"The Rest of the Story"

My Evelynne recently reminded me that I left our road trip in Yellowstone, Wyoming.  So, I will hit a few more highlights then move on to other exciting events of my Grammy Nanny experiences.

 The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming was impressive.  The mecca for all American History buffs tells the story of the frontier from a cowboy's point of view to the Native American story. They offer interactive exhibits geared to keep the younger visitors engaged and interested.  Photo Ops abounded at every turn it seemed like but there were not enough of me to capture 11 grandchildren and their parents so here are just a couple of pictures.

In one area the children were invited to sit on the saddles, try on hats and costumes, and pretend.  The great poster of horses running and cowboys provided a prime photo op for  our budding cowboys and cow girls

When the big boys realized that the largest museum collection of firearms were housed here they found the only elevator to the basement exhibit.  Only a few rifles were on display in the upper part of the center.  They even had a laser light shooting gallery which was quite popular.

We spent just a couple of hours at the center because we really wanted to go to The Greet Ranch in Bigtrails, Wyoming another three hours drive.

My Grandfather Frank and his brother Fred started this ranch with 320 acres in 1909. It has been continually in operation for 104 years.  Frank's youngest son John and his boys are running and expanding the ranch now.  I believe the acreage is well over 5000 acres now and they also have mountain pasture deeded to the ranch.  They started with the red hereford cattle and now run black angus beef.  Their operation is sophisticated but somewhat, wonderfully nostalgic as well.

RED ROVER, RED ROVER SEND JONNY RIGHT OVER!!

 After being in the car for a couple of days it was time for some family play time.  Red Rover was the choice of the afternoon and Uncle Johnny had the perfect front yard for playing.

Austin is one of our animal lovers.  He was the first to pet the horses.  It wasn't long before the others noticed and ran to join him. This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip. 

Uncle Johnny was gracious enough to hold his horse to let the kids reach out and touch all they wanted.

The Payan family behind the old homestead house where Frank and Fred lived until Frank married.  The white part of the house, including the two story part in the background were additions built as the family grew. The old timber just behind the family is the original homestead. 

The old bunk house with a sod roof was where my mom and dad started their life together on the ranch.

Grandpa Greet and his posterity.  I was taking the picture so I'm not in it and two of my grandsons could not take time off work. There were 21 of us visiting that day quite a tribe.

The irrigation ditch that runs near Uncle Johnny's house is fed by the Nowood River that runs through the ranch.  He mentioned to me a couple of times how dry the country was and the drought was causing problems for his cattle.  My boys said they wished they could live in a place that in the middle of a drought you could see so much water.  Our Lake Nacimiento in Paso Robles, California dries up nearly every summer due to drought and farm usage.

Joe Griffith and Joseph Hogeland stood off a little ways looking over the ranch and I'm sure were plotting a way to find a piece of property to ranch or just have as a gathering place for our family.  They checked out the old car skeleton too.  

We stayed long enough for the kids to get hungry. We said our goodbye's and thank-yous and headed back down the hill to Worland where we had the worst experience at dinner.  

We ate at the Cowboy something on the main drag through Worland. Food was overcooked or undercooked and even undelivered. And it took forever to bring it out.  It was lousy and the server did her best but she didn't call for help so she was handling the whole restaurant by herself.  While it was an unacceptable experience it was the only one we had.

The next day we took the kids to the Dinosaur Museum in Thermopolis, Wyoming. 

The Clint Lowe family with the bones of a possible ancient ancestor?????

Samantha touched the fossil but it was "really creepy."

As I said before the grandkids wanted a pool wherever they stayed.  No pool at the place we stayed in Thermopolis. Its ok though because they went to play in the big commercial water park fed by natural hot springs.  They went to one of the plunges that has the "screamin' meemee" slide.  A water slide that snakes its way up the side of a hill and drops the swimmer into the pool below.  I watched a grandson and my husband make the trek up the hill on another trip we made to Wyoming a few years ago. It seemed like they were gone for ten minutes climbing and then sliding down.  I don't have pictures for posting since I was in Worland with my sister preparing for our family dinner.  You can Google Thermopolis, Wyoming and see the Hot Springs park and other frun things to do while visiting. One of the dads said he wanted to go back to go on a river rafting trip and maybe go hunting one fall. He and my sister Carli Flores have a lot in common.

More family games.  It was a warm evening and the kids were pretty tired after swimming in the hot springs. But they behaved themselves very well.  I was (and still am) quite proud of them.

My cousins Bonnie and Fred Drake brought Neil's oldest brother George down from their ranch in Bigtrails down to the celebration.  A cousin on the Pyle side of the family Charles and his wife came down from Ten Sleep also.  Fred is the historian of the Greet family and brought some artifacts to show the kids.  My grandkids prepared questions to ask in an impromptu interview of the "old folks" we learned some interesting things about our extended family. 

Neil Greet at the time was 84 and his big brother George Greet age 98.

 Neil passed away November 11, 2012. The last thing he said to me was that he sure enjoyed meeting my kids last summer.  This was a perfectly timed trip. Neil was declining at the time we were there and sometimes he forgot who I was.  By September we knew his kidneys were failing and that he wouldn't be with us much longer.  I am so grateful for the divine intervention that made it possible for all of us to travel together at the same time.  We made memories and will draw on them for years.  The treasure of family legacy and heritage and belonging cannot be adequately displayed in pictures and stories but dwells in our hearts. 

From here we made our way back to Syracuse, Utah where many of us stayed with our dear friends, Micah and Tanya Smith for the night.  We took them to Red Robin for dinner I think there were 26 of us in the party. (Great Food and Quality Service).  We said our good byes to departing family members who were heading for their homes tired and happy and loved.

I hung out with my daughter-in-law Racheal at her sister Sariah's place in Provo, Utah before we traveled to Show Low, Arizona for her family reunion.  Wow, two big family reunions in one summer.  I am blessed with large families. 

ROAD TRIP 2012 REPRISE

We made it to St George where we stayed at The Claridge Inn. They were very family friendly AND they had a pool. Having a pool seemed to be THE priority for the grandkids. Pool time was longed for after being cooped up inside the car for eight hours or more. Parents were looking forward to play time as well.

 

We discovered The Pizza Factory in St George for dinner. They were so good to us. If you can imagine a party of 19 arriving about an hour and a half before closing after a busy dinner hour and just wanting to have everyone leave so you can clean up. (I've been on the wait service side.) Yikes. I'd be tempted to be grumpy and fussy and pushy to get these people fed and GONE. Nope. Not that attitude at all, not even a hint. Our server was full of personality and fun. He looked directly at each of the kids as they ordered and wanted to tell him the stories of their day. He and his crew kept our drinks filled and our table cleared (some of us ordered the salad/pizza bar.) We were seated in a large dining area all by ourselves so we felt pretty pampered. Did I mention what an exuberant (loud) family I have? I'm sure the rest of the diners appreciated our separation.

 

They look like a nice family out for a celebration don't they. Little does anyone know what a feeding frenzy is lurking in the shadows.  A really nice young woman took this picture for us. Thank you.









Our AMAZING server had the best nickname. I can't remember it just now I think it was something like "Scooter".  He took good care of us.

                                       The aftermath of the feeding frenzy of the Hogeland-Greet clan. 
                                         We tipped "Scooter" well. Especially since we lingered to visit
                                      with each other for a long time.  They locked the door and turned
                                        off the lights as we left. lol  Not really, they only turned off
                                             the lights.  The time change of an hour later than we were
                                     used to threw each of us off our schedule. No worries we quickly
                                   adjusted figured out how to cope with it. (whispering sh-h-h  we
                                             just arrived late everywhere, everyday.)



A WORD ABOUT OUR HATS ~~~

I chose to make hats for our reunion since we were traveling. I thought it would be easier to wear a hat daily instead of doing a t-shirt or several t-shirts per person for a week-long trip. There were days when a hat or two were misplaced and we went to lunch with a bare head or two. For the important stops like Yellowstone and the Buffalo Bill Museum all heads were covered and spot-able. It was all good.

 All the parents had white hats. Partly because I wasn't sure my sons would wear any other color.  The kids were given red. They probably would have liked any color.

It was important to me that this icon reflected our family unity. This is the first major undertaking of our family since our patriarch passed. I wanted the grandchildren to know of his testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I wanted something that they would look at years from now and remember they belong to an amazing family. That Grandpa Ron worked hard to be a good provider for the family and loved each of his children. He was a man who was full of integrity and wanted all of his children to embrace that which is good and virtuous in life. I tried to incorporate as much symbolism as  I could think of.

Our theme:  Hogeland-Greet- (the last name of the sons ie, Hogeland, Lowe, Payan, or Griffith)  A Mighty Nation in Pursuit of Excellence.  A reference to the nation of Israel of the Old Testament (Hogeland - Greet) and the house of Judah or Ephraim (Hogeland, Lowe, Payan, or Griffith.) Our family is a dynamic organization of amazingly talented and skillful persons. Each one an incredible asset and blessing to me.

The women sported three hearts on the bill of their caps.  A reminder that they are "keepers of hearts"  1 -- their own heart and relationship with God; 2 -- their husbands heart is kept safe in hers; 3 -- she is the keeper of her childrens tender hearts as they grow into adult hood. 

The men sported three stars on the bill of their hats. A reminder that they must constantly be "seekers of truth" as they 1 -- walk with the Lord in all they do; 2 -- lead with their sweetheart and follow that which is truth; and 3 -- always seek for, teach, and expect the truth from each of their children.

Each girl's hat had a single heart to remind them to just love their family and draw close to their Heavenly Father who loves them. They are keepers of hearts.

Each boy's hat had a single star to remind them to stay true to what is truth. Like the North Star which is a constant point by which travelers can plot their course they must seek the real truth and follow it always. They must become seekers of truth -- like Grandpa Ron who was always seeking truth.

Each hat also had the owners name and motto; the girls' = keeper of hearts; the boys' = seeker of truth.
 
As you can see here they were very useful to put patches or pins on as souvenirs of our travels.  A few of the grand-kids asked me why we had hats. I told them  so we could find them in a crowd in-case they wandered away from the group and so when they found the hat when they were old they would remember the Great Family Road Trip of 2012.

There is no significance to the zebra pattern it was just the most interesting duct tape I could find. I chose to use duct tape in the sheet form because it was easiest to adhere to the cap. I didn't want to take the time to paint them or glue something on so the duct tape was quick and serviceable. We spoke of a woman's heart often while we traveled together.

Lets Keep on Truckin'

Idaho Falls, Idaho is an amazing place. I like the power of falling water, its noisy, and thrilling and energizing.

 A shameless plug for The Outback in Idaho Falls.  We arrived late in the dinner hour -- again. They took very good care of us. Tonight, we were a bit more subdued from St. George, Utah to Idaho Falls, Idaho was about a 10 hour drive.

We bought a few disposable cameras for the kids. We want to see what their vacation looked like. Still haven't gotten them developed yet. I really appreciate the digital cameras we use these days.

Notice the placement of his feet. I snapped this picture just as he lost his footing. I was just about to scold him when he fell onto his stomach and dropped his camera. The rocks were wet, I knew I couldn't help him and screamed for his Mom. He was frozen with fear, not crying but his face was filled with panic. Mom rescued him and his camera. It was pretty scary for a few seconds.
                                             





We have a "creeper"                                                                                                               












I decided that this trip I would take fewer pictures of countryside without someone in it.  The kids got tired of me pulling them into my pictures of the falls.

Yellowstone National Park

 



                     
  We found a surprise in West Yellowstone --

             We saw an advertisement for this place somewhere in our travels. Some of the grandchildren are infatuated with wild animals well, all kinds of animals really and were excited to learn more about the feared grizzly bears and wolves. We were not disappointed in our visit.
          








 They have two grizzlies in a very large compound who earn their keep by testing prototypes for new bear box designs. Occasionally they introduce a container to the bears. We didn't get to see them "play" with a new toy, either there weren't any new ones or we were there on a day that was not scheduled for testing. They are bigger and shaggier than I imagined. There is no substitute for seeing them with your own eyes. I know I do not want to ever meet one face-to-face!!

One simple and inexpensive souvenir we found was what I call the "smash penny machine."  It was a favorite among most of the kids.  I couldn't resist this picture of the crowd that gathered here wanting an eagle or a grizzly. Not sure if all the "smash pennies" made it home, mine did. I'm planning on drilling a hole in them and attaching them to my hat.









     This was the reason I wanted to stop at the Grizzly Discover Center.  Who can resist a picture with a great, big, teddy bear? What a perfect picture of the whole family. We are having fun. I'm still in awe that we could all be together for this amazing adventure. These people are wonderful. Thanks, kids.

 The dads are blocking the way to a hot spring boiling at the edge of the river here. It rained on us most of the day while we were in the park. It was nice because the weather was cool and the moisture in the air revealed all the thermal activity in the area so we stopped as we saw something interesting. This particular spot was unpopulated and perfect to see an active hot spring up close.
        The kids are testing how hot the water gets closer to the hot springs. It generated tons of questions about how this happens. "Exactly" how does it happen? "Exactly" was a word I heard often during this trip.
                 It seems they are seekers of truth.

We finally arrived at the desired destination of the day ---  OLD FAITHFUL GEYSER  found prime real estate on the boardwalk built to contain thousands of visitors.  The Park even furnished us with benches to rest ourselves.

Here we are waiting -- waiting -- waiting -- some of us more patiently than others but with the promise of a spectacular eruption we contented ourselves to wait. Along with what seemed like 10,000 others who came to see this display of natures force.

 

 

 

Old Faithful didn't disappoint us.  She erupted nearly as predicted and blasted her grandeur forcefully above my camera's range.  It had stopped drizzilng about an hour before. How kind of nature to make it so that we didn't have to sit in the rain to see this spectacular show.  The moisture still in the air made it difficult to capture the geyser on film.  If you focus on the dark blue column in the center of the picture that is the fountain of water the white is the steam.  Up close and personal one could see it well.

As we left the park on the eastern side toward Cody, Wyoming the moisture in the air highlighted the thermal activity along the lake shore.  It was an amazing road trip. 


Did we see any animals? You ask.  
 
 I was traveling in Clint's car and saw only two an elk and a buffalo.







 The elk was laying along side the road and drawing quite a lot of attention.  He didn't seem to mind being gawked at.  It was as if he was enjoying all the attention.  We often hear of an elk or buffalo becoming unruly and rushing at a vehicle or person and doing some harm but this guy was docile.  We snapped a picture quickly though and moved on.  The kids really wanted to get out of the car and go "pet" him. 

The buffalo we encountered further down the road. He seemed a bit agitated, not aggressive, just maybe annoyed that he had to be on the slick pavement with cars coming at him and up on him from behind.  He just kept on moving. I noticed that there was a steep embankment on both sides of him. One side going up and the other side going down.  He kept to the middle of the road neither moved to one side or the other at the passing of cars. We just shot the camera from inside the car as we passed him. There was no pullout on that part of the road.  Some of us were hoping to see bears out in one of the meadows at least. Not at all interested in a close encounter with them.