for $10 less than the face value of $35 each. They were incredible seats only 13 rows behind the Giants dugout. Maybe the best major league seats we have ever had.

On the way to the game, Linda had to go to the bathroom so we stopped at a pastry shop but before we could buy anything, the manager almost shouted at us that the bathrooms were only for customers so…I put a $5 bill on the counter and sent Linda to the bathroom. Actually I was going to buy something anyway but the attitude really was less than friendly so…we paid $5 for her to use the bathroom…it was worth it!

At the game we sat next to the general manager of the CBS station and his family…very nice people! The stadium was beautiful, the game poorly played, and everything very expensive. A 20 ounce diet pop was $4.50. Linda bought me a close out Barry Bonds Bobble head for $12 and I got a free pin commemorating the game which was an Inter league game between Cleveland and SF

After the game we stood in a taxi line with the wife of a musician in a Broadway musical that was having a pre-Broadway run in SF. She and her daughter were from New York and the daughter was very tired. We finally took a taxi back to the motel for $20 which was about the same as it would have cost to park our car a long ways from the game. The taxi driver was great. He said his house was probably worth around a million dollars as he had lived in SF proper for many years. He also was quick to point out that he could not afford to sell and move. He was close to our age and indicated that he would sell only when he retired and that his house was in a big way, his hope of retiring. He gave some great ideas for things to see before we left SF. We went to bed tired but having enjoyed our best day in many years.

Linda

Well, what a wonderful day.  We woke up early and watched the birds and then the elephants as they came out of the building for the day.  The trainer and Aja (pronounced Asia) brought the elephant Lisa to our tent where we were able to feed her fruit and vegetables.  It was really great to be able to pet and play with an elephant.  This is not something that you just get to every day.  We drove to San Francisco where we found a nice little motel that told us it would be better to park our car early or we might have to park on the street.  They let us park in the stripped area because our car was so little.  We took a bus to Fisherman’s wharf where we went shopping a bought 2 matching jackets.  We took one of the trains to the ball field where we saw a really badly played game but it was fun anyway.  We waited for a cab back to the motel (a limo offered to take us back for $25 a person, don’t think so) We had a great cab driver who offered lots of advice for things to do.  The family behind us at the ball game suggested that we come to the Black and White affair tomorrow.  The man said we should crash it for the experience.  He is the general manager of the CBS and UPN stations here.  Nice family.  This has to be one of the most enjoyable days that we have had in 40 years.  Hard to top days like this.

John

Well I think this is the very best day we have had yet! We slept the night listening to Lions roar and grunt and it was great. About 9 AM the elephant “Lisa” with the head trainer and a very nice young lady named Aja visited us and we proceeded to feed the elephant by hand fruit. Then we went down from the deck where we proceeded to “play” with the elephant. We rubbed her ears, nose, trunk and her ivory tusk. This lasted about 25 minutes. By the way, the breakfast brought for us by “Lisa” was delicious. We finally left and drove to San Francisco where we had almost as great a time. We found a neat quiet motel on Lombard St. – Best Inn – where a 16 year old young man was super not only in giving us a great room price -$10 less than his mother had quoted us -, but also gave great San Francisco advise. We took a bus to the Wharf where we shopped and had dinner. The dinner was not very good and the service was worse but Linda and I enjoyed the experience of being together. We took a train to the SBC ballpark where on the advice of this fine young man, we bargained with a “huckster” selling tickets for the night’s game. We bought $35 face value tickets for $25 each and sat on row 13 just behind the Giants dugout. A wonderful family sat behind us... Finding out as much as we could about them, another words talking with them a lot, we discovered he was the GM of the CBS station in San Francisco. I was impressed with their family and I just liked them. It also helped that their politics were much the same as mine. Another man and woman sat next to us from Lower California and they were simply nice also. The Giants lost and played poorly but the Stadium is as nice as any new stadium I have seen. We took a cab back to the motel after waiting 30 minutes at a cab stand. While we were there, a young mother with 2 children waited with us. She was visiting from NY. Her husband was a drummer with the show” The Mambo Kings” which was in preview in SF. We finally made it back to the motel after an interesting ride with a nice Cabbie who gave us wonderful suggestions for tomorrow. All in all quite a day!

Day 9,   June  11, 2005, San Francisco to Eureka, California

 We left the motel fairly early and went on a route the taxi driver had suggested. We drove up an extremely steep hill. We felt we might turn over backwards but did not.  We drove through the Height Ash bury district and then to Twin Peaks up even more steep roads. It was worth it as we were able to see all of San Francisco including the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove to the bridge and over it stopping at the northern overlook. There was a group of people singing and dancing, promoting the next World Youth Day we think. We met more neat people and took their picture and they took ours. We drove toward Muir Forest and made a mistake. We never made it to the forest for the people. There was so much traffic we were overwhelmed. We were quite glad to leave that area and go on north toward Eureka and the Red Woods.

We drove up 101 and counted 37 highway patrol cars in a 70 mile stretch and lots of “bikers”. This was near Garberville, California. We stopped and spoke with some of the “bikers” who told us there were 12-15,000 riders in the area for a meet that weekend. It was neat also. There was a bus along the way titled” Veterans against the war in Iraq!” It was from Fort Benning, Georgia. We drove the “Avenue of the Giants” into Eureka where we found a motel and again had pizza and again it was just fine! A nice day.

Linda

Today we went to look over San Francisco by driving up and down some of the steepest streets you could imagine. One street was so steep that I though that the car was going to flip over.  We went to Twin Peaks which is like a 360 degree view of San Fran; You could even see the Golden Gate Bridge from there.  We drove out and tried to find Muir Woods.  Well, we found it but there were so many people that we didn’t even stay.  This really did us in because it was on really winding roads.  It was Hot outside.  Too many people.  We took a ride through The Ave of Giant Trees (redwoods).  Very impressive.  Saw lots of police about 37 in a 70 mile stretch because of a Bikers meet up in the hills at a small town.  Had a really good pizza at the hotel and decided not to go to a movie because we were so tired.  It was another good day of seeing beautiful places. 

John

Today we did not drive quite as far and yet we are tired. We went to the Twin Peaks area of San Fran and it was just an incredible view. We drove up the steepest hills possible. I thought we were going to turn over backwards. We drove out over the Golden Gate Bridge and we took pictures from both sides. We went to the Muier Tree grove and that is what did us in as there were more people than trees. It was a long, hot and very tiresome. We finally got on 101 and drove out to Eureka. We drove the Ave of Trees and I thought it was a nice drive. We are tired tonight though! Still, it was a very good day! O I almost forgot…we saw 37 policemen in 70 miles. A Harley convention of some kink was going on with almost 15,000 bikers.

Day 10, June 12, 2005 Eureka, California to Portland, Oregon

We left when we woke up and moseyed up the Oregon coast. We drove the old coastal highway and took the grave road out to a beautiful point. We saw elk and a town and a bridge that had been destroyed by a huge flood in 1964. It was a beautiful clear day and the ocean was as we had hoped. We met a couple that was almost exactly ten years older than us and married ten years longer. Can you imagine the two of us having 90 years combined married life.  I know we aren’t that old.  We drove through earthquake and tsunami areas without taking much notice.  We arrived in Portland looking at Mt. Hood in wonder and got a nice motel. Linda went to a bar the motel recommended and brought us steak dinners which was great. I stayed at the motel and worked on our web page. We watched TV for a rare hour or so and fell asleep. Another nice day!

John

Today we drove from Eureka, Ca. to Portland, Or.

We drove through the Redwoods National park, along the Coastal Highway and up the entire Oregon Coast. We saw Elk, Deer and maybe a whale. It was a very long ways away. We made some important decisions such as forgoing

Banff and Jasper and spending the next 2 days in the Seattle area, and then on to Glacier, Yellowstone, the Tetons. and home in about 10 days. It was a good day. We met a couple almost exactly 10 years older than us who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and that was amazing!

Linda

Today we drove along the coast of Oregon.  There were some really beautiful spots and we took a side trip that got us up high to look down on the ocean.  We found a bridge that had to be rebuilt in a different spot because a flood took out the bridge in 1964.  It was a neat bridge that had bears guarding each side.  When we arrived in Portland one of the first things that we saw was Mt. Hood and then looked the other direction and saw Mt. Saint Helens.  Two very beautiful mountains.  Going out to get dinner and bring it back to the room as we are pretty tired.  Didn’t drive as many miles as we have in the past but these were on up and down roads that were only two lanes.  This can make you tired early.  It was a beautiful day.

Day 11, June 12,2005  Portland to Seattle, Washington

A fairly slow day for us. We drove through nice countryside the short distance to Seattle where we got a motel and went to the wharf area and had a fantastic dinner. The food was piled on the table and you ate with your hands. Linda had a “Blue Teusumi” drink. I teased her about it and took her picture with it. She took my picture eating. We went to the motel and went to bed early.

Linda

We decided to take our time and left the motel late.  We had a nice drive to Seattle, got a nice motel and drove down to the wharf.  There are lots of shops and we ate at a restaurant that puts your meal no the table without plates, just a big bowl to put the shells etc in.  John bought me a drink called a Tsunami which was served in a wine carafe.  It was pretty good seeing I have not had an alcoholic drink in years.  We battled the traffic and then decided to so see “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” It was a nice day

John

.  We drove from Portland to Seattle. The drive was nice and we left late. We left in serious clouds and arrived in a beautiful day. We had dinner at a favorite place – the Crab Shack – where dinner is served on a piece of paper on the table. We went to a movie and called it quits! Good day…enjoyed talking with children and grandchildren while driving.

 

Day 12, June 13, 2005   Seattle to Bellingham to Friday Island to North Bend, Washington

Well we got up and drove to Bellingham to go whale watching. We took a day long trip which included a stop at Friday Harbor. We walked around there and had lunch at a Lavender restaurant. The food was fair but the ambiance was great. We saw great whales that afternoon and shared our boat with Karen and Steve Yokom and their two grandchildren. We drove back into Seattle but could not find a motel so drove into a little town, North Bend where we not only got a motel but also the 2nd best dinner on the trip at a local Mexican diner. It was a very nice day!

We stopped writing daily from this point as we ran out of notebook battery. We have great memories though of each day!

 

 Day 13, June 14, 2005   North Bend, Washington to Butte, Montana

 We took a long drive to Butte, Montana today. The ride was pretty but it was also long. We knew it would be and were fine with it. We arrived in Butte where we got an oil change for our car, had the owner of a local laundry wash and fold our clothes, had a decent dinner, washed our car, and tried to take pictures of a giant statue of Our Lady on the top of a mountain. We drove through and past Coeur de Lane Idaho and it was beautiful’

Day 14 and 15, June 15 and June 16 2005 Butte, Montana to Slough Creek, Yellowstone NP 

We drove at a slow and enjoyable pace into Yellowstone NP. We went to Slough Creek which is near the Lamar Valley and got the most wonderful camp site right on the roaring creek.  We saw bear and much more. In the early evening we came upon Big Horn Sheep very close to the road. We took many pictures and left. As we stopped at a gas station, we met a family that had not seen any animals so of course we took them back to the Sheep and they were so appreciative. We saw a grizzly bear feeding in the Yellowstone Rive from quite a distance. Buffalo were everywhere. We took many many pictures.

The next morning we watched a buffalo swim across the roaring river and come out right beside our camp. We were so in awe we did not even take his picture. We did get his picture with our tent in the picture prior to his crossing. We drove the entire circular route of Yellowstone in a slow and delicious manner today. We stopped and had lunch at the Old Faithful Inn and watched Old Faithful from the same place. That night we saw coyote cubs, wolves (the Slough Creek Pack), Deer, wonderful close up pictures of male elk, and more bear.

There were private moments each day that will be remembered and cherished forever. It was two of really nice days doing only what we had hoped to.

Days 16 and 17, June 17 and 18, 2005 Yellowstone NP to Grand Teton NP – Jenny Lake Campground

We slowly drove out from Yellowstone down to Jenny lake Campground in the Grand Teton National Park where we camped in another glorious site for the next two nights. We visited Oxbow Bend, one of our most favorite places. In fact Linda and I both have said many times we would like to be cremated when we die and have our ashes spread at the Oxbow Bend. We drove into Jackson and made arrangements to go white watering the next day. We also had a hot lunch. We saw a new animal today…the most beautiful bird, a Sand hill Crane and got two fairly nice photo’s. We met a family from Kansas City who was visiting their mother who owned a beautiful home near Pilgrim Road near the Oxbow.

 

The next morning we got up and after some small indecision on Linda’s part due to her knees hurting, we went white watering on the Snake River. It was fun but the water was a little high and the rapids not what we remember. Still it was fun except for the long hot walk up to the buses at the end of the trip.  That night we finally found a bull moose. It was late and too dark for good pictures. There were some people from England we had visited with who were watching for moose also. They had not seen any. We rushed back t them and took them to see the Bull Moose. They were almost in tears they were so happy. They hugged and thanked us profusely. We met the director of human resources of the Jackson Lake Lodge and spoke with him about RVing on a permanent basis. We had a glorious moon of which we got many pictures and a wonderful sunset. It was romantic.

Time to go home…Day 18, June 19, 2005  Jenny Lake to Fort Collins, Colorado

We headed out to Ft. Collins. But first we drove the scenic Jenny Lake drive around 7AM and we saw a grizzly bear up too close followed by two more moose, some elk, deer, buffalo and a coyote as we left and all before 8AM. Wow! What a way to leave a National park.

We drove out through Lander where we had lunch and then to Rawlings where we filled up with gas at $2.15 a gallon. We took a scenic route to the Poudre River Valley road (US14) to Fort Collins. We drove along the Snowy Range and saw more glorious alpine lakes and much snow. After the hot sun of Rawlings and Lander, it was a great relief. We found a little town named Albany, Wyoming. The bar, diner, gift shop and gas station was really modern and neat. The bar tender told us that 4 wheel driving, snowmobiles and “chicks” were the economy.  We bought Tim a shot glass from there. Tim collects shot glasses. We also offered we would get remarried in an instant to the crowd there. It was an interesting interlude.

We drove the back roads ending up on the Laramie River Road back t 14 and then into Fort Collins. We got tired of the gravel road and were glad to get a motel and quit for the night.

Day 19, June 20,2005…One final vacation day Ft. Collins to Denver

 We got an early motel in Denver and went shopping, (didn’t buy much only some “croc’s” for Linda, and had a great Mexican lunch dinner at Casa Bonita a Mexican Restaurant with a waterfall inside, and finally went to two art movies that we knew would never make it to Wichita. Mysterous Skin was a very hard and difficult movie about child abuse and it’s effects but still pretty good. The other movie was lighter but forgettable except for a cameo by Johnny Dept. it was in French with English subs.

We went to bed and prepared for our drive home.

Day 20, June 21, 2005 Denver to home in Wichita…

Well we got up and went to the Mile High Flea Market but found nothing of note so left and drove home listening to an audio book on 8 cd’s by Nelson DeMille. It was ok and we had a pleasant and safe end to our trip.

Some reflections:

John

I will never forget the special moments, in our tent, the picnic area in King’s Canyon, and other times. I especially remember holding Linda’s hand as we drove and the time I woke up from a short nap as we were driving and thought we were about to run off a cliff – we weren’t but it did wake me up – Vision Quest Ranch was almost like a 2nd honeymoon and that was great…We saw so much yet each moment of each day was just perfect! Thank you God and Linda and Gigi and Jamie for taking care of our Pretty Girl!

Linda

There were so many things on this trip that made it wonderful.  We started this trip by driving over 800 miles which is something that we said that we didn’t want to do, but it made the trip get off to a great start.  From a freezing night where we tried hard to use each others body warmth to the days where we found we looked like bright red lobsters we had time to talk with each other.  We made so much of each day.  What memories we have to look forward too.  This was the kind of trip that we did not need or really want to watch TV or even go to the movies.  Our evening at Vision Quest Ranch was so relaxing and easy.  It was like we were newly married.  What a great feeling!  We meet some nice people on our trip, like the couple standing out on a beach.  They were exactly 10 years older than us and had been married 50 years. Forty years, doesn’t seem like it has been that long. One of the greatest things about our 40 years is our desire to see and experience new people, places or things.  This could not have been a better way to spend a 40th anniversary.  This trip symbolizes our love of seeing and experiencing everything out there that we could and hopefully instilling that desire, to see just what is over the next hill, to our children and especially to our grandchildren.  I am grateful to God for the ability to spend this time with the love of my life, my husband John and to my children who always find ways to make us feel so good about the people, places, and things that we see and do.    

 

Our 41st Wedding Trip with Zach

Our 41st Wedding Anniversary trip –From May 27th through June 18

May 27th - May 30th

We left around noon after dropping our IG off at the vets. Pretty Girl has been with us for three years and is very much a significant part of our lives. It is funny how a 15 pound dog can come to mean s much to you. We drove in the heat to Oklahoma City where we began our trip by visiting Linda’s mom and dad. They are in their 80’s and not in the best health. Linda almost always seems to get her feelings hurt anymore so I was a bit apprehensive but the visit seemed to go well. We left before sunrise and headed toward A;bourque,New Mexico to spend the night with our friends the Hutchinson’s. On the spur of the moment we stopped and visited for the first time the Oklahoma City Memorial. We had lived in OKC for a long time many years earlier and for what ever reason had not visited the memorial which is located right beside and behind the church we were once members of, St. Joseph’s Old Cathedral. We were simply not prepared for the impact the visit would make on us and we took many pictures. The memorial is meaningful, beautiful and an incredible way to preserve the horribleness of the event.

We left and drove to Amarillo, Texas where we stopped at the Big Tex Steak House and had an expensive and pretty fair lunch. We drove out past the famous Cadillac Ranch – 12 older caddies buried upside down – and on the Belen, New Mexico. The Hutchinson’s have a nice home that needs much tender love and care located in a great neighborhood. We walked with them that night, prayed with them, had great conversations although too much about religion, and again took pictures.

Two days and although we were uneasy at first, I think we did ok.

We drove the next day through the Painted Desert, where we saw antelope and tons of people. We arrived early in the afternoon at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We got a campsite a few miles from the Park entrance and proceeded to set up our tent - a new one – for the first time. Actually it went up fairly easy and we did well. We were at the Canyon for sunset which is always beautiful. On the spur of the moment and with true feelings of love in my heart, I got down on one knee and proposed to my wife of 41 years once more. To my complete surprise she once again said yes. I thought it was a really neat moment although it might have been nicer if the rocks on the ground had not hurt so much – and they did hurt - , and if my knees had not forced me to get up again very quickly. We had dinner at an Italian place and it was pretty good and reasonable. All in all it was a fine vacation day!

The next day was both long and hot although we stopped early again. The new tent did not fit into the original bag which came as no surprise and the car is really packed. We found a motel in San Dimas, California and went to a mall where we spent a fair sum on an exotic seafood buffet. Linda seemed to like it fine. We were trying to go slowly and not have any pressures and that can create pressures of itself. Still, it was a nice day.

Posted Thoughts:

We left around noon on Saturday, May 27th and headed to Linda's Mom and Dad's in Oklahoma City. We arrived around 4:30 and filled up the Mustang with $2.53 gas.  We worked on their computer for a while and left the next morning around 6 AM. We stopped on impulse at the Okla. City Memorial. We took several pictures and were moved in a most unexpectedly spiritual way.  My first job about 41 years ago was with the Oklahoma Mortgage Company which was less than 3 blocks away from the site.  We went to church at the St. Joseph's Old Cathedral which was damaged very badly. The statue of a weeping Jesus moved us greatly. We stopped for Lunch at the Big Tex Steakhouse in Amarillo, Texas. Great steaks but pricy. We traveled on to Belen, New Mexico where we stopped for the night at our friends. Their picture and new home are above. We drove through the Painted Desert where we saw plenty of antelope.  The next day we saw a great old TBird which we took a picture of and got a great campsite just outside of the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a glorious sunset and very pleasant night although a bit cold.

Wednesday, May 31st, From San Dimas to Lompoc to Moro Bay

Posted Thoughts:

Today we left around 9:00am to avoid the traffic in LA.  We made a big, big mistake!  We managed 41.9 miles in 1hour and 45 minutes.  It was hot and tedious. We finally arrived in Lompoc, the City of Flowers. We drove out into the fields of acre after acre of flowers and vegetables.  The flowers were just beautiful.  We saw migrants picking and packaging lettuce and cabbage.  It was very interesting to watch them as they worked.  We then drove to Moro Bay, where we enjoyed a seafood dinner while watching a sea lion play in the water.  It was a nice way to end a great day.

Well to add to the above, the wrong turn which led us through LA and nose to nose traffic took its toll on both of us especially me. My blood sugars crashed and I was ready to go home that night. Shame on me but Linda was calm and I ate something and we got back on track. The part of the day to be remembered was the great and beautiful flowers in Lompoc. We took wonderful pictures and met a nice photographer. There were several good and memorable moments in this day.

June 1 - Moro Bay to Brookdale Ghost Lodge

From this day on, everything about this trip was better than expected and wonderful in everyway.

Posted thoughts:

We got up and went to Spencer's grocery store and bought some great muffins, especially the cranberry walnut ones for our journey up the coast.  It was a glorious sun shinny day.  Our first stop was just beyond the Hearst Castle at an elephant sea lion refuge.  We took many pictures and spent a long time watching the sea lions playing.  We drove the entire coastal highway past Big Sur all the way to Santa Cruz with our top down.  No sea fog this trip.  We stopped once at a gas station for directions but left there very quickly when we discovered that the price for regular gas was $4.59.9 per gallon.  We started to buy a gallon as a souvenir -hehehehe- no way!  It was a beautiful windy drive.  We saw many Sebring convertibles, probably all rentals.  We drove up through the red wood trees to Brookdale Lodge.  We had a great dinner in a very romantic setting.  The dinning room is the most special place in the Lodge, although, the whole atmosphere is very rustic and nice.  The stream was real with fish in it.  The only negative is that we have not seen a ghost, but we are still hopeful.

To add to the above thoughts, the drive up the coast was clear and beautiful. Linda and I watched sea lions play on our honeymoon at 6 Flags in Dallas, Texas  41 years ago and we have loved watching animals of all sorts ever since. We took so many pictures and the lions were wonderful.  The lodge was older but the room was large and very nice. The dining room was perfect. In all of our marriage, I can not remember a more perfect dining atmosphere. The food was just fine and the servers and other people added to the enjoyment of the evening. There was no ghost to be seen this night but there were more than a few chills.

 June 2, 2006 - Big Basin Redwood State Park and Santa Cruz,Ca.

Posted thoughts:

We got up reasonably early and moseyed into Boulder Creek about 5 miles away and sat at an internet cafe and uploaded pictures. It was really slow and nice. We went to Big Basin Redwood State park and walked in the Redwoods and enjoyed ourselves so much we got a tent site and set up a camp site.  We then drove into Santa Cruz about 15 miles away and went to a great Art Movie called Kinky Boots -about a shoe factory that re invented itself into a very viable company by making boots for a select market. We went to a great landmark Italian restaurant - Scopazzi's-It was wonderful with redwood walls and ceilings and wonderful food. A father, his son, and a friend camped next to us. It was a very slow and very nice day.

An interesting addition to the above thoughts is that when we arrived at the state park, there was no one there. We could have taken – or so we thought – any of the camp sites. We went to the ranger station to check in and were promptly told we could only have a camp site for that night as the park was sold out for the weekend. We were charged $25 for the site which was the most we paid the entire trip. We put our tent up and it was a glorious starry night and when we woke the next morning, the park was indeed full. We really enjoyed the mile long walk we took in the park. I climbed up on an old Redwood lying on its side and almost fell off.

In Santa Cruz, we saw the “Umbrella Man” as he is known. A small man dressed all in pink with a pink umbrella who walked very daintily around and posed for pictures. People there were very outgoing and friendly.  We liked this town a lot.

June 3, From Big Basin to Sacramento

Posted thoughts:

For a free day we did drive a lot but the day ended really well. We started out by uploading to our web the previous days pictures and thoughts. The Cafe, run by Olga whose birthday it was, had a 2 person band that attempted to play and entertain. They were loud and gave a good effort. We then drove a wonderful road over a mountain to Campbell where we got a seriously good deal on a camera at Fry's. We headed down to Monterey to go whale watching but about 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the trip; it was cancelled due to fog and rough water. We then decided to go to Sacramento to go Harness Racing and drove in the heat and traffic. We got a terrible motel and went to the races where we had a great time. Linda won about $20 and I lost about the same. The whole evening of racing cost us about $10.....cheap but fun!

Additional thoughts, the motel was crappy but the day was fine….We stopped an asked two California Highway Patrol people directions and during the conversation, we were asked how we felt about traffic in California. I said driving 70 in a 65 zone people were honking and yelling and running over me. The patrolman said,” If I see you doing 70 in a 65 zone, I will pull you over and ticket you for obstructing traffic.” Don’t know for sure if he was kidding or not but tended to believe him. He also pointed out the three lanes of traffic were for fast, faster and fastest traffic. I know he was not kidding about that!

 June 4th, Sacramento to The Bed of Roses, Yosemite

Posted thoughts:

We got up early and decided that we would head out to the Bed and breakfast where we were going to stay for a couple of days. We thought that we would not have as much traffic as on the week days but we were wrong.  We had to take a round about way because there was a land slide on the highway that leads to Yosemite.  It was hot but cooled down as we got closer to the mountains.  We arrived a little early to check in so we decided to go and ride the railroad which was a slow and very quite ride that was very nice.  Our bed and breakfast is just wonderful. Our room is great.  It is lined with cedar and has a 2 people Jacuzzi.  We went to dinner, came back and went swimming in the pool, then decided to try the 2 people tub.  The views from our balcony are beautiful.  This was truly an anniversary day.

Additional thoughts:

We stopped in the early middle of the day and went to Kohl’s and bought a couple of tops for each of us. It was very hot but we did very well. Our first B&B and the highlight of our trip much like Vision Quest Ranch was last year. There were no disappointments today! We bought some Spumante for tomorrow and had BBQ for dinner.  The two person Jacuzzi preceded by a dip in a wonderful pool was not only special but glorious. The time spent there was wonderful in every way. We think our children see us as old and we are but not that old. Tonight we were both young although with old bodies.

 June 5 - Our 41st Anniversary

Posted thoughts:

It was a glorious day from the breakfast with all the other guests to the exhausted but wonderful time in the Jacuzzi tub for two. After breakfast we drove to Yosemite falls and walked to the lower falls where we took many pictures. ...We also got eaten by mosquitoes. We immediately went to the local general store and bought spray and a spray tat was supposed to lesson the itching...it did a very little. We then walked to a deli where the electricity immediately went off due to the horrible land slide that happened the week before. We walked to another deli where we had a lunch and then back to the car. We drove slowly around the valley floor and up to Bridal Vail Falls. It was deliciously wet and cool as we walked to the very base. We drove to Glacier Point which is the most beautiful spot in Yosemite and then very tired we drove back to Oakhurst where we went to a internet cafe and uploaded the previous two days. Back to the B&B and in to the Tub. where among other things we drank Spumonti and ate Pizza, It was a glorious day!

 

Some additional thoughts would include: We stopped at the Valley Garage and thanked them for the wonderful job they did for us last year when our Miata lost a radiator hose. This was the first time we have really explored the Valley and it is marvelous. We will always remember our first up-close  view of Yosemite Falls and that wonderful walk.  For me the B&B and the Jacuzzi with Linda were the highlight again.

I don’t know how many more anniversaries we will have but may we have more like this one!

June 6, Bed of Roses to Lovelock, Nevada

 Posted thoughts:

We started the day with another great breakfast at Bed of Roses.  It is difficult to express just how special the last few days have been. Our hosts at Bed of Roses were wonderful as were our fellow guests.  It is a place where anyone could go and feel at home and special.  It is both romantic, private and yet extremely warm.  Our room was lined with cedar and the Jacuzzi tub for two is really meant for two.  We drove back through the Yosemite Valley stopping again to walk and take pictures at Yosemite falls.  We drove slowly and reluctantly out highway 120, we crossed over the Sierra's at Sonora Pass - 9624 feet. The snow was cooling and beautiful. We continued on to Lovelock, Nevada where we got a motel for the night.   Tomorrow we head on to Salt Lake City and then the next day on to Bozeman, Montana where we will pick up our Grandson, Zach who will join us for the remainder of our trip.  We are looking forward to having him with us.

Additional thoughts:

Nothing could compare to our stay at the Bed of Roses. Thank You God! We drove up a 26% grade near the Sonora Pass and even that was fun.  The second walk to the Falls was superseded only by the first time we walked it. We could not have had a nicer few days.

June 7 -Day in transition to Salt Lake City-Actually Layton

Posted thoughts:

We left early and drove just past Salt Lake to Layton which is near Hill AFB. We got the car washed; oil changed, bought a new SD card for our camera, ate Chinese, and went to a BAD movie - the Breakup. NOT FUNNY JUST SAD! The only pictures we took were of the Bonneville Salt Flats.

More thoughts: The traffic in Salt Lake was almost like being in LA and the construction was worse. Our motel was very nice but our dinner was just so-so. At the Salt Flats rest area, we saw a man with two young children in a truck. There were three ladies with more children in three other cars. They did not speak and kept to themselves but were obviously together. The resemblance of the children was startling. It was our first experience with a polygamous family. We have drawn no conclusions. We simply observed.

June 8 to Bozeman MT

Posted thoughts:

Well it was a quiet day and a nice easy drive to Bozeman. We took only a few pictures and went shopping in preparation of picking up our grandson Zach tomorrow morning. Thunderstorms are rolling through tonight. We pray they will not be a major issue this weekend in Yellowstone!

June 9, Picking up Zach and on to Slough Creek

 Posted thoughts:

Well we got up early, repacked the car and headed to the airport to pick up Zach. His plane was late but he got in safely and we were very excited to begin this part of our trip. We drove into Yellowstone NP through Gardner and went to Slough Creek to camp. It was a very good day as we toured the Lamar Valley. We saw many animals but the one I remember best was the mountain goat- a rarity anytime anywhere. This night we had a huge rainstorm and I decided to have everyone pack up and move to the car so all in all it was a very exciting first day and I think a pretty good one! John beat Zach and Linda at gin -6-3-3

Zach’s thoughts:

This morning I got up very early and took a flight at 7 o'clock and arrived at Denver at about 7:40. The funny part is the flight was about an hour and thirty minutes long (time zone change). I arrived at Bozeman, MT at around 11 o'clock. My first plane ride was okay but the second was very bumpy. When my grandparents picked me up, we went to Yellowstone NP and I saw more wild animals in one place than I have ever seen. That night was very confusing because one moment I was sleeping and the next I was carrying all of my clothes to the car. Over all this day was very exciting. Tonight we started playing a card game called Gin. We will play one game each night (maybe) and see who has the best score at the end of the trip. Tonight grandpa got the first win. The score is now 1 to 0 to 0.

Additional thoughts:

It is just a little scary having a 16 year old with you. It has been a long time since we really traveled with and were responsible for young adults. I almost did not recognize Zach when he got off the plane in that he looked so much older than I was ready for.  It surprises me but he almost seems to like playing cards with us as much as being here. Our prayer is that he will love these places and animals like we do. Even the rain could not take away from this first day of the second half of this trip.

June 10, tour of Yellowstone NP

Posted thoughts:

Today was a grand day although we were a little tired. We took Zach on a tour of Yellowstone. We drove the entire figure 8. We went into West Yellowstone and had a late breakfast and saw eagles on the way back into the park. We had lunch at Old Faithful and strangely enough Zach was not all that impressed. We saw Beehive have an explosion which was neat and rare. Zach fell asleep driving past Yellowstone Lake. Actually we took an hour break there. That night we drove into the Lamar Valley and we saw a multitude of animals including a close up with a bear. The thing Zack seems to like most so far is the close encounter with park Bison especially when they are all around us on the road. Tonight I won again at gin 5-2-0 with Linda getting shut out!

Zach’s thoughts:

Since I did not get a good night's sleep, I spent a lot of time sleeping in the car. The things that I remember the most were the buffalo in the middle of the road, the bald eagles, and the close up with the black bear. Tonight grandpa won again at gin. The score is now 2-0-0. I am scoring us not on the amount of games that each of us won. We play by points up to five and the person who reaches that first gets a point for the night.

Well additional thoughts:

We gave Zach a long but through tour of Yellowstone. We all were tired but it was day filled with moments of shear joy and also moments when we all were tired. There were no harsh words to spoil this day. When he actually saw a bear fairly close up was a great moment. His excitement and enjoyment of Buffalo being so close was totally a surprise. The fact he didn’t like Old Faithful and the Geyser pools as much as the animals was interesting to us. We had hot chocolates at Tower Falls and thoroughly enjoyed the place. Sadly two days later a 58 year old mom would fall to her death at the same Falls.  This was a really nice day!

June 11, Zach's 16th birthday.

 Posted thoughts:

We got up and the sky was bright and clear. We tried to call everyone so we could let them wish him a happy birthday. Zach wanted to take a hike so we walked the Wrath Falls walk which was about a mile total and before that we walked about a 1/2 mile at Hell Roaring Falls. Earlier we saw a cinnamon bear and real close a black bear. This night we saw wolves and an eagle and during the day we experienced buffalo on the road once more which seems to thrill Zach. This night -Zach won at gin 5-2-0 with Linda again being shut out. Well it was Zach's birthday. Tonight we had a violent windstorm but survived. Another very excellent day

Zach’s thoughts:

Today it was SUNNY! We saw another buffalo in the road and we saw a black bear up close. My grandpa also told me to go up close to 2 male elk. I was about 20 feet away from them before he told me to stop and take pictures. Later that night we saw a lone wolf running in the Lamar Valley. A little while later I spotted 2 wolves running behind a herd of buffalo. While looking at them we saw a bald eagle on top of a tree. That was really cool. Tonight I WON GIN! The score is now2-1-0. Tonight we experienced some very violent winds that tore the tents stakes out of the ground. Very exciting day. Best so far!

Ok, it was a great day. The walking was fun and the Badger, Marmot, Woodchuck, or whatever it was, we really enjoyed. Watching Zach and Linda from the tent as they made a fire each night and cooked hot dogs was fun. One of my greatest happiness is found watching Linda and Zach have fun. The wolves really excited Zach.

June 12, Yellowstone to Jenny Lake in Grand Tetons

Posted thoughts:

We had a nice yet windy night for our final night in Slough Creek. We drove out past fishing bridge into the Grand Tetons. We got a great camping site at Jenny Lake with a fantastic view of the Tetons. We went into Jackson and made white water reservations for tomorrow. We uploaded several days of pictures. We drove around Oxbow bend and played cards into the night. Once again Zach won 5-4-2 with me having the 2. I think it was a good day.

Zach’s thoughts:

Despite a windy night, we had a good day. On our way out of Yellowstone, we encountered one last buffalo in the middle of the street. We stopped at Fishing Bridge and saw some fish. We left for the Grand Tetons. While in the Grand Tetons, we saw some elk, deer, and moose. We saw 2 moose before we got a camping site. After we got the camping site, we drove around looking for wildlife. We were entering some heavily wooded areas when we came across a big male moose. He was way off in the distance so I could not get a good picture. We looked for mountain lions but we did not find any. That night, I WON AGAIN! The score is now 2-2-0. Grandpa and I are now tied and I plan to pass him soon. Another good day.

Whitewater on the Snake

Posted thoughts;

Today we went whitewater rafting on the Snake with the Dave Hansen Raft Company. It was great as Linda sat beside Zach in the front of the raft. I sat behind them. Later we will scan and upload actual pictures taken during the Lunch Counter rapid. We spent some time at an internet cafe uploading pictures during the late afternoon heat and then went looking for animals. It was a very good day. I won at gin tonight 5-3-2 with Linda having the 2 wins. Zach says I lead 3-2 now.

Zach’s thoughts:

Today we went white water rafting. I sat in the front as the left lead rower. Since I was in the front, I got all of splashes more intensely than everyone else. It was really cool. After we finished white water rafting, we went to an internet cafe where we spent 3 hours working on grandpa's website. After that we went looking for animals. That night, grandpa won at Gin. The score is now 3-2-0. An awesome day!

Other thoughts:

Linda struggled walking up the hill at the end of the white water trip as did I. We still made it and it was a fine day. Linda sat next to Zach and I sat behind them and watched them far most of the trip. That was as much fun as the trip.

Going to Colorado

 Posted thoughts:

After a massive rainstorm we got up and put things as best we could in the car and left to get a motel in Fort Collins, Colorado. Along the way we went through the high plains desert of Wyoming which Zach did not like. We also went through the Snowy Range drive highway 130 to Laramie where we saw Sand Hill Crane, a weasel, and a moose. We went swimming in a pool and took long hot showers which really worked! Zach won 5-3-3 tonight to tie-up our competition!

Zach’s thoughts:

Last night there was a big rainstorm and we packed up the tent without folding it properly because it was too wet. Since everything was so wet, we packed the car as best we could without doing it nicely. We went on towards Colorado and on the way; grandma spotted 2 weasels, a moose, and 2 Sand Hill Crane. We drove through the middle of nowhere for miles until we entered a little mountain road where we saw the moose and the weasel. The trees ended as abruptly as they had started. Then we were back into the desert of the middle of nowhere. During the drive, grandma and I played Gin and I had 9 points and she had 2 points. That night I went swimming after having a very nice shower. We ate pizza as we played our nightly game of Gin. I WON TONIGHT! The score is now 3-3-0. Grandpa and I are tied again. I still intend to win at Gin this trip. A pretty cool day.

Other thoughts: Boy were we in need of a shower and a real bed!!!  The side trip along the Snowy Range Road was a fine idea. We discovered this road last year and it sure relieved the hot desert we had been driving through. Another good day!

June 15 -Rocky Mountain NP

Posted thoughts:

We got up refreshed and drove through the Rocky Mountain NP.  We found ourselves in a small snow shower at 11,750 feet at the top of the park. On the way out we saw a moose and we also saw plenty of elk in the park.  We went to Casa Bonita, a Mexican restaurant with a diving pool inside. The food is mediocre but the setting is superb. Linda won 5-3-1 in gin with me having the 3 and Zach only 1 win total. 3-3-1 is the official score with Linda finally breaking through!

Zach’s thoughts:

Today we went through Rocky Mountain National Park and drove through an area which was at an elevation of almost 12,000 feet. Very high! We saw a moose and took a lot of pictures. We also saw a lot of elk. When we arrived at Denver, we ate at a cool restaurant called Casa Bonita. There were many shows and skits that were performed every 15 minutes. The food was pretty good but the shows were better. That night I went swimming in one of our hotel's 3 pools. That night, grandma finally won a game of Gin. What do you know? It's about time. The score is now 3-3-1. A pretty cool day.

Other thoughts:

Well our motel was really great and thanks to Hotwire extremely cheap. The drive out of the NP was longer than we remembered but it was fine. This was the last day we posted pictures and thoughts so I will fill in the rest of the way.

June 16 – Free Day in Denver

We took it easy. We went to a mall and walked and to the movies and saw XMen – The Final Stand and it wasn’t bad. We had lunch at a soup and salad place and it was surprisingly good. The highlight of the night was taking Linda and Zach to the Broadway play, Movin’ Out. A rock band played Billy Joel music while dancers danced out the story. At first it was hard to follow but became really interesting and the dancing was fabulous. We had a very very late dinner at a deli style place which was fair. By the way, Zach can really eat! A good way to spend our last full vacation day!

 June 17 –Flea Market in Denver back to Wichita

 Well Zach liked the Flea market! It was hot and we took our time.  Zach bought every knife he could afford and then some – well ok he bought a few knives and a dragon statue. Linda bought a cast iron pot and I bought a $3 hand held CB radio that took $3.50 worth of batteries. We left and went to Hammon’s Candy factory where we took a tour and mailed some candy to Nikki. We bought five pieces of Sugar free candy which promptly melted and no one got to eat. The drive home was long but we played cards and the time passed quickly. We stopped in Hays for supper and got home around 11:30PM. Grant came and picked Zach up after the car was unloaded.

Final Thoughts:

John:

I don’t know what I expected and I was worried about money as things were tight. We overspent and yet I regret not one penny. The nights at the Bed of Roses and the dinner at the Brookdale Lodge were just wonderful. The time with Zach was different and yet equally wonderful in a totally different way.  As long as it is possible I intend to take a trip like this because the time spent together can never be replaced and money can not be the dominant factor in our life no matter that it seems to be. My special moments would have to be the first night in the Jacuzzi tub at the Bed of Roses with Linda and with Zach, the first time Buffalo surrounded our car. I also liked when he pretended to be “drunk” while talking to his mom and Aunt Jamie after drinking a tiny bottle of Spumonte on his birthday. It was funny and sweet. The drives and walks through Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and my “proposal”, the flowers, Santa Cruz, the Sea Lions, are among other special moments with Linda I will always remember.

Linda

This was an unusual trip to start out with because we booked several nights in advance and we weren’t sure how that was going to work.  We normally like to be spontaneous and end up were we end up.  One of the nicest moments began at sundown at the Grand Canyon when my husband of 41 years got down on one knee and finally asked me to marry him.  He never really asked me 41 years ago, just knew that I would marry him.  It was better now because it took him more time and effort to get up and down on one knee on that rough sidewalk.   I enjoyed our dinner at the Brookdale Lodge, but the nicest night with John, was on our anniversary at the Bed of Roses, when we used the two person Jacuzzi, drank a small bottle of Spumonti and had pizza for dinner.  The walks and sights in all the places we visited very beautiful.  The second half of our trip with Zach was different but very special.  It was so much fun watching him try to get fires started so we could roast hot dogs.  They seem to taste better over a fire.  I don’t think I will get over just how happy has was when he beat us (John or me) in our nightly card game.  We had to play even to the point of using a flash light to see our cards when it got dark.  I loved seeing him as he saw a new animal in the wild.  His thought was that they were really free and that was special.  The white watering was fun, but I was afraid that he was going out of the boat a couple of times, but neither of us did.  I think that the next time he goes to a Flea Market he will have a better idea of just how to bargain. All and all it was a very special time, one that I will always remember and cherish.  

Zach

Vacation Summary

I took two flights to Bozeman, Montana and then we headed to Yellowstone. While we were there, we saw a lot of buffalo, antelope, deer, elk, and chipmunks. We also saw a few wolves, a few moose, a few bear, and a mountain goat. There was unkind weather for two of the three nights that we stayed there. We left for the Grand Tetons and camped there for two nights. It rained on the second night. While in the Tetons, we saw a lot of elk and some moose. During the second day, we went white water rafting down the Snake River. We left on the second day for Rocky Mountain National Park and we went through an area where there was almost absolutely nothing and just barren. We got a brief respite as we took a road into a mountain but then we were back in the barren land as the trees ended very abruptly. We went down into Denver and stayed at the Four Points Sheridan. While in Denver, we saw X-Men 3 and we saw the rock ballet show, Moving Out. I also spent a lot of time swimming in the Sheridan’s heated pools. When we were finished there, we began the 550 miles back to Wichita. We played cards most of the way. I won the contest of daily cards in the game Gin. This was a cool trip!

Our 42nd Anniversary Trip

Saturday May 19th through Thursday June 7th

 Well what a trip so far!  We began by leaving Wichita on Saturday and driving to Denver where we stayed at a reasonable motel and took in a Rockies ballgame. We got great seat from a scalper. We paid $60 for two 16th row seats right behind the dugout. It was the best seats we have ever had. The seats were $42 each so we got a very good price but still $60. Another scalper offered to buy them from us for what we paid plus give us nosebleed seats for free. We kept the great seats and were treated to a nice night. We had good food at the game and it was a super night.  On the way to Denver we saw a horrible role-over just less than a minute in front of us.

Sunday we got up and went to the flea market where Linda wouldn’t buy me a $15 carousel. I bought her a nice $16 pair of sunglasses while she let me buy a pair of $2 sunglasses. There were many vendors and we found a set of tires for $460 but did not buy them.  We left and drove to Dubose Wyoming where we got a really nice motel room and then went looking for animals and drove out a very bumpy road. It was a beautiful evening.  Then that night we had another really nice time except for what almost happened! Which will remain our secret.

The next morning we got up and went over a 10,000 foot pass where it was snowing and we do mean snowing.  We drove into the Tetons and out of the snow but it was quite cold around 39 degrees or so. The day got much warmer as we drove into Jackson for supplies. Our campsite was the one we most like at Jenny Lake number 50. The view of the mountains was most impressive and

Wonderful from there. That afternoon we looked for animals and saw a beautiful moose, an old scrawny moose that was decidedly on its last legs. We saw a grizzly sow and 3 cubs and then we saw the most extraordinary thing – we stumbled on a big black bear and 2 tiny spring cubs.

Linda was the first to spot all the animals but this black bear was to leave an indelible mark with us as we watcher her run, stand straight up and in general play with her cubs.  She crossed the river with one and he got swept downstream by itself and ended on the opposite side of the river from the other cub and the mother. We watched the mother swim back and forth trying to get the 2nd cub to cross the river. Finally after about 15-20 trys the 2nd cub finally quit crying and jumped in the water and swam to the other side safely although drifting downstream a ways.

 

 We also saw elk and buffalo and we got pictures of everything. We saw a 3rd brown bear later that evening. We went to bed and were warm and comfortable until someone decided to go to the bathroom and took all the covers. I survived and the stars were out.

At around 5 this person needed to go to the bathroom again and once more I froze but while it was cold, the stars were out. At around 7 AM she woke up again and I did to and this time we were both cold and opened our tent flap to see what was making the noise, and, 2 to 3 inches of snow was on the ground and the snow was coming down heavy.

An instant later we were dressing and within 45 minutes had the entire car packed and were on our way to warmer climates. We drove out of Jackson over another 10000 foot pass where it was still snowing and through about 3 hours of treacherous roads. We drove on all day before ending in Sparks Nevada where Linda lost 88 cents gambling and I won $8.  We played the 2 penny slots. We had a nice day considering it was a quick unexpected departure and a very long driving day.

We drove out of Nevada through a fire that had closed one land of I-80 – it was so interesting we turned around and drove a 2nd time through it.  We were going so slow to get pictures that a highway patrol, which was behind us (we didn’t know that) got on his loud speaker and ask the Kansas car to pick up the speed. 

We got a nice camp site at Sunset beach and stayed there two nights. Today we mostly just walked to a cliff overlooking the sea.

This morning I was “complimented” for driving down and over a very narrow pass and only having 9 cars held up behind me. Probably a Nazi Republican. Actually it was funny and neither Linda nor I lost our temper which in the past would have been easy to do.

On Thursday we drove up the coast to  Ano Neuvo state park where we walked a total of about 4 and half miles to see Elephant Sea Lions and we also saw a baby seal that had been orphaned.

It was great although coming back and up the sand dunes was not an easy thing for either of us.

We also drove by and stopped and took pictures of people Kite surfing on the beach! It was really neat and interesting.

We visited natural bridge state park and it was ok.

  We went to dinner at the Brook Room at Brookdale Lodge where we had stayed last year and it was neat.

We had a Baskin Robins ice cream and went back to the camp where we slept well.

Friday we broke camp and rushed to Monterey to take a whale watching tour that lasted until 3 pm. The first whale we saw did an almost complete breach out of the water and made a lasting image within us. The same whale did a ¾ breach almost immediately and was wonderful.

 We saw many more whales during the trip – some up very close and it was a very nice day. We drove slowly up through San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge to Gigi’s where she took us out for a great Italian dinner.

She has a very nice apartment. In fact it is more of an executive suite much befitting the work she has put in to be where she is!

Saturday we got up late and ad a nice breakfast at IHOP. We then drove through the horrible traffic to San Francisco where it was cold, damp and very crowded. Gigi got us jackets and we walked around Fisherman’s wharf. We saw people which is fun and had a very nice day. We came home and had pizza and played cards. We called and pestered Zack who was trying to have an evening with a girlfriend. It was a gentle day and a very nice one.

   Sunday Gig went into work and we went Flea Marketing where Linda bought me a neat Baseball shirt. I got her a new rosary and we bought Gig some oranges and cherries. I found a set of tires for about $350 but could not find anyone to install them. We went to a very expensive dinner on the bay. Everything was right; the food was beautifully presented and tasted even better. Linda and Gig had a Grand Mariner Soufflé and I had a Pecan pie to die for. My blood sugars were still at 149 this morning –the highest they have been in several months. We played O Hell and Linda won and Gigi came in last.

This morning I am the only one awake as I can hear both Gigi and Linda snoring. It is a very good sound. It has been quite nice spending these two days with Gigi. We visited her hospital and her staff was very nice to us. They kept thanking us for having raised her the way we did whatever that means.  We took it to mean she was doing a good job in a difficult situation. Later this morning we will pack and head to bed of roses near Yosemite.

We reached Bed of Roses and were warmly welcomed and found a room we remembered with very positive memories. We drove out to the Mariposa Big Trees and then headed back.  We used the two person Jacuzzi and it was wonderful.

 

    The next day we had breakfast with a young same sex couple. The two young women were nice and a good conversation was had. We drove into the Yosemite Valley where we had lunch; walked the Yosemite Falls trail and then we walked the Bridal Veil Falls walk. No mosquitoes this year as things were pretty dry. We put out queen size blow up bed next to the river and layed there for about an hour. It was great. We then went back to the lodge and had a small dinner and made out way to Glacier Point and watched the sunset and stayed to see the valley after dark under almost a full moon. Glorious – almost as bright as daylight. We walked the lonely dark path back to the car and drove very slowly and carefully down the 16 mile curry twisting road and then back to the Bed of Roses where we had another Jacuzzi bath before going to sleep. A long but glorious day.

 

    

Wednesday was a do nothing day and yet we did a whole lot. We had breakfast with a young Christian Couple on their 5th anniversary trip. We drove around Bass Lake after driving down to Coarsegold. Pretty but not much there. We then went to see Pirates of the Caribbean and made our way back to the Mariposa Grove where we took a long arduous walk all uphill and took some pictures. I was concerned about Linda but she did fine and we then returned to the lodge where our host was kind enough to go to town to pick up a pizza for us. We then took a long and final Jacuzzi.

Thursday morning we had breakfast with an English couple whom we found delightful. We then made our way to Sequoia National Park. We got a campsite that was very lopsided – my fault- and attempted a walk but did not get as far as we had two years previously as Linda was having much difficulty breathing and her breathing issues continued through the night. We had the worse hamburgers if that was what they were, at the national park grill. They were horrible. We saw a cinnamon bear. We met a nice German family and gave them map hints. It was a long night as someone decided to camp right behind us and did not arrive until 4AM.

We left somewhat tired. We stopped by the Circle Meadow trail at the big trees and had a nice 1.25 mile walk. Linda saw a bear at the very beginning of the walk seemed to walk fine. The day became very long and I was very tired and somewhat angry most of the day and things got worse as we approached Las Vegas where we were in a traffic jam forever. There was a terrible accident that made national news and we were able to drive only about 1 mile in an hour and a half.  Our fuel light came on and we were concerned about running out of gas. We finally made it to St George where we got a room that was not only reasonable but very nice. The day as it ended got better even after waiting 30 minutes at a Denny’s for an n omelet.

We woke up and laid in bed determined to get our vacation back on track. It seems as though most of the calls are not to find out if we are having a good time but to talk about possible problems. We decided we need to forget their issues and enjoy ourselves.   We got up and renewed our room for another night and went to a late breakfast and then drove to Colorado City where we talked with members of a polygamous family. We took pictures of the city but not of the people themselves as that seemed wrong. The ladies we talked with were obviously one family and apprehensive of us as we thought they would be. They still were very nice to us. We came away with mixed but positive feelings. We used one of our gift cards to eat at Red Lobster and had a nice meal but huge meal. First decent food since we were treated so well at Gigi’s. We had great meals with her and wonderful card playing and company.

 

We went to a flea market that had two vendors and then this evening drove to Springdale to a rock and roll show which was fine. We could not help but notice we were the youngest or among the youngest at the show –Twist Away the Night. It was a nice evening and day. I hope we are back on track!

This was a very long day that was also an incredible day. We had decided on a touring day – a day to drive and see and we did just that. We left around 9 and drove through Zion NP and then on up toward Bryce Canyon. We turned on to highway 12 which was far more than we had expected. This is a road of roads. We immediately drove into a hot red rock canyon area that was beautiful. We drove then into Bryce Canyon and while it was not the Grand Canyon, it was great especially the arches part of the canyon.

After Bryce we drove into a small town where we had a pizza and talked with a young South Carolina family that had been in a snowstorm in Yellowstone the day we left Jenny Lake.  As we drove out highway 12 we saw a biker in an accident on a bridge. He had fallen asleep or had a heart attack and ran into the bridge. It did not look good for him. 

      
We drove on to Capital Reef NP and the scenery was magnificent but did nothing to prepare us for what was next. We were in a cliff pass area –a cross between the Poudre River Valley and the St George Gorge roads only much narrower and much longer. We came out of the gorge area and on to a ridge with huge drop offs on both sides of the road and then down into a wooded area followed by a giant drop off and finally into an area that we described as rocky ugly – not even Zachery Land. We don’t think we have ever been on a road quite like this one.

 The diversity of scenery and the splendor of the ridge was just impressive. All that was missing from everything this day was the lack of animals. We saw perhaps one antelope, two deer and maybe one elk and we see animals everywhere but none or very few on this day. We got to Arches and the campsite was filled. Arches was not all that impressive after what we had seen. We ended up at a commercial campsite and slept reasonably ok considering our air mattress kept losing air and the people next to us almost never went to bed. The day was great but very long and we almost lost it at the end but did not.

We got up early and left prior to the camp store being open so had no one to pay for the night. We will try to remember to find a way to pay them the $20 for the campsite when we get home. We drove into Denver over the normal route I-70 which is a very beautiful drive. Our hotel, the Red Lion greeted us nicely and it is a nice room to stay for the next three nights. We rested, showered and then went to dinner at the Outback using a gift card we had been given. Driving through Denver traffic is daunting but we still made it downtown to their wonderful theatre center where we got great half price tickets in a super location to see “A funny thing happened on the way to the forum”. It was funny and tried hard to be provocative. We then went to an art film at the Mayan theater and ended up at the motel tired but ok around 12:30.  This was a very nice day even if long.

 

Our 42nd Anniversary – June 5, 2007

Well another year. The amazing thing is we have very little money, not the greatest of health, are overweight and still we are reasonably in love – not bad for 42 years. I am 62 and Linda is 59 so we have spent our life becoming one. Still, we have our uniqueness. Today we slept late. We made love. We discovered a great restaurant – Strings. We were treated very well even given the most beautiful of desert platters as a gift and our food, well it tasted even better than it looked and it was beautifully presented. I bought Linda a small necklace that was made of glass in the shape of a heart and all the money went to the HOPE foundation for helping people in Ethiopia. We then went for a drive to a local mall where Linda bought Crocs. We drove back to the motel and rested then went to a light dinner at IHOP with one of our gift cards. Tonight we went to see “The Taffetas”. It was a musical depiction of the 50’s music performed by 4 women and it was “sweet”! Very very sweet. It was fun. Linda and I laughed a lot and felt a little ancient. We have been very pleasantly surprised by the extremely positive way in which people react when learning of our 42nd wedding anniversary – even tonight at the musical the house provided us with 2 soft drinks and a big moose inside a chocolate cup for free. We have been made to feel we are special today even receiving a call from all our children and grandchildren and Linda’s mom and dad.  It has been a very nice day!

 

Well it is Wednesday, June 6 and our last full day of vacation before returning to Wichita tomorrow in what promises to be a long day.  We began by having our free hotel breakfast buffet. We went to the Mile High Flea market and found 4 cameras. A limited edition football, a wonderful signed framed tee shirt with many great football autographs from 1995 and a 1950’s plastic really collectible radio. I bought all for around $100 and Linda got a perfume bottle and a necklace – mustard seed type-Wow! We then went to lunch at a French Bistro –Le Central where we had a great lunch with Escargot for Linda and lots of mussels and some kind of meat for me. The desert was really good.  Then we left and went antique shopping where we got Tim about a dozen shot glasses and I bought a Mickey Mouse Watch also. Now we went to Gunther Today and had a milkshake while looking over our trophies. We drove a short ways and had a camera store really look at what we had bought and were delighted at what they said. If the day was not great enough, we then went to a Rockies game and had a great experience and enjoyed a fine game. Linda forced me to buy two good tickets and they were wonderful. We came back to the motel and on the way we saw another accident. We made it safely here and we said our prayers and will watch TV for a while before sleeping and then heading home in the morning. We have about $50 to make it home on and not go over our budget. We enjoyed the jackets Gigi got us at the Rockies game tonight as the wind howled awesomely.


We reached home around 4:30 and found about $1000 in bills awaiting us and about an extra $100 we had failed to record so this was not a good surprise but we did have a good trip home and our grandchildren came over and unloaded things for us!

 Final Thoughts

Linda

This trip was full of new and wonderful surprises!  I really did enjoy the views of bears in the Tetons.  The new road that we discovered was highway 12 and some of the views were some of the most spectacular that I have ever seen.  It was nice to discover a road that we had not been on that held so many beautiful scenes.  I also enjoy the way we spent more than one night in some of the places and explored them from our hotel.   We had so many nice meals that it is hard to describe just which one other that Strings was the best.  I had a very nice anniversary day which was so important to me this year.  All and all this was a really good trip.

 John

Like Linda I loved the trip. There were some bad moments in one day mostly caused by my not eating correctly but all in all it was a nice trip.  I worry we will never get another trip as neither of us are in very good health. The bear with the two cubs in the Tetons, Highway 12, Denver, Gigi, Whale watching, Strings, were easily my highlights –except you have to add the Denver Flea Market where I spent about $100 on foolishness and it was a blast. 42 years is a long time. I cannot imagine not being married to Linda and I love her with all my being. It was a really good trip.

Grant Trip -March 27 - April 1, 2007 for His 18th Birthday

Our Wonderful Road Trip with Grant

Celebrating his coming of age  18th birthday 

March 27 - April 1, 2007

We picked Grant up at the school and told him that we had decided to head towards Taos, New  Mexico and then up to Denver.  And off we went.  We traded drivers every one hundred miles until we decided to stop for gas and check out the weather which had begun to look a lot grayer than we liked.  As we pulled into the gas station, the wind came up, rain and hail the size of quarters and fifty cent pieces started to come down.  At that point I asked John to drive us out of town. I got to looking at the sky and it looked like someone had taken a jar of marshmallow cream and dropped it into globs in the sky.  As we raced west (90mph), we passed through three different storm systems.  It was just a little scary.  We stopped in a town that everything closed at 9pm.  We made it to the Subway just in time for dinner.  We played cards and we all know who won, not me . not Grant.  Thursday morning we got up to a beautiful morning.  The person who spots the first wild animal gets $5.00.  I spotted a bunny but no one saw it, so I had to wait until I spotted a whole herd of antelope which everyone else wanted to claim.

We got  to Taos and the traffic was as bad as always.  We walked around the Pueblo looking at some of the art and even tried some of the fry bread that they make.

We left and headed for Denver by a back road in hopes of seeing some wild mustangs but we didn't.  As we got closer to Denver it began to snow, which was a real surprise as it was supposed to be in the middle to upper 40's and 50's.  Grant was driving and he did a good job driving in the snow.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency which was a very nice place.  I liked the gloss elevator which I only got to ride once and only to the ninth floor which is where we were staying.  We went to Casa Bonita for dinner.  The atmosphere is fun even if the food is not the greatest.  After dinner we headed to the Chez Artist movie to see a fun romantic art film.   We played cards again and I did not win a single hand.

Friday morning we headed out to the Rocky Mountain National Park where John got his life time pass.  A lot of the park was still closed because of snow but there were some large  elk herds, one which John and Grant went out into so they could take pictures.  After the park we headed to the Denver Auto show.  I think that this might have been one of the highlights of the trip for Grant..  Great cars!  I liked the Miata best of all.  We headed for dinner at Gunter Today, where they sang to Grant and made him do the twist as a way of saying Happy Birthday.  He had a great smile on his face as they embarrassed him in front of everybody.  We decided to go to a play at the Denver Center for the Arts. .It was called Pure Confidence and dealt with a slave jockey during the Civil War.  It was a hard play because it dealt with prejudice and it hit home from our youth.  We had some good discussions with Grant about how it does or does not affect him.  We came back and we played cards again. It didn't help that Grant dealt John a pat hand.  I didn't even have time to look at my cards before John laid his cards down and won.  Grant stayed up to watch Alien 3.  I fell asleep just after it had started.

Saturday we went to the flea market.  It was a sunny pretty day.  I found a paper cast which we bought.  It was done in 1989 and a 1 of 200.  Good buy for a piece of art.  Grant bought a box with speakers which didn't fit, but we got them in the car.  I bought some vegetables and some honey.  We left and went to an art movie that was sub-titled.  I thought that it was a fairly good movie.  It was a hard movie about injustice.  We ate at Applebee's and headed to see the Broadway play "Lights in the Piazza".  It was not the best musical that we have seen but it is nice to be able to go and take Grant.  We played cards and I seemed to do a lot of winning.  I took great delight in putting the cards that I knew Grant needed in the pile so they would be buried and he would have to change his hand or to set him or John when they went out

 

 

Grant got up early so that he could go swimming. I stayed in bed for a little longer.  We went to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and then drove through the Garden of the Gods.  It was a long ride home.  Grant didn't even realize that he had slept for over 3 hours.  It was even funnier when he didn't realize that we had stopped at a McDonald's to go to the bathroom, get a cheeseburger and an ice cream cone.  He slept through all of it.  We had some good discussions with Grant and it was nice to be able to spend some time with just him.   I have decided that after Grants comments like "a loss for Grandma is a win for me and Grandpa" that I will have to find a way to get him when he lest is expecting it.

John

What I remember is the first day was spent just being together until we got to Guymon, Oklahoma and Grant was driving.  We had him duck under a gas station shelter where we dodged giant hail stones and filled the gas tank.  I drove out of Guymon as we were afraid of the weather and rightfully so.  I drove as fast as I have ever driven for any sustained time and we did not stop to take pictures as we would usually do.

The next day we drove in the Taos Pueblo past the Vietnam Memorial where we stopped and took pictures.  Later Grant would say that was the prettiest valley of the trip.  I remember being worried as Grant drove into Denver in a snow storm.  He drove well, I'm  just not used to sitting in the back while my grandson drives in a snow storm.  Later that night we went to Casa Bonita for a for dinner but great ambiance.  We then went to a good art movie which I think we all enjoyed. 

The next day we drove to the Rocky Mountain National Park where I got my lifetime pass for ten dollars.  Grant and I walked out into a very large herd of Elk where we took pictures and then we drove back into Denver where we went to an auto show which may well have been the highlight of Grant's trip.  We then went to a burger place where Grant was singled out for his 18th birthday - that was fun and then back to downtown Denver where we saw a stimulating play, Pure Confidence.  It was very thought provoking.

The flea market where Grant made a huge purchase followed by another art movie, a quick dinner and the musical, Light in the Piaza, followed.  Always a full day.  12 inch speakers in a large box barely fit in our little yellow mustang convertible.

Our last day we drove to the Air Force Academy, through the Garden of the Gods, past antelope herds and on home while Grant slept a great deal of the drive. 

 

Each day we played cards and I won and Linda won on occasion.  Grant had no luck.  He is a good card player or at the very least better than he was.  We will always remember these days and probably never get to repeat them.  Age, money and time will all combine to keep us from being able to repeat a trip like this.  Like the trip with Zach. this too is a trip for us to remember always.

Arizona Mustang Trip -November

This was a trip we had not planned on and came after I totaled the Yellow Mustang in an accident near Sam's Club. Thank god no one was injured but it was not any fun and caused us to ask Linda's parents for $20,000 which we used to buy a red mustang convertible in Phoenix Arizona. We decide to take the train to Flagstaff where we would rent a car one way to Phoenix. We thought we had purchased our tickets on line  but to our surprise no one asked us for a ticket as we boarded and rode this wonderful train.  The conductor was friendly and very helpful. We finally asked him about our tickets and he said that we should have been asked for them when we got on the train. We were prepared to pay  him but he refused and said it would be his pleasure to comp our trip and so it was free except we found after we got home that we had been billed for about $25 in booking fees. Still it was quite an unexpected gift.

The train ride was very pleasant and we passed the time sitting in one of the vista cars with a great view and pleasant companions. Linda and I played cards and spoke with other passengers like the young Amish family taking a daughter with cancer to San Diego for special treatment. We spent the night in Flagstaff and the next morning drover our rental to Phoenix where we purchased our Red convertible.

We drove back to the grand Canyon where we were able to get a room at the Canyon Lodge. We were so close to the actual rim. We were less than 30 steps from the rim and enjoyed both a breathtaking sunset and a glorious sunrise. We had dinner on the rim and again had a glorious view from where we were eating.

We drove home through the North rim and stopped and took more pictures.

We also took pictures of the controlled fires that were burning. The weather was fine and we had the top down much of the day.

We drove over the Colorado river Bridge and stopped to make a small purchase from local Indians.

The pictures above were taken in the morning light at Bryce Canyon National park.

On the way to Denver we took the Laramie river road and found  ourselves immersed in a modern day cattle drive completely surrounded by cattle. It was very interesting.

This was short purpose filled trip that will remain one of our most precious memories. From the train, the conductor and the car and then the trip home it was perfect.

 

2008-43rd

The Trip!

12/31/2008 - 1/12/2009

New Years Eve started with a nice but short visit with Linda's mother and father.

We met an artist who was performing for New Years at Blue Sky - a neat food channel restaurant where we had very spicy but good food.

On the way out of Amarillo we drove past the famous sunken caddie's.

We drove from Albuquerque to San Diego through the Desert Dunes.

The San Diego Zoo was a rare high light of this trip. our favorite animal of the entire zoo - Baby and Momma panda.

We had to visit and take pictures twice. I think this was the happiest moments of this trip.

Near the Hearst Castle we always stop for the elephant seals. We also had a flat tire  and a young man and his young lady stopped and changed it for  us.

Whale watching was another nice time.

Yosemite NP in the winter is very beautiful.

Las Vegas was busy as usual.

Zion NP was very cold but also beautiful.

We did not see many animals but this antelope and turkey were on the road from Zion to Bryce before we turned onto highway 12.

Highway 12 us a most scenic road through Bryce and so many other special places.

This day summed up this trip in a nutshell!! it was an excruciatingly horrible day yet we were so grateful to have survived. There were two tows at a cost of $500 and we could have been killed easily and yet we did fine and survived. The white pickup truck should have been in at least a dozen accidents all of which would have been serious if not fatal. He wasn't - everyone missed him while we watched and prayed no one would hit us. The mountain before Vail and the mountain to the tunnel is where all this took place.

 

2009-44th Anniversary Trip

 

Trip 2009

Mom Dad Jamie Shane Mercedes Portia    

 Wednesday, May 27th

Jamie – This was a great first day to the start of the trip. No fights, great farts, and strange games of password.  It was awesome, got to see a reallllllly cool windmill farm.  Granted, have seen it before, but,  it only gets  better every time.  I am not sure if our tent was put together right, but it was up and looked cool and funny; trying to watch everyone try to put it up was funny lol (laughing out loud.) We truly had a amazing camp site.  Trying to put up our tent wow… that was crazy.  Seeing the moose, even when grandma was not so sure about taking the Laramie Road. We saw a ton of moose

Portia- Today was really fun during the car ride, and our campsite is absolutely gorgeous.

Mercedes- Today was a very interesting day. I had started out the day by being 45 minutes away from Wichita for a thespian retreat. I had come to the school and my Aunt Jamie and uncle Shane had picked me up from there and headed directly to go get Portia from my house, then straight to my grandparents house to leave. My mother came and we all said our goodbyes and left in the tightly packed van. The road was VERY long. The drive had consisted of fear, excitement, anger, and pure craziness.  Playing cards was a blast having the games being, Oh Hell and BS.  Oh Hell, getting whipped by the first time player, Uncle Shane, was insane and fun.   Playing BS, also, getting whipped by the first time player Uncle Shane, who is now called the ultimate card player, to me. The fear of grandpa’s and Jamie’s driving going off the road. Jamie having her first driving experience in the van, as well as well as mine, was very terrifying.  It was hard trying to keep the van straight and not hitting the two houses that I had to pass, plus the hard fast wind. Finally, getting into the mountains and finding our beautiful camp grounds and trying to figure out how to put up the three bedroom tent with a screened room.  Wow, was that tough and rough. There was a river about 25-30 feet away from our tent and the sound of rushing water was perfect to putting me to sleep. The toilet facility was kind a scary.  There were no lights and the toilet had no bottom.  It was weird.  For dinner, we ate yummy cereal and the rest of the subway we had gotten at lunch time. It was absolutely scrumptious.

Shane - Left Wichita and heading east. It was fun watching Jamie driving her 100 miles in the van. I enjoyed my 100 miles on the interstate.  Learned to play Oh Hell (won by the way). We played some interesting password rounds. The girls taught me B.S. and of course Mercedes was the best B.S.er. The drive into the river gorge was beautiful and our campsite was amazing. I had an adventure getting our new tent set up. Jamie took all the blankets. Looking forward to tomorrow.

John

Once more Linda and I HAVE EMBARKED on an anniversary adventure. This year, our 44th, we have Jamie, Shane, Portia, and Mercedes with us. This year we are so very much aware that we are alive.  After my bypass and Linda’s Christmas, today seems unreal. We are so thankful for each other and this time.  It was a good day and a long drive. We let Shane win at cards and Sadie drove well!

Grandma-Wednesday – This was a really great start to a trip.  Everyone took their turn at driving the van.  Sadie sat with white knuckles but did a good job when she had to pass a modular home or two. I sat listening to them play cards and password.  We found a pretty place to stay for the night and we had our tent up in less than ten minutes and then got to watch Jamie, Shane and the girls put up their new and very big tent.  It was a good night for listening to the river.  The girls were a little bummed out with the potties at the camp, but they were clean.  This is a good start for a 44th anniversary trip. 

Thursday – May 28

John- We left a beautiful camp site on the Poudre River and drove to the Tetons where we were able to get a wonderful campsite at Jenny lake for the next 3 nights. As we drove out of the Poudre I took a detour on the Laramie river road where Shane saw his first moose and everyone saw a ton of moose. We took a lot of pictures but I began to worry about the condition of the van. It was all in all a very nice day and we ended the day with a drive around Jenny Lake at sunset!

Jamie – well today was an interesting day, between seeing 12 moose, antelopes, elk and really cool birds, some very scary roads and very scary campsites and a really cool graveyard.  We saw the grave site of a really cool Native American women, I know her name but can’t spell it.  The best part of the trip is having a long talk with the girls about sex.  The best part of the whole night is when we laid down for bed and Sadie yells,” Portia masturbates.,” even Portia laughed.  Line of the day ---dad says, “ moose, moose, moose, o wait, it’s just a cow,” and still no ice today! Wonderful campsite at Jenny Lake, my favorite place in the world.  Scared crapless when dad fell and so thankful he was ok. The point to this was to make sure we are always taking care of our parents and family no matter what people say. 

Shane -Got up bright and early and took down out tents and loaded up and left. Will miss hearing the river.  Next, we went on a short scenic drive upon John’s suggestion. Luckily someone spotted a moose. The high point was sneaking up really close to the moose to take pictures. Then we enjoyed a lengthy ride to the next stop. Jamie took a nap for most of the day. Portia had some gas. We set up our tent the right way and it looks much better. Saw some river otters and buffalo and tons of elk. Then heard an elk bugle/squeal very late into the night, it sounded scary anyway.

 cedes-woke up to the sound of grandpa yelling at Portia to get up and get dressed or else he’ll come in and tickle her in her pajamas and then Portia yelling you better not! What a wonderful start to the new day, right? We took down the tent and it took about 10 min but we finally got it down and loaded up the car with really cold weather. Changing in the sleeping bags was difficult and cold! The day was mostly driving and taking pictures of moose.  Grandma was the first one to spot the animal so she was the one to win the 5 dollars..again. I believe it is because she sits in the front and us girls sit in the way back.  If I was sitting in the front I would win the moolah every day.  It pisses me off!! Urgg.  This is for Mercedes:  Even if I were sitting in the back seat of the van I would have spotted the animals first because I am that good.  But anyway we saw 12 moose and I got up to 10-15 feet up to one of them. We saw (it had to be) 1 million elk and 45 buffalo. They were everywhere! We saw an otter also! It was cute J. We were gonna stop it a little camp ground but everyone decided that that place was creepy and we didn’t want to stay there, so we went on to the Tetons and found a beautiful camping site. We put our tent up in much less time than yesterday. We relaxed and had a very interesting talk about sex and masturbation. We all decided that Portia is the main masturbator so her nickname is gastebator. Since Jamie loves chuck Norris we call her chucktibator. I can’t remember what grandpa and Shane are but I will remember soon enough.  Jamie, again, took one of my pillows to sleep with, so, I only had 2 to sleep with L.  But I’ll get over it and find her a different one.

 

Portia-I got to see a ton of moose and it was awesome.  We moved onto a beautiful park that had tons of elk and other things.  I am really looking forward to seeing a bear.  Our tent experience was really interesting.  Right when we were all just getting quiet Mercedes said, “Portia masturbates”.  I don’t know why, but there is something wrong with my intestines because I had the worst gas of my life!  So now I am known as the gasterbater!  HOW HORRIBLE!!!!!!

Gma-Everyone got up in a great mood wanting to look for animals.  I asked everyone how they slept after the long day of driving.  Everyone, but Portia liked the sound of the river rushing past at night.  She thought that it sounded like a jet plane engine all night long.  John decided to take the Laramie River Road, although I wasn’t too sure we should take because we have heard a few strange noises coming from the front wheels. It sounds like brakes except for the strange clunking sound when we turn the wheel or even put on brakes.    We found almost 12 moose (John was right on about the Laramie River Road,) and lots of antelope as we drove Zachary Land.  We drove out to see the grave of Sacajawea and it is one of the more beautiful cemeteries that I have ever seen.  There is lots of color to brighten up each site.  A great piece of history but the road isn’t marked very well.  We stopped to look at a campground called Sinks Canyon and decided not to stay. We made it to Jenny Lake and found a good camp site.   It is always beautiful at Jenny Lake; it is not like some of the other terrain that we went through.  We call that barren area Zachary land because he thought it was one of the worst most desolate places to drive through.  We found out that the camp host had to be flown to Salt Lake City because he had a heart problem.  We meet his son and his son remembered that his father told him about a couple who had to leave their tent and air bed because of congestive heart failure the year before.  Of course, that was John. The sky was clear and the stars were out for only a short while and it started to get chilly.  Lots of clouds came in late to cover up the sky. 

 

May 29th-John

We got up and drove to Jackson where I found two mechanics to look at the van. It was apparent the van was in trouble. Both front wheels were so loose they could have come off at any time and the brake pads were metal on metal. After an exhausting day of mostly waiting and $450 plus dollars the van was repaired enough to drive for the rest of the trip or so we hoped! we took the free bus and rode to downtown and had very good hamburgers during the day.  As stressful as the day was, I think we all did what we could to make it enjoyable. That night -at the campfire- I stumbled over a huge rock and my glasses went flying and I was dazed momentarily. the whole world acted as though I needed to be hospitalized. I did not! Sadie and I had a nice quiet night time walk near the campsite!

Jamie – Friday May 29th   Well, not so sure what to think about today. Not a very good day but at the same time it was a good day.  I am very thankful that we got the van looked at. We all heard the noise!!!!! The lord was with us.  Today we walked a lot and rode a city bus. Now that is amazing!!!! The city bus was cool because I had not seen the town before like this and saw a lot of things that would I would like to go back and do.  I really liked the walk to the store while we were waiting for the van.  I thought that was a nice walk.  We ended up having no fights and having a good day.  I woke up early today, it was nice to be able to get up by myself and just look at the mountains. What a wonderful place to pray and think and just breathe.

Shane-Friday: Went into Jackson to have the van looked at. Jackson is an interesting town to say the least.   Definitely a tourist trap. Luckily found a mechanic to do the work on the van for reasonable price. Had my first ride on public transportation. It was a nice bus and it was even free. The view from the Tetons campsite is amazing.

 

Gma- We drove into Jackson to see if we could find a place to put on brake pads.  Carquest gave us the name of an automotive shop and we went to see what we could get done and how much it was going to cost.  Steve (owner of the shop) had his young man jack the van up and the minute that the van was off the ground the tires turned in at an angle that even I knew was not good.  The tie rod ends were bad; one side worse than the other.  Steve called NAPA to get parts which nobody in town seemed to have. He told us the parts would be there around 1:30 so we should go explore the town.  Jackson has a free bus system so off we went.  Went into some of the shops and then found a place called Billy’s burgers to have lunch.  They were great big ½ pound burgers with waffle fries for $6.95.  This is probably one of the better buys in Jackson.  We went back to Steve’s only to find the parts were left off the truck.  It took him looks of calls and a drive over the mountain for one of his guys to get the parts, but he did it.  We were finally free to go exploring the Tetons.

May 30th- John

We had great steaks and we had a nice day of looking around the Tetons. We saw a beaver behind Oxbow and it showed off for everyone. Mersades, Portia, Shane and I went on about a 1-1 1/2 mile walk that remains one of my highlights of the trip.

Jamie -Saturday May 30 Wow, what a nice night here at Jenny  Lake.  We had great steaks and wonderful corn. Got to see a really cool beaver today. So love the beaver!!!!  I remembered that spot from when I was little and every time I have gone there. I could stay in the Tetons forever.  It is so magical and special.  We saw more moose, elk, sheep, and other animals.  The views are wonderful!! It’s fun being able to see this fresh with Shane; it’s all new and different.   We had great hamburgers at this little place in Jackson Hole, well worth it. I remember the antlers, but I don’t remember the shopping quiet like it was. It was fun any way.  The girls are a hoot. Between farting all day, biting, anti -Sadie, and grabbing parts, Wow they are amazing.  Glad for the opportunity to see them in a different environment.  Finally, learned how to play cards.  I will get the hang of it!!! One day I will beat them all…..Mark my word on it.

 

Shane Saturday: After spending the day in Jackson waiting for the van yesterday it was nice to get out and do some sightseeing and looking for animals. The van is definitely much safer now with the repairs and we don’t have to all hold our breath.  Saw a beaver and got some good pictures. I really like the Oxbow area.

Gma – We drove around the Tetons today and as always it is beautiful.  John, Shane, Sadie and Portia took one of the trails and walked out to see what there was to see.  Jamie and I stayed and looked out over the little cliff area.  We drove out to Oxbow Bend and went to the back where we just happened upon a beaver.  Everyone loved watching that animal and took lots and lots of picture which is exactly what you should do in the Tetons.  A strange personality started to appear – The Anti-Sadie.  What a hoot, especially when the Anti-Grandpa took out his teeth and acted like her.  Very funny!!! We had some great ribeye steaks and corn on the cob for dinner.  Shane was the cook and everyone ate everything.  Great meal.

Portia -We had a long days drive and it was soooo boring, but it finally ended.  I saw a ton of antelope, or as Sadie and the others now call them as cantaloupe.  In a way they almost look like greyhounds with horns and a paint job.

Mercedes- Today we drove to Yellowstone. It was about an hour and a half to two hour drive. When we arrived at Yellowstone, we made our way to our camp site and then we drove around. It was beautiful

May 31-John

We got up early took pictures and drove to Yellowstone. I made an "executive" decision to get us a cabin at Canyon where we had stayed the previous year. The shower alone was worth the price which all in all was a very reasonable $315 for the three nights.  Another good day! During the drive over the mountain I discovered the left front tire had tread showing and went to had it replaced with the spare and found out the cost was $65 to have the spare installed - but - if we waited until the next morning it would only be $35 so guess what -we waited!


Jamie Sunday May 31   Today mom and dad surprised us by getting a cabin in Yellowstone. It was well worth it. There is nothing like a shower and a bed that is not made of rocks and dirt.   They left the cutest soap in a little bear shaped that we all fought over!! I’m older, I win. It was fun listening to the exciting sounds of everyone including me looking at everything around us coming into Yellowstone. Not knowing and knowing what you might face never seemed the same every time we drove by something.  I kept saying very cool or Oh look Sadie, look Shane, look Portia.  It was like it was my first time going. Loved going to the valleys, it’s surprising how cold and yet muggy it was. Weather was strange.  I know I did not like the roads up there, but dad did wonderful especially in the van. It was an experience no one will ever forget.

 Shane Sunday- Well, got up this morning and took down our tents at the Tetons. There was some fog down by the mountains and really looked cool. We made the drive to Yellowstone. It was a bit of a long drive.  Zack-land was definitely worth taking a nap through. Sadie got her wish and we made it to Yellowstone. It was interesting seeing where the fire had gone through. I had no idea that Yellowstone was as big as it was. Tried to find a campsite but it was closed so we got to stay in a Primitive Cabin. It had a shower and a real bed. Believe me after 4 days a shower felt great.

Gma -Today is Sunday and we are off to Yellowstone.  The weather started out a little foggy but it seemed to clear up pretty well.  Sadie has been asking when we were going to get to Yellowstone since we started, so, today was the day.  We drove in and everyone seemed to be impressed with what they were seeing.  We headed up to Canyonlands camp grounds only to find that they did not open until June 5th.  This was a surprise and somewhat of a disappointment but John and I talked it over and decided to check and see if one of the primitive cabins might be available.  It was, so we took it for 3 nights.  Off we went to see Yellowstone while the room was being cleaned.  We made the figure 8 around Yellowstone so people could see just how big it was.  We saw lots of buffalo, geysers and great scenery as we drove around the mountains.  We went out to the Lamar Valley over the Tower road.  This is always a scary road because of the drop offs but well worth the ride. We have been learning to play a card game called “Swap” and it is a hoot to play.  Watching and listening to the banter that goes on is so funny.  Everyone got a chance to take a shower, except for Portia.  The water seemed to go cold when it was her turn so she gets to be the first in the morning. While John and I showered I hit the water knob and turned the cold on to us. Boy, was that chilling.  We showered while Sadie drove everyone to the Lodges gift stores and deli to look around.  We went looking for animals after we had rested for a short time.  It was a nice day.

Portia-Today we drove to a city which I don’t remember the name of and had some burgers that were huge and very costly. We saw a big horned sheep, and many buffalo. The whole day was mostly driving.

June 1-John

We drove around Yellowstone and just toured. we stopped at Old Faithful but none of the group was impressed. Linda and I walked the half mile loop. I was impressed she could do it! We saw a wonderful Bighorn Ram and he was in the prime of his life and beautiful.

 Jamie – Monday June 1   Wow! All I can say is bears, sheep (not a dog) eagle, wolves, coyotes, elk, moose and baby moose.  That was part one of the day, part two of the day was seeing the geysers and hot springs. Wow! How pretty.  Saw Old Faithfull today.  It was ok, not like I remember, but it was cool when it started to blow straight toward us with its smell and mist. The look on the kids and Shane’s face was priceless.  The waterfalls were pretty neat, too. To think something can be so pure and forceful makes you want to be like a waterfall!  Think about it, you go where you want, when you want how you want and with all the force you want; the waterfall must have been a women. J Watching Shane go everywhere with the kids was cool. They were fearless and that in its self was exciting to watch Shane. I had more fun watching him and the kids sometime then I did the environment.

Shane Monday- Yellowstone definitely has a variety of wildlife, and scenery. Got to see Old Faithful, it was not as grand as I thought it would be, but it was still cool to see. We saw other geysers and hot springs, but to Sadie’s disappointment none of them spewed lava.  Taught John and Linda to play swap and they seem to like it.

Gma – We woke up ready to go to see Old Faithful and some of the other sites in the Park.  We had to give Portia time to take a shower because the water was cold last night and all she got to do was wash he feet off to help make her feel clean enough to go to sleep.  We have been having muffins for breakfast.  They are big, tasty and they stay fresh for several days which helps when you are out camping.  We, also, have sandwich makings for lunch, etc.  John and I went for about a ½ mile walk around Old Faithful while the rest of the group went through the gift shops.  Sadie bought a necklace and earrings which are pretty.  We found everybody after the geyser went up and headed inside to the ice cream parlor, where everyone got either a cone or a cup with some kind of sprinkles.  It sure hit the spot.  Shane and the girls went looking at a lot of the geysers and it was nice to see them having so much fun.  I felt bad for Sadie because she thought that the steam for the geysers was made by magma and not water.  They all like certain geyser and we will probably return to visit them again.  We went into Gardener which is the original entrance to Yellowstone.  This town is geared to tourists.  They make their money in a 4 month span and they make no bones about it.  We went to the Lamar Valley which is one of my favorite places to see bear, wolf, bison, elk and many other different kinds of birds. We, also, met another kind of animal, Ranger Shawn.  Very nice to look at, at least Sadie thought so.  Portia though the other Ranger, Ranger Dodd, was pretty neat looking.  His incisors’ looked like they had been sharpened, kind of like a vampire.   Also, very cute.   We looked through their spotting scope at a black bear

 June 1, 2009
Portia -We got to the new camp site that is really pretty.  I can't wait to see some different animals like something other than the average rabbit in my backyard.  Man the bathrooms are sooo smelly and disgusting.  I mean they could at least have flush toilets or some type of plumbing system.  There was an elk on the side of the rode and we almost hit it while going back to the campsite.  When we were pulling in we hit a big boulder and then when I went to the bathroom Grand
pa fell and hit his nose.

June 1-Mercedes

Today we went sight seeing. It was very cool. We went to all the geysers and through the main road seeing everything. Later on in the night, we went to the Hayden valley and saw a unforgettable scene. We were looking at a bear on one side of the road and we went to the other side and saw 2 coyotes and 2 wolves chasing after each other. It was remarkable.

June 2-Mercedes-Today we went back to all the geysers that we wanted to see and Old Faithful. I was really disappointed in Old Faithful. I thought the jewel geyser was better. But I did think something very stupid, everyone keeps telling me. I thought that the geysers shot out lava instead of water.

June 2- John-The highlight of this day for me was seeing Jamie enjoy the "painted bison" in West Yellowstone. It is seldom you get to be pleasantly surprised by your children or anyone for that matter and hearing her spontaneous laughter was a special highlight for me! I love Yellowstone and it was wonderful just to be back there!

 

Portia -Yellowstone is fabulous! There is soooooo much wildlife.  Grandpa is going crazy over a big horned sheep and all I can think of it is that it is pretty, but extremely boring.  There is a ton of elk here.  Our cabin is really cool especially since Grandma found elk tracks in the back side of it.

Jamie  Tuesday  June 2   Well, what to say about today. Today was the best day because we went and did things we wanted to redo and re-see. I decided to walk more of the paths just so I would not miss anything.  So loved the Sapphire Springs.  I could have stayed there all day long just standing in the hot miss and looking deep into the water. It was so blue and pure it made you think; how did God come up with something that beautiful.  He must have been an artist in his spare time.   Seeing the geyser right next to it and sharing that with mom and dad was cool, it rose high and you could see the other geysers go off, so you knew when this one went off.  The sound of the bubbling and the hissing you just knew it was powerful.  It was kind of a stress reliever.  Wish I could blow my heat and water like that.  Everyone including dad drank his real water today and so I was very happy for that.

 

 

Shane Tuesday-Got to go back through the park after seeing the whole thing.  I could never have imagined that Yellowstone was so immense. I always thought it was a fraction of the size it really is.   I got to see some wolves and coyotes. The wolf even crossed the road and ran right down the middle of the road.  Got to see a big horn sheep up close. What an encounter of a life time. I felt truly blessed to have seen that.

Gma  - We went looking at the places that everyone wanted to revisit.  Everyone seemed to like the geysers, more than Old Faithful which they chose not to go back and see.  The weather was a little rainy but that did not stop people from enjoying everything.  For lunch we went to West Yellowstone for some McDonalds.  Wow was that expensive, but everyone agreed that a McDonald’s never tasted so good.  We parked so Jamie could get out and see the life size painted buffalos. It was so nice to see the beautiful smile on her face as they look at each of the paintings.   We saw the eagle’s nest and got to watch the eagles for awhile.  We are having a good time finding and looking for animals.  The Hayden Valley seems to have good sightings on bears (1/2 mile away, of course) but we did see a couple of coyotes.  Some people thought they were wolves but they weren’t.  The wolves were on the other side of the road getting ready to cross just as we were driving down the road.  Great sighting to see a wolf that close up, normally you only see them long distance.  The grizzly bear and the brown bear could only be seen well through a spotting scope.  

 

 

Jamie  Wednesday June 3    Ha-ha!! Today we left Yellowstone and this was kind of sad, but kind of exciting, too. We knew it meant it was time to go home.  Not really looking forward to that, such a peaceful place here.  We convinced mom and dad to stay at the other campsite (Gros Vent).  Can’t spell it, not even going to try.  We pull in and see three moose right there in our site. WOWOWOWOWOOW that has to be the coolest thing.  We could not get the fire going today and ended up running into town and got Billy Bob’s hamburgers again. Yummm. We found a great deal at one of the only shops: 5 t-shirts and a hat.  I know dad wanted to get me something more, but I liked my hat and that was my goal to get a hat on this trip and it was pink…. I picked it out with dad. J   Had a really good day today and had fun playing cards again.  It’s fun to watch dad play swap.  Lol he’s so funny … mom plays dirty.  Lol, but that’s the fun part about it.

Shane Wednesday- Had to pack up to leave Yellowstone. The cabin was such a relief. Went back through and saw some of the geysers and hot springs, saw the Dragon’s Mouth, Sapphire Pool and the Jewel geyser again.   Found out that the big horn sheep had a family not too far from where he was. I have to say Yellowstone was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I got to see 8 bear, grizzly and black, tons of elk and buffalo, bighorn sheep, wolves, and eagles. Drove back towards the Tetons, but didn’t stay at the same place, stayed at Gros Vonte? Campsite this time, and wouldn’t you know, there were three moose in our campsite. Tried to start a fire for the steaks but the wood we got from the camp office just downright sucked, it wouldn’t burn for anything.

 

 

Portia- I took the trash from the car to the dumpsters and I found a few groundhogs with a ton of holes, and they are soooo cute.  We went site seeing and we saw a lot of geysers and hot springs that were really cool.  I saw a few hot springs though, that smelled like the inside of a hardboiled egg that went bad and it looked like it too.  GROSE!

June 3-Mercedes - Today was our last day in Yellowstone and we went to everyplace we wanted to go see for the last time. We went to the Dragon’s Mouth geyser and the Jewel geyser and a very scary road.

June  3-John - We drove out of Yellowstone and got a campsite at Gross Ventre and as we set up the tent we watched 3 moose almost in our very campsite - it was really neat. We went into Jackson and got Billy Bob's hamburgers again and Jamie and I went shopping and I bought tee shirts and a hat for all of us- on sale 75% off the regular price. It was really fun! Another nice day of touring. We visited and walked at a couple of gysers and Haydon Valley and played card 

 

June 4-Mercedes- We woke up early and drove back to the Tetons. Boring drive, but fun. My gparents went back to Jackson while my sister, aunt, uncle, and I set up camp. We made camp in this really cool place where we saw 3 moose crossing through the entire camp when we pulled in. That night I was very disappointed. Me and Uncle Shane tried to start a fire and it would not work. So we all jumped in the van and headed to Jackson to eat a burger from  Billy Bobs. They were yummy.

Jamie Thursday  June 4  We got up and drove to the puder ?? river again. This is such a pretty place. We saw cows, horses, three moose and two in the laramare road ??? I know this is something that we will definitely do again.  We had great steaks today!!!! Yummy corn. Dad got me Dr.Pepper so that made it all better.  Thankfully everyone drank their water today!!! It was a long drive to our campsite but playing cards and watching dad try to play swap is kind of funny. I only lost 3 fingers in the deal. The anti-Sadie and biting and pinching my boobs just made our relationship even more special.

Shane Thursday- Drove back across Zack-land to the Poudre River Gorge area.  It was a long drive, but well worth it to camp along the river again.  Got to see quite a few kayakers. Those are some brave people going down those rapids in the cold water. Linda picked up some Pepsi and lighter fluid.  Finally some Pepsi!  Set up camp at a campsite next to the one from the first night, a fitting end to a wonderful trip.  It started to rain a little bit but we got the fired going and that dang rotten wood finally burned with the help of half of the bottle of charcoal fluid. Ate steaks and corn and it was great. We were pretty sure there was a UFO on the other side of the mountain behind us.

Gma – We left the Tetons today.  We went past Oxbow one more time;  it is my favorite place to see the beauty of the mountains and lets me marvel at the wonders that God has created and has given us to enjoy.  The bend of the Oxbow is where I would like to always be.  The drive across the barren terrain was broken up when we saw a couple groups of wild horses.  There are only a few wild horse herds left and we got to see one.  This is not a sight you get to see very often.  Lots of fun in the van as we drove.  We got to the Poudre River Campsite in enough time to get a fire started.  We grilled the last of our great steaks, corn on the cob and for desert, marshmallows.  There isn’t anything better to set on fire than a marshmallow.  It gets crisp and gooey and makes a mess, but, oh, the taste.  John and I laid in the tent listening to them as they settled down to try and sleep.  This has been one of the funniest things and also one of the great joys of this trip.  John and I wished each other Happy Anniversary at midnight and drifted off to sleep.  

Portia -I finally saw my moose with antlers!  They may have been only 4-5 inches long, but they were still there none the less.  I didn't get my bear encounter, but I had an awesome wolf and coyote encounter  so that now it doesn't matter.

June 4

We drove back into Colorado and made camp in the same place we had on the first night. It was the same except that we were one spot closer to the bathrooms. We had an amazing dinner that night. We ate steaks, corn on the cob, and roasted marshmallows. Yum! Grandma cooked them over the fire and then everyone cooked their own marshmallows.

 


June 4- John-We drove back home through the Poudre River valley and saw more moose, had great steaks, and another wonderful campsite. We saw two herds of wild horses on the way. A very nice day so close to the end of the trip.

Jamie  Friday  June 5   Today we are driving home. I am ready for a shower and my bed. Lol, but today may have been a long day but wow no real fights and everyone helped to get things done this morning. We even ended getting up early to make sure we got our tents down and packed so we could help mom and dad out. Today is mom and dad’s anniversary and we are all thankful we are able to share this with them. What a year, we are very thankful that there was a 44 and I know the 45th will be even more special.  Lots of elk, deer cows and horses. The wild horses were cool.  Driving the van today was still scary.  What a way to end the trip…. Ice cream… I know where I get my love of ice cream now. J This was a wonderful adventure. I am so thankful I got to share this with mom, dad, the girls and Shane.  We saw things, said things and learned things about everyone. I know Shane and I are closer because of it. I know Sadie and I are closer and I know I learned a lot about Portia as well.  I would not have changed a thing about this trip because it will make for great memories of our family.  I loved spending time with my parents, realized that I won’t ever stop worrying about them and that’s what makes us us.

Shane Friday- all of us in our tent got up bright and early today and started packing and taking down our tent so John and Linda could sleep in on their 44th anniversary. It was amazing, no one bickered or fought and we all worked together. I will really miss the Poudre River Gorge and that camp area and the Laramie River road.  I really hope to go back there sometime soon, if at all possible, and take my brothers with me so they can experience it.  We went to Ft. Collins and got breakfast from McDonalds, their food has never tasted so good. We started the journey past Denver and into Kansas. Me and Jamie switched off driving first, and then it started getting hot as we got into Kansas. I got the chance to drive again from Hays to Salina and it was so hot in that front seat, but it was well worth it to have that experience with the family.  Looking back, I wasn’t sure what to expect on this trip, but thank god, everything worked out, we were all safe, except for when Linda pushed John over that rock, just kidding, thank god John was alright.  I hope to have the chance to go on a family vacation again in the future.

June 5 -Mercedes- Well we woke up early today and started on our long 14 hour ride home. Today, we saw 2 packs of wild horses which were really cool! We had McDonalds to eat which was refreshing after a week of camping but not as good as last night’s dinner.L

Portia -We started heading home today, well the really bad part of heading home any way.  It took soooo long but I was just glad I didn't have a license so I could relax the whole time and catch up on my sleep.

 

 

 

June 5-John

 

Our 44th anniversary

Well after the Christmas of Linda and my 5 bypasses and major heart attack, I thought this year might not come. I am very worried about making to 2010 as I have been haunted by a dream I had when I was very young. I mostly wanted Jamie, Shane, Mercedes and Portia to have a memory of their Gma and Gpa

loving them and each other and I am thankful for the trip. When we got back, Tim, no real surprise here, said the mechanics had overstated how bad the van was. The implication was I had paniced and did not need to lose the day and the money in car repairs. Of course this was not true and I did a very immature thing and let him set me off.  then he says. 'I know what you need to hear me say,"- all he had to do was simply say thankyou. He wasn't there and did not experience the terror I felt knowing the trip could end in a major injury filled disaster.  too bad - all in all it was a very nice trip.

 

 

Gma – This is our 44th Anniversary.  It has been a hard year, but both of us are here to enjoy what God has given us, each other.  The trip home is long but with everyone taking their turn to drive it makes it better.  It was really hot in the van, especially for the driver.  The air vents did not exactly work the way they were supposed to; the driver got lots of hot, hot air on their legs and other parts.  There were a few jokes about fried balls from what I remember.  There was lots of laughter on this trip, only a few moments of stress between people, and problems that were able to be solved.  John’s fall could have been really bad but a skinned nose and some soreness was better than it could have been. This was a trip of a life time.  Jamie and Shane will hopefully get to do things like this in the future for themselves; the girls will be growing up and moving on with their lives and family trips don’t get to happen very often as people grow up and create their one lives.  I am very thankful that I had this time with John (my life’s love,) Jamie and Shane (daughter and son in law) Mercedes and Portia (granddaughters.) 

 

 

 

Pagosa Springs Trip

7/24/09 - 08/03/2009

This was an unexpected trip made possible by the generosity of Dr.  and Mrs. Marin who are both clients and friends. They owned a time share in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and were unable to use it after scheduling it for use. We are not very good at staying anywhere more than a day or two so this will be a new experience for us. Seven nights in one place is a very long time for us. Still, it s a wonderful gift. We begin by leaving early Friday morning. We travel from Wichita through Dodge City and on to Colorado.

We stopped in Dodge City for breakfast and visited with some Eagle Scouts as they were on their way to Philmont - a famed Boy Scout Camp. We arrived in Pagosa Springs around 4PM and found a nice one bedroom suite. We settled in and went grocery shopping at the local market where we found prices to be very reasonable and we purchased about 3 or 4 days worth of food. We went back to the room and went to bed early. The view of the sun setting over the mountains and the golf course was very nice.

We got up early and went on a driving and exploring day. We stopped at a local gas station and spoke with a fairly young Hispanic clerk.  I asked her where she would take her grandfather if he were visiting and she gave us some very good ideas. We drove to Durango past Chimney Rock and after a brief respite in the local mall, we decided to go a little further and went up to Silverton. The drive after leaving Durango was spectacular - a word we would come to use often in the next few days. We stopped on the top of a high mountain pass and took photos of the area. We spoke with bikers who were also traveling.

 

In Silverton, we walked around the city. It reminded us a "metropolitan" Cooke city Montana which is a place we believe to be the purest of tourist traps. Same feeling in Silverton. We were going to take a shortcut over the mountain to Creede but got a little nervous and decided to check out the road first. Good idea! We spoke with a man who had lived in the area all his life and the first words from him after hearing the way we wanted to go and looking at our car," you'll never make it." It turns out the road we wanted to go on was a "jeep" or 4-wheel drive road and we of course were in our little red mustang convertible.

We drove out of Silverton on toward Ouray and then to Montrose. The drive to Ouray was on a most interesting, scenic, and scary of roads. We drove past an abandoned mine which stretched along the road. We stopped and took pictures of an "orange" gushing river next to a mine door in a mountain side. We had never seen a river or stream quite like it before. It was not polluted but rather had taken on the color of  minerals in the ground. It was beautiful and strange.

We drove into Montrose which is a fairly large city. We had lunch and filled the car with gas at a very reasonable price of $2.28 a gallon- some 40 cents a gallon less than Pagosa Springs.  We headed toward Gunnison with the idea of taking a gravel road  as a short cut to the road to Creede.  The gravel road was only about 13-14 miles long and really a pretty drive high up on a mesa. We came out on a nice paved road that took us through Lake City and then Creede where we explored a little and then headed back to Pagosa Springs. We stopped at the intersection of the main highway and took a picture of rainbows over the Rainbow Motel. It was oddly pretty and unusual. We got home fairly late, very tired but after having a very nice day and driving 450 miles. This was only about twice what we had planned of for this day  yet we had a very nice time together as we did this.  This was easily one of the best days even though we were sometimes more than a little worried not knowing what to expect from the road.

Sunday morning early we got up and drove to Chama where we boarded a bus and road to Antonito, New Mexico. Once there we boarded a narrow gauge train and began a day long journey back to Chama. A very interesting guide kept up a running commentary along the way. We rode through flat high desert plains very slowly up through a very high narrow mountain pass. The highlight of the first part of the trip was riding through a pitch black tunnel and through the steep mountain pass. The drop off was straight down. Wild flowers were in full bloom and just beautiful. Lunch was filling and included in the trip. The afternoon ride was along a river bank over high trestle bridges and we arrived back in Chama around 5PM. We went home past beautiful horses and again tired after an extraordinary day. We took long showers to wash off all the coal dust from the train. Most of the day we spent in an open air car.

Monday we drove to Mesa Verde National Park. I believe it to be one of our nations fines National Parks and Linda and I have visited many National Parks. We were struck by the holiness of many of the places we were able to see. There were disappointments as we fund we were unable to take many of the tours because of our health. It was too hot and too steep and we ended up driving most of the day.

 

We were able to see a lot of the Park although from a distance. We took many pictures and walked through some of the ruins when we could. We did not make it all the way down to the Spruce Tree House but went at least 75% of the way down and then very slowly up. Linda's breathing was better than it could have been and that was a blessing. After the medical problems we have endured, there was no way we would take any unnecessary risks. We managed to have a very nice day and saw things we had never seen before. After we got home, in one of the many pictures Linda had taken, we found a bear and 2 cubs. We thought we had seen them but were not certain.  We also had a great ice cream and bought all of our gifts at the NP gift store which was having a clearance sale. We had a very nice lunch sitting outside.

 

Tuesday we had a fairly easy day. We drove only about 150 miles and spent most of the day at Chimney Rock State Park where we took a sort but informative tour of the Indian ruins. A thunderstorm chased us off the mountain. We made a figure eight drive looking for animals past a very highly populated lake that reminded us of the upstate New York lake area. We stopped at a very nice animal viewing area but no animals.

Wednesday we went to Creede for the famous theatre. We saw Swiss Family Robinson and it was interesting. Creede is an old mining town that started with the help of 5 Kansas Theatre Students. This theatre is now nationally known and we understand why. We had hot dogs for lunch at a neat place and enjoyed looking through the town. It is very much a tourist town but funny in that it is much more welcoming than we perceived Silverton to be. We got home around 6PM after stopping to help a trucker   who needed water to cool his brakes before going down a pass. This was a highlight day also.

 

Thursday our wanderlust caught up with us and we Pagosa Springs  for Denver where we had "hotwired" a hotel for $35 per night. We drove out to Denver on a road we had not taken before. The drive was scenic and pleasant.

We got to Denver early enough to go to a play -August Osage county. Wow!!! Even at half price ( what we paid), the cost was enormous - no not in money but certainly in emotion. The acting was great ......the language was worse than ten drunken sailors in a bar. Most families are dysfunctional to an extent but there was not a single likeable character in the whole play. Three and a half hours of torment. Still Linda and I had very nice day. Before going to the play we had a very nice dinner at Le Central - one of our favorite French restaurants in Denver.

Friday we drove through Rocky Mountain NP up the one way road. We had our top down and near the top, we were pounded by sleet. It was beautiful and interesting. We stopped at the top for a bite to eat and went back to Denver where we went to see "The Hurt Locker" which was an excellent film at the Mayan theatre.

 

Saturday we went to the Denver Flea Market but did not find anything so left and went to the Denver botanical Garden where we always enjoy ourselves.  We met a nice couple from Cheyenne and the flowers were spectacular as always.  We finished the day by seeing another art film, Tulpan which was not as good as "The Weeping Camel", but still interesting.

Sunday we up with the thought of driving up Mt. Evans to see the mountain goats and big horn sheep only to find the road still had ice and snow on it. We had no desire to drive over a steep and winding road of 14000 feet with ice and snow on it so went another direction. We discovered that Colorado has it's very own version of Las Vegas although maybe a little more like Deadwood, South Dakota. After diving through the mountainous casino region we went on a gravel road up to a pass where we could see and took pictures of the entire Rocky Mountain NP range. We met a nice ranger with whom I struck up a conversation. This was Golden State Canyon State Park, another place we had never been before.  He gave me a copy of he book he had written and autographed it for me. Linda took our picture. He writes under the name of  Alex Cook which is a pseudonym for Claude R. Burnett.

 

We ended the day by going  to the Chez Artist and seeing another art movie - Tetro - a very interesting movie filmed in black and white with color parts inserted.

Linda had saved about a $100 in change over the past year and wanted to use that  money to buy me something special but so far we had not found the right thing. On the way out of the movie, while she was in the necessary room, I noticed some very interesting art on the walls. one of the pieces was signed and numbered 1 of 1. It was very attractive to me although  not certain why. The price was $120 which was close to what Linda had. I like it a lot and on the spur of the moment, Linda purchased it for me. It is one of my treasures.

The next day we drove home after a long and slightly more expensive than planned trip. It was an unusual trip for us  but also both a nice time and unexpected pleasure.

 

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