This is a BIT late, but here is the conclusion to the family trip from the summer of '06.
Friday August 4 – Awaking early-ish, my family had the hassle of dealing with the forgotten birth certificate. My mother very coolly and calmly called the Bureau of Whatever The Heck It Is That Let’s You Know If You Need A Passport and found out we were fine with my sister’s expired passport. My dad was constantly chomping at the bit, so we went and ate a meal for the first time as a family in the form of breakfast. We ate in the restaurant at our hotel. After that, we had volunteered to help Kathy with some stuff for her rehearsal dinner, so my dad and I left for her house and we grabbed all off the gear while mom and Emily helped carry things up to Mary Kaye and Tim’s room. Emily then went to a ‘bachelor party’, my mom helped tie bows for the wedding and my dad and I napped. He got a haircut and I chatted it up with Jennee. Then we got ourselves ready for the rehearsal dinner and I had to shave my beard off because my trimmers wouldn’t work. Low and behold they worked after I threw them against the wall ;) So after everybody had a miserable attitude about getting to the rehearsal dinner location (especially myself), things calmed down when I realized I was making a big deal out of nothing. So the rehearsal dinner was a buffet with some great food and great company. My family sat with a friend of Hubert’s from Yale and her mother and daughter. Her daughter seemed to have an affinity for Patrick (my little cousin) and they hung out together. A few toasts were given, including a montage of songs with alterations from ‘you’ to ‘Hu’ and a moving toast from Kathy’s brother, Tim. After Tim’s toast and blessing, Patrick, with the faith of a child, said, “That was awesome daddy!” After the dinner, we got to view a gorgeous sight as you could see the reflection of the sunset off of the Seattle skyline and the moon behind that. There was a small reception in Mary Kaye and Tim’s suite after we got back to the hotel, but I didn’t end up getting to it. It sounded like the adults had a good time though.
Saturday August 5 – The big wedding day is today. My mother is off to get her hair done and my sister, dad, and I had to get ready for the choir rehearsal. So in preparation for that, we walked down to Puget Sound and got to see the beauty of the water and eat at a small breakfast place on one of the piers. Then we stopped at another customary Starbucks stop for some coffee beverages and wireless internet. Finally I got the wireless to work by finagling a way to get it for free…completely legally, I swear. Then we returned to the hotel to get showered and prettied up for the wedding. After getting ready ahead of schedule, something we failed to do the previous day, we trekked over to the church. We were there EARLY…WOW! So we had our practice and watched the Blue Angels flying overhead. At one point a sonic boom rocked the entire church and scared the children there. Then came the wedding, in which the union of Kathy and Hubert was made. It was excellent. The readings were splendidly chosen and I was told the music was good. It was just a wonderful setup and you couldn’t help but be overjoyed for Kathy and Hu. So the requisite pleasantries came after the wedding, including pictures, cleanup, and rounding up the family. We then proceeded to drive to the reception area, which was a restaurant along a wharf next to a swanky restaurant. The parking lot we parked in had no shortage of Porsches, Jaguars, and even a Bentley. The reception was also very posh and had a cocktail hour, appetizers, and a most amazing dinner. The food was tasty, the company was splendid, and the dancing afterwards was wild. The newlyweds left disposable cameras on every table so that those in attendance could take pictures of the events themselves and give the couple a different perspective on the festivities. So the adults danced to tunes from before I was born and the younguns goofed off outside. It was a grand time! After the reception, we were the last people to leave, in typical my mom fashion. We went right to our hotel and effectively crashed after a long day.
Sunday August 6 – Then morning came and we had to go up to the Mooney’s suite for Mass. The ceremony was performed quick and painlessly, and we then went down to the patio of the hotel for a wonderful breakfast buffet. It was quite tasty. After gorging ourselves, we packed up our bags, and spent some time with the rest of the extended family. After finally being shooed out of the room and saying goodbye to everyone multiple times, it was on to Canada. So I took up the wheel of our Buick and we headed towards the great north. But first we stopped off at Archie McPhee’s, which is a small trinket store in Seattle that isn’t worth much of a stop but is fun. They had such things as Pope action figures, candy cigarettes, and even a radiation protective suit. Then we went to the locks and dam and checked out the salmon run. This wonderfully interesting ladder made for the fish was put there for their upstream journey when the dam was put into the river. You can watch thousands of fish making their journey inland to lay their eggs. They slowly make their way up the man made rapids, and at one point you can view their journey through glass in an underground room adjacent to the ladder. Then the journey north was officially underway. I drove us, and in fact, even up to this point, no one had driven the car but me. We drove up to customs and as we got closer, my dad got more and more freaked by my loud music and my potentially offensive lyrics, as if the Canadians wouldn’t let us in. We were asked about 4 questions and then we were in. There we got to experience the wonders of the kilometer. The speed in km/h, I felt like I was flying down the road as I did 110, which is more like 68 mph, but it still felt awesome. We arrived in Vancouver proper and then went to Burnaby to visit Uncle Dave and Aunt Nancy. There we arrived early and we got a chance to visit and regale them with tales of our journey out. Dave fixed us a wonderful dinner of salmon, corn, and potatoes, and we shared conversation. I passed out pretty early and the rest of the family followed, slowly but surely.
Monday August 7 – We awoke to the experience of BC Day. It is just an excuse to have a holiday in British Columbia in August, but it was a wonderful day outside. An amazing breakfast of blueberry pancakes was served. After filling ourselves with that, we left their house and trekked over to Stanley Park, a massive setup put together by the Province of BC. We walked along the seawall, which just meant a wonderful walk right along the ocean. It was very pretty. We got to see gulls, boats, and even starfish. There were many people enjoying their holiday, biking, swimming, and sunbathing. After a good walk that challenged my mother, we went to eat. MMMMM food! We ate at an Asian restaurant and it was very tasty. Then we walked back through some beautiful flower gardens and a house just amazingly landscaped. That concluded our time at Stanley Park. Then we drove back to Dave and Nancy’s with Nancy supplying some directions back for me. My dad and David took a bit longer to get back as they had to stop off in Chinatown to get some food for dinner. Back at the house there was plenty of time to chill. My mom napped and my sister and I watched the Wallace and Grommet movie. It was hilarious. There was much conversing and visiting as dinner was fixed for the night. This time it was steak and potatoes and a glorious salad. Dave is fine cook. We had for dessert, as the previous night, a tiramisu cake. It was very tasty. We moved ourselves indoors and got to show some pictures of Arches National Park and then all went to bed.
Tuesday August 8 – This morning, Dave and Nancy had to return to work, and this also signaled our moving on. We drove ourselves across the great expanses of British Columbia and Alberta. That day was filled with many kilometers. The majority of these were on Canada’s main highway, 1, although we did end up taking the bypass of 1 on highway 5. We stopped at a gas station and what did I notice but Nickelback being played and Jones Soda being sold. Wow that place was Canadian. My sister and I switched off the driving duties on this day. We stopped at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere along their major highway. We drove through Glacier National Park in Canada and saw some phenomenal peaks that rivaled anything in the Colorado Rockies. Then we kept on driving until we stopped in Golden, BC. There we stayed the night at a Travelodge. We ate at a curry restaurant and then the parents chilled in the hot tub that night while Emily and I watched an old movie called Wargames and I got to enjoy the free wireless internet they offered us.
Wednesday August 9 – This day consisted of a lot of mountain driving. We left our Travelodge room at about 9 am and started driving towards Banff National Park. The drive there was gorgeous and consisted of a short trip through Yoho National Park. We saw a couple female bighorn sheep on our way into the park. We purchased our park pass when we got to Banff and realized that the thing we needed to do for the day was drive up and down the Icefields Highway. This road stretches a very significant part of Alberta and goes all the way up to Jasper National Park. Along our way, we saw a few glaciers before stopping at a mountain lodge put there in the 1950’s right by Lake Bow. This glorious crystal blue lake was the sight of our luncheon meal for the day. My parents and I all had miniscule portions as we ordered from the grill menu and my sister had a very generous amount of whatever she wanted from the buffet. Then we drove some more. This massive road afforded plenty of scenic overlook stops along the way and we got a chance to really view the Canadian Rockies in their entire splendor. We arrived at a massive glacier sitting right next to the road and checked out the visitor’s center there and got to see some of the science and history behind the most impressive national park. The icefield that the glacier extends out from is as large in area as about a third of DeWitt County. We then drove further north all the way up to Mount Edith before we decided we wanted to go south to Lake Louise before sundown. As my sister drove us down south, the cloudy skies that we’d had all day cleared just a bit for the sun to play some beautiful shadows off of the mountaintop. So we stopped at the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise to look at the way too expensive hotel. The view was splendid, despite the cloudy, drizzly day. The hotel itself is a massive structure made to be incredibly elegant. So my dad checked on prices for a night and found it to be far cheaper than the online reservations had quoted. So we bunked down there for the night, but by the time we got everything sorted out, we had no time to go to any of the multiple restaurants in the complex. So we went and ate at their little deli where everything is overpriced. After a hard day of driving, the food tasted quite good and we went to sleep soon after.
Thursday August 10 – We awoke at the hotel looking a massive day of driving in the face. First we had to enjoy some of our time in the lap of luxury. So we got ourselves all cleaned up for the day and we ate at their breakfast buffet. It had a bit of everything and anything. The selections included pickled herring, salmon, sausage, bacon, omelets, yogurt, fruit, granola, and even deep fried pineapples. It was a time for gorging, as this would be our meal for the day. Then my mom went and worked out for a while at their gym as the rest of the family packed up and walked around. Then we met up with my mom, who was buying postcards…as usual. My sister desperately wanted a Canadian souvenir, so the two of us went and we looked for a sweatshirt or something for her and we were successful. Then it was time to drive. I drove us out of there well past Calgary and into the small farm communities of Alberta, Canada. Then my mom picked up the driving. Next thing we knew, we could smell the United States air as we were feet from Montana as we checked in at the US Customs gate. The entry was not nearly as difficult as my dad had suspected and we were able to pass after having our passports scanned and a short series of questions was asked. Back in the US, where the speed limits are higher and the land more desolate, we pounded down across Montana, the tall way, which is still quite long. I picked up the driving again from my mom and we were toying with the idea of meeting with Ryan Beasley in Butte, Montana. In Helena, we stopped and I made a few phone calls. Finally, after a few missed opportunities, I got a hold of Ryan and we were able to work out driving to his place. So I drove us to Butte, and we got to hang out with Ryan and meet his daughter, April Julie Beasley. There we ogled the baby girl and talked for about an hour before we had to move along towards Yellowstone National Park. So I drove us as far as Bozeman, Montana that night. There we bunked down in the Lewis & Clark Motel because we couldn’t find lodging at any other place in town. This was due to not only being close to Yellowstone and it being a night before a Friday in August, but also unbeknownst to us, people were starting to travel home from a massive motorcycle convention in Sturgis, SD.
Friday August 11 – On Friday, our goal was to hit Yellowstone National Park in a whirlwind tour. This was wonderfully started by us getting a late waking. We were starting to really be pooped. The night before had consisted of tons of driving and little sleep. So of course, I decided to stubbornly pick up the wheel to drive us around the park after driving late into the night before. So we came into the park from the Northwest Gate and got to follow the Yellowstone River in. It is a pretty site, but not nearly as pretty as RMNP. Anyway, we arrived first off at the Terraces. The unique thing about Yellowstone is that it sits right over a volcanic hotspot and has a lot of thermal activity in it because of this. So there are many strange rock formations, hot springs, geysers, and the like. These terraces are unique in the respect that it’s just steps of pools filled with water that has eroded them away. However, this particular year, or time of year, they ended up being completely dry. However, the sulfur smell that we would get accustomed to because of the geothermal activity was there. So then we drove some more until we finally reached the Norris Geyser Basin. There is a massive collection of geysers and hot springs in this basin. They all seem to have some bubbling or spitting of water or steam at any given moment. A few are dry, but many still have the ability to blow. We saw a few doing their thing and it was very interesting to be a part of. After that walk around the basin, we continued to walk along towards the Grand Prismatic. This is the largest spring in the area at about 200 feet across and steaming the whole time. It’s a very cool sight. The colors in it are utterly gorgeous and seem to be something unnatural. After that short jaunt, it was on to the thing that all tourists do. We were on our way to Old Faithful. Old Faithful is a geyser that runs on a very regular schedule and always manages to impress with its massive plume of steam and water. When we got there, we arrived, in our typical fashion, just after it had gone off. So we had to wait until the next ‘show’, about an hour later. So we checked out the Visitor’s Center, watched a film on geysers, got some water, shopped, and sat around for a good while waiting for the plume to come forth. When it did, there were thousands of people lined up at benches watching the show unfold. A few minute later, the 4000-8000 gallons of water that the geyser shot up had all come down and the wondrous show was over with. So we continued around the park taking the massive loop around the south end and seeing Is Lake, a lake that flows into the Missouri and the Snake rivers. This means that the lake is right on the continental divide and that was pretty cool. After this, the road slowly came towards meeting up with Yellowstone Lake. This massive body of water followed the road and just treated us with all its beauty. Continuing our drive, we all of a sudden stumbled upon a Bison. After thinking we had been incredibly treated by the viewing of our buffalo friend, we kept on keeping on. Little did we know that we would see a FEW more. As we continued on, we recognized a lot of motorcycles and the pieces of the puzzle were starting to fit together for the Sturgis convention. As we drove on, we saw two more bison standing on the road and thought it was a great sight, until we saw a small Asian woman riding her bike up the hill towards them. I hope she didn’t get gored. Then we ran into some stopped traffic due to herds of bison. By my account, we saw a few hundred of them. It was pretty spectacular seeing them. We continued along around the east part of the park with plains all around, the Yellowstone River snaking by, and a few hotspots shooting steam along the sides of the road. However, our goal was clearly in sight. Our intention was to see the waterfalls of the Yellowstone River. There was drove to Artist’s Point and took a short walk to see the glory that is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. There we saw beautifully carved rocks and the massive Lower Falls of the Yellowstone far below us. This amazing display was only highlighted by the evening lighting conditions. After stopping there, we continued on to an overlook of the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone. There we saw a massive volume of water dropping right below us. Finally it was time to exit the park. We knew that the East Gate was closed because of construction, so we were forced to leave through the Northeast. After quickly buying a poster of the Lower Falls, I drove us out of the park over a mountain road with no guardrail and a feeling of excitement. We were then passing through the plains of the northeast part of the park and it was getting dark. Traffic was once again stopped and we were once again in the midst of hundreds of bison. This was even more intense as they were all around us, crossing the road, and with the windows down and the music off, you could hear them all making their call. It was just an incredible experience akin to something in Jurassic Park. Finally, we arrived in Cooke City, Montana outside of the park where I convinced my dad to allow us to snatch up the last available lodging seemingly in the small village. Then my dad and I put the women and children to bed and went looking for dinner. We found it through four microwave chimichangas from a local bar called Hoosiers. That night, our eventful day was capped by my using the wireless internet supplied by the hotel to find out some sad news. My roommate’s mother had finally succumbed to her cancer and we decided that we really needed to pound on to try to get home for the visitation.
Saturday August 12 – As we woke up from the Soda Butte Lodge, we all got showered up, my dad and I both went walking around town in the daylight separately and finally we rode on. Cooke City is an odd town, in the sense that the only exits from the place are roads into Wyoming. So this small town of 100 year round residents in southern Montana must be accessed through a completely different state. We started on Beartooth Pass, but ended up taking the Chief Joseph Highway to Cody, Wyoming. Cody is the self proclaimed Rodeo Capital of the World. There we caught the splendor of breakfast and then after I drove in the morning, I realized how pooped I was from the previous two days of driving. I left it to my mother to get us quite a far way across Wyoming. Then we continued on, after a fuel stop, towards the South Dakota border. We saw motorcycles all along the way and as we got closer, the concentration greatened. My sister took us towards Mount Rushmore. There we got to see an impressive American icon. We watched a short film and took the requisite family photo and then drove on towards Rapid City, SD. We ate dinner and at this point it was already almost dark out. My sister however, she took up the driving, and hauled us the majority of the way across South Dakota. She drove us through the dark, chasing a storm going west to east just a bit slower than us. We ended up catching the storm and stopping for gas trying to get lodging in Mitchell. When we realized how ridiculous it would be to get a place to stay the night there, we rolled on towards Sioux Falls. There is Sioux Falls, we were catching the residual bikers leaving Sturgis and heading home after an intense week of motorcycling. We were able to stay at a Best Western after having left Cooke City 17 hours earlier.
Sunday August 13 – We awoke at the Best Western late and already our chances of making back for the visitation were diminished. So we went to Mass at the Our Lady of Guadalupe church, much to my chagrin. But it ended up being very worth it and a good experience. The service was very traditional and a few things threw me for a complete loop, including taking communion at the communion rail and everybody saying some chant at the end of the service in unison. Then we commenced some more of our pound down and drive day. After leaving the Best Western, Emily took us quite a ways into Iowa and we were only one state from home. I switched off with her after a stop for gas and I ended up being extremely tired after only a couple hours of driving. My mom then took on the task of driving and continued us across the Illinois border. We got back to Clinton and the sight of the town was a beautiful one to our eyes. We then proceeded in our grimy travel clothes right up to the Lutheran church and were able to make the visitation. That was quite the blessing and I'm very thankful for it.
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