Grand Tetons

During our marriage counseling, we were told to separately write down 3 short terms goals that each of us had and 3 long term. I don't recall our short term goals besides finishing school for myself yet I do recall that our long term goals consisted of: a) Buying a house B) Restoring the Plymouth C) Traveling in the Plymouth. Although, I believe Traci might have written to work at a cupcake shop for her third answer. Regardless, making road trips in the Plymouth was something she had mentioned of accomplishing in the future. Either way, I was a bit surprised of how we both had similar long term goals. Three summers ago we had the opportunity to make a trip to the Grand Tetons in our 68 year old car.

We began by giving the Plymouth a free ride to Bozeman since Traci's folks had been gradually relocating the used car dealership as they slowly moved to Walla Walla. On one hand, Ben was excited to ride in the diesel truck but perhaps Joey was most likely confused at what kind of parents would take a 2 month baby on a road trip. I'm not sure Joey, I'm not sure. The first leg of the trip consisted of preparing ourselves to spend a weekend at Beaver Creek Campground. We took the grandparents camping trailer since it's been a running joke for years to bake a cake a quake lake... and bake a cake we did! It turned out to be quite a delicious carrot cake minus the carrots, so spice cake? Anyhow, the area around Earthquake lake is adorned with a blanket of wild flowers each spring and a great place to camp. There's generally a moose lurking near the campground and it's just exactly far away from the crowds of tourist at West Yellowstone.

One of Traci's desires for making this trip was to have her dad drive his 71 Duster. Despite being neighbors with the park, they had never driven the Duster into the park. We spent one night in the town of Gardiner just north of Yellowstone and spent 3 nights at Colter Bay Village. There we got to see the two sunsets over Jackson Lake, enjoy some short hikes and skip rocks to our hearts content. Another side perk is that we got to see the old barns and homestead around the park. We had to opportunity to celebrate my in laws's (how is that spelled?) 45th anniversary on our last day at the park. Coincidentally, 45 years ago they had also driven an orange duster through the Tetons on their short honeymoon trip towards Grand Junction, CO. We drove through Yellowstone on our trip back home via Madison Junction and saw a few Bison running the streets but Ben's eyes were glued shut despite our best efforts to wake him up. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to see Old Faithful just in time for mother earth to turn on the geyser valve.

Starting from the Grand Tetons, our trip took 4 days. We spent a night in Bozeman where I had to replace the water pump on the Plymouth. The following night was spent at Jellystone RV park in Missoula. Followed by a night at Liberty Lake and finally home. It's a 12 hour trip stretched into 4 days. Both Traci and I alternated driving the Plymouth and Duster to Walla Walla. I will admit that despite the Plymouth handling the trip like a champ, there is a level of comfort that must be sacrificed. Our trip over Homestake Pass was incredibly slow at a top speed of 30 mph. Air conditioning consists of cranking down the window like a caveman... ughh, manual labor. Nevertheless, we didn't buy the Plymouth for it's speed but for it's comfort. We might not have an AC, but rolling the window down and feeling the pockets of cold air as you drive through the mountains adds to the experience. On top of that, people our amazingly friendly when you drive in a vintage car. Our trip combined our excitement for National Parks and old cars. One day we will have to recreate the trip for the sake of the good ol' days... you know what? That sounds like a great idea.

A Memorial Weekend

This year for Memorial Day we headed to Montana to spend the weekend with Traci's folks. Traci took Friday off from work so we decided to not waste time and get on the road on Thursday evening. We enjoyed a wonderful sunset as we began our journey east and even got a chance to see the glow of Friday's sunrise over the Bridger Range. I was wasted by the time we arrived to Bozeman yet somehow after getting out of the car I was filled with energy despite being awake for 20 hours. After chatting for about an hour I marched myself to bed where I laid awake wondering how easy it was to fall asleep as a young kid and how difficult it is to shut my mind down as an adult. Regardless, after taking a much needed nap we got ready for the day and jumped into the Professor's 1971 Plymouth Duster to pick up our brand new Patriot. Back in the 70's people were not thinking baby seats so that meant that Ben's car seat couldn't fit on the back seat and barely fitted in the front. Since the Duster was not equipped with airbags, placing Ben on the front seat was not a problem in my books so Traci, Mrs. Starkebaum and I sat in the back row.

We arrived to Yellowstone Country Motors in Livingston, MT and after promising to go into debt, they handed over the keys to our factory-ordered Jeep Patriot Sport. I pulled the car forward and parked it in front of the dealership to document the moment then the car drove itself down the street to Dairy Queen with little assistance from yours truly. From there, Traci drove the car back to her folks house while I drove back in the Duster to snap a few photos of the Patriot on the highway. That evening we drove the Patriot to one of my favorite places near Bozeman, Hyalite Lake and enjoyed the scenery that Bennington Lake lacks. Since the sun in Montana is never overwhelming, on Saturday we enjoyed a picnic with the in-laws and the Patriot's liftgate provided shade for the head of the table. On Sunday I joined Traci's dad on his weekly tire kicking route and stumble upon a Corvette-only rally races. It was nice to see corvettes unleash their stored up energy and smoke rubber as they competed for the fastest time. Meanwhile at the Dodge dealership I found out that the 3/4 ton trucks have a four link suspension in the rear and a long arm suspension in the front. That's the suspension that many jeep fanatics have been fabricating in their garages for years for maximum articulation off road and on road performance. I know it's not that exciting except that it really is.

On our way back home we made a quick stop by Bonner, MT to see an old Milwaukee Railroad caboose parked alongside the highway. After taking a few photos we had lunch in Missoula and continued on our journey west. It has been our tradition to have a picnic on Memorial Day whether it rains or shines. This year was no different, so we enjoyed a picnic along Lake Coeur d'Alene beside Veterans Memorial Centennial Bridge. Ben took on the role of entertainer during our meal with some help from his audience member to assist him walking along the bike path and climbing on top of the logs along the lake. I'm sure he will be walking on his own fairly soon and my gray hairs will start growing the following day. Anyhow, after feasting on hotdogs, chips and grapes we got back on the road and enjoyed our first sunset in our newly acquired Patriot.