Notes from my journal...
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
This morning we got up and had breakfast in the dining room. Mama and I had the buffet and Daddy had cereal. Missed Bart. :) Then we got loaded up. I took the first load out to the car then came back in. Then we all took the rest out to the curb in the handicapped area... where we had to shift all the stuff a few years ago - behind the dining room. I then got the car and drove up there and we loaded up. Worked fine. We got a few photos of Old Faithful Inn (or tried to... the trees block the front view now) and then got underway. We mainly just drove since we have seen West Thumb and most of that route many times.
 |
| Daddy took this photo of Mama and me before we went into breakfast (from the 2nd floor balcony) |
 |
| I love this photo! |
 |
| The backside of Old Faithful Inn |
 |
| Front view but it is harder to see since those trees have grown up so much over the years. |
 |
| That is a snow fence to mark the height of the snowfall on this road. Well over the car! |
 |
| This reminded me of Scotland. |
We made good time coming out of Yellowstone. Daddy and I can both tell the lower elevation is helping us. Cody is still high but not as high as Yellowstone. We ate lunch at Pahaska Lodge - the Buffalo Bill lodge just at the East entrance to Yellowstone. When we got to Cody we stopped at Walgreens so Mama could get her hearing aid batteries. Then we went to Mcdonalds for bathrooms and a snack. Mama got ice cream, I got a tea, Daddy got coffee.
 |
| the back of the menu at the Pahaska Lodge :) |
Then we drove to Powell. I do love the drive between Cody and Powell. I wish I could have stopped and gotten a photo of a huge stack of large square bales that was 6 wide and about 30 or so long in a massive field in front of that pretty stone mountain thing that runs along that route. That, to me, is iconic Powell/Cody view.
 |
| I did stop to get this photo... it will have to do. :) |
 |
| Those are big round bales piled along the end of the big square bales... huge! |
We were heading to the most remarkable part of the trip. We were going to spend two nights at a house on the property where Mama actually grew up... on the old homestead near Powell, WY. I still can't believe it. What an incredible blessing! It all began back in 2008 when Mama and I went to Powell for the centennial celebration of the irrigation project that opened up this part of the country to be settled. It was, in fact, what brought Mama's own family to Powell in 1932. As part of that trip we tried to locate the property where she had grown up and we were able to find it! As we stood on the road that day looking at the land a lady came out of the house that was there and talked to us. Then she went inside to get her husband, Mr. Jack Hart. He was the third owner of the property. He had bought it from the man that Mama's daddy had sold it to and had been there since the early 1950's. He was so kind to us that day and walked us around the property answering questions and telling us stories and just letting us revel in being there. We told him we would be returning the following summer with a whole lot of family (17 of us!). He said we should get ahold of him and make plans to come by the property again. We did! So, in 2009 our entire family traveled west and on one day (Mama's birthday!!) we gathered with our family and the Hart family at the Willwood Irrigation district clubhouse to share a meal and make some wonderful memories. (I had blogged this trip and need to get it rebuilt and up again on the
Archive blog... will work on that soon. However, the 2008 trip with Mama is on the Archive blog and you can
see that post here.)
That day in 2009 we were able to meet one of Jack's sons, Larry. Turned out he was from St. Louis and we had some connections that we enjoyed discovering that day. We have stayed in touch with Larry, even after Jack passed away. A couple years ago Larry took down his own childhood home and built this beautiful new home on the property. Then this summer he actually offered to us the opportunity to stay in that house! I still can't believe it, even as I type this. What a blessing indeed. And what a special, special gift. We are just so thankful to Larry, and to his wonderful nephew, Skip, who lives out there. Incredible.
We were able to find our way to the house/property and called Skip to say we were here. He came from the shop and let us in and showed us around. What a house! It is a beautiful house and it is SOOOOO nice to not be in a hotel! Hallelujah! Having this space to relax in is wonderful. And may just strengthen us up for the long haul home.
 |
| My Mama on the land she grew up on... |
 |
| Mama and Daddy in front of the cottonwood 'stump' |
 |
| Mama's Daddy planted this tree when she was a little girl. |
 |
| This is the new house on the site of the old homestead. |
 |
| We sure did enjoy getting to know Skip! |
 |
I love this photo Skip's wife took of the old cottonwood tree before
they had to cut it down (to the stump shown above) |
 |
| Sunset over Heart Mountain - across the back yard view from the house. |
Mama spent some time walking around outside and telling a few stories. It is a powerful thing to be on the ground where she grew up. I am so thankful I get to be here with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you so much for your comment. I appreciate hearing from you!