Back home, July 26, 2010

I can't believe that the three weeks are gone! From St. Louis to the Plains, to Denver and beyond, it was an amazing trip. Impressions?

The Gateway Arch is cooler than I thought it would be. Standing at the foot of it, you really get a sense of size and proportion. It's situated so the view at the top is east to west, the gateway to the west that Lewis and Clark saw.

The plains are incredibly beautiful: green, rolling hills and forever sky. Can you just imagine the pluck it took to pick up your life, be dropped off by the wagon train in this country, and realize that your new life starts HERE. Here's a shovel.  There's the plains, with sod that has roots that are several feet thick. Build a house from... what? No wood. Sod. I am thankful every day for the courageous men and women who built this country.

Staying at Larry and Rose's was fantastic. What a great time, talking, laughing, crying, eating, drinking...How do people make it without family?

Rocky Mountain NP is overrun. It's proximity to the Denver metro area makes it a mecca for those who want a weekend in nature. We tried unsuccessfully  to take a few trails, because the parking areas for those trails were full. Man, it's windy in the alpine areas of the mountains!

Arches and Canyonlands are spectacular. Maybe it's that in the silence and the vastness of the landscape, in the blue, blue, sky, in the blinding brightness of sunlight, in the contrast of red rocks and blue sky, you get a sense of the scope of time and space.

The Tetons  are majestic, and when you get away from the crowds, they are a sensory delight.
While the long drive across Kansas and Nebraska is really a LONG DRIVE, it's hard not to be entranced by the rippling waves that run across the corn fields in the wind, and the big swath of sky to which you are treated.

We were surprised to see the warning signs on the roads around Jackson, WY that proclaim "No snow plowing between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m." We can't imagine how that policy would ever fly in NH.
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Several days ago, I said that we were going to compile a "bad parenting" list. Here's are some that make our top ten:

1. The father who got angry at his 3 year old for spoiling his hike.
2. Parents who drag babies into uncomfortable situations--i.e. onto steep trails in hot weather.
3. Parents who allow their kids to go on long hot hikes with no water, and wearing flip flops.
4. Rude kids. 
5. At a restaurant in Jackson, we noted this phenomenon: parents who were seated separately from their children. And I'm not talking teenagers. One party of 6 adults sent the 2 children, about 8 and 10 years old, to sit at another table across the restaurant. In another instance, 3 young boys, maybe 6, 9, and 11 years old, came to sit at the table next to ours. The youngest proceeded to slide left and right on the bench seat. When Ray spoke to the kid, the child was shocked--but he stopped. The kids had money for their dinner. There were no adults in sight. Bear in mind that this was not a fast food joint, but a regular restaurant. Whatever happened to family dining? How are kids supposed to know what is proper behavior in public?
6. On the subject of restaurants... We stopped at a pizza place in Jackson that had a salad bar. We watched as a large group of people were ushered to seats at about 8:30 p.m.. It appeared that there were 2 families, 2 sets of parents with 2 kids each. The father of one family went directly to the buffet before he was seated, piling his plate high. His kids then sat and watched as Dad ate. Then Mom promptly went to the salad bar and filled a plate for herself, the children still unfed. The parents ate while the kids watched. By the time we left the restaurant, the kids still had not eaten, although they had ordered food, and Mom and Dad had been to the salad bar 3 times. Are we the only ones who find this behavior on the part of the parents selfish?
7. Again with the restaurants... Small children who run wild in the restaurant are a given.

But when all is said and done, it was a fabulous trip. Final numbers show that we drove 6,189 miles, bought 221 gallons of gas at an average of $2.712/gallon (most expensive in Illinois), averaged 28 mpg, and had 23 days of glorious renewal.

I will let you know when photos are up, and will put a link on each respective day's blog so the pictures make sense.

Love to all...

The secret to living the life of your dreams,
is to start living the life of your dreams, at once,
to any degree that you possibly can. 
Mike Dooley