Vacation Report #2

I had read that in Driggs, Idaho on July 4 there are free hot air balloon rides.  While I mentioned this to Charlie at one point, I had no idea how deeply it resonated with him.  He became fixated on the idea of riding a hot air balloon.  I had no idea what time the balloons were going up, but I guessed it would be early.  As I was brushing my teeth, I saw the first one rising in the sky.  “Quick, Charlie!  If you want to go see the hot air balloons, you have to get going now!”  He went from asleep to dressed and at the front door ready to go in under two minutes.  I don’t think he brushed his teeth.  No one else wanted to go, so off we went.  I had no idea where I was going, but I thought I would head for the balloons.

It was at the fairgrounds, just past the airport and pretty easy to find.  the place was wall to wall people.  There must have been a few thousand there.  I had no idea how one made the short list to be one of the two or three in the balloon basket, but it was clear we weren’t going to win that lottery.  There was only one balloon still on the ground and as I watched the crew, I grew uneasy.  I don’t know what it was about them, but I knew I wouldn’t want to fly with them.  Charlie was very disappointed that we didn’t get to fly on a hot air balloon, but he seemed pleased with the hot chocolate I bought him, along with a local paper for myself.  When we got back to the cabin, I found the local paper had a two page spread on Fourth of July activities.  The Grand Targhee Ski Resort up the road was having $4 lift tickets and a bike race.  There was also a running race, but I was sure that would be over.  (Lesson learned: keep running stuff in car at all times.)  I also read that the balloon festival continued to July 5.  We vowed to try again with the balloons and be earlier this time.  According to the paper, the festival started at 6, and breakfast at 5 AM.

There was still snow on the ground in some places at the ski resort.  It was like a super compact Telluride.  More my speed – less Beverly Hills, more Santa Monica.  We went for a great hike about three miles long that gave us some great views of the valley below.   Charlie and Bruce wanted to ride the ski lift to the top.  I was happy to stay at the bottom with Mary and Cory, but after watching for a short while, I thought it looked like fun.  Somehow, I talked them into it.  As soon as the lift left the station, my stomach was in knots.  I questioned my sanity.  Cory and Mary chatted on and on about how this wasn’t as bad they had expected and it really wasn’t that high up.  It wasn’t helping me.  Finally, I asked them to talk about something else, keeping my panic to myself.  At the top we ran into Bruce and Charlie.  It was worth it.

We ate burgers at the bottom.  This was Day One of Mary’s vegetarianism and I helped her order a burger without the burger.  I wondered to myself how long this will last as she ate only the bun and some mustard.  We watched the beginning of a mountain bike race.  That looked so hard!  The runners were just getting ready to head out as well.  I was jealous.

We came back to the cabin to nap so we could stay awake long enough to see the fireworks at 10 PM.  Charlie wanted to drive to town, so I took him.  The other three stayed at the cabin to watch from here.  I was amazed at the recklessness of people in town launching fireworks.  I consider us lucky that we have no injuries.  The firework show was very nice, but according to my calculations, 15% of the fireworks launched were duds.  I wondered how they conduct quality control on fireworks and if a 15% fail rate was acceptable.

We set our watches for early Sunday morning.  Bruce decided to come with us to watch the balloons, but Cory and Mary would have none of it.  We got there just before 6 and paid $5 to park.  The place looked deserted compared to the day before.  There were maybe a dozen other cars already parked with people sitting inside watching.  We sat inside our car until after 6 and then Bruce said “Let’s walk around.”  I saw the people from the day before who made me nervous about their skills.  Charlie begged me to ask someone for a ride, but I was just checking it all out.  A woman overheard him and said to me “Would you like to crew for me?  My passengers canceled and I have no crew.”  I was a little surprised but said “Sure!”  She told me later that because this area is heavily Mormon, they won’t attend on Sunday.  That’s why Saturday was jammed and Sunday was comparatively deserted.  We followed her to her balloon where her husband and a few others were standing around.  They had us sign waivers and told us how to help set up.  They explained as we went and it was so interesting and fun.  I grew slightly apprehensive after signing the waiver.  What if the canopy caught fire and we fell to the ground and died?  What would Mary and Cory do?  I told myself to go with the flow and not freak out.  We launched the balloon at 6:35 with Pat, our pilot, Bruce, Charlie and me.  It was amazing floating above the landscape.  The sun was just rising over the Grand Tetons, so the view in that direction wasn’t great, but the valley was beautiful and it was awe inspiring to see all the other balloons taking off and in the air.  Turns out, Pat was one of the most experienced pilots there.  She could land on a dime, it seemed.  We saw the people who made me nervous.  They were trying to land near where we did, but they missed the mark and bounced wildly along the pasture before becoming entangled in a fence.

We came back to the cabin and made blueberry pancakes before heading over to Grand Teton National Park for hiking.  We stopped at the Jackson Hole Ski Resort and it was $24 per person for a lift ticket.  More for one person than we paid the day before for the entire family!  We left quickly and drove on to GTNP.  We got lucky and found the Laurence S. Rockefeller Preserve.  Without question, this was the best national park experience I can remember.  And I have had many of them.  They made us wait before parking because they are trying to limit the number of people on the trails.  We used the time to apply sunscreen and didn’t even mind the wait.  The trails were so well done – preserving nature, but easy to navigate.  A woman warned us of a bear sighting, but we didn’t see one.  We did see a huge bald eagle fly low overhead as we stood in the lake.  It took my breath away.  The people we ran into on the trail were friendly and not too plentiful, but this was obviously a popular spot.  The Preserve Center was gorgeous!  The multimedia exhibit of four screens showing wildlife up close with natural sound was the best I have seen.  I wished my colleague, Frances, were here to see it.  I think she would really appreciate it.  They also had a sound room that reminded me of a meditation chapel at the Franciscan Renewal Center.  The three dimensional maps of hiking trails throughout the park made me want to hike them all.  I am amazed at the generosity of the Rockefeller family donating this land.

Leaving the park, we saw 5 or 6 moose on a hillside next to the road.  We stopped and got out to take a look at them.  I learned the other day that a moose can dive up to 30 feet to get something to eat under water and can stay submerged for a minute.  I had no idea moose were such adept swimmers.

Tomorrow:  white water rafting!

Vacation Report #1

We pulled out of our driveway at 9:31 on Wednesday morning, pretty pleased with ourselves for being ahead of our planned 10 AM departure.  We made it three blocks before we realized that we hadn’t brought any maps with us at all.  We turned around and went back to get them.  That wasn’t all we forgot, but more on that later.

We drove to Jerome first and walked around a little bit.  The state park was closed, which was a shame because I remember the museum as being excellent and there was so much to learn about Jerome history.  20% of us did not enjoy walking around at all and wasted no time in sharing their discontent.  I started thinking this was going to be a long long vacation.  Then we drove to Tuzigoot and had a picnic.  I made turkey and cheese sandwiches for everyone and was pleased that we were saving money.

We drove through Sedona on our way to our campsite.  We stopped at Slide Rock, but the line was too long, so we kept driving and got to our campsite outside of Flagstaff at about 4 PM.  It was the same site we used last year and it is quiet, secluded, and beautiful.  We made dinner of vegetarian chili and corn muffins I made the night before.  Afterwards we had s’mores and talked about our early morning departure to get ready for the long drive the next day. It was about this time that I discovered I had neglected to pack any underwear, but that might be TMI for a family blog.

We got up early on Thursday, as we usually do, and it took us about an hour to pack up both tents and get on the road.  It was just after 6 as we pulled out of the campsite.  I praised everyone’s participation and raised the bar a little, suggesting we try to get out before 6 the next day.  We drove north on 89A through occasional drizzle and the changing landscape of the Navajo Indian Reservation.  I wonder why there are tires on so many of the roofs, but I don’t know who to ask.

We stopped in Page at the Wal-Mart to pick up what I had forgotten.  Then we went to the visitor’s center at the dam.  It was perched on too high a wall for 40% of us, but I was not bothered.  20% of us were offended by the excessive security, but I didn’t mind.  Although I did wonder if it would make security any less effective if the guards were polite.  Back on the road we continued on 89 to Kanab and north to the road to Bryce Canyon.  We drove through Red Canyon and stopped at the visitor’s center.  I marveled at how the landscape looked like the Thunder Mountain ride at Disneyland.  Now I know where their inspiration comes from!

We arrived at Bryce Canyon at about 2, made sandwiches, set up the tent, and went for a hike.  80% of us hiked a short way down the Navajo Loop Trail to see the cliff walls, while 20% of us, concerned with dehydration, stayed on the rim.  I realize that I need to be more aware of the whole family’s hydration because sometimes people forget and we don’t want to have a problem.  Everyone has their own water bottle this year and we are refilling them as needed.  The canyon was impressive and I was sorry we couldn’t go farther, but knowing my fear of heights, it’s just as well.  After dinner, we had another rim hike and I tried to see the stars that night, but there were many low hanging clouds so the viewing wasn’t as spectacular as it could be.

Thursday was going to be a big day.  We needed to drive from Bryce Canyon to Driggs, Idaho, which is long enough, but we also wanted to stop at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, which was going to take us out of our way a little bit.  We got up and go going early.  The whole family singing Jason Mraz tunes. I have to say that people in the back seat of gotten along really well on this trip.  Sometimes, Charlie is playing a Game Boy, Cory is playing a PSP, and Mary is playing on a Nintendo DS.  Sometimes they play together.  Sometimes they look out the window, sing songs, or talk.  All the time they remain at passive attention waiting for those of us in the front seat to talk about them.

We drove through Utah thinking about how beautiful it is.  The traffic was horrible around Salt Lake City and I wondered “Don’t these people have a holiday?”  Once we got through to Idaho, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Lava Hot Springs wasn’t too far away and we were going to make it.  Charlie had been dying to go ever since a friend at work recommended it to me and I asked if anyone wanted to go.  It is a historic little town of 540, according to the population sign on the edge of town.  Bruce just wanted to soak, Mary, Cory and I wanted to go tubing and Charlie was dying to go on the water slide.  Bruce and Charlie headed for the water slides and the others came with me.  I am prevented from telling you what happened next because Mary says it is her story to tell.  But if I had to do it all over again, I don’t know what I would do differently.  We were back on the road three hours later having experienced hot springs.  I would like to go back and tube some more, but I am not sure when that will ever happen.  It was really fun.  For me.  With the exception of The Incident.

The weather from Lava Hot Springs to Driggs was miserable.  Lots of rain and high wind.  Bruce had to drive.  We found our house before dark and it is perfect.

Right now I have to go see the hot air balloons and if I keep writing, I will miss them.  So, July 4th will be in the next report.