From YaYa to Myself

I've been home two weeks now, and I'm noticing that when I'm here, I'm myself, M. I play lots of roles: mom, friend, sister, grandmother, organizer, homeowner, gardener, decorator, and on and on. When I was on the right hand coast, I was "YaYa." That role was the dominate one in my life there, as well it should have been, as that was the point of my time there.

It feels good to be my complete self, to be more completely in my life, rather be an adjunct to other lives.

My Charges this week

Miss R W, age 8.

Miss S W, age 6.

Sisters visiting their daddy and MI. I get to play "Auntie Nanny" for them this week.

We've been telling stories, drawing, and visiting the park.

HOME

I'm home! Settling in will take some time; my bed feels great. Hello to all of you on the left hand coast!

Glacier National Park

We drove out of our way to experience Glacier, and it was everything we had hoped.

Gorgeous gorges:

Scary construction projects on the "Going to the Sun" Highway that cuts through Glacier.

These are sheer cliffs, and the workers are on the outside edge. We followed a pilot car around the construction on our way to Logan Pass.

At this stop we saw the only glacier visible from the Going to the Sun Highway, Jackson Glacier.

The old open top busses continue to transport tourists.

The ranger explained the formations of U-shaped valleys cut by glaciers.

The uplifts are caused by the San Juan plate pushing against layers and layersof sedimentary rock. The glaciers that are left in the park are predicted to be gone by 2030.

Glacier lilies pop right up as soon as the snow melts at Logan Pass.

Here's Blanch in the parking lot. Even the cars have a view!

On the west side of the pass, Avalanche Creek. The west side is more forested.

Walking through a cedar forest surprised me. This mini weeping wall demonstrates that there is water aplenty to support the cedars.

Great Falls Lewis & Clark Museum

The whole expedition of Lewis and Clark is detailed at the museum in Great Falls.

The falls of the Missouri River created a need for a portage.

Depicted here, you can just feel the difficulty of this journey.

Did you know that in many places men from the group waded in the river to pull the boats upstream?

A great museum; an amazing trek.

Toy Drop in Montana

Ugly Isaac loves trees: sitting in trees, climbing trees, looking at trees,

enjoying their delightful scent.

J and I dropped Ugly Isaac at a little trail head in Glacier National Park today.

I hope someone who also loves trees will find him. He's waiting!

Driving: Wyoming to Montana

Wyoming becomes Montana. The scenery doesn't change much. We stopped today at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument:

I was reminded of the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg. Custer made his last stand on this site; he had fought in the Civil War along with many of the 7th calvary of the US Army. History surrounds us. The Lakota were defending their very way of life; the Calvary were attempting to open the country to western expansion. That's the simple version!

Tonight we are sleeping in Harlowton, Montana. Tomorrow we drive to the eastern border of Glacier National Park which is still in Montana. Get prepared for more photos!

Bye Bye Denver

S & J on their new front porch; J and I looked for furniture to fill the great room.

They are looking out at a foothill view and the swimming pool of their complex. Nice.

Wyoming: bluffs where cowboys might be waiting, rows and rows of snow fences, and oil wells.

Free range cattle, but where are the free range chickens?

There was one scary moment on the drive yesterday, a car just ahead of us spun out across the two lanes of traffic on to the right shoulder. J was driving and skillfully wove around the other cars who were avoiding the mess.

When we crossed the Wyoming border, we saw unusual fauna: jackalopes, camels, antelopes mixed in with the cattle. Keeps you awake!

Here's my favorite sight of the drive: the spectators in the galley? Black Angus!

Interstate 70

Kansas on I-70: rolling hills in the east growing flatter as one travels west.

Corn, corn, corn, wheat, cattle, wind farms, and oil wells

The oil wells surprised me.

We overnighted in Hays and ventured on to Denver.

J is staying with her high school friend, I'm staying with my former New Jersey friend now Denver friend. It feels good to stop for a couple days.

Driving day 3 & 4

Abe Lincoln grew up in southern Indiana, memorialized here.

Time zones are crazy here: the zone mark doesn't follow the state line: some live in one time zone and work in another. "Are you fast time or slow time?" is the going question!

A St. Louis stop to see the Arch to the West

The ride to the top of the arch goes in one of these little tram capsules.

Four minutes up, three minutes for the down. Five can fit into a capsule.

The view from the top looking toward St Louis; the curve of the earth is visible in the distance.

J in front of our capsule. . .

The arch was completed in 1965. Designed by Eero Saarinen, Finnish architect. He based his design on the parabola. The skin is stainless steel, the arch, equilateral triangles.

Tonight we sleep in Kansas after a long drive and a stop at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas.

Driving Day 1 & 2

We have begun the drive west. Leaving Virginia on July 5, we got an early start which allowed for a few stops including one at Charlottesville and the University of Virginia.

Thomas Jefferson founded UV in 1819.

The Greenbriar in White Sulfur Springs West Virginia is beautiful.

We just drove around the valet parking circle to have a look.

I was taken by West Virginia: mountains, artists, green. "The Tamarack" just off the interstate near our hotel in Beckley contained a giant gift shop featuring West Virginia artists, writers, musicians, and WV made wares. Did you know that Fiesta Ware is made in West Virginia?

The cafeteria's delicious food came from The Greenbriar.

The Capitol building's dome in Charleston, WV, really is gold leaf.

West Virginians quilt! An exhibit of my favorite pastime covered the walls of the museum adjacent to the capitol.

After West Virginia came Kentucky. Neat horse pastures with miles of fences; the bourbon trail. We visited the Buffalo Trace distillery and got in on the last tour of the day.

Tonight's destination is Corydon, Indiana.

Southern Indiana is very different from Northern Indiana as I recall from my eastern journey.

And now to sleep. . . .

How do you say AAAAH?

We treated ourselves to the spa at our hotel. . . . . AAAAH, indeed: a facial for J, a reflexology treatment for me. Pool, sun, relax . . . . just what I needed after frantically packing and leaving.

Tomorrow we really begin as we turn west on I-64.

Good Bye G Town

One of two tunnels on the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel/Bridge route.

We left this morning for a swing through Delaware and Maryland to Virginia and Virginia Beach for a bit of quiet, spa, beach time before hitting the serious road. The most fascinating part of the drive today was crossing the Chesapeake Bay via a bridge/tunnel. You drive on a low bridge for miles, then the road dives down under the bay! You miss the water because they have built man-made islands for the bridge/tunnel transitions. The bay is huge, and difficult to get a photo of the expanse of it. . . .

Man made island . . .

You can see here a boat passing over the tunnel section, and the opposite man made island where the opening to the tunnel occurs. Pretty interesting.

We're staying at a lovely, relaxing, spa-like place for 3 nights before turning directly west. My car is full, and J and I are enjoying each other's company.

Last night we had ribs from the "Rib Crib" in G Town, and I got a lovely going away surprise from my two best girls. The best thing is that they will be visiting my home in early August.