Travels

We've returned from a journey. If I had been a bit more insightful when planning it, I might have realized that it was pretty close to the length and placement of the Oregon Trail. Boy was I glad I wasn't in a covered wagon, though! It was a wonderful trip and we had so many adventures, I can't begin to describe them all. I plan to make a ridiculously huge scrapbook to document our travels, but maybe here I'll just hit the high points and share some more personal insights.

We started on July 2 and returned on July 18 to WC, but to our house on the 19th. We went through Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming again, Nebraska, and home. One of the main goals for this trip was to visit my west coast family, whom I have not seen in five years and Adam had never met. Also, Andrew drove up, and we spent some time with Andy and Amanda too. Plus we both got to visit several new states and numerous new places. Finally, we had decided that our main anniversary celebration each year could be a trip of some sort, since our anniversary will always be midsummer and a great time for vacations. I planned the whole trip, and I have to say there were very few hitches in it. In fact, everthing was smooth and went really well!

Since we did far too much stuff to summarize it all, here are some of the high points for me:

• Visiting Laura Ingalls Wilder's home in De Smet, SD. I have always wanted to go there, and I've visisted most of her other homes. The Little House books remain some of my very favorites and I was not disappointed in this site. They had recreated Ma's house on the actual homestead land, and had a working farm there. I really enjoyed seeing the house and sights that Laura saw and wrote most of her books from. We also quickly tripped through downtown De Smet and saw some of the town sights, too.
• The Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD: very corny, but kind of fun! I ate popcorn of course.
• The Badlands. This was an eerie and beautiful place. It seems desolate at first glance, but in fact we saw plenty of wildlife such as praire dogs (I love them!), antelope, porcupines, and more. Adam especially liked it here. It had a lonesome feel to it, but is strangely fascinating. We also went to Wall Drug, which was fun and an inspiring story.
• The Black Hills of South Dakota. There is a lot to see and do here! It's touristy, but not a tourist trap and not terribly crowded. My favorite monument was Crazy Horse because of the meaning behind it (memorializing native heroes and their struggles to remain independent) and the tenacity it has taken to follow that committment and dream to finish the project. It was also really big! Wind Cave was interesting because of the native American legend that life was born here, but the tour was not too exciting. We saw more wildlife and some beautiful scenery and rock formations driving through Custer State Park. Mount Rushmore was exactly as we've always seen it, and not much else to see or do there. It's a nice monument, but was extremely crowded (it was the fourth of July!) and hot and nice for a quick visit, but that was enough.
• Wyoming--Devil's Tower was interesting because it was HUGE, rising from the landscape. We saw climbers on it, ascending the vertical face. I learned that the Native tribes called it variations on Bear's Den, or Bear's Lodge, and it was a sacred place to them. the name Devil's Tower was probably made up by an explorer and gives the place a completely different connotation.
• Wyoming--Medicine Wheel. Easily one of our favorite stops, and one of the few places we stopped "off the itenerary". We drove through the Bighorn Mountains, which were very scenic, and arrived at Medicine Mountain near sunset. We had to hike to the site, about 1 1/2 miles, and it was much cooler there than anywhere we had been so far. It was a very pleasant walk, even through some snow, and the medicine wheel site itself felt very sacred to me. It is one of several known 28-spoked wheel formations made of medium sized rocks on a mountaintop. It is unclear exactly who made it, but is from "prehistoric" (pre-white) times. They think that this might be a site for a vision quest, and I could see why. It felt very peaceful and holy--even with some other people there.
• Glacier National Park. What a beautiful place! It was very crowded, but still dramatic and filled with wildlife. We camped, too the Going to the Sun road, and hiked. This was also our anniversary spot. We spent the 7th hiking through the snow, seeing mountain goats, bighorn sheep, marmots, chipmunks, ground squirrels, and more. We took a boat ride on St. Mary Lake and had several short, lovely hikes. It was cooler and much less humid there. An excellent destination.
• Richland. We got to see Andy and Amanda's home and ate at some great restaurants, and played a board game marathon. It's so nice to have family members who have common interests and that we can have such a fun time with.
• Mt. Rainier. MUCH more impressive than I expected. It's absolutely huge, rising out of the flat lands surrounding. The forests were fragrant, lush, and perfect in my opinion. We hiked to a waterfall and came near the peak of the mountain, so it seemed. We were probably still very far away! We camped and played more games, made s'mores, etc. This was a highlight for me, too.
• Visiting my family. It was so wondreful to see the folks I haven't seen in years, meet new ones, and get reaquainted. I was glad for Adam to finally meet them, too. I do wish we all lived closer, but it was a great visit. Seattle was a fun quick visit, too. We did the Space Needle, the Underground Tour, Pioneer Square, and the Pike Place Market.
• Olympic National Park. Three dramatic ecosystems here: mountains, rainforest, and beaches with tide pools. We did all three, and camped too. Also spontaneously visited a lavender farm, which I LOVED. I cut my own lavender to dry. The tide pools were also really fun because I had never seen anemones or starfish, etc. in the wild before. Plus it was our first view of the Pacific!
• The drive back: not a highlight, but we saw some new country. Mostly desert or deserted areas. Did see the Great Salt Lake briefly and it looked pretty much like a regluar lake. It was a long drive, and boy am I glad Adam doesn't mind driving. We were very glad to be home!

So, quite the trip and that was just a very brief summary. We had a great time, and made many memories. I feel so fortunate to be able to travel like this and we hope to do more in the future. If I gained nothing else from the trip, I certainly gained a new respect for the variety and marvel of God's creation. There is so much He has put out there for us to explore and enjoy, he must like us a lot! :)