Monday 21 arrived and we heard nothing from the Celys, who were flying
standby. Mike didn't know whether to drive to the Vegas airport to meet
the plane (per the schedule they had sent us) or not. We finally got a call from Houston, where all five of
them had been bumped so they would be spending the night in the Houston airport. Natalia, an American Airline employee, hoped
to get them to Vegas on later flights. Early
Tuesday 22 morning, we got a call saying Cristina,
Pilar, and 9-year-old Estefania made it on the plane and would be
arriving soon, so Mike hopped in the car and took off. Unfortunately,
Natalia had sole custody of the only cell phone in the group and the
non-English speakers just landed in Vegas and they would not know where to
meet up with Mike. I called the airport and explained the situation to
the operator, who listened carefully to the pronunciation of the names so
she could page them while I held on. Miraculously, Estefania heard
the page over the intercom and excitedly told her mom. Pilar had
Estefania (knows some English from school) explain to someone that they
heard their names and now what should they do. The kind person directed them
to the white courtesy phone. After ten minutes on hold, Pilar's anxious voice
came on the other end of the line. "Hermana Anderton?" What relief!
I
explained carefully where Mike would be waiting, but after deplaning, the three of them had gone up one
floor. After a good hour and five or so phone calls back
and forth between me, Mike and Pilar (a nice person let her use their
cell phone), they finally connected and were on their way back to
St. George. No sooner had they arrived, when we received a call from
Natalia saying she and her father, Juan, just boarded a plane and
would arrive in Vegas within two hours. Mike groaned, hopped back in
the car, and headed back to Vegas for pick-up #2. At least Natalia had a
cell phone so they could find each other! By the end of the day, Mike suffered from a severe case of TB (tired bottom).
Wednesday 23, after breakfast, we piled in the car and headed to Snow Canyon.
The Celys were awed by the majestic red rocks and loved hiking them.
Estefania encountered a lizard which made her a bit skittish. We enjoyed
a beautiful lunch at Kokopelli's and Natalia loved the photo ops
provided by the water features, green grass and red rocks. She's picture
crazy!
Visitor's from South America can't come to Utah without hitting
Deseret Book and Deseret Industries for favorite gifts to
take home to their families. An afternoon swim in the pool ended a
beautiful day.
On
Thursday 24, we did the Kanab-Page-Fredonia loop. Our road trip began with a drive thru
Zion National Park, with photo stops at various majestic views. Even
though the car was a tab bit cramped, it was filled with happiness as
everyone aboard loved to laugh. Natalia is a giggler and precipitates
lots of laughter with her comments. Cristina quietly adds clever
one-liners under her breath which sends us into stitches. Pilar tries to
keep things calm, but doesn't succeed with so many jokesters in the car.
Our entourage had fun exploring Denny's Wigwam in Kanab, the Glen Canyon Dam overlook (deemed "magnificent"), eating a nice lunch in Page, driving over the Navajo Bridge, and posing for pictures at Cliff Dwellers, AZ. Herds of huge, hairy buffalo filled
the group with awe as we drove along the route to the Grand Canyon's North Rim.
Luckily, we caught the view from the Visitor's Center just as a
storm rolled in, filling the canyon with clouds and letting loose
torrents of rain. We stopped at our favorite steak house in Fredonia, AZ
for a late dinner on the way back to the Gecko House.
Friday 25 began with a stop at the Jacob Hamlin and Brigham Young
homes. The Celys loved visiting the actual places recorded in church
history and seeing how the early church members lived on a daily basis.
We also stopped to visit the St. George Temple before heading
north to Springville, arriving at Mike and Amy's for the night after dinner at the Golden Corral. Livi and her friends embraced Estefania, hauling her off for night games until after ten, while Natalia was out
with one of her many "guy friends".
Salt Lake City and
Temple Square were stops for
Saturday 26 as we headed to Morgan. The
beautiful flowers were in their glory making a colorful background for
pictures. While touring the Conference Center, we took a few minutes to
rest and listen to an organ recital in the main hall. We made a quick
stop at Costco so they could see where Mike spent his working years and purchase
food for the road. Pulling into Morgan just before the 24th of July
parade began, we all took off and watched the procession of trucks,
tanks, and cars go by. This is definitely NOT a mini "Days of 47 Parade",
but all the entrants throw lots of candy, so the kids were happy!
Church the next day
Sunday 27 was interesting, as Natalia was spotted by an
eligible young RM who wished to come by later and visit. Mike's brother, Ric, told his
Young Adult Ward about Natalia and several of them stopped by also. In between, a
"guy friend" from Provo drove up to spend some time with her. Ahhhh---to
be young again. Estefania spied on them while they were chatting in Mom's garage for some privacy and reported a little "lip action" going on.
Heading out early
Monday 28, we drove by the new, beautifully remodeled Ogden Temple as the
Celys love visiting temples. We also stopped at the temple in Logan and took lots
of photos on the grounds which have been updated with a fountain and lovely beds of flowering shrubs and colorful annuals. A drive by the
Rexburg Temple finished the day, before we turned in for the night
at Rexburg's AmericInn, excited for tomorrow's adventure in Yellowstone
National Park.
The weather on the
Tuesday 29 was a bit cloudy and cool as we started out, but by afternoon, the sun came out adding to the splendor of the
waterfalls and hot springs. We drove to West Yellowstone via Mesa Falls and since we traveled so far, and the Celys
would probably never return this way again, we decided to stick around for the eruption of Old
Faithful. The crowd and squirrels
entertained us as we waited. The eruption was a bit less impressive than
I had built up in my mind, but it was fun to see. Buckled in, we hurried on our way trying to make it home without stopping again for the night. Driving north along the Madison, thru Virgina
City, the Celys got a glimpse of life in the old west. We finally
arrived in Wenatchee quite late and settled in for several days (
July 30-31 and August 1-3).
Estefania loved the toy room and the rest of the family enjoyed going
thru Mike's joke drawer. The favorite item was the Fart Machine (they later purchased their own at the Pike Place Market several days
later). Pilar thought Hobby Lobby was craft heaven and she purchased a
cutting machine for about $150 less than what she could buy it for in
Bogota. Visiting the Merrill home was a highlight and they loved
Dad's garden filled with all kinds of fruits, vegetables and flowers. We took a trip to the East Wenatchee
bowling alley (Juan thumped everyone), and at the arcade afterwards, everyone took
turns on an arcade ride that jiggled, jostled and rattled the teeth.
August
1 took us to Leavenworth to enjoy the flowers, music and feel of the
Bavarian town. And how can you go to Leavenworth without stopping to try
on hats at the Mad Hatter? It's a must. Afterwards, we stopped to
introduce Mark, Laurel and kids to our dear friends, then had a nice
visit to Fro-Yo for a sweet treat.
August 2 we gathered
at Tom and Beth's for a swim with Mark and Laurel's kids and
Katie, Kyle and Max who had pulled in for a visit. We ate the final
dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Cashmere. Sunday morning, the 3rd,
we went to church, then later, all our family joined us for Fast Sunday
dinner. My brother, Rick, came from Richland, as he served in the Bogota,
Colombia Mission, and was eager to meet the Celys. (The dolls were hungry, so Estefania fed them early.)
Things got a little teary as we gathered in the sitting room around the
piano and sang,"God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again" in Spanish.
We awoke early
Monday 4 for our final day together. We
packed all the bags, bodies and two weeks of souvenirs into the Pilot and
headed to Seattle via Yakima and Mt. Rainier. It was a perfect, Northwest day. As you head over Chinook Pass on Highway
410, there is a spot near Tipsoo Lake where, all of a sudden, Mt. Rainier is just THERE. We
prepared everyone for the upcoming view of mountain by telling them
how big and pretty it is, but there are no words for how
stunning it is up close on a nice day. We pulled off the road for a
minute to take pictures and everyone was in awe of the spectacle. A
little farther on, we stopped again for the snow! Some of the family had never encountered the white stuff before. We even managed to fit in a snowball fight and KR showed them how to make a small snowman.
After
grabbing lunch in Enumclaw, we spent the rest of the day in
Seattle - Pike Place Market, the waterfront, a tour of Alki, fish and
chips in West Seattle, and a quick ferry ride from Fauntleroy to
Vashon (we parked and walked on, getting an added run to Southworth as a
bonus). On the way to SeaTac, I showed them my boyhood home and old
stomping grounds. In the late evening, we dropped the whole Cely clan off
at a hotel across from the airport for a good night's sleep before their early Tuesday
morning flight home. What a trip! Mike and I were both exhausted as we headed home to
Wenatchee for some rest.
