Travels With Jack

Well we left Yellowstone and landed in Arco, Idaho to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument and EBR 1 the first place to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

Jack was unimpressed with looking at fields of lava (cinder) formations until he discovered "lava tubes", better thought of as caves, which he could explore. Then he was all over the place. One cave which we all started out in I gave up on halfway through when I had to climb over a huge pile of rocks. It was the thought of coming back down them that put me off. So I waited topside for them for what was becoming a worrisome amount of time, when all of a sudden they emerged behind me from a big hole in the ground which I had cautioned Jack against falling into on the way to the cave entrance.

Down the road apiece was a nuclear power research center dating back to the early 50's where they began research on peaceful uses for nuclear energy. It is simply known as EBR 1. We took a self-guided tour, and even though It has been shut down for years it is still scary to see Jack at the controls. Look out for nuclear meltdown!!

Before returning to camp we had a delightful dinner at Pickle's Place, a local dive and home of the atomic burger.

 

After that we proceeded to Salt Lake City, Utah. The best thing there in Jack's mind was the swimming pool. He was a great sport though and even seemed to enjoy our bus tour of the city. I hope he soaked a little of the Mormon history in the region.

He thought the best part of the tour was lunch - it was cafeteria style like at his school. He also loved the fountains in Temple Square. Personally, I liked the gardens and we all enjoyed the free organ concert at the Mormon Tabernacle.

 It turned out to be a good day for touring the city as it was the first rainy day of our trip and a city kind of looks the same in the rain or shine.

There were a lot of other things we saw. The University of Utah is very interesting. The campus  is imbued with historic buildings dating back to a civil war era fort and from the 2002 winter Olympics.

There are several monuments to the early Mormon settlers, and the capitol building is the loveliest I have ever seen. It is modeled after the Washington Capitol, and I think it is actually lovelier. Luckily the weather cleared by the time we returned to camp so Jack could get in his daily swim.

Next was Bryce Canyon. There isn't much to say about Bryce. It is simply for exploring and admiring. God in all his glory put some effort into this one. We took a rather adventurous hike into the bottom of the canyon to get the true perspective of its grandeur. Then we drove the highway around the rim to the various viewpoints and took a few short walks to the best vantage points. For those of you who may never get this experience, why not just sit back and enjoy the visit with us.

The Big Trip

We've had quite a lot of adventures since we left Cody, Wyoming. The rodeo in Cody was a big hit with the kids. The cowboys were cute too. Even Elise got into the spirit. There was bronco riding, calf roping,  barrel racing, and the biggest attraction of all for some reason, the bull riding. What a tough way to make a living.

We arrived at Yellowstone National Park the next afternoon after a glorious ride through the Big Horn Mountains. Jack was mesmerized as he is old enough to sit in the pilot seat of the coach. He could not believe such sights existed. We let the girls come up front a few minutes to see the snow capped mountains emerge on the horizon and for the rest of the week Elise kept saying I see the snow mountains.

Yellowstone is one wonderful amazing sight after another. Any attempt to capture its essence with words and pictures is inadequate at best. Unless one is inside with a 360 degree vision in all directions, the total splendor is lost. A few years ago when we were planning a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park I began to think that with today's technology in photography and cinematography, we don't need to leave our arm chairs to appreciate the richness of our world. Then I was inside the park and saw what only the human eye can see for real.

We spent the first day exploring the thermohydro ?? Whatevers. Meaning geysers, mud pots, hot springs, and things like that. Jack told us when planning this trip that he wanted to go into a volcano. Well, he got his wish. I never knew that Yellowstone was in the world's largest volcano.

Of course, we started with Old Faithful. We were all amazed as it spurted into the air right on time. This is our third time to see it and it hasn't lost its wonder. We then took a hike around the geyser fields and saw a few more eruptions and admired the chromatic pools.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the "hot spots of the park". Elise finally said no more geysers; they are hot and stinky. We finished off the day driving through Firehole canyon where we stopped to admire the waterfall and ended up the day with a swim in one of the rivers. Yes, Phil, that's me in the water again with my clothes on.

The next day was long and spectacular. We hiked an unbelievable number of miles straight up and straight down exploring the upper and lower falls of Yellowstone dubbed the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This is what gives Yellowstone its name. In order to appreciate the power and magnificence of this river you have to get into it. These children were amazing in their stamina. Even 3 year old Elise toughed out much of the rigors of the hikes with a little help from Mom and Dad at times. Her mom has super human capacity for hiking with an extra 30 lbs. on her hip until she finally gives up and Elise is forced to accept a piggy back ride from her daddy. She did, however log a significant number of miles on foot. Ella amazed herself at her ability to hike. She doesn't particularly like to walk, but rather than miss out on anything she went along like a good sport and found herself actually enjoying it all.

Of course, we expected to see lots of buffalo in the park but the sight of one actually prancing down the middle of the road was a surprise to all.

We all had a great time trying to sight the wildlife and we were able to rack up quite a list: buffalo, elk, moose, coyote and even a big black bear.

Our last stop for the day was Mammoth Springs. The springs were only slightly disappointing, as they are dry at the moment so the bright red colors are not so vivid. I guess you have to get lucky because there is no rhyme or reason to the amount of water going over the springs at any one time.

We spent one day driving through the Grand Tetons National Park then on to Jackson Hole for lunch and a ride up the gondola in Teton village. The amazing thing about the Tetons is that they just seem to rise up out of flat ground without the gradual incline through foot hills and smaller mountains. Another rather rigorous hike took us around Jackson Lake to the cascades. The great thing about this hike is that at the end we took the option of a ferry boat ride back to our starting point.

The Gondola ride in Teton Village was great fun. It is so cool to experience these things through the eyes of the children. Elise reacted like it was her favorite roller coaster ride floating over rooftops and trees and sometimes offering the illusion of crashing into cliffs on your way to the top of the world. It was very windy and cold at the top of the world and a little breathtaking at the increased altitude.

These were very long and active days for all of us. Don and Amy took a couple of unbelievable bike rides on these steep mountain roads while we entertained the children.  The children were real troopers as long as we kept the peanut butter sandwiches flowing. Amy is contemplating making a Jiff commercial. They loved the camper and make themselves quite at home.

On The Road Again

Ahh finally a quiet moment while the three children entertain themselves in the back of the coach playing poker.We left three days ago from home, picked up the children in Green Bay and  set off for our summer adventure to the land of cowboys and horses.

First stop was Mitchell South Dakota to see the Corn Palace, which we actually never saw because the indoor water park was ever so much more appealing. These children love the water. Even Elise spends her time on the slides and is not afraid to dunk her head. Jack and Ella both swim well enough now to enjoy the deep water pools. The big water slide was humungous and it is unbelieveable how fearless these children can be.

The next day we entered the gateway to the west. We met up briefly with their parents at the Chamberlain overlook and visitor center. They are travelling alone in their car and having a little of their own adventures before we connect in Cody.

We took our time driving through the badlands so they could get a great feel for them. They all climbed to high points to get the best vistas. That's Grandpa Don, Elise, Ella and Jack taken with the telephoto lense.

We met the parents again for a quick lunch at Wall Drug where Elise was properly freaked out by the roaring T Rex which Jack and Ella could not get enough of. We had some fun in Wall's backyard before getting back into Bertha to settle down in Sundance Wyoming for the night.

This morning we went to Devil's Tower. We were disappointed in not seeing any ETs on top but we did catch site of quite a few climbers on the walls and at the top. We hiked completely around the tower, and over some of the boulders to get just the right pictures.  They were all very excited at the new adventures and the beautiful country. Elise was especially thrilled watching the prairie dogs pose for us.

Travelling with these dynamos takes a lot of patience and a great deal of energy, but watching them take so much joy out of the experience is worth every minute. They each have their National Parks Passports so they can get their stamps at each park we visit over the next few weeks. At this young age they are already developing an appreciation for the natural beauty of this glorious country.

Next stop, Cody, Wyoming and the rodeo. Elise can't wait to see the horses and Jack wants to see the bulls.

Where did the Quality go

"Buyer beware", "If it seems to good to be true it must be", "You get what you pay for".  All of these caveats came to mind last week as I spent an hour or so remaking a pillow case just so I could lie it flat to iron it. It was in a most unusual shape coming out of the dryer.  I discovered by disassembling it that the small Chinese child who likely made it could not even properly fold a piece of fabric in half and sew up the sides. It's time to pay their parents a decent wage so the kids can go to school.

You see I recently decided to buy new bedding for our bed. Khols had this wonderful half-price sale on all linens and for once my coupon in the mail was a 30 percenter. I was in shopper's heaven. So much so that on my first trip I was torn between a new bedspread and shams versus one of these bed in a bags. It was decided that since I had also wanted a comforter for Bertha, I would buy both. After all the bag came with two sets of sheets I could use on my bed at home. The total cost of a comforter, two shams, three throw pillows a bed skirt, and two sets of sheets was less than it would be to buy the sheets alone.

Well here's where the joy ends. The aforementioned pillow cases had to be remade, the sheets are very low quality though good enough for as long as they will last, the sham pillows had to be squeezed into the shams at risk of exploding, and the comforted is hardly what one would call quilted. So little stitching is in the comforter that after one use the batting is already bunching up in the corners. I did quite a nice job of quilting the comforter to keep the rest of the batting in place. The sad thing about all of this is that while I can say to myself this is alright for the price I paid, (said price was 80% off the usual price). Shame on Khol's for allowing this ********* on  their shelves and for the exorbitant initial price.

So now Bertha is quite happy with her new look, and luckily I decided on a lovely bedspread and shams for our home bedroom which is fine as is.

So anytime you find a bargain at Kohls be sure to inspect it carefully before bringing it home.

What a Great Summer

Keeping up with kids and extended family across hundreds of miles is exhausting, but worth every tired moment. It started on our way back from Florida with a brief visit in Atlanta, almost immediately flying off to Minneapolis, a quick trip to Elkhart, several visits from Green Bay, one to Green Bay, and an extended family celebration in Harrisonberg Va. And that doesn't even include the round of barbecues with friends and family here in Woodridge.  

We celebrated Jim's birthday with nieces and nephew and welcomed Emilie Mae to the family.



 



Jack and Grandpa planning our trek out west



We still have an extended vacation coming up in a few weeks to Yellowstone with our son Don's family. After Yellowstone we will depart with Jack in tow for the Grand Canyon and all the places of interest on the way. We are so excited. Jack has a great spirit of adventure and thoroughly enjoys time spent on the road with Bertha.

 

Travelling with grandchildren is one of our greatest blessings. We believe it to be the best way to have them appreciate and understand who we are and to share with them some of the wonderful places we have discovered in this beautiful country.



Ella with her new BFFs
Gillian and Jocelyn



In Ella's case, we recently brought her along to a great family celebration. I was excited to have her meet my siblings and get to know them a little. She became instant BFFs with second cousins she didn't even know existed. I think she has a better sense of the size and scope of the word family.

Ella's other new BFFs Aunt Carol and Beth

In Harrisonberg we celebrated a brand new marriage, a well seasoned marriage and the beginning of a new life with three generations of family. Rolled up into such a bundle, isn't that what family is all about?

Enjoying our annual 4th of July barbecue and fireworks.

Beware What You Put Into Cyberspace; It May Come Back to Bite You

A couple of years ago my kids convinced me to open a face book account in order to share pictures. It seems I have had to adapt to the electronic age in order to see pictures of my grandchildren who live far away and to keep up with my children's activities. In fact, if I had not backtracked about 2 weeks worth of face book entries on their walls recently I would have never known that Mike had passed his professional engineering exam. Congratulations again, Mike.

Then about a year ago the same son suggested I start this blog as a way of keeping them informed of our adventures. I have found that by doing so they actually look at our pictures.

What I am getting at is that I have always tried to avoid posting anything embarrassing on either site knowing full well that once it is out here it belongs to the world. Knowing that and actually finding out it is for real are two different things however.

We recently had tickets to the show at The Second City in Chicago. I highly recommend this venue to anyone who likes to laugh out loud. The show was great. Our tickets were a Christmas gift. When I called for the reservation, the people in the ticket office were extremely nice. When we arrived at the show where the seating is first come first serve, the theater was about half full. However, when we presented out ticket which had my name on it, the usher said Jean Chilson is here. Don and I were immediately led to two stage side seats - the only open seats in the front half of the theater. I was feeling quite important. We hypothesized a little about how we had gotten so lucky and even wondered if it might have something to do with the nature of our gift.

It was near the end of the show when we found out the true reason for the front row seats. I guess you could say I was playing the role of an unsuspecting shill. In the middle of a skit about the TSA and how they can tell everything about you by looking at your face, the comedian wheeled his chair over in front of me and rattled off streams of information about me contained first in this blog. The details he chose to disclose to the audience that evening were simply some of the fun things I have pondered over the past year, it was all done in good fun and I probably laughed more than anyone there - except maybe Don.

But a lesson learned for anyone who puts personal information out there in cyberspace. The counter on this site is approaching 1000. And I just had a reality check that I may not know all of you as well as you know me.

A Week-End to Just Be Kids Again

It seems like I am always playing catch up these days.

We had a great Memorial Day week-end hanging out with our Green Bay grandkids while thier parents took some much needed R & R for a couple of days. It's funny though, after and evening or so of alone time they couldn't wait to get back to their children and they made it home on Monday before we were prepared to receive them. I think it is great that the moms in our family do not find their children to be a burden and, in fact, go to the other extreme to keep them as close as they can. I am also grateful then that they are generous in their sharing of the children allowing us to snatch them up for our own alone time with them. Isn't that really the best way to get to know these precious individuals as the wonderful people they are becoming.

We took the children on bike rides on two of the days. Jack is so grown up now. He has a grown up bike which I am proud to say he bought with his own saved money. He attached the burley to his new bike and towed his little sister Elise around without ever a complaint. We were also very proud of Ella who is relatively new to riding her two wheeler on long bike rides. She rode 8 miles in one ride, far exceeding her expection of herself that she could only do 2 miles. She also never complained nor did she have any trouble keeping up.

When we weren't riding bikes, we played at the parks on the equipment and  some hide and seek, we played baseball in the backyard, and we had a campfire. Just great ways to enjoy the energy and enthusiam of these great kids. In the evening, we had a dance party in the basement. These are not the children we read about who spend their time in front of the TV. Grandma and Grandpa went home suitably tired.

Next week we will have Ella sort of by ourselves on her very own adventure with grandparents. We are taking her with us to my sister Carol's family's big celebration in Virginia. They are celebrating 1) their 40th wedding anniversary, 2) the marriage of their son, Andy to Amy, and 3) the arrival of their own grandson, Joey. The occasion also serves as a family reunion for both the Patterson and the Miller families.

Unfortunately, it is just too far for two of our own sons to travel in their current circumstances. They will be sorely missed and I know that they are sorry to have to miss such a great event when all of the extended family gathers.