I remember when...

Yesterday was a much needed day of rest and relaxation. After our fast pace, it was great to spend the night in the same place for two days in a row. We stayed with my long time friends, Donn and Susan, and it has been a refreshment both physically, mentally, and spiritually.

I've known Donn and Susan since I was in college and babysat their four preschool aged sons. Every week, I would come over and watch the boys while Susan went to a women's Bible Study and Donn worked late. Then I'd sit and talk with Susan until Donn got home later that night. Those times were precious to me as I got to know Susan and learned from her. Of all the families I have met, this dear family has had the greatest impact on my understanding and perspective of family, marriage and being a parent. I consider the influence they have had on my life as priceless and I am grateful every time I get a chance to see them. This is the fifth time I've been to Coeur d'Alene to visit with them over the past 28 years they've lived here, and this time was extra special because I got to see those sweet boys that I cared for so long ago all grown up with families of their own. What a joy it is to see them living successful and fulfilling lives.

We took a ride on Donn and Susan's boat across the lake for lunch in Harrison, a small town on Lake Coeur d'Alene. Donn is a great mentor and he quickly got the boys driving and docking the boat. They had a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the cool wind as we raced across the sparking water in the bright sunshine. On the way back across the lake, we docked at a county campground so Susan and David could take a quick dip in the lake, and the rest of us dangled our feet from the dock in the water.

We came home for a few hours of rest, dinner, and then it was back to the lake to meet up with the rest of the family for splashing in the water, and taking turns using Donn and Susan's two kayaks. This is a regular event in the summer. The family meets each Tuesday evening for a few hours to enjoy the lake and each other's company.

We'll be leaving in about an hour as we begin the second half our journey and begin the trek south toward home. I am leaving inspired and refreshed, with a grateful heart.

For another perspective:

David's blog: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com

Joe's blog: https://joesage.wordpress.com

The Road to the Sun

We woke up bright and early with a plan to see as much of Glacier National Park as we could before we headed on to Coeur d' Alene and our dear friends, the Staples.

We were staying on the western side of Glacier, but still needed to explore The Road to the Sun. So after a brief stop at the Visitor Center, we started on the Road to the Sun and the many stops and turnouts along the way.

Lake McDonald Lodge

First stop was Lake McDonald Lodge. It was a gorgeous building with Swiss Chalet architecture that looked like a hunting lodge on the inside. It sat right on the lake and there was a back porch with chairs and rockers for hotel guests to sit and look out on the lake. This historic building would be a great place to stay in the lap of luxury.

Next stop was a view of Heaven's Peak as we continued to climb up and up in elevation. We drove through several tunnels and took a hairpin turn called The Loop and then we were driving on the other side of the mountain and the edge of the cliff had switched to the right hand side. All of the guardrails were made from blocks of the naturally occurring stone. When the road was first built, the builders wanted the road to look like and come from the mountain as much as possible.

As we drove up past the tree line, we made another stop at Oberlin Bend where there is a mountain goat study area. We saw one goat who was hanging out in the thicket and seemed happy to model for us gawking tourists, and just down the road was a cool waterfall where we became the models and took advantage of the photo op.

We arrived at Logan's Pass which was on the Continental Divide. We checked the time and decided to continue on, and began the descent down toward the east side. Although there were many turnouts and beautiful outlooks, we waited before stopping again until we came upon another waterfall that ran under the road before. It was called Lunch Creek and the waterfall consisted of flat stones that formed a natural staircase, On the other side of the road along the creek were wide flat rocks where you could easily have a picnic lunch. The rocks were tempting, so we began climbing up the rocks next to the waterfall which was a lot of fun.

Further down the mountain, we pulled over to view Jackson Glacier which is the only glacier you can see from The Going to the Sun Road. It was hard to delineate the glacier since there was still snow around it. But with some careful study, you could see the sections of ice coming over the mountain. The sign said that the actual glacier is melting and they showed two photos one from 1850 and another more recent and you can see how much has disappeared. Based on the current pattern, they expect all of the glaciers to be gone by 2030 which means the ecosystem will change and of course so will the park. I think it will be interesting for the boys to remember back and perhaps share with their own children what the park was like when the glaciers were still there.

Our final stop was St. Mary Falls which was  less than a mile hike down to a lake and a stunning blue-green waterfall. The hike was fairly easy, but it was also disconcerting to see the sign posted stating that we were entering Grizzly Bear country. We made sure we had our trusty bear spray! The hike was shady as we walked between the trees, and multi-colored rocks. We saw different shades of purple, red and green rocks. It was just lovely.

We were close to the east end of the road and so we powered through to the Visitor Center at St. Mary. By the time we left the park, it was 1:00 and we were now on the wrong side of the park since our goal was to head west to Coeur d'Alene. We began the journey south toward Browning which was the same town we had changed our minds at the night before. The weather was gorgeous and it was a much better drive in the sunlight than it would have been in the fog. It took about an hour to get to Browning, and then we proceeded for the next four hours to drive in a zig zag motion on seven different state highways to finally reach Interstate 90. 

The next two hours were spent driving on the I-90 into Coeur d'Alene. Most of the time spent in the park and on the road to and from the park were outside of any cell signal, but once we crossed the river over into city outskirts, 4G returned and my phone began ringing with all of the notifications from the past 24 hours. We arrived at Donn and Susan's home and their four adult sons and families were there to greet us and eat a great meal of Papa Murphy's pizza. Donn and Susan have 10 grand children ranging from 9 months to 10 years old (basically one per year). It was so much fun seeing and meeting some of them for the very first time. I went to bed with sweet contentment as I looked forward to the next day spent with this gracious family.

For another perspective:

David's blog: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com

Joe's blog: https://joesage.wordpress.com

A Glacially Long Drive

It's been awhile since my last post. We are finally back in a part of the country that has not only wi-fi, but also cell phone coverage! So I'll share a bit about yesterday's adventure in this post and then share more about today's fun in tomorow morning's post.

The laundry was done, breakfast was consumed, the car was packed and we were in the car after a quick stop at Walmart to replenish our snacks. We gave a nod to Matt, and the boys talked about texting him a photo of his favorite store. The weather was drizzly, windy, and chilly as we headed north to Glacier National Park. Google told us it would be about 5 hours, and we were underway by 11:30.

Right outside our cabin

The plan was to drive to the east side of Glacier and take the Going to the Sun Road stopping along the way to enjoy the sites and activities. Our stopping point was a cabin in the west end of the park near McDonald Lake. We figured we'd arrive near the park entrance at St. Mary (on the eastern side) around 5:00 and still have plenty of time to drive the road since the sun doesn't set until 10:00 p.m. But things didn't turn out quite the way we planned.

Our first clue that things might go awry was the rain. The further north we drove, the more it rained, and it was a cold rain. When we had been driving for about 2 hours on a lonely state highway, we came upon a truck covered in mud and a police car with it's lights flashing. The driver of the truck turned out to be a road worker, and he was informing us that the road was being closed ahead. They were working on the road, and because of the rain it had become a path of mud where cars were sliding into ditches and an RV had even turned on its side. He asked us where we were headed, and when we said Glacier, he sighed. He then told us our best bet was to drive back to the town we'd gone through 20 miles back and catch another highway to go around this road work. Ultimately, we would catch the 15N and then cut back west to hook up with the original highway north of all of the road work. It was not as easy as it sounds.

We turned around and drove back to the town of Choteau while checking our phones for any kind of signal to be able to come with an alternative route. We stopped at a gas station and after a conversation with several clerks, I wrote down some directions. They went like this:

1. Drive back down the road you came into town on.
2. Turn right on the street between the motel and the grill.
3. Drive for a long time and go up a hill.
4. Make a left at the stop sign.
5. Drive on that road for a while and it will take you to Conrad.
6. I think you can connect to the 15 from Conrad.

Ummm...yeah. Fortunately, David got a signal on his phone long enough that we were able to find a route that by passed the construction. 150 miles later we were back on the highway and eventually ended up in Browning, Montana which is considered the eastern gateway to Glacier National Park. It was 35 miles to St. Mary where we would enter the park and drive across to the other side (about 50 miles) on the Road to the Sun. This road basically crosses the Continental Divide rising and falling in elevation by two to three thousand feet while winding and twisting at 25-40 mph.

By now it was after 6:30, and I looked at the wet weather and the blanket of clouds that were covering the mountains we were supposed to be driving toward and through and started having second thoughts about this great plan. We stopped at another gas station and I asked the clerk if were crazy to try and drive the Road to the Sun that night. She said, "I wouldn't if I were you. It's probably really foggy and maybe even snowing on that road. Plus if you are afraid of heights, there are some pretty steep drops."  So, I'm not afraid of heights, but I am afraid of driving on an unknown narrow mountain road in the fog! Another clerk told us we could get to the West Glacier entrance by driving on another highway that goes along the southern edge of the park. He said, it won't be as pretty, but you'll get there faster than taking the Road to the Sun, and the other clerk reiterated it would be safer. So we opted to take a new route once again.

We arrived in Western Glacier National Park around 8:00 p.m. and checked into our cute cabin just inside the park at Apgar Village. Our cabin was right on the edge of a creek that came off of the lake. We ate dinner in the village and since there was still plenty of light we explored a path along the edge of the creek. We came upon a beaver who quickly scurried into the water and we stayed watching him swim around waiting for us to leave. We also saw two deer up on the bridge that crossed the creek. It was really cool. So despite the unexpected and disappointing changes, the day ended with some fun and we were able to get to bed fairly early and make some new plans for the coming day.

For another perspective:

David's blog: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com

Joe's blog: https://joesage.wordpress.com

Oh, say can you see?

Yesterday was a jam packed Independence Day and another late night. This morning I am sitting in the dining area of our motel waiting for my laundry to finish while the boys catch up on some sleep. Today we make the four hour trek to Glacier, but wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

We woke up yesterday morning in our sweet little cottage at Grand Teton National Park surrounded by green trees, rugged mountains, and the gorgeous lake.  Breakfast was Joe's treat at the Pioneer Grill. I had an omelet, David had cinnamon french toast and Joe had the special treat of Huckleberry pancakes.

String Lake, Grand Teton National Park

We still had a few things to explore before leaving the park, so we packed up the car and headed to String Lake for a 3.3 mile hike. The lake had a lot of people on the water in inner tubes, kayaks, canoes and paddle boards. We originally thought the hike was a loop around the lake, but at the 1.5 mile marker and a ton of hiking up hill with no viewable path showing that we were going to actually get back to the other side, we started second guessng ourselves.  What if the 3.3 hike was to an inlet and then we'd have to hike back out to our car? We were hot, sticky and swatting gigantic biting flies, so we decided to turn around and head back to the car. Once we got to the trail head and looked at the sign, we saw that it was a loop and that in the end we probably hiked more than we would have if we had kept going. Oh well.

Hiking around String Lake

It was back in the car and another scenic drive up Signal Mountain for some amazing views before we finally began the journey toward the park exit and Yellowstone National Park, the granddaddy of all national parks. The park is huge with at least five main areas that seem big enough to be their own parks, but we were determined to do Yellowstone in a day (or half a day since we didn't get there until 3:30 or so). We drove through the southern entrance and headed toward Old Faithful, our first stop.

Old Faithful

At the Old Faithful visitor center, we had an hour to kill before the famous geyser did its thing, so we walked through the exhibits reading about the three essentials of a geyser (heat, water, and fractures). Next was a quick visit to the gift shop, the 15 minute video about Yellowstone, and then it was time to walk outside with rest of the hoards to see Old Faithful spray it's steam and boiling water into the air. It was pretty impressive and lasted longer than I expected.

We drove for about an hour past many more geysers to our next stop, the Canyon, known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We also saw why the park is named Yellowstone. The Yellowstone river cuts through the canyon revealing many shades of yellow and gold rock.

Yellowstone's
Grand Canyon

Mammoth Hot Springs

We were starting to drag, but it was back to the car and on to the next area, Tower Falls. It was pretty, but not as impressive as what you see in Yosemite. Our final destination in the park was Mammoth Hot Springs where we saw streams of steaming water coming out of terraces of rock. Yellowstone is full of places to visit and explore and we obviously did not give it the attention it deserved. The greatest difficulty we found was the distance between areas. It was easily 30-60 minutes of driving each time we visited a new section with changing elevations from 6,000 to 8,000 feet depending on where you were. You could spend a month in this park and not see everything. Along the drives though, we got to see wildlife on the side of the road, and I mean literally on the side of the road. There were two instances when a bison was just grazing near the water maybe 50 feet from the roadside. And then there was an elk (or a really large deer) that just decided to meander across the road stopping traffic. It was amazing.

We left the park at 9:00 p.m. and still had about an hour of daylight left, so we hit the road for our resting place of the night, Bozeman, Montana. As we arrived in town, the sky was lit up with fireworks as the community celebrated the Fourth of July. It was a nice welcome and our beds were even more welcoming.

Now it's time to fold and pack the laundry and head out for our next adventure!

For another perspective:

David's blog: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com

Joe's blog: https://joesage.wordpress.com

Be Clean and Be Bear Aware

After our late arrival, we decided to sleep in a bit at our Pocatello, Idaho motel. The complimentary breakfast ended at 9:30 a.m., so we were munching away by 9:15. Along with the standard fare, we also shared my caramel apple from Ethel M. The

hardest part was trying to cut the apple into wedges with a plastic knife, since the knife kept bending. The tangy crisp granny smith apple with a layer of caramel and white and dark chocolate swirls was well worth the effort.

Originally, Pocatello was just a stopping point close to our first National Park, Grand Teton. But when I told Jasmine, one of our science teachers where I was headed, she told me about the Museum of Clean. It then became very apparent that we would need to visit this intriguing museum despite the jesting from my sons. It was so much fun! The museum was created by Dan Aslett who started off as a janitor, built a cleaning business, wrote 40 books on cleaning and organizing, and became a famous speaker on the topic. The museum was great for kids (including the adult kind) with a ton of hands on exhibits allowing the visitor to touch and use antique gadgets. If it had to do with cleaning, we saw it. It sounds crazy, but it was really fun. Near the end of our visit, we dressed up as chimney sweeps and posed for a photo in front of a brick wall where the chimney sweep scene from Mary Poppins was playing overhead. One of the museum workers took our picture and then asked us if we'd send it to her so she could post it on their Facebook page.

We were back in the car around 12:30 and driving to Grand Teton National Park. It was about a 3 hour drive, but with a stop for gas and snacks, it took us a little longer. The drive took us through some farmland and then along the Snake River as we headed toward the mountain range. There was very little traffic and David commented again how much he liked Wyoming. Cheyenne was one of his favorite cities on a previous trip. We arrived at an entrance to Grand Teton that was on the southwestern side via Moose-Wilson Road which is normally closed in the winter. You can tell it is the less traveled road, since after about a 1000 feet of pavement, the road turned into a narrow gravel road filled with potholes. The 8 mile drive toward the main part of the park took us about 30 minutes.

There are three visitor centers, and we stopped at the first one we came to the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center to get our bearings (no pun intended), and talk to a ranger about some quick and easy hikes. He suggested two hikes a couple scenic drives. We bought our bear spray, and drove to the Taggart Lake trailhead while Joe read us all of the safety tips for bear encounters. We hiked 1.5 miles along a rushing stream until we reached a lovely lake and dipped our hands in the water looking at the little fishes or tadpoles swimming near the edge. Unfortunately, we missed a moose sighting. We were walking across a bridge and another family told us they had just seen a moose heading into the woods across the lake. Bummer. The lake had great views of the mountains though and we soaked in the beauty while gazing at the towering mountains in the distance. As we continued the drive through the park, we took the Jenny Lake scenic drive and stopped for a while to look out over Jenny Lake. There is a shuttle boat that you can take across the lake toward Cascade Canyon. It wasn't running when we arrived. But the view of glacier cut canyon across the lake was spectacular.

We were getting tired and needed to wash off the dust and sweat from our hike, so we postponed the other two ranger suggested activities and checked in at the Jackson Lake Lodge. We are staying in a very nice cottage with the best wi-fi we've had so far. The lodge is an historic building and very impressive. We ate dinner at the Pioneer Grill and then watched the remnants of the sunset from an observation deck over the lake. By the time we were back in our cottage, it was near 10:00 p.m. and we were settling down for a good night's sleep. We all agree that this is a park we'd like to return to and spend more time.

For another perspective:

David's blog: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com

Joe's blog: https://joesage.wordpress.com

Don't Forget to Pick Me Up at the Airport!

The drive to Las Vegas was long, and uneventful. We stopped in Murrieta for some In and Out. I waved at our school's resource center which was just across the parking lot, but no one was there to wave back at 7:00 p.m. We listened to David's music, and every once in a while, I'd say "I know this song. I play it during the warmup in my Math class." or "This song is played at all of our school dances." We also enjoyed some good conversation as I asked David about life at Biola and his love life. We arrived at our motel a little before midnight. Aside from the fact that there were no towels in our room and no refrigerator, it was a decent enough stay, and breakfast was yummy.

We slept in since we had no where to be until 9:15 p.m. when Joe's plane arrived. We made a quick stop at Ethel M. Chocolates and did the self guided factory tour. We saw a worker packaging caramel apples, and that was enough to inspire me to buy one when we got into the gift shop! 

The drive to Salt Lake City was another long drive made even longer by road work, two serious car accidents, and some heavy rain. All of this happened while David was driving, poor guy. Every time we thought we  would make some headway, something else would slow us down. David ended up driving over 300 miles of day's  450 mile drive. The landscape of Utah is much prettier than Arizona and Nevada. There is a lot of emptiness in all three states, but at least there is some green in Utah. Along the way we saw turn offs for past places we've visited like Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon National Park.

Eventually we made it into Salt Lake City, but much later than originally anticipated. So all we had time to do was eat dinner at Bruges Waffles and Frites and a quick walk through Temple Square. Bruges was much smaller than I expected, but the food was tasty. I wasn't feeling too adventurous or hungry, so I just had a Ricky Burger with frites (fries) and split it with David.

It was a handmade burger with BBQ sauce and crispy onions on top. David got the Bruges Favorite which was a sweet dense waffle with strawberries on top and a scoop of what looked like ice cream, but was sweet cream. It was delicious!

Temple Square was nearby, so after driving around the block several times with no success finding street parking, we finally parked in an underground parking structure, ready to pay the $10.00, but the attendant told us that it was free for the day. So that was nice. We parked under an LDS conference center which was just across the street from Temple Square.

It had a cool waterfall that had different levels with walkways that went across the front of it. I asked David to go up to the first walkway, but the stairs/ramp were closed. Temple Square is a 10 acre block containing the Temple and several tabernacles, two visitor center museums, a family research facility, a round  theater/conference center, gardens and more. We did a cursory walk through the visitor centers. The buildings were beautiful and the exhibits very well done. I had hoped to learn more about the history of the church's trek to Salt Lake City, but the centers were more focused on a mixture of the prophecies of the Old Testament and those of Joseph Smith along with how the Temple was built and the work of the LDS church around the world.

We had checked the flight status of Joe's plane and it was supposed to arrive at 9:15, so as Temple Square was closing at 9:00, we headed back to car. David checked the status again, saw that the plane had arrived early. Good thing the airport was so close! Before we left San Diego, Joe kept reminding me that I needed to remember to pick him up in Salt Lake City. Just because I forgot to pick up my father-in-law from the airport one time, and left my parents stranded at the airport for several hours another time, he seemed to think I might forget him too. Fortunately, I'm a better mother than daughter, but our tardiness did prompt a phone call from him asking, "Where are you guys?"

Two more hours of driving and we arrived in Pocatello, Idaho around 11:30 p.m.. I was in bed by 12:15 a.m., but the boys stayed up reading and writing until after 1:00. We're off to breakfast and today's adventure.

We're all writing this trip! Check out my son's blogs.

David's blog: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com
Joe's blog: https://joesage.wordpress.com

Saddle Up and Hit the Trail!

It's 5:30 p.m. and David and I are finally packing the car and heading out on our summer road trip. Tonight we drive to Las Vegas to get a head start on the trip. Joe will join us tomorrow night in Salt Lake City; he's flying in. Sadly, Zach won't be joining us this year. He's a working man, and is already taking the end of July off to go to a friend's wedding in Texas.

We invite you to join us on our trip while we explore and have various adventures. Both David and I will write each day, and Joe might even resurrect his blog.

You can read David's blog here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/

Here's an overview of our trip. Click on the links to read about each stop.

Summer Road Trip 2015 on Tripline

Ready, set, go!