Wednesday, June 16 - Is there a better feeling than sitting back and letting a vacation begin? That's what we all did as our Edgerton's Travel group heading for Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and the Grand Tetons made ourselves comfortable on Amtrak's California Zephyr out of Chicago's Union Station.
For the next 10 days, tour managers Val Friedrich and Jacci Lightfoot would attend to all our needs as this trip to some of our nation’s most picturesque spots unfolded before us.
Sweet anticipation.
Most of us got at least a few Zzzzzz’s on the Zzzzephyr. One of our travel mates who knew her way around trains was Phyl Norris who worked on the railroads for more than 30 years – even controlling the train switches at one point in her career. Phyl still loves her trains and we were all happy this classy woman was along for the ride.
We soon learned that we had a lot of characters and character on our Western-ho journey.
Thursday, June 17 - We got off the train in Denver with only a few kinks after our overnight ride through our nation’s breadbasket. Then it was off to South Dakota on our motor coach as we continued to cultivate our new friendships.
We figured we were eventually going to see buffalo and moose on our trip, but who would have thought woolly mammoths? But on our way to Rapid City, we stopped at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, the world’s largest mammoth research facility.
Thousands of years ago, a sinkhole trapped hundreds of the woollys – ironically all of them males. (What does that say about the male intellect?) Many of their skeletons are well preserved. Quite a setting.
When we arrived at our hotel in Rapid City, John F. Kennedy was out to greet us. At least a statue of him stood on the corner of our hotel. On a walking tour of the downtown area, you can find all the Presidents awaiting some lively conversation. Very neat.
Ed and Pam Walz met us after flying to Rapid City and bring our group to a grand total of 47.
Friday, June 18 – We started out by celebrating the birthday of Carol Walling. She and husband Gary are from Sturgis, Mich. Gary was the high school baseball coach there after starring at South Bend Adams and Western Michigan before a stint in the New York Yankees farm system.
Of course, our day was a home run as we visited the Wind Cave, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer Park, and Mount Rushmore (Quick, which of the four presidents has lapels?)
My highlight was riding in our jeeps through a large herd of buffalo in Custer Park. We were close enough to touch many of them on the rumps. “But that would not be good,” our driver Joe said. “One woman did that on one tour and the buffalo about kicked the jeep over.” (I kept my hands in.)
Yet the buffalo went about their daily routines as if we weren’t there. With many of them shedding their winter coats, they are magnificent animals (and they don’t taste that bad, either, as some of us would later find out at some of the restaurants where we ate).
Saturday, June 19 – Heading even farther east, we paid a visit to the legendary Wall Drug where owner Ted Hustead got travelers to stop at his drug store back in the Depression year of 1931 by offering free water.
It worked. Wall Drugstore now is world-known with bumper stickers celebrating its existence. Water is still free but the many knickknacks now sold at this “old watering hole” aren’t. Our group took away its share of mementoes including me, the new owner of a rubber snake that caused a few shrieks from Val on the motor coach. She didn’t talk to me for at least 30 seconds.
We then visited the Badlands National park with all its beautiful and bizarre formations. And as the weather warmed up a little, more and more guys started wearing shorts and showing their own bizarre formations. Quite frankly, I haven’t seen so many knobs in one place since a tour of a door factory.
We even had a contest for best legs with the women voting for the men when we got off the bus in the Badlands (maybe they will call it the Badlegs after our visit). Marty Kelly won out. Although he and our bus driver Ray both garnered seven votes each, Ray was disqualified for rolling up his long pants.
In a bit of an upset, I only got one of the 22 votes cast. Thanks honey.
On our way back west, we stopped in Deadwood, made famous by Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Then we crossed into Wyoming and visited Devil’s Tower, rising almost 900 feet into the air and giving everybody a bit of the woolies if they saw the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Sunday, June 20 – It was Happy Father’s Day to many of the guys on our trip as we headed into Buffalo Bill territory. Buffalo Bill Cody was the father of the Wild West Show and apparently the gift of gab.
We spent a few hours in Cody, Wyoming, which was named after Buffalo Bill. Some of enjoyed the Buffalo Bill Historical Museum and others witnessed an Indiana pow-wow.
Then it was through the Bighorn Mountains and on to Yellowstone National Park. We continued to see all kinds of wildlife and had our first sighting of moose. Was that a moose call from Val, our fearless tour manager from the front of the bus, or just her squeal of delight to see these noble beasts.
We continued to enjoy each other’s company on the trip. And wasn’t it neat that two of our couples were celebrating 50th anniversaries. Paul and Anne Beijing of Fort Jennings, Ohio had their special day only three weeks earlier while Hal and Gale Coleman hit that magic number on Feb. 14 – Valentine’s Day.
We kidded our bus driver Ray that we had plenty of backup if something happened to him. Manny Gonzalez (traveling with wife Rose) drove a UPS truck for more than 30 years, Hal Coleman maneuvered a fire truck from time to time during his 20-year firefighting career and Marty Kelly drove his share of Army vehicles during his 39-year career with the Army Reserves.
But the most stylish ride would have been with Steve Mann (traveling with wife Roberta) who had his own Corvette refurbishing business. That would have looked pretty neat out on the long stretches of Wyoming highway.
Monday, June 21 – Is there a more magical place in America than Yellowstone National Park with its vast array of wildlife, Yellowstone Lake, the Upper Falls, the Fountain Paint Pots and, of course, Old Faithful.
Wife Margaret and I got up early and not only walked by hot springs that warmed us with their mists despite the near freezing temperature but we also scooted by a dozing buffalo only 20 feet off the walkway. Then as we returned to our Old Faithful Snow Lodge, we saw – yep – Old Faithful herself stay on schedule by spouting 130 feet in the air. That’s a lot of excitement even before breakfast.
For most of the way, we toured the massive park with our step-on guide, Laney Courtney, who grew up in Florida but fell in love with Yellowstone. A couple of our fellow travelers, Jim Fox and Dick Clauser, made sure they got their pictures taken with the lovely Laney.
That evening within sight of Old Faithful, we enjoyed a cocktail party before dinner at the Old Faithful Lodge. Great scenery, great grub, great company. Some of us even dressed up a little.
Dave and Connie Worthington missed the cocktail party so they could hike around all the geysers and hot springs. She is a microbiologist and he is an electrician so think of the mayhem they could manage if they were truly evil. Hmmmm. But wouldn’t you know they would be great people and super traveling companions.
It was interesting to find out what others did back home. Susan Schartzer is a physical therapist at the hospital in Goshen and quickly recognized a familiar face on the trip. Don Wallace (traveling with wife Marilyn) volunteers at the hospital as a “red-coat,” helping to push patients in their wheelchairs. It was nice to see those kind of connections a thousand miles from home.
Tuesday, June 22 – We said good-bye to Yellowstone and headed south through the rain toward the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole. We started wondering if Mother Nature going to turn off the showers so we could float down the Snake River.
She apparently liked our group. Not only did the clouds open up before our float trip but they also rose high enough into the sky so that we could see all the peaks of the Grand Tetons – maybe the most beautiful mountain range in the world.
The Snake River was beautiful itself and we all were greeted by a bald eagle perched high in a tree as we came around one of the river’s curves. In my float were Dave and Mary Ann Thompson who looked like honeymooners the way they clung to one another through the small rapids. Great people even if Dave often wore his Purdue cap just to tick this I.U. grad off.
Back on the bus, Val and Jacci donned bear and elk hats, which were actually more cute than scary. Sorry, girls.
And then it was off to Jackson Hole nestled among the mountains and full of touristy things to do _ including sitting on a saddle in the Million Dollar Saloon.
Tracy Faudree got the “Happy Birthday” treatment on the bus as his wife
Donna and the rest of us welcomed in yet another year for him.
A lot of people have always said that Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and Mount Rushmore would be a terrific trip to someday make. Janet Stillson planned on going with her husband six years ago – even had bought a camper – but, tragically, he was killed two months before they were to leave.
So Janet after she saw the Edgerton ad, she decided it was time that she fulfilled that dream. Her wonderful mother, Flo Woznicki, signed up with her and they proved great traveling companions.
Wednesday, June 23 – It was off to Grand Junction, which took us through yet another state, Utah. That made eight for the trip – Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming and then Utah.
We also were representing four states ourselves. Besides our big Indiana contingent, Gary and Carol Wallman hail from Michigan; Paul and Anne Beining, Joyce Langmeyer and Susan Gates from Ohio; and Flo Woznicki (traveling with daughter Janet Stillson) and Jean Conrad (traveling with friend Phyl Norris) from Florida,
Bob Culp, with wife Marty sitting innocently by his side, told the best story of the trip while we drove through some of nature’s best. It seems a woman at Jackson Hole had stared at him ceaselessly in a restaurant until she finally came over and told him that Bob looked like her deceased son.
She convinced him to wave to her when she was at the cash register and mouth “Bye, Mom” before he realized that he had been scammed when her bill was waiting for him. He rushed out, caught her in her car and when she tried to kick him, he pulled her leg – but not as long as he had been pulling ours.
Val and a few other women had actually been in tears before he delivered his punch line. Then other travelers, probably tired of my jokes, offered some more of their own at the microphone. Jacci Lightfoot, Jim Fox, Dave Peacock (traveling with wife Marilyn), Dan Kvetko (traveling with wife Liz) and Betsy Kelly (with husband Marty) all got their share of laughs.
Thursday, June 24 – We had breakfast in the clouds – or at least if seemed that way. We ate a gourmet buffet atop the Colorado National Monument and more picturesque pictures were taken by us there than maybe anywhere else during our trip.
And then it was back to Grand Junction where we once again boarded the California Zephyr. For the first several hours, we wove through the Rocky Mountains and alongside the Colorado River – although it could have been called “Moon” River the way a few dozen of the kaykers greeted us with their backside.
While we all enjoyed the scenery, some of us read, some of us played cards in the observation card and some of us just sat back and reminisced on what we had seen.
Then a few of us – especially Dave and Marilyn Peacock – probably got ready for my next round of trivia. They proved to be the overall trivia champs although Tom and Susi Seifferlein, Ron and Doreen Powell and sweet sisters Julie Bussert and Kathy Farthing weren’t too far behind.