Coast-to-Coast Couries

Cancel blackhills

2011-08-16T13:13:00.001-04:00

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To Neenie

2010-09-05T12:12:00.002-04:00

A recent discussion about the weather of the PNW has prompted this post (I am on a bit of a roll this morning with thoughts I've had the past couple of weeks). My grandmother was known as "Neenie" to her 6 grandchildren. She cracks me up when I think of her. I can still hear her laugh. She wasn't a grandmother out of a movie or a book, or especially "grandmotherly" but she was my Neenie and she helped raise me as far as I am concerned and taught me many life lessons. I could go on, but the reason the weather brought up memories of my grandmother--well actually my grandparents-- follows:

Once again, I found myself in a discussion about how I liked our move to Washington. Invariably, the weather came up. Even the locals are quick to remind me that this summer was abnormal with temperatures 10 degrees lower than the norm and historically cold in the weather books. *sigh* This does little to make me feel as though summer has not gone missing! But getting back to my response of how I like the area--I do love it. We are getting to see a part of the world that I never in my mind thought we would. We have exposed our children to natural landscapes and monuments and culture that they never would have experienced without this move. We both believe the world is our playground and each place is another experience in the play. Our adventuresome souls will not be squelched by rain. In fact, I recently took one of my walks in the rain and it was wonderfully fresh and invigorating. Rain will not stop us.

But, all that being said, this move has made me feel more like a Southerner than any of our other moves. I like heat. Most humidity doesn't both me. I was watching the Clemson football game and everyone was in t's and shorts and it was a sunny 86 at 6 pm while I was huddled under a blanket in long sleeves while the leaves are already beginning to turn. I feel as though I am in an alternate universe to everything I know. AND THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT. It's a statement of reality that goes back to my grandparents. To this day, my grandparents do not have air conditioning and they live in Columbia, SC. Almost every summer I was sent to SC to stay with my grandparents and I lived in 90-100+ heat with 90-100% humidity and loved it. You live a different pace of life. We got up early, enjoyed the semi-cool mornings, played, picked our veggies, ate lunch, rested, then got up later in the afternoon and played until the sun set. All without AC. See, I grew up with heat in my bones. Heat from the south makes the most decadent tomatoes of anywhere in the world. Heat grows corn that as sweet and succulent. Heat ripens peaches and nectarines that drool down your chin.

So, while I am loving every experience of the PNW, you will have to forgive my moaning about the weather--it's only because heat is apart of who I am in. It reminds me of my summers with my grandparents and it's strangely come to make me realize I really am a southerner--although for years, I wasn't sure. For me, that's not a bad thing.

All that being said, bring on the rain. I'm ready to take it head on. :)

A tribute to military wives

2010-09-05T11:52:00.003-04:00

As I head out on my long-ish Saturday runs in DuPont, I invariably pass a line of American flags somewhere on my route that commemorates the soldiers of 5-2 SBCT that gave their lives in the War Against Terror. The first time I came upon the flags, they stopped me cold in my tracks. I had heard about a running group called, "The Run to Remember" as I have mutual friends with some of the founders, but this line of flags was a stark reminder that each week the wives, friends and family members run and train in honor of their lost soldiers.

The Run to Remember club was founded by a lady who lives in DuPont. I have actually heard of her over the course of the last year, although she does not know me. We have a mutual friend and I am always struck in awe of the way this girl has coped with the loss of her husband. He died two weeks (I think) after the birth of their third child. This amazing woman has gone on to cope by running it out. And she has pulled together the wives and friends and comrades of other women who have lost. These are amazing women. And they always smoke me on my run!:) You go girl!

These families are called "Gold Star Families" in the military. Those whose soldiers and sailors have given the ultimate gift for freedom. We do not think about these families often, but not a day goes by (I imagine) in their lives that they do not remember what it is that it has cost them. Most of them are incredibly proud, patriotic and strong. I cannot imagine a life without the Sailor. When I have tried to imagine it, my brain shuts off. Would I live my life with my brain shut off if this happens to us, or would I run?

At various points in the Sailor's career I have been thanked for my service, my sacrifice and I have never known how to respond other than an awkward thank you. The free cup of coffee, or the extra discount on services is much appreciated, but in light of the sacrifice that combat arms make each day, I find our service easy to give and not that much of a sacrifice.

Remember a Gold Star family in your thoughts and prayers today. If each of us had a weekly reminder on our walks and runs of what soldiers and sailors have given, we might not be quite so divisive in our daily lives.

Thar She Blows

2010-09-05T11:43:00.002-04:00

I recently read a blog from a friend who commented on the sheer destruction that the mountains surrounding the PNW would wreck, should they blow. I tend to take doomsayers with a grain of salt, so I initially laughed this post off. However, this weekend, we took a jaunt down to visit Mt. St. Helena's....and now I've come to realize that my friend might be on to something. At one point on our trip we were on an observation point that I could turn and see not only MSH, but also Adams and Rainier. That doesn't include Baker and Hood and a couple of other smaller volcanoes that provide a lovely ring of fire in my new homeland. And then, as you turn to view the visage of MSH, the evidence of her destruction still exists. 30 years later, the trees are still blown over from the blast, the path of the lava has cut out a swath where little exists and very few new things grow. MSH herself is awesome that she is a bear rock of a mountain unlike the others. Weyerhauser (sp?) has done an impressive job of re-forestation, but everywhere you look, it's an eye-opener that many were very, very, very lucky that MSH is incredibly remote to many people. The toll of 57 lives could have been a greater. And people, that lovely lady is still smokin' and belching. She was steaming smoke while we were there from her crater.

I kind of had this impression that MSH had gone back to being a dormant mountain--done with her bellyache and fire and no, I am quite wrong. Even as she sits there, you can _feel_ that this mountain isn't done with her business. She's not sleeping. She's just waiting. It is a very disconcerting experience. And when we look at the beauty of Rainier everyday, it's hard to believe that this mountain would cause far more destruction than MSH. Not only is Rainier bigger, but it's on a path that could take out Auburn, Lacey, Ft. Lewis and parts of Olympia. I'm not too sure about Microsoft either. The impact on life, commerce, military/government, geography and weather would be stunning. And the scary thing that is if you look at the probabilities, we could potentially see Rainier go in our lifetime. That's a bit of an eye opener. They are all impressive without a doubt, but those mountains are linked and none of them are quiet. I am also told that if you look at Yellowstone, it is a supervolcano quietly rumbling beneath the earth's surface that is well overdue to blow. Should Yellowstone go, the entire west coast will go with it and we will be plummeted into a new ice age.

If this is survival of the fittest, then I'll be one of the first to go. In the mean time, I am sure some of the striking beauty and mysterious engagement of these mountains is the silent menace that few of us consider. Denial is surely not a bad thing and a few extra "Our Father's" probably doesn't hurt either. :)

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2010-08-27T16:43:00.001-04:00

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The 90% Solution

2010-07-23T18:19:00.002-04:00

I have been meaning to write this blog forever. I cannot believe four weeks has slipped by without a natty comment on life in the PNW. Which is cold by the way. This is not a complaint, rather a statement of fact that I am acclimating to slowly. We arrived to the 40-50's. We have had three days of 80+ degrees in the last four weeks. I wore long sleeves and jeans for the fourth of July, which was a first in my lifetime. I have come to realize that for all of my vagabond roots, I am truly a southerner at heart. I thrive in heat and everyone else has a definition of humidity that differs from my own experience. If it's not 90% or greater, it's really not that humid. And if it's less than 80, it's cold. On the upside, my hair is not quite as frizzy as usual. :)

I am slowly coming to love this area. It's vastly different from anything I have experienced before. The days start grey and overcast--a long lasting fog from the cool air off of the Pacific. It takes most of the day for the sun to burn off the fog, but then the afternoons stay heated late into the evening and the sky is crystal clear. And if you are lucky and facing the right direction, THE MOUNTAIN appears. 'Round here, it's "THE Mountain" or "My Mountain." People own Mount Rainier. I have a secret belief that once upon a time, it really was pronounced "Rain-EE-r" but I think the locals got tired of the jokes and really it is "Ruh-nEER." or so my twang pronounces it. Regardless of your pronunciation, THE MOUNTAIN is unbelievable. I can only imagine the Native American stories about it. It is unlike any mountain I have ever seen before. Sometimes it appears to be floating out of the sky, at other times, it looks like it is smoking, still others it looks bigger than the day before. It is a constantly changing giant that looks benevolently down upon us all. You NEVER get tired of seeing her and a glimpse of THE MOUNTAIN after a particularly dreary day can lift the spirit of anyone. I have a friend who blows kisses at her. Our first hike around Paradise in Mount Rainier had 10 feet of snow still on the ground on the trails. We slipped and slid and hiked our way through it giggling like the silly southerners that we are, in which snow is a constant surprise.

We have been welcomed with open arms in this community. I have noted before that the PNW has some of the best customer service and friendliness of service people of any place I have ever lived. This extends to the military community who have gotten us involved and belonging right off the bat. I thank them all. It's one of the things that I love most about being military. Instant Friends! Free food! Free parties! Free advice! I have never felt like I did not have a home in the military, even when I am homesick for my kin.

And so, I am closing with the 90% solution. The house is mostly unpacked. It's somewhat organized, it's certainly ready for guests, but that last 10% of unpacking will probably remain that way until 6 months before the next move. And every military wife knows what I am talking about, unless they are superwomen, somehow, life sort of catches up with you and that last 10% gets shoved into a corner of the garage or the attic or drawer and maybe it will get there, but the 90% solution means my house is livable, there is beer in the fridge, food for random guests and a home has been created.

Home of the I Corps

2010-06-18T01:00:00.001-04:00

Well, we arrived last night to Tacoma, WA, which is about 10 miles and change from where we will live outside the gates of Fort Lewis or Joint Base Lewis McChord or the home of I Corps, the Army’s First Corps, although it’s never called that. It’s called “Eye” (phonetically) Corps for my non-military peeps. It is by far the largest Army or Navy installation that I have ever lived on or near. It’s huge. I had a crisis of military wife personality upon arriving at the PX (Post Exchange) after getting a “Welcome Packet” and getting the Sailor a regulation hair cut. My crisis (which I think I have every time we move) is the realization that while everything is achingly familiar on an Army base (Anthony’s pizza, O’Charley’s, PX, commissary, etc) it is never quite the same as where you left, or quite the same lay out or quite the same design. I was overcome by a sense of panic and anxiety that “by golly I am a fish outta water!” I am not sure that I can explain that sense of familiarity juxtaposed with unfamiliarity in a new environment compounded by fatigue, a to-do list out the wazoo, and uncertainty of when everything will level out. I am somewhat proud though, that I have at least reached the level of maturity, or numbness, in which I now know that this too shall pass. I soon will be able to tell what aisle the toilet paper resides and the best day to miss the crowds and which gate will be fastest, but it is a matter of time. And if anyone knows me, patience isn’t exactly my best virtue. Give me a bit and I will get there.

That being said, I have to say one of the best things that I love about the area and an impression that I left when I last visited the area for work was the sheer impressiveness of customer service and kindness by everyone in the service industry. Now y’all know I am from the south and we are pretty well known for our hospitality, but I have to say, the PNW really caps it. There is sincerity to every individual I have met and the desire to give 110% whether it is in food service, at the library or in giving directions. These are the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

The drive in yesterday was wet and cold – appropriate for our arrival to the PNW. We considered stopping along the way but the kids wanted to do the complete drive from Montana to Washington – and they cheered loudly when we crossed into Washington, only to be disappointed when they learned that we had 300 more miles to drive. When we finally got into Tacoma (and survived the rush hour traffic), we checked into our downtown hotel with a beautiful view of the harbor and sound (thanks to Priceline) and then enjoyed a waterfront dinner with one of my good friends. After dinner, Mr. Hawking was walking into the hotel and accidentally let go of his helium balloon in the hotel lobby – and cried as it slowly floated up 40 feet against the expansive ceiling. There was nothing we could do, but I did notice the looks of sympathy from the front desk and the lobby bar. About five minutes after getting to our room, the front desk called and asked me to come back downstairs. Everyone at the bar felt so sorry for Mr. Hawking that the hotel staff used a tall ladder and a telescoping pole to retried the balloon. That’s the hospitality I’m talking about!

We have had a successful first day of transitioning. We are now ensconced at the hotel in which we will reside for the next week in anticipation of our household goods (HHG) arrival. If you think military wives know how to make a house a home in short order, you should see what they can do with a hotel for the duration. Our house is gorgeous. It is going to be fun and challenging to find a place for our stuff, but we are up to it. We both have library cards, the kids have dentist appointments, I have found dates for camps, we have an eye on some churches to try this weekend, I have most of my Child and Youth Services paperwork complete and I have a line on some babysitters. Things are going well so far.

Tomorrow will be inprocessing, getting the truck, meeting some JAGs and their wives, running errands and praising God for Friday. I have found my sense of calm again after my moment of personality disorder earlier in the day and I am confident that this will be a new and good home for us. The door is always open.

As an aside—if you are amused by my rants as a military wife, you MUST read Allison Buckholtz’ “Standing By.” Her story is about the struggles as a Navy wife, but she does such an excellent job touching on topics that are near and dear to every military wife that I would put this at the top of my must read list. I have alternately cried and laughed out loud. Her prose is excellent and she makes me look like a writer for the National Inquire compared to a Shakespearean great. I highly recommend the read.

Home sweet Washington

2010-06-17T18:36:00.001-04:00

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Idaho

2010-06-17T18:34:00.001-04:00

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Idaho

2010-06-17T18:33:00.001-04:00

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Let me Tell you about Huckleberry Pie

2010-06-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Before I get on track with my storytelling (which has been the absolute truth thus far), let me tell you about Huckleberry Pie. All throughout Montana and Wyoming, there have been cafes advertising huckleberry pie. I am not usually a pie person as I find that most people make the dessert too sweet, so I have put off any association with huckleberries thus far—although I did have a taste of huckleberry ice cream and did not think much about it—so I have been reluctant to try anything else. But on our last dinner in Montana, I decided to give it a go for dessert. My diet is shot anyway, I might as well enjoy it. SWOON. Let me tell you about homemade graham cracker crumb crust, a thin layer of cream cheese filling topped with a thick layer of huckleberries. Oh Lord. Sin on a plate. It was so good. I am salivating as I write this. I could have eaten the entire pie in one sitting. It was that good and I doubt I’ll ever have anything like it again. The Café was called Luna’s in East Glacier park. The Sailor dined on Buffalo Bratwurst while I tried a local Indian dish that was a puffed flour tortilla, topped with chili and salad. Yummy! It probably wasn’t very healthy, but it sure was good. The kids enjoyed a cheese quesadilla, but their true delight was in learning that we would be driving to Washington and moving into our home a week later. LMS was dancing in the restaurant when she heard that and Mr. Hawking has declared that only he and LMS are allowed on the playground. They are super excited.

Prior to the dinner festival, we enjoyed a hike to Baring falls and Sunrift Gorge on the Eastern side of Glacier as well as a picnic on Two Medicine Lake, a drive through of the eastern side of the Going-to-the-Sun Road and Many Glaciers. What an incredible relaxing and peaceful place. Even the fits of my children were quickly dispelled amongst Father Mountain (s) and Mother Earth. And the funny thing is that my kids are perfectly content to skip rocks in lakes, rivers, puddles and any source of water than anything. Mr. Hawking loves to hike, but LMS gets carried around by daddy wherever she goes. She has him wrapped around her little finger.
We are leaving Montana today in hopes of making it to Washington and/or Dupont tonight. Even the kids have said they would rather spend one long day in the car instead of two shorter ones. We will see how it goes. The weather is an apropos arrival to the Seattle area—it is pouring down rain, so we would not have been able to do much hiking either way.

Some random thoughts I realized that I have forgotten: we now have pictures of the Montana State University stadium. We only did a drive by of the University of Montana stadium. I think the Sailor must have been tired of driving as well. He has been trying to convince me to detour down to Boise State to see the blue field. I roll my eyes. And if one more person tells me that we should turn around and go back to Omaha for the baseball game, I will tell them that they can drive around with my kids for three weeks in a small car while I check myself into a spa for the duration. While I am thrilled that Clemson has made the College World Series in Omaha, NE, I am NOT turning around. Ain’t happening folks. Not to mention the Army owns the Sailor—helloooooooooooo!!!!!

While driving through Bozeman, we HAVE to recommend the Museum of the Rockies. This is the coolest collection of dinosaur bones in the US. They have a full T-Rex skeleton on display and parts of 16 others including the oldest known T-Rex to have been found. Its head is HUGE. The interesting thing I learned is that T-Rex was probably a carrion predator rather than an executionist—it cannot run fast, nor use its forehands well enough to fight a live animal. To my dear friends the Pretes—if LL is still into dinos, this is a must do when you come to see us.

We have also been following the World Cup, but like many of our military friends we are perplexed by the lack of frenzy in the US as we experienced overseas. The last world cup match we watched was in 2002 at the Athens airport with Germany playing Brazil for the final. People were GLUED to the TV and it was a party in the Airport. I am sure people missed flights for the game. It’s a great experience and we kind of wish our American brothers and sisters got into it too. Ah well. Cest la vie!

Glacier

2010-06-15T20:35:00.001-04:00

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Is there any coincidence that Montana and moutain have the same abbreviation?

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Is there any coincidence that Montana and Mountain have the same abbrevi

2010-06-15T18:42:00.001-04:00

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Rainbow Road

2010-06-14T22:27:00.001-04:00

June 14, 2010 Rainbow Road

Or Rainbow Lake or Rainbow River—I think that is what the rivers and lakes in Glacier National Park should be called. The stones that have been washed or oxidized the limestone come in every shade of the rainbow. There should also be a Mirror Lake instead of McDonald and Flat Head Lakes as you can see a perfect mirror of the mountains in the lake. I have only see a lake this still and clear in my life once before in Germany. It’s an amazing sight.

I couldn’t quite place my finger on the difference between Glacier and Yellowstone/Tetons at first and then it dawned on me how much more peaceful the area is in relationship to its southern sisters. Glacier, first off is quiet. The forest is dense and old and many sounds are muffled. On top of that it doesn’t reek of the tourism of Yellowstone and people are not on a mad pace to see everything that Yellowstone has to offer in a short period of time. I find Glacier extraordinarily peaceful and calming. My favorite part of the day was building a dam with Mr. Hawking in the river’s edge. It was so much fun diverting the water flow and polishing new rocks and looking at the marvelous colors. We literally could have spent hours together doing this, but we had a hike to finish through the Cedar trail and then on to a boat trip on McDonald Lake.

The Cedar Trail was amazing. This forest has trees that are hundreds upon hundreds of years old. There are waterfalls everywhere which we all adore. And it was the perfect length for my two rug rats. We’ve decided to change Little Miss Sunshine (LMS) to Little Miss Know-it-All, since she corrects us on context all of the time. Today, when we were discussing going home following the boat trip, she informed us quite imperiously that we don’t have a home, we have a hotel. These types of comments have been happening a lot lately.

Our boat trip was guided by an 84 year old park ranger named Doug. He has been a ranger at Glacier for 51 years. His knowledge and stories of the park are amazing and you can see that he feels as he has grown old and changed, the park has too. I think he will be quite happy to die in this park. He was so cute. I could have just given him a bunch of kisses and hugs. He was so adorable. Although I am not sure an 84 year old man would like to be considered adorable. We’ll see!:)

We are unable to complete the Going to the Sun route since the Logan Pass is still snowed in. Yes, Jane, it is June and yes, there is still snow in the mountains. In fact, we are a tad concerned about one route to Lewis that has been snowed in this past week….hmmmm…The Sailor assures me that this won’t be a problem. We did the first 15 miles of the Going to the Sun Road today and tomorrow we will drive around to St. Mary’s to do the Eastern entrance and as far as it will allow us to go as well as a couple of hikes. I have yet to find Elk Medallions. I am a tad sick of Lunchables that we take on our hikes. Easy and cheap, but I am sure my cholesterol is through the rough.

An addendum to the Yellowstone trip: I forgot to mention that on our last day in Yellowstone we drove to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. You step out on these viewing boxes to see this amazing Grand Canyon and two extraordinary waterfalls. Unfortunately, I am plagued with depth perception issues and heights make me a little nervous. Stepping out over this gorge immediately sends my head into a tizzy and I literally felt the bottom fall out of my stomach. I thought I might hurl. UGH. What a terrible sensation for such an amazing view. We got to see an osprey nest and every time the babies ran up to the edge to see the gorge and waterfalls, mommy almost had a heart attack.

And the Sailor was relieved to get a text message as we left Glacier finding out that the Tigers are off to Omaha. If only we didn’t have to be in Washington this week, we’d be backtracking to Omaha – so the Sailor says!

The Volvo’s issues keep mounting. The passenger side window is now cracked. In case you haven’t been keeping up, the list of issues as is follows on this trip:

Engine Light comes on and off; electrical surge with warning of LMS’s door being opened when closed, air bag failure, lights coming on, passenger side mirror fell off and broke and has been replaced by one that is not the right size, coolant issues, electric window on passenger door broken and now a broken window. Oh, and my car got backed into. I must note that in driving my Volvo the last 5 years I have not had ONE problem with this. I take it in to ensure that it’s all ship shape for the trip and look what happens. I still love my car, but really. This is ridiculous.

On the upside, I am so relaxed from Glacier, I don’t seem to care. We’ll be at Fort Lewis by Thursday and I have a hold list of shinola to take care of. And now, if transportation would only call us to schedule the delivery of our household goods, we will be right as rain.

We Got Beehived.

2010-06-13T11:47:00.001-04:00

Well, the lack of technology in the vast reaches of Wyoming caught up with me. Not only am I behind on the blog, but work came to a screeching halt upon arrival in Yellowstone, where use of Wi-Fi and/or cellular connections is considered a sacrilege to the surrounding environment. People are forced to go on real vacations here. After a day of panic, I decided there was little I could do to control the lack of connectivity and figured that I shouldn’t be working anyway while trying to move and will simply do what I can. Yeah…I’ll let you know how that goes with my personality.

So arrival in Yellowstone started with Old Faithful herself, who blew her cap at 1136 precisely. While I found it neat, I have learned that the unexpected belching of random geysers is far more exciting. Old Faithful is, well, faithful, she’ll give you a show, but when we walked past Beehive Geyser, who isn’t supposed to blow her cork but every 10 hours- 5 days, we got drenched with her love. We have a friend that has come twice to Yellowstone and stalked Beehive with the opportunity to see her 100-200 foot geyser, with no such luck. Hopefully, the pictures of the Beehive erupting at the same time as Old Faithful erupted in the background (this time at 1311) survived the camera’s drenching with mineral water. We on the other hand, have such great luck to be showered. The kids were not cool with this, while the Sailor and I giggled like school children. The camera got nailed and we are not sure how much longer it will last. So far, so good. LMS is such a girl, getting sprinkled just ruined her day. Thereafter, we heard, “I want to go to the hotel” while we dragged them through one beautiful geyser and spring after another. The area is mystifying. I am not sure if I am in a Lord of the Rings movie with so much smoke and shadow surrounding me, or if I feel that I am walking through areas that have been gorged by a nuclear warhead. The geysers and springs are not hospitable to green/growing things. The trees that drink the spring water soon get calcified by the mineral deposits and they drop dead like grey skeletons. It’s at once depressing and awe inspiring. And the colors created by the microscopic bacteria and critters create rainbows in the earth. Places like Firehole Falls seem to come out of a Science fiction movie and there is a constant battle between the geysers/springs and those things that want to grow.

Yellowstone leaves me perplexed. It has multiple personality disorder as the upper loop and lower loop have little in common. Except for buffalo and elk. My kids have buffalo and elk fatigue. They are like, whoopideedoo now. It’s like castles in Germany. After awhile, you’ve see one castle, you’ve seen them all. Our tally of wildlife includes HERDS of buffalo, elk, a moose, an osprey, 2 black bear cubs, geese, ducks, blue birds, magpies, pronghorn deer, Big horn sheep, many chipmunks and marmots, one jack rabbit and the Sailor swears he saw a Grizzly and her cubs (if that’s what you can call tiny dots on a distant hill). We’ve chuckled twice as buffalo have marched down the middle of a lane with LINES of cars behind then with no clue that a buffalo is leading the way. It’s their park after all. From our hotel, we have a family of Elks that sit around our cabin and the lodge just showing off.

From Old Faithful, we checked into our cabin (no toilet or shower people) because of the rain—LMS was done with being wet and proceeded to enjoy a phenomenal meal of prime rib, homemade mashed potatoes, warm goat cheese and pine nut salad and a lovely huckleberry crumb cake desert. YUM. The Sailor traded World Cup soccer barbs with our water server, who is from England, and told him that we’d be happy with a draw with England and two wins. One down…

The following day had us hiking from our cabin up through the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces that are a spitting distance from where we are staying. These suckers are HUGE and awesome and again an incredible testimony to the volatile geological structure of Yellowstone. Yellowstone was essentially created after a volcano blew its fuse about 2 million years ago, created a lake and left an unstable network of hot springs below the earth’s surface to which results in an ever changing oasis of color, waterfalls, steam, geysers, and springs. I actually find the sulfur smells kind of cleansing, the kids just think it’s stinky. The Yellowstone volcano erupted twice more – 1.3 million years ago and 640,000 years ago. While we’re due another eruption soon, she’s been quiet this week.

As I am typing this on the porch of our cabin, a mother elk and calf just walked by less than 10 yards away. Well duh.

Lunch was a nasty forage at the local ‘fast food’ place. Nothing special. (However, I should note that, except for one Happy Meal for Mr. Hawking as we left St. Louis, we’ve gone over three weeks without eating at a real fast food restaurant. Take that!)

From there, we headed out for the drive by tour of Lamar valley, which is known for its wildlife viewing. I have to interject here and discuss bear sightings. This is a communal event, which is known for a critical mass of people stopping and staring hard into the woods in order to make a bear appear since one individual “swears” they saw one. There is a core group of photographers and grizzly groupies that hang out at certain places in the park and rangers usually have to come by and do traffic control because people randomly line the roads at haphazard intervals. This could go on for hours, but my patience does not last that long. We spotted two baby bears in the trees and that filled my bear frenzy. Not so much for others. This goes on all over the place. If you see a line of cars, pull off, because I am sure there is something to look at.

I won’t deign to speak of the cafeteria we stopped at for dinner. Barforama. However, of all the places in this huge place, we did happen to cross paths with the other couple heading from C’ville to Fort Lewis. Go figure. The world really is that small. We also ran across a German couple that we had already chatted with once down in the Tetons, they are spending 8 weeks traveling the US for their vacation. Sweet. It makes my day that they aren’t wasting their time on NY, Miami, LA, etc. Mr. Hawking is so shy but loves meeting new kids, and had the mother translate a few things to their two boys (ages 3 and 6). When we left, he was upset that we didn’t get their phone number so that he could have had a playdate with them. This led to 5 minutes of questions about how long it would take to get from Germany to Washington State on an airplane, a jet plane, a car, etc.

After living in Germany for three years, we’re especially attuned to the Germans we see. We’ve had a couple of good chats with some other Germans. One couple told us, when we mentioned that we lived in Wuerzburg for three years: “Bayern?” “Ja,” The Sailor responded. “That is not Germany, it is northern Italy.” One other German-meeting didn’t go so well. When we got to our cabin, Mr. Hawking and LMS unleashed their car-inhibited energies and ran wild in our room. The adjacent room in the cabin (the walls amplify sound next door) was inhabited by a grumpy German college student, who told me that she didn’t appreciate the gleeful sounds of little children playing. While I sympathize with her alleged plight (she said she’s slept 3 hours in the previous 3 days), it was just 4:30 in the afternoon!

A dude just walked by with a shirt that said, “Unathletic club, XXXXL.” The Sailor made me comment.

Today began with a great hike through the Artist’s Paint Pots Geyser basin. The kids and I have lovingly dubbed this area “tootie geysers.” These are mud filled geysers that when they go off, sound like a toot (and please, my mother reads this, don’t make me use the un-lady like version of toot). My daughter, who obviously comes from my husband’s side of the family, is going “toot, phfffft, toot, phfffft, *giggle*, toot, phffffft, toot, *giggle* over and over and over. We have this on video. These are seriously the most entertaining geysers that spray mud and do their business. This is the sort of thing that entertains a 2 and 4 year old.

Mr. Hawking loves our hikes and often runs so far ahead of us that we have to chase him down. More than one fellow hiker has commented to us: “I bet he’s never quiet, is he?” We’ve both realized after spending three weeks straight with no break from the kids in close proximity that this is a correct assumption. If Mr. Hawking is not asleep, he’s talking. LMS enjoys hikes too, but for her hiking consists of sitting on daddy’s shoulders or mommy’s shoulders while we cart her around everywhere. Even bribes of “energy pills” (Skittles) can’t entice her to walk more than a couple minutes at a time.

From there we enjoyed a picnic (of our usual: Lunchables, cheese, bison/antelope sticks, and Pringle’s) at Norris Geyser Basis and a tour of yes, MORE geysers, springs, fumaroles, hot pots and dead trees. It was lovely. The afternoon was taken trying to get online in the gateway town of Gardiner—no such luck for work and doing laundry. Dinner was a Bison Burger with bacon, barbecue, jalapenos and pepper jack cheese. Need I say more?

The weather has been unseasonably cold: 30s to 50s, which is like January in SC. It is calling for 3 feet of snow about 9000 feet tonight. We’ve been blessed that only one day of weather slowed us down. I am not sure how many people can say they’ve seen as much of Yellowstone as we have in 3.5 days. We went back a billion times to find the grizzlies again, but no such luck. We are just groupies now.

We’re off towards Glacier National Park tomorrow. I’ll be sad to say good bye to Yellowstone, although it kills me to say that I am getting a bit of “grandeur fatigue.” How much beauty can you see this regularly and get numb? More seriously, I am getting to where I miss my own bed and packing up the car is tedious and we’ve had numerous meltdowns that show me that it gets to the kids too. We are getting close. I think I can taste our new home. Surely it will come soon. In the mean time, I am genuinely thankful and blessed to experience God’s good earth and actually slow down enough to enjoy. Peace. Although slightly annoyed that I have still not found Elk Medallions.

I would have like to have seen Montana

2010-06-13T11:20:00.001-04:00

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The Rockies are Rocky

2010-06-12T17:30:00.000-04:00

The drive from Cody through the Eastern entrance into Yellowstone is considered one of the most phenomenal drives in the US. It was the Sailor’s favorite. He is really enjoying driving and I have not had to drive yet. It is truly beautiful for 50 miles—remarkably, consistently, non-stopping beautiful for 50 miles.

So, I confess, up until recently, I have never been interested in going to Yellowstone. In my mind, it was a tourist trap, going to see a ridiculous geyser that puffs water into the air and it always made me think of Yogi Bear, which I never liked as a kid. I just didn’t get it. Well, now I do. It’s huge. I had no idea how big the park really was—canvassing three states—the area is bigger than some New England states. The mountains are majestic. They can rival any of the mountains in Europe that we have visited. There is SNOW in the hills and the temps are in the 40-50’s (although we’ve been told that there will be a cold snap tomorrow with potential snow showers—brrrrrrr).

After a lovely picnic by Yellowstone River, we visited Mud Volcano, Mud Canyon, Dragon’s Breath Spring and then the West Thumb Geyser hike. There are thermals EVERYWHERE. It is really neat to see the various different colors that the thermopiles create feeding off of the hydrogen sulfite and other minerals bursting from the spring.

Mr. Hawking had a MISERABLE meltdown going into the Thumb Geyser hike. The sort of fit where everyone in a radius of several miles looked with pity upon me and my violently screaming child. It all started when we tried to go on the Natural Bridge Hike. Mr. Hawking loves to hike. I stash “energy pills” (M&M’s and Skittles) in my pockets to keep them going when their energy flags. Unfortunately, we got to the trail head to find that it was closed for excessive bear sightings. The children were crushed. We then chose to try a short Geyser Hike at West Thumb. Well, the sight of boardwalks (they don’t want you walking on the unstable thermal grounds) instead of a trail just didn’t suit Mr. Hawking’s idea of a hike at all and things started to go downhill. Well, long story short, I carried Mr. Hawking out the park kicking and screaming because he wouldn’t make a choice to walk or go back to the car….he finally decided that he did want to go on the walk and I gave him the condition that there wasn’t to be a peep out of him that sounded like a whine…it was like night and day. He finally said that this was the best hike ever too because the geysers and streams and springs were so cool. I just cannot convince Mr. Hawking that mommy and daddy really do have fun things planned if he would only trust us to deliver. We very rarely do things that are not fun. It’s just not in our nature. He just wants to be in control.

I have also got a lot of pictures of poop. There are tons of animal droppings everywhere. It’s a veritable minefield wherever you go! We have bear sign right outside our cabin door!

Dinner was enjoyed at the Flag Ranch dining room and we shared a yummy rib eye with wonderful veggies and salad. You may wonder why I talk about food so much. Well, not only do I like food, but my mother-in-law is a foodie too and she likes a play by play of everything we eat!

There have been a number of forest fires throughout the areas we’ve visited in both SD and WY. It is a very shocking sight and while I realize that it is part of the natural clearing of the forest brush, it also looks like tree skeletons reaching out of the earth, burned, blackened and dead. There is something kind of sad about the remnants of a forest fire.

Arriving at Flagg Ranch was a shocking experience to find out that there is NO cellular connection and NO Wi-Fi. I am dying. We are truly out of touch. I had to make a pay phone call (it was a dollar for 4 minutes!!!!) to my boss to tell her that my connectivity was so scarce. When we get down to the lake region, I can get a signal and so I am doing a great deal of work en route from hike to hike. I feel like the biggest boob in the world working on my computer while driving through some of America’s greatest sites. Ah, the things I do for Health Promotion.

Today (9 June) we headed into the Teton Mountain Range for a boat trip across Jenny Lake and a hike up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. This was more in the line of a real hike to please Mr. Hawking, although we had a number of whining sessions about longer hikes. He’s got to be out of his mind if he thinks I am going to take him on a longer hike when we can barely make it 2 miles without a meltdown. They do a super job, but there is a pleasure to too much trouble ratio that constantly has to be monitored. He finally straightened himself out before I lost my mind and we enjoy a truly tremendous (and loud) waterfall, a great hike up 800 ft to 7200 ft above sea level for a fabulous view of Mt. Moran and Grand Teton. One gentleman commented that he imagined Mr. Hawking does not stop talking very often—I laughed, he talked the entire route nonstop. And not quietly either. I know it is the fault of my hearing impairment, but we do not have quiet kids. The mountains were clothed in wispy clouds and we had intermittent sunshine. A snack and rest on the top of Inspiration Point made both the Sailor and I wistful that we could not continue on to Cascade Canyon and I realized that there was only one other couple of the trail (out of many) who had kids our age. It really does change your capabilities, although we’ve decided we do a pretty good job of adventuring with our duo. I also told the Sailor that if our kids ask to adventure for a year after college that he reminds me that I wished I had done that too. We also saw a great group of retirees out adventuring, so we’re making plans to conscript dear friends into some trips back out to this area one day.

We are just loving all the Germans about, although one couple had us tickled since they were in their Sunday best and dress shoes trying to hike through the mud. I think they were more used to some of the groomed walking trails of Europe and the rough wilderness of the US was not something they were prepared for. She was trying to hike in heeled boots! NUTS!

Even on a bad weather day—it’s cloudy now and rainy, the Tetons are still amazing. I wish we could just sit and watch. They rise from level ground….the road to the mountains is completely flat and there is a plain valley that sits at the base, rather than a hilly area as we are used to from other mountains.

It took us 3 hours to do 2 miles and change. It was a moderately strenuous and we can both feel the altitude difference. It takes so much longer to do things with kids. We haven’t figured out dinner yet. I am still in search of Elk Medallions.

Yeehaw! How 'Bout them Cowboys!

2010-06-09T11:38:00.001-04:00

We arrived in Cody by ascending into the Bighorn National Mountains and then descending. We ascended to about 9000 feet, and then at an average grade of 3% descended over 18 miles into a gorgeous canyon. The Sailor was all gaga, but the kids were transfixed by a DVD (a curse on technology) and I was furiously taking advantage of the last vestiges of cellular internet connection to finish some work (a double curse on technology) and check the Clemson baseball score (we are headed to the Super Regionals).

I have simply fallen in love with Cody. I love the shtick, the kitsch, the tourism and the incredible friendliness of the people. Cody has embraced everything about being a cowboy and the Germans and French and Dutch flock to Wyoming to see a real American cowboy. It is great.

We used Cody as a rest day essentially. I took my car in to be looked at again as we had problems with it the entire trip from SD to Cody. Bottom line, they cannot find anything major wrong with it, but without having a Volvo computer, they cannot clear any of the messages. I am up a creek if anything happens as home is about the closest place with a Volvo dealership and we are a good 24 hours away still if we drove straight. I’ve been eying the new Chevy and Chrysler crossovers. Maybe I should go American. Nevertheless, Joe the incredible Mechanic, spend a good 45 minutes trying to find something wrong with it and could not and did not charge me. He said to tell my husband thanks for serving. We’ve had that type of attitude in Cody the entire trip. In fact, the Sailor got a standing ovation during the street gunfight as the only service member in the crowd. They brought him up, gave him a poster and thanked him for his service. Then when we went to the Rodeo, he was given a huge discount. Just nice, friendly, patriotic people.

I have to throw a note in here, that if I could afford it every week I would send my clothes to the fluff and fold laundry. LUXURY!

We spent our time wandering downtown Cody and shopping. We have been lured into the Cowboy hat and we are now all proud owners. I have an inner cowgirl that just longs to be released. I like the west a lot. I even drank a Bud Select—but I cannot go that native. UGH. ICK. Can I be a German Cowgirl?

We spent the evening at the Cody Stampede Rodeo. We have turned into veritable Grizwolds. We have pictures of Mr. Hawking sitting on Hollywood the bull. We also were inundated with texts on the baseball score during the event. We had a fabulous time cheering on the different competitions, watching calf and bull roping—which still looks a bit barbaric to me—I guess I’m a citified cowgirl. We all gasped as these cowboys almost got trampled by the bull riding competition. The Europeans in the crowd were transfixed. I felt like I was in the heart of America. Little Miss Sunshine and Mr. Hawking got to go down into the arena with all the kids for a calf chase, where all the kids tried to catch a couple of calves they let loose. Mr. Hawking was very upset to have not caught a cow and LMS was mad that Daddy didn’t catch one for her because Daddy was holding LMS the entire time. I have to give Mr. Hawking props though because in the past, he could have never been coaxed to give something like that a try. They had a great time.

I have always loved a man in Military Uniform. It can make my heart beat a little faster, but I am thinking that cowboys may come in a close second. Too cute!

It was a fun, totally touristy night and I loved every moment of it. The Rodeo sits at the foothills of the mountains and there is a canvas of grandeur while you watch this spectacle. I think I have gotten past my angst and anxiousness and I am moving forward with a lot more fun and excitement in my heart. We are off to Yellowstone today as well as the Tetons. I think I said in another post that these mountains remind me of the Alps. I have to take that back as these mountains are NOTHING like the Alps. This is a whole range in its own category. Unbelievable.

Cody rodeo

2010-06-07T23:04:00.001-04:00

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My cowboy and cowgirl

2010-06-07T22:51:00.001-04:00

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My own George Strait

2010-06-07T21:55:00.001-04:00

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Going native

2010-06-07T21:47:00.001-04:00

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Cody

2010-06-07T15:17:00.001-04:00

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Buffalo Kind of Look Like Bantha

2010-06-06T21:21:00.000-04:00

Thus said Mr. Hawking upon review of the Buffalo herds at Custer State Park. I am inundated with Star Wars fans in my house. The Sailor is so proud. We also saw prairie dogs, elk, deer, a mouse, red squirrels, a turkey vulture, a hawk, cows, horses and many, many buffalo. They would wander in the road on the Wildlife Loop and stare down cars. And meander off. It was cool. The nervous side of me kept wondering what we would do if they decided to charge the car, but since people do this all the time, I think they are kind of bored with the cars. There was a bull cow that started head butting the fence when we drove past, but the buffalo just kind of looked at us, and grunted.

You may be wondering about the car. After all the hullaboo, the mechanic thinks that our coolant tank was previously overfilled and popped the top off when it heated and boiled over when we were driving up a mountain/gravel road. Once he added the right amount of coolant, it worked again fine. They checked the engine and got the check engine light off and the thermostat works. For the sum total of 8 hours and $26 dollars, plus USAA Road side assistance, we have my car back. The guys at Tires Plus were AWESOME. Even though they closed at 1800, they worked on our car until he got it fixed to make sure everything checked out. Although every time they hook my car up to the car computer, it always tells them everything is fine. Anyway, they didn’t bilk us and they could have easily done so and were so nice and helpful. Yippee! However, upon going into Wyoming, the Airbag light went off when the car momentarily lost power. I am beginning to think the car is cursed. I am thinking there is a little electrical something wrong and just praying that she will get us to Washington where I can get her checked out tail to hood.

We left South Dakota today and I am sad. South Dakota was simply amazing. The ever changing landscape continuously left me surprised. Its people are friendly and kind and helpful (although the French Couple at the Park were like French everywhere). We have seen prairie, caves, mountains, flats, plateaus, outcroppings, erosion, lakes, rivers, buttes, mesas, caverns, canyons….it is an ever changing and intriguing landscape of beauty. I am greatly impressed and never bored. On our final trail out of South Dakota, we took the Needles Highway into Custer State Park (to see the Buffalo we promised the kids yesterday)….we had seen many comments on blogs to do the Needles Highway, but no one really said why. Well, I am here to tell you why. It’s freaking awesome. First you wind up through these amazing granite out croppings that are tall and skinny and well, look like needles. There are three single lane tunnels that have been drilled through the rock in which to drive. There is a 5 mph switchback when the road winds down the hill and best of all, there is an area, where we thought we had taken a wrong turn—the road drives up into a parking area surrounded by rock on all sides. We went to turn left to turn back around and find the road we missed, when there was the turn into the mountain to continue the road! You couldn’t see it until you turned. One of the vistas has been dubbed Cathedral Spires and indeed, it is a church of God’s creation in the middle of a mountain. Fantastic!

Lunch for Treb was a Bison Patty Melt. Yum.

It took us about 3 hours to get out of the park and SD and we entered Wyoming, in which, while SD constantly surprised both the Sailor and I, Wyoming is everything we imagined. We took a detour to check out Devil’s Tower national park and several melt-downs by Mr. Hawking. I have been puked on enough from screaming thus far to fill my quota of spit up. A little old lady commented that “boy was he in a mood.” I told the Sailor to smile at the camera like we were having a good time. The Devil’s Tower is pretty cool. In fact, it is so cool, it looks fake. It doesn’t look natural at all, because it is so uniform in shape and column structure. The Native American legend states (or in some sort of variation) that there were 7 Indian girls that were being chased by a bear/wolf/buffalo and a tree/hill spoke to them to climb on top to save them from the bear/wolf/buffalo…the hill/tree grew and grew until it reached the heavens and the girls became the stars in the Pleiades/Big Dipper. I read three different variations on the story and none were exactly the same. Cool myth and I am sure this is exactly how it happened (an Ode to my EfM buds). Since the mood of the kids was a disaster (I’d say in the making, but it was a disaster that was already happening)….we packed up ship and headed back out. I am a little tired of the car, so I am sure my angels are too. It’s incredibly difficult to be patient and sympathetic though when you are being screamed at.
I am so used to humidity that the air is so dry up here that I am just dry. My lungs feel dry, my nose feels dry and my mouth feels dry, but I don’t feel thirsty. It’s so odd. I bet the idea of humidity up here is like 10%. I am so from the south.

The road to Cody is long and boring although we can see the Rocky Mountains in the distance. This is a first for me. We are averaging 36 miles for every service station so we have had to watch our gas and bladders and stop when we need. The Sailor enjoys having the interstate to himself.

The kids are asleep, the Sailor is listening to a boring book on tape that he has already read, I have no cellular connection for my laptop, so I am obviously typing in Word again and I have nothing good to read. I have finished all my books and while “The Fourth Star” was an excellent book, I have met my quota of military books for the moment. The Sailor’s suggestion to read “Black Hearts” about the deterioration of a platoon in Iraq leaves me wanting. Thus I write. If I was a tad more motivated, I could use this time to write a book. I keep telling the Sailor it’s all in my head if I get the gumption to put it on digits; so I blog instead.
I am three quarters across the country and while it has all been amazing, I am finding myself strangely emotional to finally come to the realization that we have uprooted our family and have moved from one coast to the next. I am shocked and a little nervous and probably a lot anxious (I do this every time) that there won’t be a return trip for two to three years and while I may be a practicing duck, I am definitely feeling out of water. My son however has told me that this is the best move ever and each night and for grace he prays to God and gives thanks for the wonderful times with Granny and Gamma and the cousins, for the Caves and Mount Rushmore and for the train and he prays that we continue to have a good trip. As do I. We have a day in Cody, WY ahead of us and a rodeo. Yeehaw!

1800: Dinner at the Branding Iron Café in Dayton, WY is proof that stopping in at random home grown American joints is a smart thing to do. Not only did they have a decent glass of wine, they filled it to the top. Dinner was chicken fried steak (I couldn’t resist) and homemade mashed potatoes (swoon!). Treb had a philly cheese steak with real beef and homemade potato chips. They made pancakes just for my kids. KUDOS! Dayton is at the edge of the Rocky Mountain and the Branding Iron was the ONLY restaurant until we either stop at a lodge or get to the other side. The mountains are magnificent. It reminds me of the Alps, but different. I can see if you don’t need company or people that living out here would be a dream come true. I still kind of need people. But dang, these mountains are fabulous. I know we aren’t in Montana yet, but I still haven’t figure out the “Big Sky” thing. I’ll let you know if it strikes.

Wyoming

2010-06-06T14:46:00.001-04:00

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