7/24/2007

So at this date, our vacation part of the trip is over, now just the long drive is ahead. Tonight we are in Ogden, UT. Let me recap, and attempt to remember, what all we did.

So the next morning, we went to Wind Cave. The boys were very excited about going into a cave. Wind Cave is known mostly for its boxwork formations, which aren't as spectacular as some other cave formations, but very cool nonetheless. It was cool and dark in the cave, which was a welcome relief. Thing 2 was a trooper, but needed to be carried up several of the sets of stairs. Thing 1 earned yet another Junior Ranger badge.

We next moved on to Jewel Cave. On the way there, we drove through a storm that dumped rain and hail on us. It was pretty violent, and made driving on those mountain roads all the more exciting. We arrived to find out that our only tour option was the Jewel Cave Discovery Tour, which we thought should be renamed the Cruel Tease Tour, since the tour consists of descending to the cave, but staying in the first chamber for 20 minutes. This tour was made more exciting for us when the power went out above (due to the same storm system), and our ranger got trapped in the elevator. They eventually sent us down a second ranger, but apparently poor Shea was stuck in elevator for about 3 hours. The boys were very disappointed that we didn't get to descend the tempting staircases that led to the lower levels. So we decided we would try to return the next day and take a longer tour. But now it was time to head on over to our hotel for the evening.

We drove to Keystone, SD, which is right next to Mount Rushmore. The weather was still rainy, and the clouds had descended to the point that we couldn't see the faces when we drove by. That night we ate a a local cafe. Sweetie had bison ribs and I had a bison steak. Quite tasty. The boys swam in the pool after dinner, while Sweetie did some laundry (which was sorely needed at this point in the trip).

The next morning, the sun broke through the clouds. We drove up to Mount Rushmore, and enjoyed breakfast in full view of the four Presidents. For being a bit of a one-trick pony, the folks at Mt Rushmore have really put together a great park. They have exhibits on both the building of sculpture and the historical significance of the subjects.

We didn't spend too much time there, however, as we wanted to get back to Jewel Cave. This time, we got on a much longer tour that was spectacular. We saw all sorts of groovy cave formations, and the Things were fully satisfied (as were Sweetie and myself). I liked the cave bacon. Thing 1 liked the walls covered with nailhead spar, and Thing 2 liked his 'cave kiss' (a drip of water fell on his face). Sweetie like the soda straw and some of the wet formations. We all agreed it was definitely worth the return trip to take this tour. And Thing 1 earned another Junior Ranger badge.

We now drove over to Devil's Tower. Interestingly, the name Devil's Tower is due to a mis-translation of the Native American name (which, of course, I can't remember). We picked out a lovely campsite in the shadow of the Tower, and then decided to go on a hike. Devil's Tower is really, really impressive. I was shocked by how massive and geometric and beautiful it is. We hiked around the base of the tower on a nice shady trail (did I mention that we happened to be traveling at a time when temperatures were predicted to be 10 to 20 degrees above average?). The Things really enjoyed jumping around on the rocks, even though that behavior was driving us nuts at the time), and we saw some good wildlife - mule deer, rock doves in their native habitat, turkey vultures and squirrels. Back at camp we had lovely light on the tower as we ate dinner. It's a good day when you eat breakfast in full view of Mt. Rushmore and dinner next to Devil's Tower. That night Thing 1 and I attended a ranger program. At one point the ranger was talking about the stone that makes up Devil's Tower, phonolite porphyry. He said something about how it was a rare type that occurred mostly in Africa and that there was only a little bit in North America. I nudged Thing 1, pointed to the Tower and said "Yeah, only a little bit."

The following day was a traveling day. We packed up and drove all day to Yellowstone. We took a very scenic route through the mountains to get there, and entered through the northeast entrance. This meant that we got to drive the Lamar Valley at dusk. We saw bison and elk and even a momma black bear with her cub. Quite successful on our first hour in the park! We stayed in Gardiner, MT that night, just outside the north entrance. The next morning we grabbed a campsite in Indian Creek, and headed off for a short hike up to Mystic Falls. We drove down to Biscuit Basin and saw the springs there and then headed up the trail. Did I mention that they were experiencing record heat? On top of that the fire in 1988 killed many of the mature lodgepole pines in the park, and the replacement trees are only about 8 feet tall, meaning that there is little shade in much of the park. So hiking uphill in the heat of an extremely hot, dry day with two small Things can have some unpleasant moments. The falls were pretty, though and we had some fun climbing up a rocky slope we found. At times, the Things (Thing 2 in particular) found their hiking rhythm and were pretty good, but at other times, it was like pulling teeth. Occasionally, a hat was thrown to the ground as we were informed that it was "very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, hot!"

We next headed down to see Old Faithful blow. May I say here that the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone is completely overdeveloped and an absolute nightmare. The area immediately surrounding the geyser is okay (how pretty is a geyser basin to start with?), but the stores and the lodge and the huge parking lots and wide roads and loads of people were god-awful. We had a good view of the eruption, and I think the Things were suitably impressed, but we were glad to be on our way from there. Our next stop was Grand Prismatic Spring. This, I think, is best viewed from the air, but being able to see the microbial mats changing as the water flowing from the pool cooled and changed chemically was really cool. The colors were stupendous, but every time that hot, sulfurous steam blew across, it was mighty unpleasant. We made a half-hearted attempt to find one of the springs that one of the projects I'm working on was sampled from, but it was getting late, so we headed back to camp. It's remarkable how large that park is. You can't get as much done in a day as you might think because of the distances involved. The first time I realized Old Faithful was 50 miles away, I was dumbfounded.

Well, it's getting late. I still have another day of Yellowstone and a day at Grand Teton to get through, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

7/17/2007

The next day was a long drive day. The boys did pretty well. They played Legos and watched a movie or two. We got into Badlands National Park at around 3pm (I think). We were immediately met by some outstanding jagged formations. What a cool geography! And so varied. There are steep, teeth-like peaks, sod tables (flat butte-like things), rounded mounds, and even the occasional hoodoo. Every cliff is banded in grays and rust reds. Although I must say that the formations were smaller than they at first appeared. They looked like they should be huge mountains, but most were less than a hundred feet tall.

It was hot and a little windy. The first thing I discovered, while setting up the tent, was that I had left the tent stakes at the last campsite. So Dad ran off to try to purchase stakes so the tent wouldn't blow away. After a successful (overpriced) shopping trip, I returned triumphant to camp where Sweetie said "Walk in the tent." I did so, to discover that actually the tent stakes were trapped underneath the tent. (Chagrin.) We made dinner (bratwursts) and had just enough time to catch the ranger program on re-introduction of native mammal species to the park - bison, swift foxes, black-footed ferrets, and mountain goats.

At bedtime, it was hot. The Things were tired, and fell asleep quickly, but I sweated and tossed for a while. I think I woke up around 2 or 3 am, and by then it had cooled off to a comfortable temperature. The next morning, we had a quick breakfast and then went on a ranger-led geology walk. It wasn't that informative. Sweetie told Thing 1 he needed to become a geologist so he could tell us about how the formations, uh, formed. It was hot. (This is a theme.) The weather report said it was supposed to be 102. We hung out in the visitor center for a while. Their displays were great, and they had a very nice 20 minute movie. (And it was air-conditioned!) Then it was time for Thing 1's Junior Ranger program, which was also on geology, and followed the same course as the geology walk that morning. Oops. Anyway, with that out the way, it was back for hot lunch. We decided that in the afternoon we would stay out of the heat by staying in the car. We first drove up to Minuteman Missile National Monument, and Thing 1 got a second Junior Ranger badge. From there we were going to go on a loop drive. We decided to stop off at the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands office. They had a great educational display as well - we highly recommend it - and it also had a Junior Ranger- like program, so Thing 1 earned a third badge.

We did eventually get on the loop drive, although we took a wrong turn so it wasn't really a loop. We saw a huge prairie dog city which was great. The little guys were peeking out and running around. Very cute. We also saw some mountain goats, mommies and babies. Very cool. And one bison at great distance (somewhat disappointing). The views down into the valley were amazing. There was again the huge variety in the landscape, this time with the vast grasslands running right up to the edge of the severe landscape. Very striking. We also saw one area where plant like caused yellows and greens to run into and intensify the reds of the soil in these nicely rounded mounds.

We decided it was too hot to cook dinner, so we made the mistake of going to the Cedar Lodge restaurant. I don't know what the problem was, but it took forever for us to get our food, and it was overcooked when we got it. This was not great for two hungry, tired Things. But at least it was air-conditioned. We got back to camp in time for the ranger program on the history of the Badlands. This was not engaging for the youngsters, so they left. Once again at bedtime, it was sweaty-hot. But we slept okay.

The next morning (this morning) Sweetie got up early to bird. We made pancakes for breakfast, which went very smoothly, and then broke camp. They boys greatly enjoyed running up and down the little hills, while we packed up. We saw a few bunnies around camp. We drove over to the site of a paleological dig called the big pig dig. It was cool to see actual scientists doing their work. There was a jaw that was already plastered up, and a spine and another jaw being uncovered. The Things really like this.

We left the Badlands, and its heat and hard water behind. I really enjoyed the scenery, but I wasn't sorry to be leaving. I can see why the homesteaders called it the Badlands. We drove over to Custer State Park, which is lovely and has lots to do. We did the wild life drive, but didn't see too much wildlife: a few pronghorns, and some prairie dogs. The bison herd was off in a valley. But the day was saved by the Chuckwagon Dinner. We got hats and bandannas and loaded into big wagon (pulled by pickups). We took off down the road and right into the middle of the herd of 400 bison. We were surrounded by cows and calfs, and the huge bulls. It was really impressive. We had a singer on the wagon who was very good and funny. We sang songs the whole way. Dinner was unremarkable, but tasty. There was more music, and a little dancing (the hokey-pokey and chicken dance?) And then it was back on the wagons and home. The boys loved it. Tonight we're staying in a cute little cabin and taking some well-deserved showers.

7/14/2007

Leaving the house was a strange experience. One feeling I had was "once I had all this!", since our new living quarters will be much smaller. Another was immense sadness to be leaving not only this house, but the area in which we spent the last 10 years of our lives. Maryland saw us married, was the birthplace of both boys, was the burial place of two of our cats. We played and laughed and cried and did pretty much everything in life in our time in Maryland. So it's hard to leave all that behind.

As I was riding in the shuttle to the airport, I tried to think of the many times I had driven down I270 - to the NIH, to the Zoo, to Bethesda for dinner with friends, to my tap dance lessons - and the George Washington Parkway - to DC for dinner, plays at the Shakespeare Theatre, shows at the Kennedy Center, trips to museums and the monuments. A lot gets packed into ten years.

And so goodbye to Maryland and off to Chicago. The flight was smooth enough. I got my luggage with no problems and Sweetie and the Things found me with no problems. We met up with Ralph, a friend of mine from Bucknell days, and his new bride for dinner. It was good to see them and talk to them, since we missed the wedding. Then it was downtown to a hotel off Grant Park.

The next day was spent visiting the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. In the Field museum we looked at the Ancient Egypt exhibit, the Evolving Planet exhibit (which traces the history of life on earth from the first single-cell organisms through dinosaurs and to modern life forms), and the Underground Adventure, which taught about the variety and magnitude of microscopic life in the soil. The boys had a great time and behaved very well. The underground and the dinosaurs left a big impression, while the thing mostly remembered from the Egyptian exhibit was that the guts were pulled out. After a quick lunch, we headed over to the Shedd to look at the dolphins, whales, and Amazon exhibit. We decided to try an adventure for dinner. We took the subway uptown and ate at Gino's East. Again, the boys did pretty well, although they did feel the need to touch every building in the city.

Friday morning we started the day by going up the Sears tower. It was a lovely day, and the view was magnificent. Poor Thing 1 bought a souvenir that was dropped, broken and discarded before we left the building. We drove to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and camped in Wyalusing State Park. The park sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. It was pretty quiet as state parks go. We had a campfire and made s'mores. The boys slept well that night, the parents, not so much. Our bodies have aged past being able to be comfortable sleeping on the ground.

The boys made sure our neighbors were up early the next morning, as we broke camp and headed over to Effigy Mounds National Monument. This is a place where ancient natives built earthen mounds in various shapes over burial sites. It was a beautiful park, very clean, with well-maintained trails. And it had beautiful views of the Mississippi river valley and the mounds. We saw a garter snake and a pickerel frog, and Thing 1 earned a Junior Ranger badge. After a quick picnic lunch, it was back into the car for a long drive across Iowa. It was peculiar how Wisconsin seemed so scenic while Iowa seemed very boring. Lots of corn. We were driving across on Rt 20 (rather than I90), which was likely a much more interesting road, even if it was not necessarily more scenic. (if that makes any sense). It reminded me a bit of the movie Cars when they talk about in the old days the road moved with the land, not through it. Anyway, after the long drive (and some long naps), they boys are not tired this evening.

Lift-off

So this is it, then. I'm down to my last two hours in Maryland (as a resident, anyway). What is not done will not get done before I leave and must be let go. I made one last trip to my former place of employment to say some goodbyes (they were getting really sick of seeing me). I'm doing some cleaning. My bags are packed.

It is an interesting phenomenon that when preparing for a big event like a trip, or a move, or even a wedding, the stress level can ramp up dramatically. But when the time comes for the plans to be put into action, it all melts away. Once events are out of your control, one can relax and see how it all turns out.

I'm off to Chicago today to meet up with Sweetie and the Things. We will have dinner with an old friend from my alma mater and his wife. Tomorrow we will do some touristy things downtown.

Now I'm sorry to be geeky, but a sojourn of this magnitude and import must be christened with suitably meaningful words, and I can think of none better than Frodo's traveling song from Fellowship of the Ring:

The Road goes ever on and on
     Down from the door where it began.
   Now far ahead the Road has gone,
     And I must follow, if I can,
   Pursuing it with eager feet,
     Until it joins some larger way
   Where many paths and errands meet.
     And whither then? I cannot say.

The Adventure Begins

We were able to include a few more 'lasts' in the last few days: last visit to Nina's, last day of playing with the neighborhood kids. We had a near tragedy when it looked like the rain was going to prevent us, (well, mostly Thing 1) from seeing fireworks on Independence Day, but the rain stopped and all was well again. So, for the kids anyway, it was an enjoyable last few days in Maryland.

After a hectic few days of packing, this morning Sweetie and the Things were packed in the car and are off to visit Grandma W (and all of Sweetie's other friends and relations). It's amazing how much there is to do when you're going on a cross-country trip with no plans to return. The day before was quite stressful with us trying to make sure we had everything packed for camping out, took plenty of clothes for the trip, and weren't overlooking anything we might need once we got to the island and before our household stuff arrives (which will probably not be for 6-8 weeks). We also were trying to figure out which things we could ship out. I have also been trying to get rid of some pieces of furniture (including a car) that we will not move with us, which meant following up on many emails and phone calls.

I went to sleep last night fretting about what still needed to be done before I left, and whether we would have a good vacation, and whether we would like living on the island, whether I would like my job, whether I would be successful at my job, etc, etc, etc. Finally I fell asleep and when I awoke, the fretting began anew. I am feeling better now (such thoughts always seem to be magnified late at night), especially since I got quite a few things accomplished today, but there is still much to do.

The other day, I actually caught myself getting excited about how much fun the vacation is going to be. That hadn't happened before with all the stress and anxiety of the trip and the move. Sweetie laughed when I told her. So an auspicious beginning, I think. News from the road today was that the boys were behaving and the car was behaving. I do hope they have a good visit on the farm. But for me it's errands to do before I leave, and errands to do before I leave (with apologies to Robert Frost).

Lasts

Life these days seems a never-ending string of lasts. Starting way back in April with my last day of work (although I've been back to the Institute many times since), we've had Thing 1's last day of school, and his last Tiger Cub meeting, Sweetie's last class, Thing 2's last day at daycare. My parents have been down for the last time, and when my Mom recently left, she took our cat with her, so we had our last week with him.

There's been a parade of goodbye dinner parties. We've recently hosted my former group from work, friends from NIH days, friends from Chapel Hill, and friends from Bucknell. There has been an element of the ridiculous surrounding
these last two, since we have only seen these people a few times since they moved into the area. There's always been plenty of time to see them, so we never did, and now that we're leaving, we're trying to shoehorn in a last visit with them.

Our leave date has now taken the form of impending doom. What with Sweetie and the boys leaving at the end of this week (due to a schedule change),
everything is imminent, which ramps up the stress level unbelievably. We still have furniture and a car to get rid of. Packing is not done. The camping equipment is not fully laid out. (And here am I working on my blog...) The house is still showing. I have a list of 15 things to do of which I did parts of 3 today. And there's a holiday coming up on which we will spend a last afternoon at a friends house and pool. I've been going there almost annually since I graduated from Bucknell. We are so very out of time.

I guess I need to get back to doing something productive. It's sort of my last chance.

There and Back Again

We took Thing 1 and Thing 2 to Catalina this weekend so they could see what it was like before we actually moved out. I think this may have relieved some of Thing 1's anxiety about the move.

We flew out Friday afternoon, got in around 2:30, grabbed some 'dinner' at the airport, and then got a shuttle to the Catalina Express terminal in San Pedro. We had some time to kill before our ferry, so we did some sight-seeing. For those of you who have never been to the San Pedro Catalina Express terminal, it is in a very, um, interesting location. Directly under the Vincent Thomas bridge at the end of the 110, it is in the middle of the Port of LA. On one side there was a GIANT freighter being unloaded by GIANT cranes. (You really have to see these things to have an appreciation of their size.) On the other side was the cruise ship terminal. We got to see the Monarch of the Seas pull out. And there is also a retired Navy boat the SS Lane Victory to look at. Chester (a stuffed bear) almost got left at the bocce courts, but Sweetie found him while doing some bird watching.

The Things managed to stay awake for the entire boat trip, despite the facts that 1) it had already been a very long day, 2) the sun had gone down, and 3) the trip was extra long because of the stop in Avalon. I guess your first trip across the channel is exciting. When we got in to Two Harbors, we were greeted by our friend John and some other faculty who happened to be out with a class. We walked up to the 'townhouse' where we'll be living. The boys were very bouncy until we lay them down, and then they fell asleep immediately.

The next day we took a drive into the interior, saw some bison (including a baby), saw the burn area, and ate lunch at the Airport in the Sky. We also showed the Things the Wrigley Marine Science Center and then had dinner with our friends. The kids played video games. Sunday we went kayaking in the morning. We saw some sea lions basking and the kelp beds. We could see some garibaldi's down by the rocks. It was fun and no-one fell out or got bonked on th head with a paddle. We also took a hike up the ridge above the WMSC and had a close encounter with two bison who had wandered through the fence. The kids were unimpressed since they were busy playing swords with dried fennel stalks. Once again, everyone was exhausted by the end of the day (and Dad was sunburned).

Monday was another long travel day. First a drive to Avalon to catch the ferry, then the ferry, then a taxi to the airport, then the (long) flight home, then the short trip on the 'mobile lounge' (bus) (since we flew into Dulles) and then the car ride home. Arriving home after midnight, Thing 2 was full of pep since he slept for about half the plane flight. Thing 1 could barely stand up, and had school the next morning.

We got a better look at the house where we'll be living. It's pretty small. We got a layout of the place and I've been making little furniture blobs to arrange. But it's clear that a good deal of our stuff will have to go into storage.

There are still many unknowns, and zero hour is approaching. The adventure is nigh.