Taking A Breather While We're Doing Final Preparations

I'm starting this blog off a few days before Vicky and I embark on a long trip together "out West".  Vicky and I will be posting photos and reports on our adventure. We'll be gone a month, the longest trip we've ever taken together and the longest I've take since my family went from Buffalo to California and back over the course of almost six weeks back in 1969. (We got back just in time to watch the moon landing on TV.)

The trip itinerary includes stops in Cincinnati (to visit Christina), Madison, Wisconsin (to visit Andy), the Badlands in South Dakota, the Black Hills (including Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument), Devil's Tower in Wyoming, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone (fingers crossed here), Glacier National Park, Banff (I hope that's enough 'f's), Edmonton, Calgary for a few days at the Calgary Stampede, a pilgrimage to the little prairie town in Saskatchewan where the great Canadian sitcom Corner Gas was shot, then booking across the prairie to spend a few days on the north shore of Lake Superior, and finally heading down through Michigan with a stay at Luddington before we close the loop. We hope to be back before the next moon landing.

Our mode of transportation will be our Chrysler minivan, which I call "The Rig". Most nights, other than our stays with our kids and our days in Calgary, we'll be camping. Vicky and I have tricked it out with a raised bed (a platform supported by PVC pipes with space underneath for storage). The bed has a nice mattress and additional padding for old bones. We also have a Thule car top carrier to store things like a pavilion tent to keep us out of the bugs and weather while we have meals, and other supplies. Before we go, I'll put out a post showing the Rig. We gave the accommodations a "check-out run" last weekend in West Virginia, where we met up with two of my sisters at a streamside campground. We made a few adjustments based on what we learned on that fairly rainy trip.

The Starks and Delmonts enjoying a West Virginia stream

We've got our ducks in a row, with reservations everywhere (including Yellowstone (!)). Our neighbors are keeping an eye on things while we're gone. I've got one of my old students coming by twice a day to feed the cat and do things like mow the lawn, bring in the mail, and water the plants. 

So it's all ready for our departure. We're keeping our fingers tightly crossed. Wish us luck!