Honeymoon 9.0

I've told myself that I will never skip writing about my anniversary. Yet here I am three years later and I have not written about our 9th honeymoon adventures... Soo... ANYWAY...

Nine years ago Traci and I signed a sheet of paper agreeing to live together for eternity. Since we don't enjoy staying around town for our anniversary, we made plans to visit Seattle and enjoy some camping at Fort Worden State Park. We took off on the 13th at 3 am and enjoyed a dark and quiet drive before arriving at Snoqualmie Pass where we enjoyed a cold breezy serene sunrise. It was nice to walk around Keechelus Lake and see all the scattered tree stumps. After skipping a few rocks and freezing ourselves, we continued on our journey towards the big city. Fortunately, we avoided the rush hour in Seattle, yet the frenzy of normal traffic was a challenge for our 69 year old car. From accelerating to braking, the whole fast life seemed all too much for the Plymouth to handle so we decided a trip to the aquarium would ease our nerves down. Now, the Seattle Aquarium is always a nice treat yet the outrageous $70 entree fee for a family of 4 is quite a hefty price. But how can you say "Sike!" to your excited energetic kids? How!? Regardless, both kids enjoyed the sea creatures; Ben was excited to play with two fake octopus arms and Joey was eager to run around. It was worth the price!

On Thursday, we met our good friend "Miss Heidi" at the Space Needle and were treated to a 360 view of city skyline. Her and Ben had a great time chasing each other. (Sidenote: Actually, Ben still remembers that day when he sees the Space Needle and says that he had a lot of fun.) Meanwhile Traci and I enjoyed quality time with just Joey between enjoying the view. We also had the opportunity to eat at Mod pizza at the Seattle Center. It's pretty neat seeing the pizza prepared as you order it. All in all, we had a great experience with Heidi and were left wondering, "Why don't we spend more time with her?"

That evening we met with distant Starkebaum relatives. Gordon and Mary Starkebaum live on the shores of Lake Washington and not only did they treat us to a delicious supper but also a short boat ride. Gordon has taken great interest in the Starkebaum ancestry and has even been able to locate the home in Germany where the Starkebaum's lived back in the 1800's; surprisingly, the home is still standing. He has created an amazing family tree and we were excited to fill in a few missing details. They were excited to see that we had driven a 48 Plymouth and we were excited to show them around. We will definitely make another effort to visit them in the future.

Finally, on Friday we made our way to Fort Warden to begin our camping adventures. There we met with the Deininger's for some quality time with cousins. Ben had been super excited to play with Reed at the beach and did not hesitate to clown around at any opportunity. Apparently Reed had been in this phase of striking poses when someone pointed a camera at him. I had been hoping to take a nice picture of them walking along the beach but as Reed saw the camera he began striking several poses which only added more fuel to Ben's energy. After a few seconds, they ran into each other causing Ben to fall in the water. Initially Ben got upset which made Reed realize that he had clowned a bit too much. Yet, within minutes they were happy and that is why Ben is cold and wet in the picture. Actually, that story reminds me of the following day when they were playing in the tent while the parents wrapped up eating supper. At first they played quietly yet eventually moved on to exploring the mysterious jungles of the amazon river or maybe the death defying cliffs of Mt. Everest. I'm not sure of the imaginary adventure they were traversing but our meal was interrupted when we heard a loud cry from Ben. All four parents rushed to their child and tried making sense of the situation. The end. What a cliffhanger don't you think?

Before I proceed I need to clarify that Ben considers Reed as his best friend. He prays for him, he talks about him and truly values his friendship. Currently, Ben is looking forward to Christmas (like all kids) mostly because he will get to see his cousin Reed. I'm not making this up. In fact, I'm excited that he has a cousin that lives semi close that can match his energy level. On a few instances I have caught Ben sitting quietly thinking and his first remark will be, "When can I go visit my cousin Reed. I like playing with him and all his toys." Like all humans we have our good and bad times, but as Reed apologized the honesty between the two kids was very sincere and mature.

Reed: Do you not like me?
Ben: Well, I love you Reed. I just don't like to be squeezed.
Reed: I'm sorry Ben.
Ben: It's ok.

It goes to show that I want to be more like my kids.

On Sunday we began our journey home. Although our Plymouth has several disadvantages to modern cars, there are plenty of perks that come along with driving an old car. One perk is that people are extremely nice and will strike a conversation when they see the car. Think about it? When was the last time you saw a young family traveling in a 69 year old car? There must be something wrong with us driving a car without power windows... ugh. How Barbaric. Anyhow as we waited for our ferry in Kingston, a random lady gave us a box of doughnuts just because we were driving an old car. It's hard to say no when your stomach says "Yes!" Coincidentally we rode on the Walla Walla ferry without planning it and were allowed to get the very front spot. We saw multiple people take pictures of the Plymouth and heard people talk about the car from the viewing deck. It's quite a special feeling to see others admire your own car while remaining anonymous. It's a real treat. Truth be told, the whole trip was a huge treat. Including the small moments like seeing Joey pretend to drive the Plymouth and hear his impersonation of a flat head engine. I'm extremely fortunate to have Traci by my side. Each anniversary, she spends more time with the kids than with me and honestly... I'm ok with that. She loves them and cares for them and as a Dad, what more can I ask for? I'm a truly blessed to have her in my life. I can count on her for good ol' chuckle and she is always up for an adventure. So Traci, in case you still read this blog... because I most certainly don't. Thank you for letting me be part of your life, part of your life story.

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.