Girl's Camp\Matt's Birthday - Seattle #3

Well, after all the planning and waiting, Camp Week has finally arrived. We were up early and I drove Mom and Ruth Scott up to the Ensign Ranch with a bunch of their stuff in the Pilot. They spent most of the morning setting up, while I stacked firewood and helped put up some dining canopies. After spending Monday night in Wenatchee, I loaded up the Pilot with another load of all the stuff Mom had forgotten or now needed (like long johns) and drove to Camp on my way to Seattle (again) to celebrate Matt's birthday. Jon, Matt, and I enjoyed a nice dinner at Susumu, a Japanese steakhouse, in Lynnwood.

Young Women's Camp 2007, themed "The Incredibles", began with an appearance by Mrs. Incredible, herself. The crowd was flabbergasted that I was actually gutsy enough to wear such a suit in public. I did get a few comments like "Nice toosh" and "I can really tell you've lost weight". The Stake Camp staff were known as the "Edna M's" - Eternal Designers Nurturing All (Mothers and Mentors). Our wigs, glasses, and lab coats made us indistinguishable from one another (we don't have our glasses on in the photo, but they were the black, round "coke-bottle eyes" kind.) I enjoyed seeing my nieces around camp and proudly announced them as four-dipper (Natalie) and five-dipper (Sarah) at the Polar Bear Dip on the last morning. We used the climbing wall this year and I made it up to the last panel before experiencing muscle fatigue. I wanted to make it to the top, but the lines were so long the next day, that I never got on the wall again. Rachel Ray would be proud of the cooks in the Iron Chef Cookoff. The young women really outdid themselves with the "presentation" part. Grandpa made a dozen dowel cookers for me and everyone enjoyed learning how to toast yummy biscuits, then ate them smothered with butter and jam (homemade strawberry). I loved every minute at Camp and look forward to just going some day without being in charge. (June 25-29)

A New Car - Seattle #3

Well, we finally decided that being a one-car family was not going to work. We looked at trucks, SUV's, just about everything. Then we thought, why are we buying a car that is similar to the one that we already have? So we decided to get a small, fuel-efficient car we can drive around town and on errands. It will pay for itself just in the gas savings over the van. And our carbon footprint will now be smaller than Al Gore's - so we will feel better, right?




So here is Mom with her new little Nissan Sentra. The process was a little involved. Kristi wanted a certain color with black leather and they are hard to find. The local dealer just didn't seem to want to do the work to find one (they didn't have the one she wanted) or deal on price. So Mom went online and found the car she wanted in Seattle. Over the phone, they gave us all the price breaks and rebates we wanted and in 30 minutes the deal was done. We drove over and picked it up so we could have the transaction completed before Girl's Camp. Cute, huh!

Seattle #2

I spent a few days in Seattle helping Jon with various projects on the house, as they try to get things organized. Kristi had Will, Ella, and Noah in Wenatchee over some of the days. Here are some pics she took. In the last two, the kids are painting Matt's car with water. Is that "busy work"? (June 16-19)

Seattle #1

Matt is in Seattle for the summer for an internship with Deloitte Touche and got a rude awakening to the "gutter" that is the accounting world. He and Jon loaded up the U-Haul with yard waste before we were to return it to U-Haul. Might as well take advantage! So we drove over to the Lynnwood transfer station to empty it and when we were done the large front end loader that pushed the garbage around flung some unidentified substance on Matt's shoe. Kind of like something from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. And did it stink. As we were driving to return the Beast, Matt was holding his shoe out the window. It was horrible.


Our final moments with the Beast. I will miss her....or is it a he? Only Toto knows for sure. Ahhhh.....back with my baby, the Pilot.

The Last Leg

Salt Lake City to Seattle. The last leg. I am very tired. I arrived 3200 miles later just in time (within minutes) of the unloading guys showing up at Jon & Cher's for the unpacking. I watched and didn't lift a finger. Sorry guys, I just wasn't in the mood. Everything seemed to arrive okay. (June 12-13)

Wyoming and Tim McGraw - Like a Needle Needs Thread

A very long day. I was up early and on my way by 5:00am. I crossed the grassland preserve near the Colorado\Nebraska border. With all the cows and oil rigs on it, I didn't see too much being preserved....then briefly into Nebraska again, meeting the I-80 freeway near the Nebraska\Wyoming border. I am not even going to talk about crossing Wyoming (again). I have absolutely no comment on that stretch of highway. As Jon and kids have been crossing the United States in tandem and parallel to me, we decided to meet as they rocketed past me. The link up was at a rest stop a little west of Cheyenne. I saw the kids on a rock waving their arms as I approached. We talked for a few moments and then they were off, leaving me in their dust.

I was able to spend a few minutes in Morgan, have some dinner, shower and change, visit with Mom and Dad, and then I was off to Salt Lake City for an evening concert with Amy and Katie. I checked into a Howard Johnson up the street so we could park the Beast and their car. Mike, Olivia, and Ethan came up so we could visit for a few moments before the concert.




The concert was very nice. It was long, about three hours. And very loud. Tim and Faith (this link must be checked out just to see the sweater) sang many of their hits and the capacity crowd "faithfully" screamed out every word. Thanks Amy and KT for a great night. We will have to do that again. Oh, by the way, are you two single? We walked back to the hotel after and I fell into bed about 1:00am.

And just for you KT:

Like a needle needs a vein,
Like Uncle Joe in Oklahoma needs a rain,
I need you like a lighthouse on the coast,
Like the Father and the Son need the Holy Ghost,
I need you.

And we will all assume he is singing about antibiotics saving Africa from malaria or something similar.

High Plains

There is an interesting attraction hidden on the high plains of Northwest Kansas. During Reconstruction, many southern blacks were "sold" by land promoters on the idea of relocating to Kansas. Of course, they also sold them land, but leaving out details such as the short growing season, the wind, the lack of trees (they had to build sod houses), and the severe winters. I left the freeway at Hays and headed north to check it out. And trust me, you have got to WANT to go there. It is on the way to nowhere. It is a small town called Nicodemus (Nicodemus NHS), the only survivor of many like it - all-black towns that started with this "relocation" over 100 years ago. Question: Why did I not see any black Park Service employees at either Brown or Nicodemus? Just wondering. Is that social commentary?

There were few trees in this part of the plains, so the homesteaders used limestone for their fence posts. Some of them can still be seen.

I saw this limestone structure many miles away. I wondered what it was - it is the cathedral in the small Kansas town of Damar. The church was built in the late 1800's, shortly after the town was settled by French Canadians.


I was surprised by the level of oil and gas exploration activity in this part of Kansas.

I crossed into Nebraska in the afternoon and gassed up in McCook, then cut due west into the very northeast corner of Colorado. Flat and treeless. Oil rigs. The first signs of sagebrush.


Stop for the night: Sterling, Colorado.

Kansas

If you had looked for me early this morning, you would have found me shaking uncontrollably in the Beast as I was checking my maps - is it REALLY that far across Kansas? This is going to take some time. Where is Toto when you need him? Did you know Toto was always referred to as a "he" in the movie, but was really a "she". Why?

I stopped in Topeka for a quick tour of the Brown vs. Board of Education NHS. They have remodeled the actual school that was one of the places that spawned the original lawsuit (by the time it reached the Supreme Court, several suits had been joined together) and use it as the Visitor's Center. It was an EXCELLENT exhibit, covering the entire civil rights movement, and well worth the visit.

Just down the road is Fort Riley, Kansas, much of which you can see from the freeway. It has a long history, stretching back to Custer. It was the home of the U.S. Calvary School, and the 9th and 10th Calvary Regiments (the black "Buffalo Soldiers"). More recently, it has served as the home of the 1st Infantry Division (the "Big Red One").

For many years, before the railroads extended into Texas, this stretch of Kansas also served as the terminus of the Chisholm Trail, where the great cattle herds of the southern plains were loaded on the rail lines following the Santa Fe and Smoky Hill Trails, then shipped east. Abilene was one of the bigger cattle towns and I stopped there for lunch. It is also the birthplace and boyhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower. I toured the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Center: his birth home, library, and memorial. As in most Midwest towns, there is a very beautiful mansion row as you enter Abilene, and it is one of the more beautiful ones I have seen. Absolutely marvelous restored and landscaped homes, maybe a hundred or so.

About milepost 340 on the freeway, I hit the "rain line", and the trees started disappearing. Ah, the famous plains of Kansas. Beautiful in their own right. Grain elevators. Open spaces. One thing for sure, there are a lot fewer trucks in Kansas than Indiana. Wonderful wildflowers. I could just imagine the roaming buffalo herds.

I stopped in Hays, Kansas, as I was losing the light and it was getting windy. I took a quick look at Fort Hays, another fort constructed to control the Indians in the last half of the 19th Century along the Santa Fe Trail.

Show-Me State

Crossed the Mississippi into Missouri this morning at St. Louis, past the Arch and the new Busch Stadium. They are tearing up all the freeways and it was slow going. Sorry about the antenna in the Arch shot, but I took it out the window, as there were no place to stop.

Just for you Emmett, St. Louis is home to the largest bowling pins in the world. I think they are situated in a mall.


I was talking to Kristi on the phone as I was crawling along through freeway construction west of St. Louis and a familiar site loomed out of the trees. A spire and an Angel Moroni....the St. Louis temple. It is in a very nice area with lots of corporate headquarters and is surrounded by major Lutheran and Baptist colleges.

Made good time across Missouri. Made some stretch-my-legs stops in: 1) Kingdom City, and wandered through Nostalgiaville USA (found a couple of John Wayne items I didn't have), 2) Bates City, and ate some REAL Missouri BBQ - it was good, and I think the whole town of Bates was there, 3) the crossing of the Missouri River, and 4) Columbia, home of the University of Missouri.

I passed through Kansas City after dinner. I didn't stop, as this is a future destination in my plan, and entered Kansas as the shadows lengthened.

My night stop was Lawrence, Kansas, home of the University of Kansas.

The Corn Belt

Up and at it early this morning. Storming my way across Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. I made a quick stop in Louisville to check out the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. Notice the "biggest bat in the world" out front. A little bit overdone for the tourists, but a nice stop. They have a cool display as you enter - an entire wall laid out by year of the small Hillerich & Bradsby logo\player name for every player they have ever had under contract. Some big names on there - Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb.... Then next to that is a vault with all the original bats for each of the players that they used\use to lathe the copies.

Louisville sits astride the Ohio River at a historic stopping place, as there is a set of falls - very similar to that of Great Falls, Montana. There is a set of locks that bypass the falls. Very pretty. I crossed the Ohio River into the southern ends of Indiana and Illinois. The corn is up now and the green stalks rustle in the wind. Such beautiful farms.



I will be heading into the teeth of a major storm coming out of the West over the next few days. I hope the wind doesn't blow the truck around too much. It is a very uncomfortable feeling in the cab when I get hit by a major gust. Passed Santa Claus, Indiana! The freeways in this part of Indiana are covered with small evergreen trees that are natural, but if makes the grassy areas along the freeway look landscaped. Stopped for the night in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.

West Virginia and Kentucky

Once again through the green hills and vales of West Virginia....are there any people in West Virginia? Up and down the hills I go in the Beast (my new name for the truck). The Beast doesn't like hills and slows down considerably.

I passed through Charleston on the Kanawha River and then Huntington at the confluence of the Big Sandy and the Ohio Rivers. At that point the freeway crosses the Big Sandy and enters Kentucky.

Ahh....back in Kentucky. The Beast holds about 48 gallons and takes forever to fill. By my reckoning, it is getting about 8 to 9 miles a gallon. One thing I have discovered is that my credit cards limit gas purchases at the pump to $50 or $75. So, in order to fill the thirsty Beast, I have to do 2 or 3 separate purchases with different credit cards at each stop. Arrrgghhh!

I stopped for the night between Lexington and Louisville.

Into the Void - Lucky We Had a Mother's Attic

After a good sleep, we all were up and ready to go! I got some breakfast at McDonald's for everyone and the loader men arrived on time. It took them about 4 hours to pack the truck. The choice of the larger truck was a good one. As they got the last few things out on the lawn, they put them in one by one and crammed the last piece in the last little corner of the truck. Everything fit just perfectly. Some last ropes to hold everything in place, a lock on the door, and I was ready to roll.

The look of supreme confidence as I begin the 3200 mile journey! Moving made easier! I gingerly pulled the heavy truck out of the tight parking lot area around 2:00pm, rolling over some curbs to the snickers of the those watching.

We have made many visits to Baltimore over the last few years and it is a great city. We are going to miss visiting here. So here is a hearty salute to BALTIMORE, MARYLAND (of course, I like Seattle better).

As you leave the loop freeway around Baltimore and merge onto I-70 heading west, there is a sign showing the mileages to the major points westward. This freeway ultimately terminates at Cove Fort in Utah.

I headed west on I70, through Maryland, but this time not going up into Pennsylvania. I continued through the panhandle of Maryland, crossing into West Virginia in the late afternoon.

First impressions:

1. The truck has some sort of restricting device, so you can't use the accelerator over 70

MPH...not that I can go that fast. With the traffic, I find I am most comfortable in the
right lane going about 60-65 MPH. This is going to be a long trip.

2. The truck is very noisy. The driver window seal is not good and the wind whistles through

right next to my ear. Annoying. The truck rattles and shakes also.

3. There is no cruise control, so you have to keep your feet constantly manipulating the gas

and brakes. I think my knees are going to be sore in a few days.

4. I got comfortable with the sight lines, passing, handling the truck, etc. quite quickly and
felt much more comfortable after only a few hours.

My sleep schedule has been thrown off a bit, and I got really drowsy about 7pm, so I stopped for the night in Morgantown, West Virginia (University of West Virginia). I also hit a driving rainstorm and it was a little spooky swaying in the wind. Had a nice quiet dinner in a restaurant adjoining the hotel.