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.

125th Anniversary

This excursion was miserable. Through out the trip I wish I could've had a paper and pen to vividly describe our odyssey as it evolved. We began questioning our trip as we drove off our driveway since we all felt under the weather. Given the fact that I have a niece in California and I am occasionally stubborn... well, I was determined to see her. We had hope to reach Klammath Falls on our first leg of the trip yet I was unable to proceed past Bend, OR since my health began to decrease as the evening advance. We slept for 3 hours in a Walmart parking lot alongside other travelers and got back on the road at 3 am. I only lasted an hour from driving and fortunately found a rest area were I obtain an additional 3 more hours of sleep. Obviously we had begun our trip on the wrong foot.

Traci felt terrible the following day and the reckless drivers of the Golden State didn't help us feel better. Through out the day I hummed the melody to the hymn that says, "We have this hope that burns within our heart!" Somehow, I could relate to the words as I hoped for that moment when we would stop driving and reach the small haven known as Yosemite National Park. We reached the park shortly after dusk and immediately our health's felt alleviated from being back in nature. The lighted Curry Village welcome sign immediately brought back memories from my younger days and the smell of pine trees reassured me that the 20 hours of driving had finally paid off. On Thursday we explore Tuolumne Meadows since the fire department was conducting control fires in Yosemite Valley. Ben fell asleep on the way up but was anxious to run and play in the rain when he woke up. Fortunately Traci felt a bit better from the previous day but I felt miserable with a head cold. Despite our illnesses, the panorama view of the undisturbed mountains kept our minds distracted and we had a great time walking around Tenaya Lake and seeing the back side of Half Dome from a distance. Without a doubt it was worth the drive especially since we avoided the crowds of people and even got to see a bear dash across the road.

On Friday we drove to Fresno to spend time with my grandma. Several family and friends dropped by with food and we had a great time catching up. As always my grandma and I talked to the early hours of the morning until I admitted to her that I was exhausted and needed sleep despite that I wanted to continue talking. It's always nice to visit with her and be reminded of my past, childhood and the history of my family.

I was unhappy that the visit with my grandma needed to be cut short since we are unable to make the trip home in one day. We began our trip back home at 9am and headed straight to Yosemite National Park to have lunch at Curry Village with Tio Joaquin and Tia Amanda. Ben enjoyed eating half of the pizza while the four adults divided the other half. It was with great sorrow that we said our farewells to the park that had been our refuge from the wonderful California drivers. Our intent was to spend the night at Klammath Falls yet we staggered to Shasta Lake and spent the night at a rest area. The following day was about getting home. We enjoyed a great sunrise on the road as Black Butte rose above the clouds.

There are days that I dislike living in Washington State, not to mention, living in a town that is getting to big for my liking. Then there are weeks where I feel stuck and would like to experience something new for a change. Although I enjoy owning my 57 Chevy and a house with plenty of family history, I sometimes feel that I am a prisoner to my possessions. Yet it wasn't long ago that I was living in an apartment and praying to have a little place to call my own. It's far to easy to see where I would like to be in life and not as fun to see where I was just at. Some people would refer to The Jones. In any case, upon seeing the Columbia River as we made our way home, we both agreed that living in Washington is not all that bad. Think about it: amazing apples, sweet onions, Chinook Salmon, longest Rail-to-Trail, a Rain forest, Big Foot, etc... It could be worse. I could be living in the state I just came from... No offense.