Kicking off Summer 2014

I rolled into Teton Valley on Monday, June 16, 2014 at 3:30 am.  For the trip back to the valley this year I was accompanied by my good friend, Tim Benson, an English teacher at Brooks.  I rolled into the Brooks School at 4:30 am on Saturday, June 14 to pick up Tim and start our journey.

Our first stop was in Wellsville, NY to visit dads uncle Wayne.  We arrived at noon and found Wayne eagerly waiting our arrive.  He had lunch warming on the stove and while we ate showed off a few of his favorite guns; a muzzle loader from the late 1800's and a Colt .44 revolver carried in the civil war.  The only other place he has seen a similar Colt was at the CM Russell Museum in Montana and he remarked, "that one wasn't in as good condition as mine."

Wayne Lang in Wellsville, NY

We sat in his front room and talked about our trip.  He asked us what river are going to fish.  I told him the Teton River and he replied, "Isn't that the one that had a dam break?"  Wayne is still sharp as a tack and doesn't miss a beat.  We also pick up a large bell that had hung at Newton Lang's farm in Iowa and had been hanging at Wayne's camp for the last 45 years.  Wayne said it wasn't his bell, he'd just been enjoying it for the last 45 years and now it's time to pass it on.  Dad will hang it at the farm in Redmond.  Maybe I'll be fortunate to hang it on my hallowed ground someday.

Our next stop, not counting pit stops, was Ottawa, Ill at 11:00pm.  The Econo Lodge provided a welcome respite to our road weary bones.

An early morning departure and a quick trip across Iowa got us thinking.  The GPS had an estimated time of arrival in the Valley at 2:30 am.  We decided to make a run for it.  Nebraska is a long state, but with between the two of us we made quick work of it and pulled into Little America in Cheyenne a little before 7:00pm.  Still too early to stop, we filled up and hit the road again.  Refusing to stop in Rawlings, we pulled into Lander about midnight to top off the tank and hit the road for the last stretch. Now we were on a mission ala Blues Brothers style.  

We were met with dusting fresh snow on the road over Towgotee pass and pulled into the Jackson town square and for the first time not a car in sight.  A quick trip over Teton pass and we had made the finish line.  We woke up in Andover on Saturday morning and on Sunday night we went to sleep in Driggs.  What a way to spend a weekend.

Back in the Valley again.  Let the summer begin!