For the love of the Tetons.
I was supposed to fly out to Spokane Washington on Friday evening, but on Thursday morning I got a text that said "Yes."
This 'yes' meant that my aunt Linda and I would be cancelling our flights to Washington state, meet up in Garden City, KS, and drive 22 hours to Newman Lake, WA. I think on Linda's part, her decision was made due to possible coronavirus exposure and that her pup, Eustace, would be able to join her if we drove. My side of the 'yes' came out of a love of last minute decisions and for my love for the Tetons.
Friday, July 31, 2020 - Drive to Garden City, KS (311 Miles)
I got to Garden City, KS around 7:30pm greeted by six eager little Lobmeyers waiting to meet their new baby brother, number seven, Gilbert. We played hide-and-go seek until then, because when I walked in the door I was greeted with "Let's play hide-and-go seek, you know ALL the best spots!". When there are 26 grandkids, and you are the oldest -- of course, you know the best spots.
Gilbert Matthew Lobmeyer
We are the first and the twenty-sixth grandchildren of Marion and Joan Lobmeyer.
These are the nicknames conjured upon our meeting: Ol’ Manhands McGil, The Great Gilly Lobkins, Bertie, and Longfoot.
Saturday, August 1, 2020 - Drive to Lander, WY (648 Miles)
Road trips are not for everyone, but I love driving. I love watching the topography change dozens of times, back and forth. I love when the scenery feels like it is soaking into your eyeballs and you blink back tears because you wonder when you will see a place again… maybe that’s more a me thing than a you thing — but that’s why I love driving.
47 miles to Lander, the car let us know we had 37 miles to empty and the phone let us know that we would not have a gas station until we got to Lander. Fortunately, cars don’t know what they are talking about and they don’t just putter out when they say you have 0 miles to empty.
Needing to stretch our legs, we went to the nearest state park, Sinks Canyon State Park. There we found the Sinks and the Rise where the Popo Agie River disappears underground into a cave and reappears at the Rise — where water pools and rainbow and brown trout look like sharks awaiting a snack. We don’t quite know how we feel about the fish food station at the observation deck encouraging visitors to feed the trout here.
We had dinner at Cowfish, a restaurant that you want to hate for its name until you walk in and see a cow with fish in its mouth. The trout was delicious, the Oaxaca chicken salad, good — and the beer was great.
While we are talking about food and before I sign off on this day…
Mr. Bills Burgers in Laramie, WY should have more than 3 stars on Yelp. Sure, they messed up the order, but it was a dang good burger.
Sunday, August 2, 2020 - Drive to Newman Lake, WA (729+ Miles)
Well, here’s the thing about motels and traveling with a pup…
Pictured: The Little Devil, himself
There are outside noises that make a pup feel brave and in need of protecting their person. I spent two hours wanting to cry, thinking of all the ways we could get rid of the pup in the morning. But after two hours, I got up to turn the fan on constant, turn on the bathroom fan, Linda followed and turned on a noise machine app — and I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up eventually.
I only mention this because for a small time, it felt really big… that was until I remembered that this was the day that I would see my mountains again.
We drove to the Sacajawea Cemetery on the Wind River Reservation to visit once more, as we did in 2015. There is something about the way that indigenous cultures bury their loved ones that pulls at my heart. The colors, the favorite things, all gathered together to celebrate a life. While there is some controversy regarding where Shoshone woman, Sacajawea is buried, I believe she is buried here with her son, Bazil.
And then, the Tetons where the range looks like it could have been painted by a messy little kid, where the air smells delicious and people can’t help but get out of their cars to see a bear despite all the traffic signs telling you not to stop the car, let alone get out for a better look. We said hello to our favorite campsites at Lizard Creek Campground (#34 & #35), drove to the top of Signal Mountain, and had lunch along the valley with the range in full view.
There are few places that are not home where you feel like you truly belong, and I feel like I belong here.
From Teton Pass until I’m not sure where, my eyes remained glued to the rear view for every angle of Grand Teton they had never seen before.
We finished our audiobook soon after Grand Teton was out of view, and pushed past Missoula, MT where we had paid for a room. The threat of another hotel night, and a early drive, was enough for us to forfeit our paid room and tack on the final three hours of Montana and Idaho to reach Washington state. We stopped for huckleberry ice cream at St. Regis as a reward for driving the dark, windy mountain roads sprinkled with construction.
