A Personal Note

Just a small note to thank all those who have added comments- thank you so much! It's great to know that somebody is reading this!

I've been trying to keep this blog to matters of geographic travel, but I will quickly insert that there have been more than a few times on the trip out here that my stomach hurt and I was feeling a bit like:

What the (fill in your favorite word) am I doing?

What a crazy life choice- Idaho?
If only I had stronger medication, perhaps I could wake up and this would all be a dream.

But today, having met more people that I will be working with and having bought myself a lamp for my room, I feel little bit closer to calm and to even enjoying this beautiful place. I drove Dad to the airport today. Although I'm sad to see him go, because we've had an amazing time traveling together, I'm happy to be here.

Ketchum

So while in Ketchum, on Wednesday, we saw our first famous person. (Little known fact, Sun Valley is actually just a resort, the whole town around it is called Ketchum, although Sun Valley does have a Post Office, so you can impress your friends with a P.O. Box in the L.A. of the West). We saw...are you ready...Tony Robbins! (For any of those who don't watch t.v- he is a well known inspirational speaker. He helps people make money and has recently added fitness guru to his resume). No, I didn't recognize him, although he is rather gigantic, but as soon as Mr. Robbins walked into the hamburger shop, Dad bet me a dollar that it was him. Dad won the bet and got Tony's autograph to prove it. Tony didn't offer an immediate donation to the Marietta, YMCA (Dad is the director there), but I'm sure that is to come in the near future.



After Ketchum, we went back to the ranch and had a short hike. This is a picture from the top of a nearby knob. I have a lot of pictures that show more of the mountains, they just keep going and going. They are so beautiful.




A view of part of the ranch from the knob and me on the knob.








After the hike, we got a tour around the ranch by a fellow employee Jeff, who is from State College, PA and built his own log cabin (Dad and he had lots to talk about!)



A view from RedFish Lodge, where Dad and I had dinner Wednesday night.











Tonight, Thursday, this was the sunset view from the main lodge, where the wireless internet is located. Wow!

Wednesday

We had dinner last night in Lower Stanley at the Bridgestreet Cafe. Local beer is good, as is local fish.

We woke up on the Ranch this morning to snow falling. It's hard to see in this picture, but those are large chunks of snow! It melted as it hit the ground, but I'm beginning to believe we're not in North Carolina anymore.

We drove into Ketchum, ID, about an hour away. To find a Starbucks (yes, apparently when I'm not in my hometown, I'm fine with drinking corporate coffee!) It is a darling town and makes me feel like I'm not completely in the boonies. Hopefully, the weather will clear up a little and we'll get to walk around the ranch and surrounding trails.

Tuesday: Evening arrival in Idaho

We made it to the right state!!










Beautiful mountain views across large valleys.









We made it to the Ranch!




The main lodge.





A guest cottage.

Tuesday: Yellowstone in the morning

Dad with the lower Yellowstone falls behind him. The falls are over 300 feet high, taller than Niagara Falls (although not as much volume of water as Niagara).








Me with Old Faithful behind me.











There she blows! Old Faithful is a geyser that goes off every 90 to 120 minutes. My great-grandmother, grandmother and father and I have now all seen her blow!







Buffalo!






Fox

Monday: across Wyoming to Yellowstone

Snow on the Wyoming mountains.

Beautiful mountains and valleys.

Welcome to Yellowstone.

We spent the night in a cabin in the park.

Mount Rushmore & Crazy Horse

We made it to Mount Rushmore today. It was truly amazing. The dedication it took to complete this amazing sculpture blew my mind. We also met an older man named Joseph who filled us in on what it was like to be a democrat in North Dakota and why Castro wasn't such a bad guy. Gotta love America!

Then we went to the Crazy Horse mountain sculpture that is still in progress. The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, (and his wife and children who carry on his work) refused to take any federal money for the work on the sculpture. He didn't want to tax payers to pay for it, only people who wanted to help with the project. It is an amazingly large feat. So far the head is carved, the arm, horse and then park are still to come.

The picture above shows part of the white model that will be the shape of the mountain. In the background is the rock that they are carving. Crazy Horse's head is carved on top. The small circle in the rock is where his armpit will be.

I also found this link in my favorites, I have no idea where I came across it: http://www.crazyhorse.org/carving/face/005.jpg

It's always best to take your glamour shot with "Fighting Stallions" in the background.

We are spending the night in a darling lodge in Newcastle, WY. The room has two separate rooms, so Dad and I will be taking a break from our snoring contest.

How to tell if you're in the West

You can see forever.

Sunset from our room in Wall, SD (home of Wall Store- it's the world's largest drugstore, they don't sell walls)

Minneapolis to South Dakota

Wind on our way out of Minnesota

The Corn Palace: Everything on the building is made out of corn. Corncobs make up the pictures. They change the theme of the pictures each year. This year the theme was Everyday Heroes. The left image is a teacher. Close up is below.

Minneapolis

I had a great time catching up with my college roommate, Amy. We went out to dinner downtown at a brewery, got to see the Mississippi river and a paddleboat going through the huge lock. She is working on her PhD and fixing up a house with her boyfriend, Paul. They both play a mean Mario car game on Wii!

The Minneapolis Queen goes through lock.










Guthery Theatre juts out close to Mississippi River.












Minneapolis is quite a greeeeeeen city, leafy and bike friendly.

Sunset at the rebuilding of the bridge that collapsed.

Milwaukee to Minneapolis

We had lunch at the Orange Moose Bar & Grill. Dad got the Moose Burger- complete with two hamburger patties, bacon, cheese and fried egg. Yes, fried egg on a hamburger. My BLT had two stacks of bacon. Apparently they are set up to feed lumberjacks in Wisconsin.

Milwaukee Visit

Dad and I had a great visit with Steve & Jennifer and their kids in Milwaukee. They seem to really be enjoying Milwaukee, except maybe the several feet of snow in the winter. Jennifer is the most laid back mom - it was great to meet their newest addition, Elijah and their older girl, Selah, who is quite taken with Clifford the dog! Thanks for welcoming us on our way!

We're Off!

Off we go!

Hello Indiana!

Traffic in Chicago

Welcome to the land of Cheese!

Packing

Wednesday was spent repacking everything and then great dinner out with Mom, Dad, Grampy, Grams & Lee.

Time in Marietta

My hometown (through the age of 8), Marietta, OH, is a charming river town. It is famous for being the first settlement in the NorthWest territory and is on the corner of two rivers, the Ohio and the Muskingum.

I woke up early Tuesday for my massage and manicure, lovely! Then I joined Grams and Mom for lunch at a brand new bakery, entitled The Old Bakery. Lovely decor and amazing tomato garlic soup. Mom and I walked around downtown. As much as I tend to make fun of Ohio, just because it's not weird like Asheville, it is a very cute downtown.

We spent quality family time together Tuesday evening shopping at the drugstore for everything one needs for 4 months on a ranch.

Vistin' with friends

Today, I had a great lunch with my friend from childhood, Carrie. We caught up on all our dreams and realities. She is painting, teaching outdoor education to kids and picking strawberries with her son, Joe, who is so cute! He finally got his face in! I always think newborns don't have real faces till they reach about a year old, when they start looking like the real person they are going to be.

She and her husband, Brian, and her parents, Jon & Sarah, also came up to our house for dinner. Great times catching up.

I also caught up another friend, Erica who is just about to graduate from a sign language program- Congratulations Erica! I'm so grateful to have her and her Mom, Lee and my and my mom's life.

Tomorrow I have to get up early for my massage with Grams....life is so hard.

Ohio Activities

First activity in Ohio was to get cowboy boots re-soled. Cobber John will have them ready in a flash!

Dinner out with Mom, Dad, Grams, Grampy and Pat & Joe McDaniel.

Great work out at the YMCA- Dad's the Director, so we got to go in Sunday morning before the gym was even open and lift weights in private. Aaaaah, the privileges of the connected...