Minnesota

‘Aloha Minnehaha Falls’ is what the tour leader of the young elementary school group said thru his megaphone… ‘And what does ‘Aloha’ mean kids?’ he asked…’It’s a Hawaiian word used when greeting or parting from someone…  and that’s exactly what we have just done with Minnehaha Falls… so everyone say, ‘Aloha Minnehaha Falls’… and like a chorus in unison, this group of little kids repeated just that… ‘Aloha Minnehaha Falls!’  

This was the 2^nd school group I tagged along with today.  The first one was a middle school group visiting Fort Snelling (my destination point), an old fort built in the early 1800’’s, one of many forts build to protect northwestern territories from Canadian and British encroachment (or so Wikipedia says).   Anyway, it was a cool old fort that I was able to tour thanks to the school group as the fort was closed for public tours until the weekend.   I felt like a ‘wedding crasher’ today as I blended myself in to these two groups without anyone really noticing!   The coolest part of Fort Snelling, in my opinion, was this cold Old Catholic chapel that was built who knows when.   It had cool architecture and for sure likely a local fav spot for weddings, etc.

So, ‘Aloha Minnehaha Falls, Aloha Fort Snelling, and Aloha Minnesota’ as tomorrow, I head into Wisconsin, hopefully to eat some good cheese!  And ‘Mahalo Nui Loa’ (Thank You Very Much) to Caitlin and Kevin of the famed Ginger Bug House for having a nice room to sleep and space to recover after driving a long day to run from a crazy North Dakota storm!    You two are my heroes!

Fort Snelling Chapel

Fort Snelling, Minnesota

Meet ‘Ginger’ the coolest VW Bug of Minnesota!

North Dakota, Minnesota

It was 45 degrees when I woke up in Bismarck, North Dakota.   By the time I left, which was within a couple of hours of waking up, the winter storm of the season was fast approaching and the temperature had dropped down to 39 degrees!   I’m grateful for my Airbnb host, Pat, who advised that I should reconsider staying in Bismarck for a couple of nights as the storm was predicting 8-12 inches by the time I would be leaving on Thursday morning.

I took her advice, left early Wednesday morning and punched thru the weather as I left North Dakota and entered Minnesota, the storm was literally on my tail and I was driving as fast as I could to run from it!   Good times.

On my way to Minneapolis, I took a side trip to the city of Fergus Falls.   After buying some chocolate from a kids fund raising chocolate stand and talking to her local mom, I decided to spend some time at this quaint town of Minnesota.   She told me I had to visit this paper store that had been in the area for 100 plus years and expanded into an old bank with cool vaults (I’m a sucker for seeing old time banks and old vaults) so I did exactly what she recommended.   As I was shopping around and checking out the place I found this ‘take one mini map’ titled ‘Take a 25-minute walk to… The River Walk’… to make a long story short… that 25-minute walk turned into almost 2.5 hours by the time I spent time hanging out at the cool spots, talking to more locals and listening to their stories, and finally finishing up at a local café to eat dinner before I headed out to my final destination for the night.  This trip is for sure all about the journey and not about the destinations.  I’m so enjoying taking these little side-trips as I travel across America.   : )

 

Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota

‘Just Drive Slow’…  and ‘they’ll know what to do’… is what the cattle driver told me as I drove through their huge herd of cattle along a highway in Whitney, South Dakota!   I had never driven ‘through’ a herd of cattle before; it was kind of cool, yet freaky at the same time!   Here I am, the only car driving along the highway, a little Fiat, about the same size of one of their bulls, looking into their eyes, thinking… they’re going to charge me at any moment!   Well, good news… they didn’t and the cattle driver was right… I ‘drove slowly’ and they ‘knew what to do’.   Whew!

Life is a lot like my drive today.   You’re driving along, in a rhythm, making good time, enjoying your drive, and then all of a sudden, you face an obstacle.   In my case, a large herd of cattle!   The Cattle Herder is like that ‘Still Small Voice’ that tells you what to do when you face obstacles.   ‘Just Drive Slow’ is what I was told and is what we usually are told when we face life challenges.   Slow down and your challenges will usually work themselves out.   Be calm, collective, and trust in what you’re being told and before you know it, you’ll be through your obstacle; back to being in a rhythm, making good time, and enjoying your drive!

Scotts Bluff National Monument

Yes, this is REAL Bison and NOT part of the sign (Well, I guess he or she decided to be part of the sign!)

Not going to lie… it looks much bigger in pictures!

North Dakota Sunset

 

 

Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska

After taking some time back home to work on family and work priorities;  and planning out the best next leg of this crazy ultimate US Road Trip;  I’m officially back on the road!!!

Day one of the 2nd leg of this Ultimate US Road Trip has officially begun!   Key destination for this week… Bismarck, North Dakota.   What is in Bismarck you may ask?   Well, the destination is the closest of three destination points I’m focusing on with this trip, being either a National Landmark; Historic Church of Jesus Christ site; or Church of Jesus Christ Temple.    Bismarck North Dakota Temple is the closest destination point I was able to find in North Dakota which is one of 39 remaining states planned on our trip, so, pin dropped and I’m ready to roll!

It was a good day as I journeyed east from my home to visit Dinosaur National Landmark in Colorado (By the way, did you know there is such a place as Dinosaur, CO!?  How cool would that be to grow up in a city named Dinosaur!); then thru the amazing Colorado Rocky Mountains (Steam Boat Springs has incredible fall colors this time of year); then a short drive thru South East Wyoming to Scottsbluff NE where I was warmly welcomed by the most amazing Airbnb Hosts  on the planet!   Thank You Jim and Sheryl of Rustic Residential for making the stay so welcoming and being so generous with offering of your home’s amenities.    It was exactly what I needed to rest up from a long day of travel.

This BBQ place that plays Blues located in an old Bank of Walden, CO is the BOMB!

Sunset pit stop in Wyoming

 

Idaho, Utah

One of the best things to wake up to is the sun rising up towards a Temple of Jesus Christs’ Church.  That’s exactly what I woke up to on this blessed new day.   It was a nice walk from our hotel along the Snake River in Idaho Falls to the temple where we spent some time serving in The House of The Lord.

I felt the spirit as we performed vicarious work for the dead and we had some good conversations with the temple workers serving during our time there.   It was a good feeling to be present and enjoy the temple grounds.

We drove the short drive from Idaho Falls back home reflecting on the amazing 1^st leg of this road trip we set out to accomplish and look forward to a break to catch up on family and work priorities.   I am looking forward to the next adventure as we continue on to explore the next part of this amazing country that we live in.

Photo by Simple Truths

 

Photo by Max Waugh

Wyoming, Idaho

It was a restful night sleep at the West Yellowstone KOA (nicest KOA I’ve ever stayed at!), for one of us anyway… the other… reminded me how much he hates camping, couldn’t sleep, and was kept up all night by snoring bears!

We spent the day traveling thru Yellowstone, seeing everything from Bison; an Elk herd (biggest bull Elk I’ve ever seen in my life), Trumpeter Swans; Cascading waterfalls including Gibbon Falls and Lower Falls off the Yellowstone Grand Canyon; and the highlight was watching people off the side of the road (I mean a mass amount of people) trying to get the perfect shot of the Yellowstone Great Gray Owl: The Ghost of the Forest.   I don’t believe not one of the amateur or even the pro-photographers were able to quite catch the pic that Max Waugh caught… check it out here to see more pics of this amazing creature Max Waugh Captures the Great Owl.

After sight-seeing, and having lunch with our new found Great Aunt from Idaho Falls (She was more than happy to tell us her stories, and Joey and I are both still craving Baby Ruth), we continued on with our drive thru the Grand Tetons National Park; Jackson Hole (Fun to pit stop at Kahuna and Lunch Counter Rapids  on the Snake River); to our final destination Idaho Falls, ID.   We look forward to a more restful night on regular beds and a morning at the temple prior to heading back home.

Tetons and Snake River

Idaho Falls Temple view from the 8th Story of the Quality Inn & Suites

Montana, Wyoming

I woke up at 3AM today, pondering and receiving some good inspiration on where to go with our road trip!   The good news for Joey and for me (as I’m equally tired and need to fully recoup from this long-week), is that the plan is to make our way back home for some time.   I’ve gone back and forth as to just be done; move forward; adjust plans for later this fall; adjust plans for later next year; adjust plans for years from now… thinking of ALL possibilities is starting to drive me crazy and has led me to just focus on the now and the next week.   So for NOW, the plan is to work our way back home… closest National Park that we haven’t visited between POINT A (our current location) and POINT B (home sweet home in beautiful Heber Valley) is Yellowstone National Park!

By about 5:30, I came to the conclusion that we would visit Yellowstone then Tetons, then if we’re not tired or bored, stop in Idaho Falls to visit the Idaho Falls Temple and, if they are open, do some ordinance work for those who have passed on.

We left Whitefish pretty early, I took the first leg and drove a good 3 plus hours to a cool place just outside of Missoula, Montana where the old State Prison and new State Prison reside.  They had a cool car museum next to the Prison tour (yes, we toured a prison, just like Alcatraz!) which was a nice break in the day.

So glad to have a Fiat after seeing how American’s would Road Trip in the past!

We arrived West Yellowstone late afternoon and ventured into the park to see the sun set and catch the famous Old Faithful.   Highlight of the day, wading in the river next to a live hot pot that was feeding super-hot water into the river.   It felt like being in a hot tub and was good to soak my tired feet.   I told joey he should come dip his feet and being downwind from the hot-pot, the nice sulfur smell sent him running!   Good times for sure.

Old Faithful still has what it takes!

Natural Hot Tub on the Madison River in Yellowstone

Montana

It was a nice restful and relaxing day today.  We attended sacrament service at the Whitefish Ward.   It was a small ward and we were greeted by two Elder Missionaries who not only were door greeters, they were also the ones who administered the sacrament, likely due to a shortage of Priesthood Brethren worthy to administer.

After church service, we enjoyed the afternoon in Glacier National Park.  It was cool to see such an amazing lake, Lake McDonald, as well as hike thru a part of the forest thru the trees and rivers and waterfalls throughout.   The highlight of the time spent in the park was hanging out with these butterflies that were just fine with us being around them and even would land on us while they were spreading their wings.

McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park

McDonald Falls, Glacier National Park

As I reflect back on this past week and what we were able to see and do in such a short amount of time, I am reminded of how dreams can become a reality.  If you set your mind to something, you can accomplish it, no matter how big that something may be.   I spent the day pondering on my ‘Why’ I decided to move forward with this crazy idea of traveling across the country to visit so many amazing and awesome places in such a short amount of time.   Is it for the adventure?  Is it for re-living past memories?  Is it for making new memories?   Well, my answer is that it’s for all of the above.   I have had quite the adventure this past week… I have re-lived my past… and I have made many new memories.   It has been a road trip that I will never forget!

So, the question now is, do I continue on… There are 40 states left to visit… more adventures in store… memories to be made… yet at what cost?   Both Joey and I are tired; it has been more challenging than I expected to work remotely; my older son is moving back in to live with us this coming weekend; I miss my soul mate, Tracie; and this journey is proving to be more daunting that I had expected… dare I say I worry that this dream, potentially may turn into a nightmare?  If that happens, all will have been a waste and the return on my investment (mostly time), would have been for naught.

I’m at the fork in my road trip… my plan this evening is that tomorrow I will either continue on, or head back home.   I will be sleeping on it and decide what to do in the morning.    Good night, until tomorrow when our Heavenly Father, with His sunrise, will bring us a new day.

Washington, Idaho, Montana

I took the wheel of the Fiat today to give Joey a break from having to drive, which I think he appreciated.

Compared to what we had driven in the past week, it seemed to be a pretty easy drive!   We drove thru Spokane; then thru Coeur d’Alene; then thru Flat Head Lake; and on to our final destination in White Fish, Montana, just outside of Glacier National Park.   We officially have visited 8 states in total, which include (in order) UT; AZ; NV; CA; OR; WA; ID; and MT

It was a restful day as we enjoyed the nice amenities of our hotel and just rested and recuperated from our journeys so far.

Ritzville, Washington

Peaceful Valley, Spokane

Coeur D’ Alene, Idaho

Flathead Lake, Montana

Oregon, Washington

Woke up… EXHAUSTED!!!   4 full days of travel… has WIPED us out!   Thank heaven we decided to add a mid-point night from Oregon thru Washington to Montana!   Estimated time of arrival to our Hotel, 5 hours!

I’m so thankful for having Joey as a driver as I was only able to drive the 1^st hour along the Columbia River Scenic byway… Joey took the 2^nd leg to the Columbia River Temple in Richland, just outside of Kennewick, WA, where we took a break to stretch our legs and eat lunch… I tried to drive the 3^rd leg, yet just couldn’t stay awake, it was crazy, I had to pull over after being behind the wheel for only 20-30 minutes, then I told Joey I either had to sleep or he would have to drive the rest of the way, which thankfully he decided he could drive the rest of the way.   Once we arrived at our hotel, I crashed and slept for a good couple of hours to recoup from the lack of sleep and drive time this week.  I seriously have a greater respect for long haul truck drivers, they have what it takes!

Highlight of the day… Multnomah Falls.  A Thank You to the ladies at the candy shop we visited in Newport for telling us about this ‘must see’ waterfall.   We were thinking we would hit as many waterfall hikes along the Historic Columbia River Scenic byway, yet we were so tired we made it to a lookout point and this waterfall.   The waterfall was for sure ‘Storybook’ quality, and worth turning out to stop and walk up the short ¼ mile paved trail to see it.