Through the Midwest toward home

If my spirit lives out west, with its big open sky and incredible mountains and desert, then my soul is in the Midwest. Driving from southern Minnesota through Wisconsin and into Indiana, I was flooded with memories of times I hadn’t thought about in over 15 years. My college years and the time I spent in my twenties just trying to figure out who the hell I was were rich with friendship and family. I knew that a crowded campground was the last place I wanted to be for the 4^th of July. I wanted to be in the Heartland, the Bible belt where I grew up. I wanted to be at the Lake where I had spent nearly every 4^th of July from birth to age 18. “The Lake” in my family needed no other name, but for the sake of clarity, the Lake is Adams Lake in Wolcottville, IN……surrounded by corn fields, Amish buggies, and some of the best people I’ve ever had the good fortune of knowing.

I loved how my kids fell right into the rhythms of lake life with my cousins, Anne, Kat and Jack and with my aunt and uncle, Jill and Brad. Jackson and Anna were wet most of the time, and we just spent the days moving from the deck to the boat to the sandbar and back. My parents were able to join us for a few days and it was great to be with them. Jill has always been more like a big sister to me than anything and I loved that I could just catch up with her and Brad with no agenda or other place we had to be. This place is where my heart is. There is no other place on earth that I love like this one.

Kat teaching Anna how to drive whiffle balls off the sea wall.

My beautiful cousins, Kat and Anne

Jackson and Anna with Kat, Brad and Jill

Kat teaching Anna how to wakeboard

So crazy for me to see her behind the boat on a wakeboard. Nice coaching, Kat.

Anne, Anna, Kat and Jackson

Captain Jack

Kat was such a sport tubing with the little kids, she deserved to take a load off on this one.

In Cincinnati, the place where I grew up, I was able to show my kids the houses where I spent my childhood, the schools I went to, and the city I’ve come to appreciate as an adult. We stayed with my childhood friend, Kara, and her husband, Mike, and their twins, Matthew and Henry. Mike and Kara made us feel totally at home and at ease despite the fact that we landed in their house during the middle of the work week. I loved being able to chat with one of my dearest friends and watch how our husbands found common ground and made each other laugh. I also appreciated how my family put up with me while I drove past old haunts and visited the Riverfront, which I’ve always loved, in oppressive heat and humidity, completely foreign to my little VT woodchucks. I rewarded their patience with LaRosa’s pizza and Graeter’s ice cream. But when I drove in the early morning to the Wyoming Bakery to make sure I got to the smiley face cookies that are the closest thing to heaven on earth, I was denied with a cardboard sign on the door informing us that they were on vacation and would be open the following week. Kara has since promised she would ship a dozen cookies to us along with the hairbrush that my darling daughter left in their bathroom.

Mike and Kara with their sweet boys.

 Following a compulsory visit to King’s Island, we drove on to the Gunks (the Shawangunks, a famous climbing area just south of Albany, NY) where we met our dear friends, Bert and Ryane, and their newest addition, Eliza. It was so great to be back with friends from VT and helped us adjust to the idea that our journey was coming to an end. We camped and climbed together and it was so much fun to see our friends so utterly enraptured with their new daughter and so entertaining to see them adjusting to their new role as parents. It warmed our hearts to see our friends so happy.

Eliza and Anna

Ryane, Eliza and Bert

Good ole bubbles to keep the little ones happy

 When we drove north for a night at Lake George, then more climbing in the Adirondacks, Jackson and Anna came to the realization that across Lake Champlain……….was home. So despite the fact that Alex and I had planned to spend an additional week in the Adirondacks, the kids all of a sudden felt an urgent need to be home. We made the most of our last day climbing near Chapel Pond. It was a gloriously sunny day and we managed to pick some climbs that were perfect for the kids and one last multi-pitch climb that left Alex and I both feeling really satisfied.

Climbing in the Daks

J-man

Homeschooling

Our last day

As we got on the ferry to go home, I have to admit I felt really torn. Part of me was ready for my own bed and the familiarity of home. But just as much of me didn’t want it to end. I think under the right circumstances Alex and I could have stayed on the road forever. We started our life together with a shared interest in wandering and will hopefully find ways to satisfy that wanderlust as Jackson and Anna grow up.  We also now have the knowledge of how doable it is to pack up and go wherever we want to go, as long as we have each other. Our needs are pretty simple and most of them fit into an overnight bag. So I make myself feel better with the knowledge that we’re at the end of THIS trip. I don’t think it’ll be long before we start planning the next one. 

the ferry to VT

Jackson, WY to the Needles

As beautiful as Jackson, WY is and as magnificent as the Tetons are, being there felt like standing outside the circus without a ticket. Anna was recovering from a stomach bug when we were there so we needed to be still for a couple of days.  Also Alex and I figured the Grand Traverse wasn’t exactly something we should submit our kids to. So as painful as it was to be in the Tetons and not play in them, we drove north gazing at them over our shoulder, hoping that we’ll be back another time in the not so distant future.

Fortunately, Yellowstone is only 97 miles north of Jackson and we had a glorious three days there. We couldn’t believe how much snow was still on the ground, but I had also forgotten, despite two previous visits in my early adulthood, how high Yellowstone was. We spent three days at 7000 to 8000 feet of elevation and each morning’s run ended up being a bit of a suck fest. Of course Alex and I were motivated to keep the pace lively and the chit chat even livelier in order to keep the bears fully aware of our presence. We did end up seeing a grizzly mama and cub meandering along the edge of a lake. And when they started heading in the direction of our campsite, I think we had a “personal best” for the last mile and a half.

Yellowstone with its steamy, stinky fumaroles

Patiently waiting for Old Faithful

Worth the wait

Jackson was so psyched to corner a ranger and pummel him with questions.

Beautiful Yellowstone Falls

Anna's expression pretty much sums it up.

Following a quick trip up to Bozeman to the Museum of the Rockies, we headed back down through Wyoming to Cody for a couple of days. There we got to experience a horseback ride and a rodeo, both awesome. Cody is one of those authentic western towns that doesn’t seem to have changed much since the days of Buffalo Bill Cody. The best thing was seeing the kids faces as they watched kids their own age barrel racing and getting thrown from the backs of bucking broncos. It’s just what kids do in Cody, WY…..as natural as fishing or skiing or playing hockey in VT.

Anna on Bruiser, Jackson about to fall off Tornado.

Alex, on Stretch, giggling because he kept staying behind so he could make the horse trot. We were supposed to keep them at a walk. And Alex can't ride so he just bounced up and down on the poor thing.

Anna gettin' ready to chase calves in the rodeo ring.

Trying to catch the dern things. They're quick.

Since we only touched on part of the Dinosaur Trail in Montana, we decided to check out Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, WY where we also got to visit a dig site. Definitely one of the cooler dinosaur-related parts of our trip, we were able to see fossilized rock with footprints of sauropods and the carnivores who ate them. Jackson had his first real lesson in consumerism, however, when he used his own money to purchase what he thought was a real Allosaurus tooth from the museum, only to find out once we were back on the road that it was a replica. It was awful to see how crushed he was, but we thought he learned a good lesson about how to be a discriminating consumer.

Allosaurus footprint

Dig site

Having not climbed since City of Rocks, Alex and I were anxious to get to Devil’s Tower in eastern WY. This place is legendary in terms of its climbing and its Native American history. Unfortunately when we got there, we discovered that climbers had volunteered to abstain from climbing the tower during the month of June out of respect for the Native Americans in the area who felt the Tower was sacred ground.  It was June 27^th. Ugh, such a painful decision to drive away and leave the Tower in peace. But knowing we need all the good karma or “Ju Ju”, as Alex calls it, we could get, we felt we were doing the right thing. Once again we added Devil’s Tower to our list of places we must get back to.

Devil's Tower

In contrast to Devil’s Tower, the Needles is one climbing area we can tick off as one that we saw and have no interest in revisiting. After the photo op moment at Mount Rushmore, we wandered around the Needles for a full day looking for something we wanted to climb. But the place ended up looking like one big boulder problem with grovel-y climbing and very little protection. So the Needles felt like salt in our wounds after passing on Devil’s Tower, especially with the knowledge that the Black Hills of South Dakota were the last place that offered anything vertical for a thousand miles.

Vermonters at Mt. Rushmore

.......and a Buckeye

Alex frustrated at the Needles, nose in the guidebook.

Scrambling around the Needles. Eye of the Needle is behind Anna.

Fortunately, for me, I was heading into my beloved Midwest for some family time and a walk or two down memory lane. I just had to talk Alex down off the ledge in the hopes of convincing him that he would climb again and he might even enjoy the Midwest in the meantime.

Grand Canyon, Zion, South Lake Tahoe, Redwood Forest, Crater Lake, Smith Rock, City of Rocks, Jackson, Yellowstone, Cody, Thermopolis, Devil’s Tower, Mt. Rushmore, the Needles……..whew!

I realize looking at my list how long it’s been since I’ve taken the time to write. We’ve covered a lot of ground in the last 3-4 weeks and I think we’re all actually looking forward to wrapping up our trip and heading home.

Our first week back with Alex consisted of a less than impressive visit to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (meaning the South Rim is definitely more awe inspiring) and a fantastic couple of days in Zion National Park.

Alex freaking himself out with no rope.

Alex was so tired after being on the mountain. Anna was massaging his head with a stick.

So happy to have Dad back.

Zion NP

One of the few multipitch climbs we were able to do with the kids.

My sister and I had been trying to figure out a good place to meet in northern California and we decided to skip Yosemite (a total zoo in the month of June) and King’s Canyon which was still getting snow and cold temperatures. So upon the brilliant, albeit lucky, advice of my brother-in-law, James, we settled on South Lake Tahoe. Tahoe was the perfect culmination of sun, climbing, hiking and beach-going. Alex and James were able to climb and my sister and I had some quality time both with and without the kids. And most importantly I was able to love on my niece, Hazel to my heart’s content. There’s just something about your sister’s kid that has a hold on your heart like nothing else. It also helps that Hazel is saucy and hilarious and as articulate a two year old as I have ever heard.

James, Hazel and Annie in South Lake Tahoe.

Love this kid 

Hazel by the lake

After the typical tearful goodbye between sisters living on opposite ends of the continent, we headed to the Redwood Forest, upon Anna’s request. I figured it was somewhat compulsory given that we skipped the Sequoias. The trees were big and beautiful, but we had the most fun camping right on the beach. Now, I’m not one to be an alarmist. I tend to blow off warnings of natural disasters that may affect whatever area I’m in. But the tsunami warnings at our beach campsite gave me some serious heebee geebees, and after one restless night, I was ready to head to higher ground.

Campsite right on the beach

Our Crater Lake visit was brief due to record snowfall this year and continued road closures. So, much to Alex’s delight, we headed to Smith Rock near Bend, OR for a few days of cragging. I must say, Smith was one of my favorite places on this trip. Super family friendly, lots to offer climbers and just a great vibe. Climbers are generally cool people to chat with and Smith is like the Disneyland of climbing. It was here that we were able to see lots of families, just like us, with small kids all having a great time climbing with Mom and Dad. The approach was simple and it was just climb after climb after climb. Everyone was happy. Anna was able to climb all the way to the top to the rap rings on her own for the first time and her smile lasted all day.

Teaching J-man how to tie in at Smith Rock

Anna.....all smiles on this one!

While we were at Smith Rock, we were talking to a lot of people who planned on heading to City of Rocks from Oregon. Neither Alex nor I had heard of this place so we pointed our wheels in the direction of southeast Idaho. When we got there it was better than Christmas morning. We found an area full of granite that was a lot like Joshua Tree, but even more remote and a lot cooler.

City of Rocks, lots of sticky beautiful granite

It's been an awesome month, needless to say. To be continued...........