Heading Home

        Thursday, July 28th, was the day we had to leave for home. We had a wonderful time visiting with Pete and Amanda and they were great hosts!!  We hate to leave them, but we must. With heavy hearts, we packed the car and headed east.  Left Lane Joe is driving, Meredith is navigating, and Bessie is in the back with the kids.  It's a tight squeeze, but off we go!!  We drove and drove and drove for what seemed like hours and we are still in Oregon!!  These states out here are big.  At home we pass through three states to get to the closest Walmart.  It's a bit of a culture shock compared to back east.  After a very long day of driving through desolate country, we arrive in Boise, Idaho for the night. We saw one of the most desolate sights we saw anywhere on the entire trip.  We went by a lake in eastern Oregon called Lake Abert.  There is nothing around the lake, no vegetation, no homes, no stores, and no people.  It was a hot summer day and the lake was completely empty.  It was eerie.  I have never seen a body of water without something around it.  It turns out to be an alkali lake.  It is unsafe for humans and animals, and is fatal if water is swallowed.  What a shame, it really was pretty.  However, it seemed like it did have a purpose for the travelers on the Oregon trail.  They were running out of baking soda by the time they got to the lake.  Somehow they figured out they could used that alkali around the lake for baking soda.  If it was cooked it was safe.    This was just another interesting thing we learned about our country.  Everything seemed to have a purpose!!

Lake Abert

Boise is a very clean and pretty city.  We had a good night, including dinner at a truck stop.  When you eat at a truck stop. you can't help but getting a truck driver meal that's bound to be delicious.  We stuffed ourselves.
        Friday, July 29th - We headed across Idaho, bound for Idaho Falls.  We decided to get off the interstate, and onto a small road.  It turns out to be part of the Oregon Trail.  It was curvy and windy and climbed up high mountains, and wound down into deep valleys.  Bessie was holding on in the back seat for dear life.  It was impossible to imagine pioneers doing this road in covered wagons.  We encountered many RV's and that made the journey all the more exciting.  There were many places to look at along the way, including Craters of the Moon.  It was an area where there were volcanoes at one time.  There was a lot of big lava rock along the side of the road.  Again, it was hard to imagine how hard it was to drive a covered wagon over that rough terrain.  This portion of the Oregon Trail is near the end of the journey and many people were quite sick when they were here.  We were riding along and imagining how many people were buried alongside the road we traveled along.  We were thinking how fortunate we were to have reservations for the night in a motel with a pool and a hot tub.   We arrived in Idaho Falls in the afternoon in time for a relaxing swim and soak in the hot tub.  The rigors of the road are forgotten temporarily.  When we put things in perspective, the rigors of the road were absolutely nothing compared to what the pioneers went through.

Jeremiah at Craters of the Moon

Part of The Oregon Trail

More of Craters of the Moon

 One of the few places to get water on The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail passes through southern Idaho.  The terrain is sometimes high desert and sometimes mountainous.  It goes over mountaintops and down into deep valleys.  There are twenty-one points  of interest along the way including Massacre Rocks state Park where Indian attacks were numerous.  Fort Hall Indian Reservation is where Sacajewea eventually settled.  Smith's Trading Post is the sight of Peg Leg Smith's trading Post.  It is said Peg Leg was quite a character who amputated his own leg when it was shot.  This trip across the Oregon Trail was pretty amazing, just imagining what it must have been like for the Pioneers.  I don't think we can even begin to imagine what they went through and how they suffered. 
        Saturday, July 30th - We are headed for The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.  Bessie is very excited to finally be going to Yellowstone.  We drive to the entrance of Grand Teton National Park.  The park ranger asked if anyone in the car was 62 or over.  She probably took one look at the car and said that person in the back looks about 100!!  Bessie piped up that she was sixty-two.  So for ten dollars Bessie got a lifetime pass to all the national parks.  Anybody that's with her can get in free too.  That was pretty exciting!!  We drove through Grand Teton and it was beautiful beyond description.  Yellowstone also did not disappoint.  It was beautiful, however, it would have been good to see more wild life.  We saw one buffalo and one elk, but Yellowstone was interesting and fun.  We stayed in Powell, Wyoming for the night.  It was the most expensive and the worst hotel room of the trip.  It was close enough to Yellowstone, so the prices were high.

Grand Teton National Park was established in 1929.  Grand Teton is just south of Yellowstone.  The tallest mountain is 13,770 feet, and there are twelve others over 12,000 feet.  The peaks are made of crystalline rock and they are beautiful.  There are sixty species of mammals and more than 300 species of birds in Grand Teton.  There are around six kinds of game in the park.  You can hike, camp, climb, boat, and kayak.

The Grand Tetons

Yellowstone National Park is the nations first national park, and was established in 1872.  There are many interesting things to see in Yellowstone, such as hot springs and geysers.  Old Faithful is the most famous geyser, erupting regularly on schedule.  There are also mountain ranges and canyons, including the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  There is a large lake called Yellowstone Lake and many rivers and streams.  There is also an abundance of wild life including, herds of buffalo and elk, grizzly bears, wolves, and many others.  You can drive through  the park, stopping along the way.  Camping and hiking are popular, as well as lodges and cabins.

Old Faithful

Yellowstone Lake

Sunday July 31st - We headed over the Big Horn Mountains towards Deadwood, South Dakota.  These were the biggest and most treacherous mountains we crossed.  We kept telling Bessie to look out the window at the views, but she was quaking on the floor of the car.  After we climbed to the top on windy roads with no guardrails, we got to the top, where the speed limit was 65.  People were actually doing that and faster.  Again, so not like home!!  When we got to the bottom of the mountains, we are in desolate prairie.  We passed a few ranches, but they were few and far between.  Just very hard to imagine that people live that way!!  We arrive in Deadwood in time for a late lunch.  It's hot and noisy and threatening storms.  Bessie's a little anxious with all the commotion, so we ate and headed to Rapid City for the night.  The only place we could find to eat was Arby's, but that was okay since we had this huge lunch in Deadwood!!

View from the road through the Bighorn Mountains

 Jeremiah in Deadwood City, SD

Deadwood, South Dakota is an old western town located in Black Hills of South Dakota.  The goldrush of 1876 brought many visitors to town, including Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.  Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back of the head and killed on August 2, 1876.  He wad playing poker at the number 10 saloon in Deadwood.  It's an old west town that's just plain fun!!
        Monday - July 1st - This is our last day of sightseeing and we are headed to Mount Rushmore.  It's beautiful and not what I expected.  It's nestled in some trees and the walkway leading up to it has a flag from every state.  It's corny, but it makes you proud to be an American!!  We finish at Mount Rushmore and we are headed east!!  We are on a mission.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is located in Keystone, South Dakota.  It is a monument to four U.S. presidents who were major contributors to American history. You can the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.  They are carved in the southeast face of Mt.  Rushmore.  A sculptor named Gutzon Borglum had a vision about Mt. Rushmore, and began drilling into the stone mountain in 1927.  The mountain stands 5,725 feet high.  The faces are sixty feet high.  It took fourteen years and cost one million dollars.  It is truly amazing and breathtaking!!

Mt. Rushmore

We want to be home by Friday, August 5th.  Bessie psyches herself up for five days of left lane travel and passing every tractor trailer truck we can find.  Hopefully, we won't have to pass any triples!!  We spend the night in Nebraska.  Bessie is pleasantly surprised, but we stayed on a secondary road all day.  We drove through endless farm country.  There are some small towns, some with populations as small as thirteen.  (The population numbers are on the signs when you enter the towns.)  People are very isolated and it makes you hope everyone likes their neighbors, if they have any!!

        Tuesday - August 2nd - We spend the night in eastern Iowa.  We have seen a lot of flooded farmland due to the spring rains.

Sandbags to keep the road from flooding

 Some of the flooded farmland in Iowa

      Wednesday - August 3rd -We are in Van Wert, Ohio.  It's a very pretty little town, and they had the best restaurant, reminded us of 10 Bridge St.  They even had coconut cream pie.  It was free dessert night, so of course we indulged.
        Thursday - August 4th - We stayed somewhere on Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania.  We are arriving home tomorrow and we can't wait!!  The country is hilly again and beginning to look like home. 
        Friday - August 5th - We arrived home at about 2:00 in the afternoon.  We are tired, but thankful for such a wonderful trip.  8,000 miles and eighteen states later we are home after an incredible journey. This country is beautiful and amazing and around every corner there is a wonderful surprise!!

        Thanks to all who followed this journey.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Stay tuned, next year's trip is in the planning stages.  Nobody wants to talk about it yet, except for me, Bessie.  Maybe along about dreary December I will bring it up!!