Life Enjoyed To The Fullest

Friday, July 16, 2010

Vacation to Glacier NP, Seattle, Oregon, Boise and Beyond

West Glacier National Park--55 degrees in the morning--high of 70--perfect weather!!

Visiting Derek, Lori, Maya, Kyle, and Avery in Meridian--this was the highlight of our vacation!!!

We left Georgia on Friday June 11th and returned home on Monday July 5th. During that 25 days, we travelled to such places as: Memphis, Branson, Kansas City, Omaha, Cheyenne, Billings, Glacier National Park, Seattle, Oregon, Boise, Salt Lake City, Denver, Air Force Academy, Dodge City, Tulsa, and Little Rock. A total of 7,375 miles were driven on the new truck.

The highlight for Carol and I first and foremost was spending time with Derek, Lori, Maya, Kyle, and Avery in Meridian/Boise, Idaho. Time spent with family is invaluable and it had been a long two (2) years since I had seen the kids. We both needed a "Grandparent Fix" and this was the perfect solution!!!! It's an understatement to say I was totally amazed at how the kids have grown--in physical size, skills and maturity!!!!!

We had lots of fun with Derek, Lori and the grandkids --here are some of the highlights:

picked cherries;

had a picnic at local park that included football, Bocci Ball (Kyle is really good), and hiking to the top of a very steep hill that over looks Boise (not for the cardiac challenged);

watched Maya ride her electric scooter, Kyle his dirt bike and Power Wing, and cute Avery her pink bike sans training wheels;

played in water and gift shopping downtown;

ate lunch at a Mexican (Costa Vida on Eagle Road)restaurant;

Derek and Kyle operated electric and gas powered monster trucks on dumes;

each grandchild had their own time in Papa's new truck;

the kids played with Mattie (Avery loved to walk her--video on YouTube);

all three have drawing and art talents--they are doing so well;

Kyle's art and his advanced reading skills;

Maya's autobiography describes things about her and her nack for drawing dresses;

really got a kick watching the kids decide what they would buy at Target with the money Papa and Mimitutz gave them;

watching "Alice in Wonderland" on the new HD LED screen;

playing Wii games; and

one of my favorites were Lori's famous burritos and her home-made vanilla ice cream!!!!

We had two "firsts" on this trip that made it even more enjoyable. It had been Carol's dream for some time that she see and experience Glacier National Park (we have already been to several large parks including Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mt Rushmore, Custer, Zion, Brice, Denali, etc). Because there were 50-60 foot snow drifts at Logan Pass, we had to drive from the west to the top, stop and turn around, and next day drive from the east. The scenery was breathtaking and we loved the cool 55 degree temperature!!

The second "first" was the state of Oregon. Up to this trip, we had traveled in and thru 48 states. So it was that our bucket list include Oregon as our 49Th state. We chose to spend most of our time in the northwest coastal area and specifically in Cannon Beach and Seaside. What great views we had as we rode south on 101 down to Tillamook where they make the famous cheese!

As a side note, the 2010 Ford F150 Lariat Super Crew Cab was a pleasure to drive and very comfortable and roomy. We got real use to "air conditioning seats" real quick as there were some days the temp hoover around 100.We average around 20 MPG which is great considering the terrain and that the truck weighs 5500 pounds empty. I washed the truck at least three (3) times along the way plus I kept the bumper, grill, and mirrors cleaned from dirt and bugs ( I used Windex and cleaning rags).