Thoughts from our Vacation

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Montana to see the wonders of God’s creation! But we are very happy to be back home. That’s the thing about vacations: you can’t wait to go, and you can’t wait to come home. It was great to get away from everyday stresses and focus on just enjoying life and the things that God has provided. But after a couple of weeks of travelling and living out of suitcases, it feels wonderful to return to the everyday mundane! However, we brought home some things that will stay with us the rest of our lives.

The thing we love about Yellowstone is being able to see wildlife that we rarely, if ever, get to view in “real life”. Watching wolves and bears and moose as they go about their normal lives is an amazing thing to experience! Seeing elk up close and getting to hear the bulls bugling and see them sparring with one another is every hunter’s dream. Seeing the diversity of the landscapes that make up Yellowstone is awe-inspiring! We’ve been privileged, now, to have seen it in the spring thaw and the fall. Our hope is to some day be able to return in the winter to see a whole different view of its majesty.

This was our first (and probably only) trip to Glacier National Park. It was as beautiful as we had been told, even though we were only able to see the western half. (The services on the eastern side are managed by Native Americans, who have chosen to remain closed due to COVID-19.) The park is primarily designed to be enjoyed by hiking, so we were limited in what we could do. I was able to go on some easy hikes, but most of them required a lot of uphill climbing. I don’t do so well on those! It is humbling and disappointing to realize that I can’t do things that I would like to do and used to be able to do. I gave it my best, but this old body just didn’t have the stamina or joints/tendons that was needed. I felt bad that I kept Dennis from doing as much as he would have liked, but he refused to go off without me. So we just did some simple hikes and drove around seeing what we could from the road.

One of the things I enjoy about travelling is the interaction with strangers that you cross paths with along the way. There is something about viewing natural wonders that brings out the comradery among fellow vacationers. In Yellowstone, people were quick to let you know about spots where there were animal sightings. Thanks to fellow watchers, we discovered the YouTube video of the bear who killed the elk. That added a whole new dimension to our trip! Seeing the bear guarding its kill was special, but then being able to watch him making that kill on video, made it all the more exciting. We met the grandson of an old friend of ours at Yellowstone and discovered that he and I both killed our first deer out of the same deer stand. No matter where we have gone in our travels, we meet up with kindness and friendliness along the way. No state or region holds a monopoly on hospitality!

As we have gotten older and more financially comfortable, we have modified the way we travel. Whereas we used to pull around a pop-up camper or stay in bargain motels, we now opt for more comfortable accommodations. I love staying in cabins! Since we get very tired of takeout food, I enjoy having the resources to prepare our meals. Having access to freezers also helped us greatly reduce our need for buying ice. We filled our empty drink/water bottles (and freezer bags) and froze them, refreezing them along the way. When we are traveling from place to place, I like trying to find us a suite in which to spend the night. We stayed in 3 different ones on this trip, and they are SO much more restful! We try to end our driving by about suppertime, so that leaves us several hours in the evening to rest and “chill”. It is nice to have a sofa and/or easy chair to do so, rather than having to sit on the bed or in a desk chair! It is definitely worth the little bit extra we paid!

One lesson that I learned the hard way on this trip, is that it doesn’t pay to push too hard. We limited ourselves to being on the road no more than 8 or 9 hours a day, and tried to do less than that when we could. But at the end of our trip, we were really ready to get home, so we did a final push of 12 hours in the car. After 9 or 10 hours, I felt my feet and legs beginning to swell. I’ve never experienced this before, and I did NOT like it! After about 24 hours and a couple of “water pills”, they are now back to normal (and I’m about 5 pounds lighter!). I told Dennis that no matter how much we wanted to hurry home from now on, we weren’t going to do any more 12 hour days of driving!

We also discovered that 2 weeks from home is our limit. On our “big trips” over the past 6-7 years, we have allowed about 2 ½ to 3 weeks. We both noticed, on this trip, that we were “done” at the 2 week point. We had had all the fun that we could stand and wanted to return to our normal lives! There is no bed so comfortable, or shower so refreshing, or chair so relaxing, as is in our own home! When we walked into the house Sunday night, I just walked around smiling and telling my home how glad I was to see it again! (Yeah, Dennis thought it was a bit strange, too!)

We are quickly returning to life as usual. Dennis is in the process of demolishing the hall bathroom and hopes to have it rebuilt before Thanksgiving company arrives. He came home rejuvenated from this trip! He was busy all day yesterday mowing the grass and replacing the battery in his truck (which was dead when we got home), and getting the oil changed in the Highlander. I haven’t been quite as energetic, but I’ve gotten all of the unpacking and laundry done and started back into my normal routine. We are both ready to get back into our regular lives until our next grand adventure, hopefully in the fall of 2021!