Hello from Youngstown, Ohio, where we hope to spend our last night on the road!! This has been a fabulous experience, and neither Sandra nor I are ready for it to end, but on the other hand it has been a long drive (over 6000 miles) and I am more than ready to get out from behind the wheel!

Here are the pictures I wanted to include with my last post, but couldn't get it done.

Wild stallions in Teddy Roosevelt Park

Another Stallion view
Angry waves on the North Shore of Superior

"Ranger Fred" with one of his "Lavs"

Thanks for checking in once in awhile on our saga. Hope you've enjoyed the pictures. There have been photo-ops everywhere!!

David

Minnesota

Suprise!!! We're back! Technology giveth and technology taketh away, and we have been unable to access the internet for several days in the Northern reaches of Minnesota. Thanks to the hospitality of Mike and Becky Stanchfield, we are back to the blog, but since I'm using their machine it may be a little tricky sharing pictures with you this time. The drive through North Dakota was long and uneventful save for the side-trip we took through the Teddy Roosevelt National Park. The badlands are as stark and beautiful as I remembered and we had a chance to watch some wild horses along the way.

We spent two wonderful days with my aunt Bernice in Willmar MN, and visited with my cousins Ruth and Muriel. Sadly, Muriel's mom, my aunt Lilly, passed away a couple of weeks before we arrived. We also got to meet Bernice's "beau friend" Roy. They were getting ready to celebrate his 99th birthday!!

From Willmar we headed North to Duluth to the home of Don and Leona Larson, our son-in law Rolf''s parents. They were wonderful hosts and took us on a delightful tour of the near North shore of Lake Superior. We enjoyed seeing pictures of Rolf's childhood.

One of my goals for this trip was to introduce Sandra to the North Shore and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. So our next stop was at the Cliff Dweller Motel in Tofte, MN, just a few miles south of the Gunflint Trail. Our room overlooked a very angry-looking Lake Superior as the wind whipped white-caps that crashed on the rocks just beneath our window. A phone message was waiting, when we checked in, from Fred McGee, a collegue and friend from CT who is volunteering with the National Forest Service for the summer. Turns out he was stationed just down the road, and the the next day and a half we explored the north woods together. We drove the entire Gunflint Trail (65 miles of wilderness road, stopping at the Gunflint Lodge for a terrific lunch of Walleye Pike. The Gunflint was where my parents honeymooned many years ago, and where Fred and I launched a week of canoeing in 1999. Great memories.

Tomorrow we head for Lake Geneva, Wisc. for a visit with my cousin Mark, and then it is time to head home. Look for a final post in about a week when we will have had time to digest what we have seen!

David

Turning East

Greetings from Beach, North Dakota!!

OK. Everybody together now -- "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Sandra, happy birthday to you!" Thursday we celebrated her BDay (a day early)at an old fashioned "Chuckwagon dinner" with 750 other tourists. They served us all within 20 minutes!! Fantastic! The food was super, and the entertainment was terrific. The "Wranglers" provided an hour's worth of song, instrument, and humor that kept us all stompin' our boots!












Yesterday we said farewell to Rolf and Celeste, took a final drive through both the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, and headed up into Montana as our "Pilgrimage" took a turn toward the East. As had been true all week, the wild life and the scenery continued to put on a show!

"Stalk flower" (actual name unknown at this time)

Mt Moran from Oxbow bend overlook

Buck Antelope

Bison

Rolf and I had discussed the best route out of Yellowstone and had decided that the Northeast exit was shorter and more direct than the one AAA had chosen. What neither of us knew was that our preferred route passed directly through the Shoshone Mountains - miles of winding roads, switchbacks and horseshoe turns that went up and up to well above tree line where there are still ten foot high snow banks, and the highest lakes are still frozen!

Shoshone Mountains (note frozen lake on July 4th!!) We finally made it to Billings, Montana where we spent the night, and today we drove to Beach, North Dakota. 53 years ago, I spent the summer preaching, teaching, visiting, and just generally testing out the life of a pastor. I was one year out of high school at the time, and as a result, I launched a career that would last over 40 years in the ministry. I served two churches here, one of which was Trinity Lutheran (pictured below).

The terrain here is different from anything we've seen earlier on this trip, and it has a beauty all its own. We took a drive up Sentinel Butte - one of my favorite places to go when I lived here.

Looking toward the Butte

Looking off the Butte

So that brings you up to date! We'll go to worship here in Beach in the morning, and then head out to Fargo, ND for the night. Monday we will head to my aunt Bernice's home in Willmar, MN and begin several days of connecting with members of the Gustafson/Halmers clan.

Our best to you all!!

David and Sandra

Some web addresses to check out

Just an afterthought to today's post - here are the URL's for Grand Teton and Yellowstone.

http://www.nps.gov/yell

http://www.nps.gov/grte

Grand Tetons and Yellowstone

The last five days have been a grand immersion in grandeur, beauty, wildlife, geology and nature as we have moved about both The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. We arrived last Friday and had a day on our own to explore the Tetons before Celeste and Rolf arrived and joined us. The four of us enjoyed three days at Colter Bay (in the North part of Tetons) in a rustic cabin from which we had easy access to Yellowstone. Sunday we did Old Faithful and the "southern loop", and Monday we went a little further and did Mammoth Springs and the "northern loop." Everywhere we turned we saw wildlife and great scenery. There was no internet available in Colter Bay which explains the absence of any blog posts. Then on Tuesday we traveled back down to Teton Village, just north of Jackson, Wy., where we are in residence in a lovely two bedroom condo! Today (Wednesday) and tomorrow we will explore the Tetons, and then on Friday (Sandra's birthday) we will part company with the "kids" and head out on the remainder of our Pilgrimage. Having said all of that, I think I'll let some pictures do the talking.

David

In the Grand Teton National Park

Moulton BarnTetons from Jackson Lake
Hidden Falls

Feeding Moose

Blacktail Deer (young)

In Yellowstone National Park

Family at Old Faithful

Old Faithful (right on time!)

Lower Falls (308 foot drop) in Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Mammoth Spring

Black Bear

Bison (notice young)