A lot has happened this I last wrote from Bend. In late May we decided to make a cross-country trip from Bend, Oregon to St. Paul, Minnesota. We broke it up into 6 days and took a day of rest in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Our two big stops were in the Grand Tetons near Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park, which was also just a few hours from Jackson Hole.
While our family has seen a lot of the world, we’ve seen surprisingly little of the United States. And we definitely needed to remedy the fact that Nia had never been on a multi-day road trip (she was a natural, by the way). I had been to these parks back around when I was 12 years old but didn’t remember much. Nick and Nia had never been.
The beauty of the Grand Tetons was in its simplicity. Grand mountain vistas with trees as far as the eye could see and the most pristine, clear lakes I’ve ever seen. We did two days of multi-hour hikes and only ran into a handful of other hikers. It was like having the park to ourselves. We LOVED it!
After our days exploring the Grand Tetons, it was time to move on to the infamous Yellowstone Park. In yet another cool “things that Grandma Joyce did in the past” story, we discovered that she spent an entire summer here in her early 20’s selling groceries at the camp store and exploring the park in her free time. So neat Grandma!!
While there were not a lot of people at Yellowstone, we made the decision to head out on the “Geyser Loop” while everyone else was waiting to see Old Faithful blow. It worked out perfectly because we could still see Old Faithful from where we were, but it enabled us to have all the other geysers to ourselves.
I had forgotten about the beautiful canyon and waterfall in Yellowstone. I don’t know how one forgets something so beautiful, but now it’s locked into my memory. So gorgeous. My memories of the park really just centered on bears, bison and Old Faithful and I was shocked to realize how extensive and varied the park is. I get why it’s such a popular vacation destination!
Speaking of bison…they were everywhere! It reminded me of India’s cows.
Our coolest find was perhaps this big ball of Bison fur. We couldn’t get over how thick it was. Nature is cool.
We arrived in Minnesota in the heat of the George Floyd protests and decided to go straight to my parent’s cabin in Wisconsin to do our quarantine time. Since then, we’ve had a number of weekends that we got to spend with my parents, sisters and our new nephew Odin!
Sadly, we had to bid adieu to Mr. Nicholas this past Sunday. When we first left, the idea was that he would get us to the US, then return to India a week or two later when commercial flights reopened. Well…turns out they never did (and still haven’t). So he hung with us and did virtual telework. The time came though where they needed him back in person. He had to get special permission to re-enter the country and Nia and I were not allowed to go.
Ironically, he left on an American repatriation flight that the US managed and returned on an Indian repatriation flight that the Indian government managed! Mumbai is still in strict lockdown and the number of cases continues to rise. I understand why he had to go, but it’s really hard being apart during such a stressful time. And I hate single parenting! We also have no idea when we’ll reunite again. If you had to ask me my best guess as of right now, I’d say Nia & I will get to go back to India around early October. I try not to think of that though, because it feels too daunting. Just taking it day by day around here.
I hope you are safe and healthy – wear those masks! This extrovert would give anything for a big hugfest! Maybe in 2021…
