Reflections Along the Way

Our house in Montana

What a week!  This section of cyberspace is not nearly adequate enough to share my experiences from the week, but I’ll try to provide a worthwhile synopsis.  Our trip started out on Saturday, June 13th, at 3:40 am with a call from Orbitz alerting us that our 6:30 flight was on time.  (thanks, orbitz…)  We flew to SLC, where we met up with Steve’s parents (Joe and Beth), then flew on to Idaho Falls, where we rented a big blue van and drove a couple of hours north to our house about 30 miles east of West Yellowstone, near the town of Ennis, Montana.  Meanwhile, Brent and Megan flew into Bozeman, where they were picked up by David and Allyssa who were driving in from Missoula.  Amazingly, we all arrived within 20 minutes of each other, but not before a small fiasco with finding the keys to the house…our first night we were all tired and drove into town (which ended up  being an hour away) for some buffalo burgers from a place called Bullwinkle’s.  On the way back to our house, along the 6 mile gravel road thru our “neighborhood”, we saw a herd of elk, several pronghorn sheep, 2 beautiful owls, and a giant rainbow.  This was only the start of all the wildlife we would see throughout the week!

The view in our backyard!

Sunday, June 14th ~
We hiked the 8600 foot Bunsen Peak today, which had spectacular views, and a little bit of every kind of terrain – starting with smooth switchbacks, some snowfields, a little bit of scree at the summit, with a burned forest area, grassy meadows, and ending with a jeep road down the backside of the mountain.  The round trip was 7 miles.  Brent, Megan, and I opted to extend the route a little bit along the way and switchbacked our way down into the Sheepeater Canyon for a view of the 150 foot Osprey Falls, bringing our total up to 10 miles on the day.  On the way back, we even saw a black bear poking around in the meadow down by the river!  It was a fantastic day out in Creation, and ended up being one of my favorite days!  And what better way to end the day than with fresh, hot, pizza!

Monday, June 15th ~
Today was a drive-a-thon…since dusk appeared to be our best chance for wildlife viewing, we decided it would be better to sleep in a little, have a nice lunch at the house, then bring a picnic dinner to enjoy in the park.  We drove through almost the entire northern section of the park, stopping at various pullouts with the binoculars to check out the wildlife.  We saw a bald eagle being pestered by a hawk (which gave great perspective on just how BIG the eagle was), a black wolf, two more black bears, and some baby buffalo running out on the plain!

Snowfields on the Bunsen Peak Trail

Tuesday, June 16th~
Today was a visit to Geyser Country.  The most exciting part of our day happened when a big black bear ran out in front of our car across the road!  We hiked a mile to the viewpoint of Grand Prismatic Spring, which was spectacular with all the different colors.  We arrived at Old Faithful about 30 minutes before the next eruption, so we sat around poised and ready with our cameras.  To be honest, compared to the other geysers we saw later on in the day, Old Faithul was kind of a let down.  (Apparently, O.F is neither the tallest NOR the most predictable, but rather is the tallest of the more predictable ones.)  After the eruption, we ate lunch at the Old Faithful Inn, which had been on Beth’s “bucket list” since she was a little girl.  Once that got checked off, we hiked around the boardwalk trails looking at all the geysers.  We were lucky enough to see several more geysers erupting, including the Castle Geyser, and the Grand geyser, which are on the “must see” list of geysers in the park. 

View from the Bunsen Peak Summit

Wednesday, June 17th~
We decided to take a break from the long drive into the park today, and everyone kind of went their separate ways.  Joe and David had to drive Allyssa back to Missoula, and went fishing around that area in the afternoon.  Steve and Brent went fishing at the Three Dollar Bridge area, right near our house, and Beth, Megan, and I spied on the boys for a bit, then went for a beautiful hike in the Beaver Ponds area.  On the way there, we saw some fantastic bighorn sheep crossing the road!  They seemed more concerned with headbutting each other than with worrying about the cars, and we sat and watched them for a long time.  We had our system worked out – I went first on bear watch, Megan went second, also on bear watch, with plans to go for the pepper spray in my backpack if need be, and Beth was on wildflower identification watch.    We were a good team and hiked a good bit of the afternoon, seeing tons of beautiful flowers, and every sign of a grizzly bear except for the actual bear itself.  (scratchings on trees, tracks, poo…)  On our way out, we noticed that some bad weather seemed to hanging out near our house, even though we had had clear skies the whole afternoon (you can see for miles and miles and MILES around out there, hence the nickname, “Big Sky.”)  The closer we got to our turnoff, the more apparent it became that Steve and Brent had gotten DELUGED at the bridge…when they weren’t waiting for us at the bridge, we hoped that meant they had found a ride back to the house, but we ran into them a couple of miles up from the bridge on the way back…we felt a little guilty about all the fun we had had while they were soaked and shivering in the HAIL by the river most of the afternoon, but the bright spot was that at least Brent caught a brown trout, and Steve caught a  big whitefish (which evidently I learned is not a “cool” fish to catch, but I was proud of Steve anyway!)

Steve's whitefish!

Thursday, June 18th~
We drove thru Yellowstone Lake today, and hiked the Pelican Valley Trail, which apparently is prime grizzly as well as moose habitat, but it was a no show for both.  In fact, we didn’t see very many animals at all today, which was surprising.  My highlight for the day was hiking to Sublime Point in the Canyon area.  Absolutely gorgeous views, casual hiking, peaceful setting – just amazing!  Afterwards we stopped for a better view of the Lower Falls on the Red Rock Trail. 

Friday, June 19th~
Today was a fishing day.  We all split up and found a spot on the river.  Some of us were more successful than others.  As for me, I caught a large stick as well as a clump of moss.  I only fell down once.    But I had a blast, and the best part was tromping thru the river with the waders on! 

In front of the Grand Geyser

Overall, it was a fabulous trip!  Seeing so much of God’s handiwork so up close and personal was amazing!  So many awesome memories and experiences.  Steve and I feel truly blessed to have been able to go there!  Thanks so much to Joe and Beth for bringing everyone out there!!! 

On Saturday morning, the time had come for everyone to leave and go their separate ways, and for Steve and me, our journey was only halfway thru!  We rented a Dodge journey and headed south to Utah! 

I went to a wedding shower for Lisette, my friend and co-worker, on on Thursday night.  For the past few weeks, she and I have had this endless conversation about these granola bars that I make.  When we first started talking about it, I gave her the recipe, but she misplaced it.  I wrote it out a second time, but she had not had a chance to make them yet.  But we’ve been talking about them forever.  Well, I decided that even though it had nothing to do with a wedding, I would make some for her and throw them in with the rest of my gift to her.  Then the more I thought about it, I realized that this list of “ingredients” might be a little more “wedding-oriented” than I originally thought.  I decided to have some fun with analogies and include a “Recipe for Success” for her married life as well.  The neat thing is, I think this meant more to her than my “real” gift (something that is green and always the right size…)  Here’s the actual list of all the ingredients I used (except that I forgot the flour…) along with my analogies…

DATES ~ go on them!  Do special things for each other to keep your relationship sweet!
NUTS ~ do silly things together!  There is a time to be serious, but don’t be afraid to go nuts and get crazy every now and then.
OATS ~  the “bulk”, used to keep things moving (and not just your digestive system!)  Make sure you have good communication to keep the relationship moving forward.
MAPLE SYRUP ~  Keep your focus on God – that’s the glue that will hold all the other ingredients together!
WHEAT GERM ~ As your start your new life together, keep some old traditions from childhood to remember where you came from (*Lisette had told me stories of how wheat germ reminds her of when she was little, b/c her mom would make her put it on her oatmeal)
FLAX SEEDS ~ As you grow together, start some new traditions that are just yours! (*Lisette was not too sure about these when I first mentioned them, and I had to bring her some for her to sample…)
EGGS ~ Cast your cares and worries on Christ.  “Take my ‘yoke’ upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Matthew 11:29
VANILLA ~ the old standby…simple, everyday experiences together can add lots of flavor and meaning to your relationship…
CINNAMON ~ …but don’t be afraid to spice things up a bit, and find new ways to keep your relationship colorful!

Who knew granola bars could be a metaphor for good relationships!    Lisette said that she is going to frame it and put in her kitchen as a reminder for both her and Jay on the days when (not if!) being nice doesn’t come natural.

Geez, today was one of those days at Lake Crabtree…Steve and I met at 3:45.  It all started when I stepped out of the car into the middle of August (not sure why I hadn’t noticed earlier how freakin’ hot it was today!)   When Steve got out of the car, he discovered that his rear tire was flatter than a pancake.  We both kind of gave each other a groaning look, and moved his bike into the shade, so that he could change the tube with the crappy emergency pump that he carries on the frame of his bike (we still don’t know why it got flat, but are assuming the heat?).  By 4:00, we were ready to roll, and only slightly annoyed about the tire and the fact that we had forgotten to refill our Camel-Bak’s from the last ride, so we were low on water.

It definitely wasn’t as humid as it is in mid-August, and there was a nice breeze, and of course, lots of shade in the woods on the trails.  At one point while stopping to catch our breath a bit, I remember Steve asking me how my bike felt, b/c I had been having problems with my chain going slack whenever I back-pedalled, causing the gears to lock up.  I commented that it was okay, but felt a little weird, like I didn’t quite trust my bike.  It turns out that that was pretty good foreshadowing.  Evidently, the screw that holds my  “Lower Pulley Unit”  together (this toothy gear thing  is responsible for keeping the tension in the chain) had slowly but surely over the past few rides been working itself looser and looser.  After 25 minutes on the trails today, it decided to fall apart…in pieces.  My gears started doing this weird grinding thing, and after a minute or so, I realized that something had gone horribly wrong.  Turns out, over the past half mile or so, the little screws, nuts, and washers had one by one been popping off unbeknownst to me, until I went over a log that catapulted the entire pulley unit right off the bike.  Now, Lake Crabtree is not a big park, but hiking out with two mountain bikes, already a little peeved, keeping my eyes peeled for other bikers so I can jump out of the way, didn’t seem like the most fun option.  We decided to look for the pieces, and after about 10 minutes or so, lo and behold, found all FIVE pieces that went with the  pulley unit.  Steve worked on it for a good 10 minutes, while I fought off the mosquitoes and ticks.  He then pronounced it fixed.  We got back on the bikes, and after about 30 seconds, we realized it most definitely was NOT fixed.  Deja vu with aforementioned mosquitoes and ticks, and probably more like 20 minutes this time, with several more failed attempts, Steve thankfully was finally able to not only get the piece back on the bike, but also convince it to do its job. 

While Steve was turning into a greasy pool of sweat working on my bike the second time around, I began to get a little irritated.  Not at Steve, mind you, but at the whole situation.  All I wanted to do was let off some end-of-the-school-year steam in the woods on my mountain  bike, not too much to ask for, right?  At this point we had spent more time searching for and tweaking with microsopic bike parts in the woods than we had spent riding.  The 457 (probably not quite that many ) other bikers that zoomed gleefully by us, oblivious to our plight did not help the situation. 

It was around then that I was struck with the magnitude of my selfishness and crappy attitude…with all the unjustice, sickness, poverty, and violence going on in the world RIGHT THIS MINUTE, I felt the need to piss and moan that my afternoon bike ride got messed up?  Really?  Even if I de-globalize for a moment and keep it local – there are a million and one reasons far worse as to why my afternoon bike ride could have been messed up.  One of us could have gotten into a car wreck on the way over.  One of us could have wrecked our bike into a tree or another rider.  The Lower Pulley Unit falling off my bike could have caused me to wreck, all of these things at the very LEAST would probably ruin the trip we have planned in 2 weeks to Montana and Utah, and very likely, ruin even more.  And I want to complain b/c we had a pump to fix Steve’s tire, enabling us to still ride?  I’d like to feel sorry for myself, b/c 5 tiny parts exploded off my bike over the course of a half mile, and we FOUND them all?  Or maybe I’d rather brood about how my wonderful husband who is by no means a bike mechanic was able to fix my bike so that I could ride out good as new, instead of hike out in the dark…

I guess its all in the way you look at things.  Sometimes its a blessing just to make it out on two wheels.  And on those days, all you can do is shake your head and laugh.