Family returns from vacation; recap of events follow
Monday, September 11th, 2006
I am still exhausted from the trip, despite returning days ago. Getting back into normal life has been as difficult as I expected. This year’s vacation can be best described as “interesting”. There were car breakdowns, busy days, long nights, and even a bit of sickness. I will treasure the memories I have gained in the adventure, despite the troubles. However, it’s safe to say that I’ll need the year to recuperate from the trip!
I would like to note that I was incorrect in my previous post about one of the locations: we didn’t travel to Yosemite, but rather to Yellowstone. The view was completely different. I was quite prepared to climb mountains and take pictures of vast craggy rock faces, and was quite surprised at how different things looked in comparison. Yellowstone can be rather desolate at times: there have been many natural forest fires which have destroyed much of the taller trees in the park. The smell of sulfur can get quite heavy there, as well. Still, I was able to take pictures of plenty of geysers, as the hills are littered with them.
I’m not certain if I should bother getting into the particulars as I have in the previous years, as it’s a lot of work, and I doubt a lot of people really care to read it all. I had planned to make a large map complete with a little red line displaying where we went, but I am still so tired that I really don’t want to do it. I’ll try it anyway, and see if I can make it short enough to be interesting.
We traveled through Chicago at midnight on Sunday. Traffic was very heavy and the many tolls were expensive. When we crossed the Canadian border, all our cellular phones lost service. We met father’s side family members, where they live quite far away from anyone else. The husband recommended us taking a shortcut: this was a poor choice, as the road was literally missing. Road crews had removed the road and left a mound of dirt instead: while it could qualify as a dirt road, it felt like less than that from the back seat. After spending the night, we departed, and headed toward my mother’s parents. While on the way, four of the five studs in the passenger-side wheel sheared off, and we were forced to stop in a rest area. While many rest areas on US interstate highways have phones, indoor plumbing, and food, this rest area in Canada featured none of the mentioned amenities. Because we lacked a phone, God sent us a semi driver who was willing to let us use his and call for help. This was the only “free” part of this little disaster, as we were staggered with both a hefty towing bill and a taxi cab fare (since the tow truck could only hold two). To make things a little more interesting, the tow truck first couldn’t find us (and charged us for having to search), and came quite a bit before the cab was able to make it to the rest stop. Because of this, the family was separated – without phones – for what seemed like quite a bit of time. Ironically, we ended up getting to the dealership that was going to do the repairs within minutes of each other.
After sleeping in the van overnight – yes – we were told the dealership didn’t have the parts to do the repairs. This meant we were forced to walk around the town for around six hours. The town was separated into two sections: one on the top of a long hill (where we were), which surrounded a highway and contained primarily inns and repair shops; and the larger bottom section which contained all the general stores and residential areas. It was a long walk, but we went all around the town wasting as much time as we could to wait for the repairs to be completed. After being hit with yet another large bill (which we think included fees for shipping the parts to the dealership and calling around the area to find out if anyone else had the parts), we set on again to reach the grandparents. We arrived a day later than we expected, and spent a week with all the family in the area, as well as seeing the town itself (which was larger than I remember).
We set out for Banff after the week was over with the grandparents. I believe the plan was to go to Banff and Glacier parks, spending at least a full day in each (or both, I don’t know), setting up camp somewhere in the area between or after the day(s). Things are a bit of a blur there: we moved rather quickly. The thing that I guess we didn’t think of is that these parks are in the areas where bears live, and there were quite a bit of signs telling us so. Not only that, but it was getting close to Labor Day (at least in the US), and people were RVing their way into all the camp sites that had electricity, ridding us of a space. We had to leave them much sooner than we expected. I was a bit disappointed, as I was hoping to do a bit of hiking and viewing the area more completely: I was really excited to take pictures of mountains. This isn’t to say that we didn’t stop plenty of times, we just didn’t do any hiking. It probably wouldn’t be fair to the little kids anyway. I do hope to someday go back there and spend more time, perhaps alone so I don’t bore anyone with the time I spend setting up shots.
After that (I think) we went to see more relatives, who gathered as much nearby relatives as they could and had a party. We spent the night in a very smelly motel (that was recommended to us!), so I woke up rather tired. We then (I might be getting this all messed up) drove on and eventually stopped in to a hospital to get penicillin for Strep Throat. I drove the longest I’ve ever driven then, since most of the other drivers were down with the illness. Eventually we made it just outside of Yellowstone and camped out under the smoke and ashes of a nearby forest fire (well, not too nearby, but it certainly seemed like it was “just over yonder hill”). We spent two days going through Yellowstone, where I saw geyser after geyser. The park is filled with those things! Old Faithful was quite impressive: I took a lot of pictures of that one.
It was decided that the fastest way home would be to go back the same way we had traveled the year before. This meant we went right through Wall, South Dakota again, although much later in the day and year than before. It meant we didn’t have any bikers in the town, which made for quite a different view. Also, we learned something interesting: Wall (the town) pretty much closes its doors at eight at night. Aside from a few gas stations (which soon followed Wall Drug’s example only a few hours later) and the bars, the entire city went to sleep at eight o’clock. Even the campsite office (the same campsite – even to the lot number – where we had spent a night or two a year before) closed up and went home. We were certainly glad we got there an hour earlier, but that was close enough!
We continued on to Iowa, where we met even more family members (dad’s side) at a Sonic restaurant, which had one of the best chicken burgers I’ve had in a long time, perhaps ever. The time spent with this group was much shorter, so we were able to continue on home within the same day. And were we ever determined to get home. The stresses of the previous weeks were getting to us, combined with the lack of sleep, I’m sure. I don’t remember if we were going to try to go all the way home or just part of the way, but we had yet one more stop to make before we could complete those plans. While my mom was driving, she stated that the van was making some strange noises and driving poorly. I felt and heard the same things: it seemed that it was having trouble running (as if it were revving when it should have been cruising) and it was bucking like it was coughing on the gas. My dad, somewhat sleepy, didn’t think there was much to worry about, and thought perhaps we were given bad gas at the previous station. Troubled, my mom continued on, but soon exclaimed that the car had stalled. Back on the side of the road again, my dad discovered that the car wouldn’t start. Feeling the situation all too familiar, we again prayed for assistance. Soon after, two state police officers parked behind the van, called a towing service for us, and drove the remainder of the family to the repair shop. They were coming back from a six-hour escort of wind farm parts (those large fans that provide electricity) when they saw us. When we made it into the town, the police officer remarked on the surroundings: a Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, gas station, Dairy Queen, and Super 8 Motel, all within walking distance. “You’re in Heaven!” he said. While “Heaven” would be a lofty title to give to the town, “Answer to Prayer” would work just fine.
The Super 8 Motel was fortunately open, and offered us a suite (yes, suite; two rooms, full bathroom, fireplace, closets, two TVs, etc.) for a price cheaper than what we spent on the nasty, smelly rooms in the motel in Canada. Still, to keep things interesting, the door on the room lost power, forcing us to use the back sliding door entrance (which meant it was left unlocked). Fortunately, the receptionist cut off ten dollars from the bill, making things very affordable. Which was good, because the repair bill was another blow to the wallet. We were thankful for the gift of money that my grandparents had given to my parents (I didn’t mention that before to heighten the suspense), as it helped to make things much more affordable.
On the final night of vacation, my dad drove all the way home, since he too wanted to just get home. I do have to mention how horrifying it can be to look over at the driver and seeing him slap himself in the face to keep awake, all the while claiming to be fine. I do hope some of that was for show.
Back at home, it wasn’t until I read a few pages in a favorite book that I realized I was home. I had figured I was dreaming: I faintly recall a night or two waking from a dream of being in my own bed, so it wouldn’t seem out of place. However, because I was reading a book, and it was making sense, it proved to me that I was actually back in Michigan.
Thus concludes a fairly concise rendition of what happened on my vacation. I didn’t include everything, but this is much of what happened. Now I’m sure you understand why I’ve been tired and a little uncertain of how much I was going to have to write. It certainly was more than I was expecting.
As for Today’s Image, I’m sure you probably expected me to post an image taken during my vacation. That would be a fair assumption to make. The problem is the quantity of photos taken: 25GB worth. While it was far less than the 90GB I was expecting, I still think it’s enough to take me months to finish editing. The problem is not just the time requirement, but the system requirements. My computer is years old, and my hard drive is full. Editing these files takes space I don’t have, so it’s going to be a while before I get through all of them. That’s not including the pickiness I have with my images, which will also increase the delay.
I knew this day would come: I could have updated my computer a while ago and avoided the rush to upgrade, but I didn’t. Now I have to replenish my bank account from the drain it underwent to get my camera setup, which will likely take me several months itself. I have some bills coming up that will cut away my opportunities to purchase computer parts. My plan is to slowly build a new computer alongside my current one, eventually moving over to the new PC when it’s completed. When that completion will occur is unknown to me, but I will make sure everyone knows about it when it finally happens.
For the time being, I’ll try to get images up here when I can, but it will be a little slower than I hoped. As of this post, I hope you enjoy the image of Caeley looking forlorn into my Peleng 8mm fisheye lens. I tried to make it look like what one would see through the peephole of a door. I asked Caeley to look as odd yet sad as she could, and she performed superbly. It was taken before the vacation: I wanted to post it before any vacation pictures to keep things chronological.
I also wanted to note the date. It wasn’t until this morning when I looked at my thermometer that I realized it was “9-11″ (there’s a date readout on the bottom of its screen). I’ve been a little out of the information loop over the last three weeks, and have also had a hard time (even harder than normal) remembering what day of the week and/or month it was. However, the point of this paragraph is not to bemoan my lack of calendar remembrance abilities, it is to post a photograph I took of the aforementioned thermometer. It was while I was at work that I realized what I had before me just hours before, as I blearily looked up from my pillow. Perhaps you won’t see it right away, either. Look at the temperature and humidity bars (the time zone being NYC is fitting, but it wasn’t what really caught my attention). Yes, it’s incredibly hokey, but it intrigued me.
Wow, five years.
UPDATE: You must click this link [coxandforkum.com]. It’s a blog post from a comic I enjoy reading that contains links to some newly released videos of the attack on September 11th. Make sure, if you don’t read or click anything else on that page, to watch the two videos in the “Bear Witness” link (or cliick here [littlegreenfootballs.com] instead).