The Big Loopy Road Trip

After leaving Portland (sadly, i wish i could stay there for longer) we drove up back to Idaho. We stayed in Bonners Ferry with some friends and their kids and went swimming and Addie (me) did something, that will remain a secret on this blog. Only a handful of people know and I trust that they can keep the secret. Anywayy... we drove through Montana which was really really pretty. Dad says Missoula has changed the least since he left out of all the cities he lived in before that we visited on this trip. Then we drove back into Idaho to meet up with Granny and trade off Harry. This means me and Dad get a break from him and his whole persona and trade him off for a week to let him stink up Boise. We (on a solo mission) drove through Montana (beautiful the whole way) and past The Little Big Horn battle site, then on to Buffalo, Wyoming and finally through South Dakota, which was reallllly boring. South Dakota is mainly just plains and no civilization. The only highlight of the state is M...

This is a harder one to write, which is partly why it has taken so long. That, and we have driven from Portland to Bonners Ferry, Idaho to see Kenny, Keri, Elliot and Stella, then on to Missoula and down the valley to see Kerry and John, then to Salmon, Idaho to drop Harry off with Granny, then on to Buffalo, Wyoming, where I write this. But I think Addie will fill in those details. There were many goals for this trip, on of them was to find a spot to bury Rachel’s ashes. I had chosen the coast because it is so amazing, and we hiked there a lot, but I could have just as easily chosen Mt. Hood. We went with Thayna and Brian Baker, amazing Portland friends and genuinely astounding people. But we found out that planting a tree was not idea this time of year, so we decided to hike and look for a small tree that could use some lovin’. But the coast forests are dense, so small trees like pines, are hard to come by. It was my last hike with Rachel, I had her in my backpack. I feel the urge ...

The last post was written underneath the tittle of “Oregon!” That in fact was a lie. All of what Harry said was in Boise. From what you will hear from me today, will be all the information from what we did in Oregon; first we got off at a crappy air bnb where the owners didn’t bother to clean up and you could see at least 100 bugs in eye shot (one bug even bit me while i was sleeping) though we got it because it was near the house where I lived before. We went to see a flower that smells like a rotting corpse when it blooms. We were a day late so the only time you could smell it was if the wind blew in the right direction. We spent hours in Powells ( my happy place) some downtown shopping and ,per request, Voodoo Doughnuts. Also a Portland Timbers game was in the mix! On a TV, in a pizza bar. We attempted a hike but the trail was closed so we watched a movie. We saw so many old friends it was crazy! Also crazy that all of them were not on a vacation... We had one more day in Portland b...

Me and Addie got a brake from my dad( thank god ... just joking) because we went to Aunt Amy’s Sister’s house, and her two kids, Beck and Anja. it was fun to be around other kids.  We played corn hole and Beck and I crushed the girls at it. When we went to take a swim it was fun we all played a little rough and got slammed in to each other. Before we left to go home Addie lost her bracelet and luckily Anja found it. we went to the reptile rehabilitation and that was fun to see different types of birds and I go to see the with the biggest wing span.The next day we had a picnic diner with my uncle Scott, John and aunt Amy and granny. I tried to take a little swim in the cold water.We had fun playing games and I tried to play football with my dad and uncle John and we wanted to take a picture so  my dad had the idea to have a human pyramid that was fun,(my back hurt after that lol). At the end we played a little family frisbee and are high score for catch and release is 15. ...

Yes, we know its been a few days since the last post. The kids are pretty wiped out in the evenings, and writing is not on the top of their bedtime lists. So I am writing just to keep the hundreds of you still reading this up to date. We arrived in Boise, Idaho after one night in Ogden, Utah (that is the picture with all the blue sky in it). Boise is hot and dry, baked like a totally chip left on the dash of the car. So we decided the best thing to do was hike in it. Granny J took us up a hilltop on the edge of town (2 miles up??). We were supposed to go to the old, old penitentiary after, but we were so exhausted from the heat that we bagged it (plus, avoiding jails may be a good habit for Harry to start. Just kidding). The next day, even hotter, we floated the Boise river. The water was very cold but felt great in the heat. We do not have any pics of that because Harry would have gotten the camera wet. We were, by far, the loudest people on the river. A quick tour of Boise State’s st...

After we left Denver and Granny Barb’s house (thanks,Barb!) we headed up to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. On the way we stopped in Winter Park to ride the alpine slide. Steamboat was fun. We stayed with Dad’s friends Bruce and Shelby in their beautiful home on the mountain. We planned a bike ride along the river but before we left, I fell off my bike and scraped my elbow and my knee. it hurt at first but know it is ok. I love Steamboat, it was fun I want to live there because it was a beautiful little place. There was a place down town that sold fossils and I did not know that they sold fossils. It was like a museum. We also rode a mountain coaster, it’s like the alpine slide but faster and more like a mini- roller coaster. Another hike on Monday up Fish Creek Falls, then a quick stop at the World Footbag Association to see Bruce, Peter and Randy. If you want to get better at foot skills for soccer or just for fun, you should try kicking a footbag. It is actually very fun to try it. ...

Hey all! My lazy brother was supposed to write this blog entry, but if we revisit the word lazy you should understand that he is lazy. And we all know I have the best blog entry’s. Today we woke up very early to drive all way out to Square Top Mountain on Guanella Pass. We also met up with other Rochestarians the Brickman-Sunwoo’s. It took the kids awhile to get used to the Colorado air, for we only breathe city pollution. But the adults (especially David and Brian) sped up the mountain. The rest of us stayed behind throwing the mountain snow at one another, Pattie fell. (Sorry) We got up to 13,925 feet before we turned around for fear of a storm. Then we waited in a once small town to get famous Colorado pizza for lunch. And a really melted cookie cheese cake (we ordered this on a dare). I can’t decide if I liked it or not. For the rest of the day we just kicked up our sore feet. Maybe we will get Harry to write tomorrow, or he will procrastinate. -Addie (From Brian): I just want to...

This should really be written by the kids but we get home late and tired and I know you all are waiting anxiously for an update, so I am writing tonight. A quick description of everything we have been doing so far: we stopped at Granny Barb’s house and went for (real) Mexican food. Yum. Then on our first full day we hiked outside of Bailey Colorado, for about 6 miles. Very hot, cool reviver crossings, and no people! We drove by the house I grew up in (there is a pic of my hometown, since we showed you Rachel’s. The pic is the one with the highway going through it. This is Aspen Park, Colorado) and ate at the big hot dog. Here is a little secret, I let the kids drive the car. They each took turn behind the wheel for about a mile or two. It was easy mountain roads with no cars on them. I figured if they were good enough for me to learn on, they were good enough for the kids. Then we went to the Rockies game with my old college roommate, Jim. It was a first train ride for Harry (light rai...