Take I74 West to I80 West to I380 West to Hwy 20 West to Fort Dodge, IA. Rest. Continue down Hwy 20 West to I29 North to I90 West through South Dakota, a corner of Wyoming, and into Montana. Stop in Billings after 13 hours on the road. Rest. Continue on I90 West to a rendezvous with Grandpa and Grandma in Butte, take Hwy 93 North to Kalispell (with a short detour in Ronan) and Hwy 2 West to the Thompson Lakes and the C. Family Reunion. Rest.
Continue on Hwy 2 West, north to Hwy 95 South in Idaho, down to Coeur d' Alene to I90 West again into Washington to Spokane. Get reacquainted with a childhood friend. Rest. Back on I90 to 395 South, get lost in Kennewick, WA before finally finding I82 East across the mighty Colombia and into Oregon to I84 East up the long grade into the Blue Mountains to Baker City for a quick visit to the dentist (brother). Continue east on I84 to Nampa, ID stopping finally at Grandpa and Grandma's house just before the kids explode. Give little sister a big hug for the first time in 18 months. Rest.
Fly home from Boise and leave Andrea and the boys to finish the trip. Fly?! What part of "road trip" don't you understand? Sorry, I had to get back to work.
Andrea's on her way home now after staying in Boise for a few days and then going to her folks for about a week. I'll be glad to have her back.
Here's a few photos from the first half of another epic road trip.
Anthony and Paxton settle in for the long haul.
Where else but on the South Dakota prairie could you find a 50 foot bull's head?
Thompson Lake, MT, looking from the lodge on a quite morning.
Randy catches a nice Pike. The kids are all very interested.
The boys and I spend lots of time in the canoes. Kenrick in particular really liked it and was starting to get pretty good with the paddle. "Hey dad! I think you are sitting backwards in that canoe!"
The reunion presented a convenient opportunity to celebrate a special birthday.
Andrea set up all the goodies. Chocolate fountain, cake balls, oh my!
Aren't these just the cutest little things? Yummy too. Good job Andrea!
So who's birthday was it? Oh, must be the lady with the crown. Queen for the day.
Steve is the Court Jester, specializing in teasing his grandkids.
Anthony caught his first fish! He yanked a nice little Yellow Perch out of the water from the canoe. Thanks again Randy for taking him out. Hold it carefully Anthony!
We all took turns in the kitchen at the reunion. Ryan, John and I are in charge of Burger Browning and Chip Crushing and General Chaos trying to get a taco salad put together. Carissa is doing most of the real work on the other side of the kitchen.
The siblings and spouses.
Some of the (J & A C.) grandkids and their kids. Talk about a circus!
I didn't get any picture of Kris and Galen in Spokane, but did get one of little Cora. Paxton wasted no time getting acquainted, managing at one point to whack her on the head with a baseball bat. It looks like she's crying in this picture, but she's just got something in her eye. What a couple of cuties!
Kenrick found that a table of Lego's can help make new friends. He and Pearson are about the same age.
A fuzzy panoramic of the K&G homestead.
I haven't seen this view in many years. We used to travel through the Blue Mountains on our way to Grandpa and Grandma's house. It seemed like it was always snowing and slick right about here and all the semi's were either stuck in the ditch or getting there.
A quick stop at Stuart and Meggan's to stretch the legs.
The view across home stomping grounds. Familiar. Spacious. Beautiful. Dusty.
Second leg of the trip complete. Mom wonders what's in the special package from Peoria. Sally puts the kids to work.
To be continued...
