Vacation wrap-up

I suppose I've been dragging this out too long, but I just didn't want vacation to be over and have to come back to the "real world" so soon. Since I've been home over two weeks I suppose it's time to do the last vacation post.

When Jenny and her family left me in Portland at the La Quinta Inn, it was bittersweet. I was glad to be on my own and explore the city, but sad because I wouldn't be going on the rest of their journey with them. They were headed to the Oregon coast and two nights at Cannon Beach, which were fabulous, they say. After Cannon Beach, they spent one night in Boise, Idaho, one night in Provo, Utah, and two nights at Moab, Utah. While at Moab, they went to Arches National Park and took a ride in a vehicle that went straight up (yes, that's 100% grade) the rocky side of a mountain. The kids loved every minute of it. Their last day was a drive east out of Utah, through Colorado and back home to Oakley. Over four thousand miles and they lived to tell about it. I asked them once they got home what their favorite part of vacation was. They couldn't just pick one because they saw so much.

As for me, I ate a quick lunch that Sunday at Red Robin, which was conveniently located across the street from the La Quinta. I took the Max Light Rail across the Willamette River and got off at Skidmore Fountain where I enjoyed looking around at the art market. Hundreds of vendors set up to sell their wares each weekend. There is live music, lots of food and drink and a little bit of everything you can imagine that's handmade or arty: soaps, duct tape wallets, blown glass, handbags, dog biscuits, wind chimes. I bought a birthday gift for a friend, a couple of photographs I really liked and a blown glass vase that hangs on the wall. It's super-cool. I also saw this guy with his "COPS stole my weed" sign sitting on the actual Skidmore Fountain.

After shopping the art market, I headed to Niketown because no visit to Portland would be complete for me without going there. I bought a pair of my favorite tennies: Air Pegasus. And they were even on sale! I also went to Powell's City of Books book store, which is a book-lover's paradise. I limited myself to four books mainly because my suitcase was full and anything I bought I had to carry on the plane with me. Powell's is great because they have new books on the shelves with used books. So chances are good that if you don't want to pay full price for a selection, you don't have to. You can check out their pretty extensive website and even order books if you desire, by clicking here.

That night I walked six blocks to the nearest movie theater and saw the "Sex and the City" movie. LOVED IT! It was wonderful and I can't believe how much I've missed Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha. I want to go see it again but so far have resisted the urge.

The next morning I got up at a leisurely pace, got ready and then ate breakfast at the Denny's across the street. I took the Light Rail to the airport and it was an uneventful trip home. In the airport in Minneapolis, I had my first experience with the Dyson Airblade, a nifty contraption in the bathroom that zips the water off your hands. You just stick your hands in and, presto, no more water.One of the coolest things for me about this trip was that I made lots of progress on the states I had not yet been to. Before working at the Eagle, I had been to 42 of our 50 states. In addition to the ones I'd been in on vacations as a kid, I got a lot of them because I traveled with my job and got to go to lots of places I'd never dream of being able to go to on vacation. Places like Valdosta, Georgia, and Maui, Hawaii, and St. Johnsbury, Vermont. I even went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland while on a layover at the city's airport. But that's another story. While at the Eagle I got to add two more states: South Carolina and Oregon. I added four more states to my "done" list on this trip: Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington. North Dakota and Alaska are my last frontiers. Stay tuned, who knows where I'll go next.

Father's Day

Yesterday my whole family except Jenny and her family (after their 4255-mile family vacation who can blame them for not wanting another road trip just yet) and a couple of my nephews, came to my mom and dad's house to celebrate Father's Day. We were also happy that our family friend, Doris K., from Lyons was able to join us. The night before, my sister Teresa and I had put together the new charcoal grill we got our dad for the occasion. Here's a picture of the screws, nuts and washers packet before we started. They even gave us our own tools!

A little more than an hour after we started, my brother-in-law Kenny got home and razzed us mercilessly. First of all, it said clearly on the box that the store would have assembled it for free. And then because when I put the hinges on for the lid, I put them on backward. Razzmfrazzm. We eventually got it all put together (we think) and called it good. To be safe, we gave him the leftover screws, nuts and washers just in case! Here's what the inside of the finished product looks like:

Here's a picture of the sunset I saw when I was driving back out to my mom and dad's house after the grill assembly. Ah, Kansas! (Do you remember those commercials for Kansas from the 80s?)

It was so awe-inspiring, I actually got out of the car and took several pictures. The one above is probably my favorite.

The newest members of our family were quite entertaining for our Sunday celebration. Zach loves to walk up and down, up and down, up and down, the porch steps at my mom and dad's house. He can do this all day everyday and he'd be perfectly happy.

He sticks the tongue out while checking his dad's progress at the grill. Mark did all the cooking of burgers, dogs and sausages. Yum!

Caden was doing a drunken walk through the kitchen when he decided to drop and rest at his Aunt Katie's feet. But at least he had a smile for the camera. Such a ham!

It was a happy Father's Day for all the dads in my family.

Where did the babies go?

Zach and Caden are getting so big. Caden's walking much more than Zach, but Zach is still winning the award for the most teeth.

Earlier last week I went to Hutchinson and picked up Andrew so he could come back to Wichita with me and pick Rachel and Caden (his wife and son) up from the airport. They were coming back from a trip to the east coast to attend the wedding of one of Rachel's friends and stay for about a week with her mom and dad in South Carolina. Andrew was happy to see Caden (and Rachel, too) and Caden was happy to see his daddy. Which one looks happier to you?

Caden showed his dad some of the new walking moves he'd been working on while away visiting his grandpa and grandma.

Last Friday I took Zach, Katie and Victoria to the city pool in Ellinwood for some time in the water. It was Zach's first trip to the pool and Katie and I stayed in the baby pool with him while Victoria went over to swim with the big kids. At first he wasn't sure and wanted to be held the whole time, but then he warmed to the idea and started to get more daring.

Once he got going, he just wanted to get in the pool and then out of the pool. Over and over and over...

He had a good time splashing while inside the pool and out. The puddle of water outside the pool was just as interesting as the pool itself.

After Yellowstone

The day after we went to Yellowstone, Angie took us to the headwaters of the Missouri River. Doesn't this fence that Kyle, Anissa and Jeffrey are sitting on scream "Montana" to you? Every time we'd see one of these fences I'd think of the quintessential Montana ranch.

Other than the headwaters, we had a very relaxing day. After our marathon day at Yellowstone, we really needed it.

I left Bozeman with my sister, Jenny, and her family. We drove west out of Montana, through the north part of Idaho and into Washington. The scenery was so beautiful. I've never seen anything quite like it. Maybe it was the time of year. Or maybe it's the most beautiful place in the country. Right now I'm just not sure. You be the judge. Keep in mind that these were all taken out the window of the van.

This is a park in downtown Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where it was very beautiful and very warm.

Anissa eats lemons. Can you believe it?

The three kids took a dip in the motel pool where we stayed in Kennewick, Washington, after a long day of driving.

The next morning (Saturday) we drove south out of Washington and into Oregon and drove along the interstate west toward Portland. The interstate follows the Columbia River most of the way. In this photo, you can see Washington across the river. Our destination that day was Longview, Washington, which is just north of Portland about 45 minutes.

Sometimes when you're traveling in a van with six people (especially two teenage boys) things get a little funky. Luckily I was prepared with my super-duper nose plug. Surprisingly I only had to use it a couple of times.

Saturday afternoon once we'd checked into the local motel in Longview, we drove out to the Mount St. Helens visitor's center. Jenny, Jeffrey, Anissa, Kyle and Fred were kind enough to pose for a picture outside of it.

I think Washington and Oregon have the biggest, tallest, most beautiful trees I've ever seen. My photos don't even do them justice, but they are just spectacular. After the visitor's center, we drove up closer to the actual Mount St. Helens. I remember when this volcano erupted back in 1980, so to see it was pretty cool, even with the clouds that day.

Even though it was warmer down where we'd come from, there was still snow in the parking lot at the overlook spot. Since snow in June (OK, it wasn't technically June yet, but it was May 31 and that's close enough in my book) is one of my dreams come true, I was thrilled to be wearing flip-flops in the snow.

Yellowstone wildlife

Here's a look at what wildlife we saw while at Yellowstone last week. Sorry this has taken me so long. I have no excuse really, but I've been catching up on sleep and just enjoying being at home.

The first thing we saw was a moose beside the road. We stopped for pictures, but she was not very cooperative. This a shot Angie got of her with her zoom lens.

I believe this is a girl elk chowing down beside the road at one of our stops. Barely even looked up. Must have been really hungry.

Here are some bison we saw in the middle of the road toward the end of the day. They did end up eventually letting us and the other cars through. You can see that they're shedding their winter coats in exchange for the more stylish spring/summer coats.


After stopping at the Mud Volcano, we spotted a lot of people stopped along the road at one of the turnouts. This usually means something has been spotted. With the large number of vehicles, we were pretty sure it was worth stopping. Indeed it was. On the right side of the road, there was a black wolf. Although I got a glimpse of it through the binoculars, I wasn't able to get a picture. On the left side of the road was a bear. The first photo is one I took of the speck. You can barely see the bear (pun intended). You'll probably have to click on this photo to enlarge it. See the three blobs of snow in a row down the hill? Well, look at the tree just to the left of those snow blobs and then directly down the hill. You can just see the discolored brown speck. That's the bear.

This next photo is one Angie took with her zoom lens and you can actually tell it is, in fact, a bear.

This is the teenage wildlife we took with us through the park when we were shopping at West Yellowstone.

A little more Yellowstone

My first post about Yellowstone was very hurried. I was trying to get it posted before we left Bozeman while I still had access to the internet and my photos. It was probably the most gorgeous scenery I've ever seen. The fact that it's untouched by human development is a wonderful thing. The differences in terrain from where we entered and exited and all the miles we covered inside was mind-boggling. I don't know if my teenage niece and nephews truly appreciate the awe of it, but I know that Jenny, Fred, Angie and I did. Angie takes people to Yellowstone quite often and she says she never tires of it. As a family they've been numerous times. And two weeks before we arrived, Angie had driven her van through with several Korean nuns inside! She's not even Catholic. She proved to be a great tour guide and it was wonderful to have someone drive us so we could look at everything we possibly could.

We left early last Wednesday morning from Bozeman and arrived in the park about noon after a meandering drive there with several stops for photos of the landscape and wildlife. Everywhere I looked I wanted to take a photograph. It's just that pretty. Here's a shot before we even got into the park. I love the colors that nature provides, even on a dreary day in late May, it's beautiful.

Shortly after entering the park, we saw this eagle's nest. Sadly, we didn't see any eagles in residence.
The plan was to stop beside this stream and eat at the picnic area. Since it was raining we assembled sandwiches on the go and everyone ate while driving. Anissa went right down to the water to see how cold it was. The report: pretty cold.

And Kyle was thrilled to find some poop on a stick. We didn't let him keep it for a souvenir. It would have upset the "natural" state of the park. He was happy with a photo.

One of our first major park stops was the Firehole Cascade. I posted a picture of it by itself in my previous Yellowstone post. A little background first. When we got the park entrance and it started pouring on us, we turned around after our photo at the gate and looped back to the grocery store to buy rain ponchos. Jenny found four clear ponchos and one yellow one. I bought an umbrella. This is a shot of Jenny, Angie and I at Firehold Cascade. Jenny is wearing her yellow poncho, which I dubbed "the chicken suit" and I made chicken noises every time she wore it. Annoying? Probably.

It's pretty funny to watch Jenny's family around steep areas. Fred won't get very close to the edge. Jenny gets up about as close as I will, I think because we need to see what it looks like over the edge. All three of their kids are climbers who aren't afraid to go off the beaten path. Here's Kyle (left) climbing up where there are no stairs. And Jeffrey (right) attempting to scale some rocks. He decided not to risk it after all.








This is probably my best shot of Old Faithful.

Here's our motley crew lined up on the bench to watch Old Faithful (from right): Angie, Anissa, Jenny, Jeffrey, Fred and Kyle.

Here we're on our way to the Old Faithful Inn to get some Grizzly Beary (aka huckleberry) ice cream. Anissa, Angie, Jenny, Fred and Jeffrey. Kyle was back walking with me. By the way, it was delish.

Jeffery is quite a dork, there's just really no disputing it. He got a souvenir hat when were at West Yellowstone before we even got into the park. And he left the tag on it and wore it over his other hat all day. I finally convinced him to remove the tag, but he still wore it over the other hat. In this picture he's providing a service by emptying the trash can out of Angie's van into one of the park's trash cans.

I found out that I love waterfalls while at Yellowstone. This one is a small one, though no less majestic, called the Kepler Cascades.

The largest amount of snow we saw was up at the Continental Divide (elevation 8262). This is a photo of Jeffrey, Kyle and Anissa on top of the snow. Kyle is sitting on the top of a trash can so that tells you how much snow was still up there. When Angie had been through the park two weeks earlier this road wasn't open because of the snow packed roads. Since snow in June is one of my dreams, I was pretty happy to see so much snow in late May, everyone else not so much.

This next shot was taken at Artist Point or what's also known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It's a beautiful waterfall in the distance which flows down into this canyon. The colors are amazing. We were there about an hour from sunset and it was just gorgeous. I don't think this photo does it justice.

Kyle showing us some leg so we'd give him a ride at one of our stops late in the day. Thirteen-year-olds!

Can you believe these last two shots were taken out of the van's windshield while were were driving down the road? I love them both.


And our day ended about 10:45 when we got back to Angie's house. By the time we left the park we didn't any daylight left at all. I'm already looking forward to going back again.

Next post: park wildlife.