A Ridiculous Road Trip Part 4: CO, WY and ID

Picking up from this post, we arrived in Erie, Colorado on Saturday afternoon. It was rainy and cloudy pretty much the entire way. My brother was there to welcome us and it was instant good times. He and I are very alike in temperament, and it was great to be with him. The rest of the family--my nephews and sister-in-law, arrived home from various activities a little bit later.

My nephews were wondering why I was using their dad's computer. Apparently we have the same taste in stickering.

They pulled out all the stops and made us a yummy dinner along with a homemade carrot cake for Eric's birthday. It was delicious, and it was just so good to be with family.

Eric was actually turning 56, but we were improvising with the candles. No matter, the cake was delicious. 

We spent a pleasant evening chatting and cleaning up, slept well, and enjoyed church the next day. We had the bonus of meeting the brother and sister-in-law of Evan's girlfriend. They live in Erie and attend the same congregation as my brother. That was fun--I really liked them!

Sunday afternoon we went up to Estes Park and on a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park. I'd never been to either place and thought we might get to see some fall leaves and maybe a critter or two. Both dreams came true in abundance. The foliage was at peak and was just stunning. The mountainsides were a rich tapestry of all the colors of autumn, and the roadsides were ablaze with aspen, cottonwood, and more, all contrasting against the dark pines. It was exactly as I hoped.

Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, location of The Shining. 

Yep. I saw this with my own eyeballs. 

Me and the neffy-poos

More car window pics because I just could not stop trying to record these amazing views. 

As for critters, Estes Park was crowded because it was the Elk Fest. Not only do the humans come to see the Elk, but the Elk come to town as well, but probably not to see the humans. There were groups of them hanging out in the golf courses and on lawns and in parking lots. There were harems walking through the trees, being bugled along by the males. I've never seen so many Elk. It was the Rut, which means it's time for the males to fight and for all of them to mate. You can read more about it here.

I love this family of mine. 

Seriously?

Everywhere. This beauty was everywhere. 

Heyyyy Mr. Moose!

He was actually about 20 feet from me in this one. No zooming necessary. 

 The drive through the park took us to a lovely walk around Sprague Lake. We saw perfect views of the mountains, lots of brook trout, some fat geese, and two astonishingly large bull moose who came out of the woods and wandered along the trail, had a tense standoff, and were generally not noticing the humans at all. We sure noticed them though, and all the people grabbed their cameras and tried to get all the photos. It's my first time ever seeing a moose in nature, and they were impressive. Some of the people really didn't seem to realize these animals could actually cause harm, and my brother cleared a few groups away from them. He's such a good guy--careful and thoughtful, and I appreciated his willingness to get involved.

                                              

We took the long way home, and saw more elk and finally heard the famous bugling. I'd never heard it before, and it's very interesting. If you listen closely to the video you might be able to hear it, but of course it's nothing like hearing it in person. Same with the photos. I tried, but these just pale in comparison to my memories of the day.

That evening, Amy made an absolutely delicious beef shawarma in the Instant Pot and we had a fabulous late dinner together. Late dinners always feel indulgent and fun to me. They mean we were too busy having good times to bother with eating. I'm glad we spent as much time as possible up in the mountains. There was warmth and laughter around that table, and I was glad to be there. I love this family and the spirit in their home.

Monday morning I took Eric to the airport at 5:20 am, then immediately headed off to Idaho.

I watched the sun rise as I drove north through Colorado, then had another total win of a drive through western Wyoming. Perfect autumn foliage, mountains, rivers, interesting cloudy skies...all the things I love to see. I made it to Sara's house in Rexburg around 5pm. I would have made it earlier, but I was so entranced by the scenes rushing by me that I must have stopped at pull-outs 20 times to take short walks and try to get some photos.

Sunrise over CO

All the autumnal glory in Western WY

Hoback River

     

All the autumnal glory in Eastern ID 

I had a nice 24 hours in Rexburg. We had dinner in Idaho Falls, did a little shopping, and enjoyed the time together. In the morning I took my granddog for a walk in the crisp mountain air under those gigantic western skies I love so much. He's a funny dog and spent a full 15 minutes watching a soccer player practicing on the BYU-I fields. I couldn't get him to move. Eventually we did get going again and I loved being out in the wind and sun.

Sara had the afternoon off work. I always like seeing her doing her thing in her world. She's got a cute student apartment, a good job and is continuing to make progress in her education. I'm really proud of her. And of course her cute husband Andy is amazing. We love him so much.

We had delicious Brazilian-style rice and beans (again in the Instant Pot--what was life like before those?), then I headed out for Utah. This signals the end of the first phase of the trip--the getting out to the West. There will be much less that is exciting or newsworthy in the next few weeks because I'll be settled in Utah/Arizona for most of October. This first part of the trip has been really great. I'm glad Eric was with me for the first 10 days. I'm grateful the car is doing well, my back is doing well, and I'm doing pretty well keeping up with work along the way, which was my plan all along. I kept telling people this isn't a vacation, I'm just taking my life on the road.

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A Ridiculous Road Trip Part 3: WI, MN, SD, and NE

One more of the Mississippi at sunset

One of the things I've loved about this trip is the rivers. We've crossed them, driven by, and walked beside them. I love the variety in their personalities and styles. I love seeing how they change the land. The road across Wisconsin to a little town called Pepin took us along the beautiful Chippewa River. It braids through a glorious valley and I literally pressed my nose against the car window, wishing for more time to spend a day exploring. Already this trip has given me so many other ideas for travel. I have a whole section in my notebook. We live in a beautiful world and I kind of want to see it all.

Heyyy Wisconsin!

But, back to the spreadsheet we go. It's so exciting to see plans come to life, and I was really looking forward to this part of it all. We arrived at our Pepin lodgings, had a hearty dinner right on the banks of the Great River, then both did some work before getting a good rest. Just down the road from our hotel was the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, and it didn't open till 10 am. It was wonderful to have a slow morning in a motel. Camping is bomb and I love it, but it does take energy and I like that I planned to alternate between camping and other options. It has been the perfect balance so far.

Now a note about me and Laura Ingalls Wilder: These stories dominated my childhood and early teens. When I was in elementary school, probably around 4th or 5th grade, some friends and I got permission from our teacher to bring costumes and props to school and spent our recess times acting out vignettes from Laura's life. Yes, cosplay in the seventies. Or re-enacting. Whatever you want to call it, I remember it so fondly. These stories ignited in me a fascination with the world--a longing to understand it, to be curious and brave, and many other things. They created an interest in history, as well as in my ancestors who crossed the plains with the Mormon Pioneers.  I read and re-read all of the books. For my 8th or 9th birthday I received the paperbound boxed set along with my first ever piece of real jewelry--a birthstone ring--a peridot set in 10kt gold. The ring is long gone, but not those books--I still have them.

The museum was small but so incredibly affectionate toward Laura and the story of her family. There is real pride in this town with a connection to her. It was filled with artifacts displayed to give a sense of what life was like during the quite interesting part of American history when she lived. There was a pump organ like Laura's sister had. There were a few things that actually belonged to Laura. There was a fun gift shop and a great selection of books. I picked up Prairie Fires, a biography of Laura which I hadn't heard of and which won the Pulitzer Prize.

After the museum, we made a quick stop at the reconstructed cabin that represents the house in "Little House in the Big Woods," the first book in the series. It definitely made me think about what it was really like in "the olden days," and the gumption it took to live on one's own and wrest a life out of the land itself.

Interior of the Little House in the Big Woods

As soon as we were done there, we drove the 4 or so hours to the town of Walnut Grove, MN, where the book "On the Banks of Plum Creek" took place. We visited another museum which had a yard full of restored and reconstructed buildings. It had a whole building devoted to the timeline of their travel. There was a reconstruction of a dugout home like the one where they lived for some months, and which lived large in Laura's memory that she was able to nearly perfectly describe the setting and environs of that house so many years later when she began to write her stories.

I loved that they had morning glories growing by the reconstructed dugout, just like in the story. 

Prairies fill up all of my senses. 

Prairie Sunflowers and other plants that probably were growing when Laura lived here. 

Straight ahead, across the creek, is the site of the dugout house. 

A mile and a half away is the farm where the site of the dugout house is located on the land the Ingalls owned. I love that this farmer makes his land available so that we can see. They are even trying to restore the prairie grasses to their former state, so that it really looks the way it looked to Laura.

And on we went. We drove the two hours to De Smet, SD and the place where Laura's parents eventually settled. We checked into the De Smet Super Deluxe Inn and Suites, ate the rest of the groceries we bought back in Pepin, and got some rest. We'd come just over 300 miles in around 6 hours of driving. Quite a bit different than Laura's experience as a child.

The next day was another jam-packed one (plus it was Eric's birthday), so we left the hotel around 8:45 to spend a bright, chilly morning at the Ingalls Homestead. De Smet has a lot to offer the intrepid LIW fan, but we only had a couple of hours. We could have spent the whole day there so maybe I'll just have to come back. This town is also proud of Laura and calls itself The Little Town on the Prairie (which is also the name of one of the books, and yes, it's set here).

It wasn't Susan's fault she was just a corncob. We got to make this at the Ingalls Homestead. A real corncob doll 

Ingalls Homestead, set on the actual land the Ingalls family proved under the Homestead Act,  includes another reconstructed dugout, this one actually built of sod and dug out of the ground. It was warm inside! There was also a reconstruction of the house Pa built for Ma. It started as a claim shanty and became a house a little at a time. It was exactly as I imagined it (happy sigh). There's a schoolhouse, an old church, and a historic garage that were moved to the site to preserve the buildings. In town, there are multiple buildings that have been restored and opened to the public through tours. As I said, next time.

I loved these two days. There are, of course, more direct ways to get to South Dakota and beyond, but I am so glad we saw the upper midwest off the beaten track. I was totally invested in learning more about LIW's life and seeing some of the things she might have seen, or at least something close to it. We went through small towns and saw such lovely country. It was totally worth it.

We left De Smet to arrive on time for lunch with my long distance employers at XRX. We ate at the home of the founders of the company and it was just really great, with incredibly delicious food being a total bonus. I don't have any photos from this lunch, but it was so meaningful to me to get to see these people I work with in their town and then after lunch, at their office. I now have a context for where people are and what they might be doing when I talk to them or email them. I feel really lucky to have my remote job and for them to allow me to work completely remotely most of the year, but I do like feeling more connected to them.

Sioux Falls

Proof I was actually there.

As we were driving out of town I remembered that I wanted to see the actual Sioux Falls, and bless Eric's heart, he turned around to drive through town so I could see them. They are really beautiful!

Sunset skies over Nebraska

Then we hit the road to Omaha and our overnight accommodations at the home of my friend Jill. We got there in time to go out with Jill, her husband and her son Max to get dinner at HuHot, the fab Mongolian Grill chain that we wish would come to Maryland. (Our little MG place closed down some years ago and we still miss it). Eric had some birthday cheesecake, we all went back to the house and chatted for a while, then spent a peaceful night in a nice guest room.

This tableau awaited us at Jill's.

The next morning we got up early and drove through some serious rain to Lincoln to see Jill's daughter Jessie, who has become a dear friend of mine in her own right. We hung out with her sweet family for an hour and a half or so, then it was time to finish off Nebraska and get to Erie, CO and the home of my younger brother, Aaron.

Kearny, Nebraska. One of these days I'll stop at this arch. 

Heyyyy Colorado!

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