Grand Canyon - First Look

View from the North Rim

We make the Grand Canyon by sunset and stay at the Grand Canyon Lodge at the Bright Angel Point - the canyon's haze due to a controlled fire visable in the distance. The lodge built in 1927-28 by the Utah Parks Company then burned to the ground in 1932 and rebuilt in 1936-37 with the original canyon stonework.  

For us and millions, the first view of the canyon thru the lodge's majestic front lobby which opens like a canvas (the canyon otherwise cloaked from the road by forrest pine). Seating grounds allow us to read and relax before dinner. Even the jaded Shakespeares impressed.

Eitan, Madeleine, driving by the Great Salt Lake : "I’m hungry. Can we have a snack? " 

Sonnet: “You can have some fruit. Or carrots."

Eitan, Madeleine:

Me: "Remember what those are?"

Sonnet: "Absolutely no cookies. Those are a treat. For later."

Eitan: “I’m going to have some Wheat Thins with peanut butter.”

Madeleine: “I’m going to have some peanut butter on bananas.”

Me: “Classic.”

Big Rock Candy Mountain

Bike crew

"Big Rock Candy Mountain" first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928 as a folksong of a hobo's idea of paradise with booze and cigarette trees and hens laying soft boiled eggs. .. I never imagined I would one day be here, which is just north of Marysvale, Utah, near the Fishlake National Forest.  Our bike ride along the the Sevier River about 12 miles as the crow flies. Afterwards we jump in the river and Madeleine mortified when I go natural and give her the rain dance. Dad's prerogative.

James Garner of the Rockford Files dies.

Sonnet: "Have either of you guys had a teacher that has made a boring subject interesting?"
Madeleine: "Mr Beatty. He made Ireland interesting." [Dad's note: Mr Beatty was Madeleine's year-6 teacher and Irish]
Me: "Oh? What did you learn about Ireland?"
Madeleine:
Me: "One thing. Please."
Madeleine: "I learned that there is a town there called Gaelic."
Me:
Madeleine: "What's so funny?"

Fairfield, UT

The Home Plate Diner

We are meant to be in at the Fairfield Inn in Richfield but end up in Fairfield (Utah) because that is what is put into the sat-nav. Bummer following a five hour drive but we make lemonade, staying at a perfectly nice motel (The "Skyline" Inn) and dining at the 100% legitimate roadside diner (some grubby kids eat pancakes for dinner, the old timers lined up at the counter, cowboy or baseball hats, discussing local news, eating pie and drinking coffee).

By chance, the town rodeo in full swing and we join for the final action – bull tackling and lassoing and, of course, bucking bronco. This is real America. One of the best nights so far.

Sonnet entranced by the rodeo clothes. The young boys/men with their best cowboy boots and hats; the girls in colourful shirts, jeans or shorts and (of course) cowboy boots.  It’s a real scene, too, with a couple thousand people, bright lights, American flags and bunting and the concessions underneath the stands.  Not a peep otherwise inside town as everyone here.

Me: “I love this place. What beer do you have?”

Waitress: “We don’t serve beer Sir.”

Me:  “We’re outta here.” [Dad’s note: Most of Utah is dry thanks to the Mormons]

On The Road Again

7AM, up and at 'em

We detour off Route 15 to bike into Provo Canyon (Provo home of Utah Valley University) which offers vertical granite walls and one spectacular waterfall. Our bike trail meanders alongside a brook filled with trout which can be seen from the trail.

Our attractive and young morning waitress (Eitan has buckwheat pancakes with blueberry syrup which brings to mind the marvelously racist “Sambo’s” chain which once served five syrup flavors before the restaurant hidden away forever) tells us the Big Rodeo, which the locals are gunning for,  is in Las Vegas. She notes that the cattle roping, which took 5+ seconds last night (front and hind quarters on a fast moving animal), is done in 2.3 seconds in Vegas. She grew up in Fairview, and did one year of university at Utah Valley. 

Madeleine: “If you were going to name me something other than Madeleine, Ava or Hannah, what would it be?” [Dad’s note: Madeleine named after Madeleine Vionnet]

Me: “I like Abby or Ada. We do have an ancient European Jewish last name afterall."

Madeleine: “Yeah.”

Me: “I noticed you now introduce yourself as ‘Maddy’. Is this what you are going by  these days?"

Madeleine: “Only outside our family.”

Me: “Maddy Orenstein. I like it.”

Idaho Falls

The falls of Idaho Falls

Idaho Falls is located on the snake river, which we have followed since the Tetons, and there are, indeed, falls in the (now) historic old village where we have dinner (Madeleine wants sushi, we go for Mexican family).  

Idaho Falls the kind of town that has an ancient water tower, drive-in movie theatre and Viet Nam/ Korean war memorial.  There are a lot of franchises outlets on the main strip, which runs for miles.  The first toll bridge in America in Idaho Falls which opened in 1877, replacing  the ferry boat which shuffled people nine miles along the river from 1868.

Here are some of the roadside icons we have passed (and counting) and familiar to every American driver - what I love is that many of these brands are a holdover from the 1950s. 

Restaurants: A&W, Arby’s, Subway, TacoTime, Taco Bell, Sizzler, Outback Steakhouse, iHop, Starbucks, 7-11, Chilli’s, Panda Express, McD, Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC, Denny’s, Carl’s Jr

Gas: Sonoco, Phillips 76, Chevron, Sinclair (the dinosaur), Exxon

Hotels: Comfort Inn, Motel 6, Holiday Inn, Best Westin, Day’s Inn, LaQuinta Suites

Stores: Target, Staples, Walmart,  UHAUL, The Home Depot

Wyoming

Eitan in Jackson Hole

Madeleine: “Can I have a Twizzler?” [Dad’s note: Twizzlers are a twisted gummy candy found only in America as far as I know]

Eitan: “What’s your favourite candy?”

Me: “I’m old school – I like the Marathon Bar, Reggie (briefly popular in ’77 when Reggie Jackson homered 3 times in one game for the Yankees in the World Series) and maybe a Big Hunk.”

Madeleine: “What’s that?”

Me: “Nugget with nuts. How about you?”

Eitan: “Snickers. Malteses. I don't know."

Me: “That’s it? You spend your entire life thinking about these things and that’s all you can come up with?”

Eitan: “Kit Kat!”

Madeleine: “Laffy Taffy, Swedish Fish, Twizzlers.. .does beef jerky count ?”

Me:

Sonnet: "You can have a separate category for junk food. Packaged snacks.”

Me: “God bless America."

Madeleine: “Candy corn!”

Big Tits

Grand Tetons is "Big Tits" in French

We join Marshall and Veronique for dinner at their beautiful house in Jackson Hole, joined by Jacques and Micou who are visiting for the weekend and some golf, so a London reunion in the middle of the Wyoming. I warn Marshall that we are coming off the road and he should be prepared for grubbiness but we pull ourselves together for a presentable evening (Marshall: "Terrific kids").  Their property along the Snake River which we stroll, checking out the scene, drinking white wine.

The bikes are a lot of work. Our rack accommodates only three so one goes in the car's hull. The rack must be taken off before I can open the car's back door so every stop requires an assembly in precise order - clips, straps and all. We have it down to a precision. Dad (so far) does a remarkable job maintaining his patience.

Me: "Are you guys ready for a day of action?"

Madeleine: "Another day of boiling hot weather."

Eitan: "Family fun."

Sonnet: "Off we go."

Old Faithful

Old Faithful remarkable for many things other than the geyser. The surrounding compound facilitates millions of visitors who are there for three minutes of total action. Give or take. The parking lots, visitor center and accommodations hustle us tourists thru like a well greased bicycle wheel. “Enjoy your geyser”, the cheerful ranger tells us, “It is your park, afterall”.

Me: “What do you think of ‘Old Faithful’? “

Madeleine: “It was really cool and it had a lot of spouting water.”

Me: “What’s one thing you learned?”

Madeleine: "When boiling water tries to find its way out, thru the cracks and weak links in the rock, sometimes it gets blocked, and pressure builds. Later on, water bursts out.”

Me: “Perfect, I would not add a thing.”

Lower Yellowstone Falls

We catch Yellowstone at the sunset notable as Sonnet and us (me, kids) separate as I race off to find the best photo location leaving Sonnet unawares of where we are.

The Lower Falls are 308 feet high, or almost twice as high as Niagara. The volume of water is in no way comparable to Niagara as the width of the Yellowstone River before it goes over the lower falls is 70 feet (22 m), whereas Niagara is a half mile. That said, it is darn beautiful and we are blessed to be here.

An Elk

Eitan and Madeleine observe the park rule, 25-meters from the animals

You can observe a lot by just watching.
--Yogi Berra

Yellowstone Rainbow

Despite being filled with tourists - I see Japanese, Chinese, Indian, European (of course) and overhear many American accents - the Americans make up less than 50% of the park's visitors, I would guess - one can still hike a trail without seeing another human being, as we do along Garnett's Pass.

Yellowstone's two million acres the first national park in the world when created by an act of Congress in 1872 and signed into law by President Ulysses Grant. Smarter than your average bear.

I had forgotten how pleasurable/ miserable it is to come off a hiking trail, unshowered for several days, to hamburgers and beer when one's body craves veg.

Mammoth Hot Springs

A hill of travertine

We cross the northern Idaho panhandle then Montana and Wyoming to enter Yellowstone Park at the North entrance where we stay at the Mammoth Springs Lodge, right out of the 1950s, God bless.

We take an early morning ranger tour and learn that the hot springs created over 400,000 to 600,000 years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons flow into Mammoth each day in a solution). We are on a volcano, afterall.

The kids for their part are hanging in there, shifting from back-seat bickering to bored exuberance (both get a holler from the front seat).  Much of their squabbling is over who has been more generous and so on and so forth so I get them to write it out: Madeleine has shared her french fries, a tee-shirt, a chocolate bar and the better side of the bed at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane. Eitan has given Madeleine some popcorn, a few chips and her choice of the car seat (we are in an American seven-seater). Overall, it is about even.

Post Seattle

Sonnet, Rana, Rob

So here is what the gang is doing: Rana, Assistant Managing Editor, Time Magazine and economics pundent, CNN; Mary, founder, Gatheredtable, backed by Starbucks Howard Schultz; Rob, founder and funding a Latin American bank; Sloan continues her exec coaching business.  A dynamic and interesting group for sure.

Madeleine: "Where do you want to go?" [Dad's note: we are on a bike trail outside Spokane]
Me: "You're a young woman now, you need to answer your own questions sometimes."
Madeleine: "I think you're jumping over a few stages there, Dad.  Like teen-ager."
Me:
Madeleine: "In fact, I'm still a pre teen."
Me: "You're a 'tweenie.'
Madeleine: "Definitely not a tweenie. OMG."

Me: "Can I have a sip of your drink?" 
Madeleine: "No."
Me: "Sharing is an attractive quality."
Madeleine: "Like last night when you wouldn't give me one bite of your burger yet ate all my chips?"
Me: "Touche."
Madeleine:
Me: "Nicely done in fact."

Beautiful Child

OMG DAD

So there is the usual split between the kids : teenagers (Devon, Sophie, Eitan) the tweenies (Madeleine, Jaimes, Simon, Darya) and Maya who is really, like, the oldest kid in the group yet the youngest by age. And so it goes.

The teenagers are practicing adolescents and we keep an eye on the on-goings : lights that are off are turned on, sleeping arrangements monitored and babysitters advised. Usual stuff.

And Rob says, "Jeff, we have beer."

Moonrise Over Washington

Mt Rainier from Mary and Amado's dock

We cope with jet lag which means waking up at 3:45AM (me) and trying to go back to sleep. Instead I watch the sunrise and otherwise adjust to the emotional swings of long haul travel which is only normal in, like, the last 30 years of world history.

Madeleine wanders into the kitchen, says hello, and takes my unfilled spot next to Sonnet.

Go Pro

Skier

Devon is into skiing. He is a skier. Last year he won the Buddy Warner Pacific Northwest Championships for 12-13 year-olds  on Crystal Mountain - there were over 100 competitors.  He qualified for the Jr Olympics this year but crashed out (Nb, Devon's worst crash occurred when he was free skiing and came over blind noll into an inadequate grooming job and flew 40 feet into the trees, hitting tree branches but, fortunately, no trunks, and walked away, more or less. The ski patrol thought he was dead, he tells me).

Devon's long-term ambition is to make the national ski team and ski competitively in college.

Me: "Maybe I will stop my blog."
Rob: "Why? It's your journal."
Me: "It's mainly about the kids, and I can no longer write everything that is going on."
Eitan: "What can't you write?"
Me: "Stuff that will embarrass you."
Eitan: "There's nothing that would embarrass me, Dad."
Me: "Puberty."
Sophie: "Ag, don't say that."
Eitan: "OK, OK."