Trip to Idaho Falls

Idaho Falls is about 70 miles from Alpine. It is not a particularly charming city, though there are some nice parks and neighborhoods. Mostly it is commercial sprawl. Paul and Jenny go now and then to buy bulk - berries, nuts, granola bars, laundry soap, etc. -  and just for a change. First stop was Barnes & Noble bookstore, then Applebee's for lunch, then Sam 's Club for bulk. 

Going to Idaho Falls makes you realize that Alpine is in a narrow snow belt. Very little snow in Idaho Falls. 

Snowless fields outside Idaho Falls with wind farm in distance. 

It is a nice drive coming back along the Snake River and Palisades Reservoir . 

We went by the ruins of an LDS church that burned down in December. Quite a spectacular fire at the time.  

The reservoir through the trees

My one purchase - a jar of 500 Vitamin E capsules. A 17-month supply. 

Snow, snow, snow

We're in Alpine and it's another world. They have had one snowstorm after another - sort of like back home. Then rain on top of all that snow. Roofs have collapsed in Jackson. The canyon has been closed several times by avalanches. They had high winds one day that snapped off 17 steel transmission towers going into Teton Village. I guess it has been pretty wild. The car is in the garage because the driveway is hopelessly icy. Don't want to fall again! Doesn't look like we'll be doing much walking.

Max has no school today so we are having a Max day. Tomorrow the word is we may go to Idaho Falls. 

      The front steps! 

          The back deck

Amazing weather

We are at Fort Robinson in western Nebraska, very near Wyoming, and it is bright, clear, snowless and - get this - 65 degrees! We just took a walk, coatless, and got warm.

   At Fort Robinson. We washed the car earlier today. It was plastered with salt. 

Tonight, we are in Lusk, WY.  Our drive across Nebraska today was really lovely, 

Sioux City, IA

Tonight we are in a Rodeway Inn in Sioux City. It's in sort of an industrial neighborhood but the room is fine, tho it took some doing to figure out the TV. Ellen is watching America's test kitchen, on the "Create channel" but I think she's already asleep.

                              Create PBS channel

We left Bartlett at about 9:30 this a.m. and went directly to Anamosa, IA where we stopped to visit Betty Remley. Betty had fallen about when I did, so we commiserated. In her case she hit her head and had a big hematoma which left her face discolored, so I didn't take any photos. But she is still sharp as a tack. E.g., she is currently reading a novel by Isabel Allende. She is 99! 

From there we took US 30 to Ames, had supper at a Culver's, went up to US 20 and west to Sioux City. No snow all the way. I read Virginia Woolf aloud, we listened to NPR and the lectures on "Dialects." The US is a dialect-rich country! 

Tomorrow it will be Nebraska most of the day and into southern Wyoming. Alpine by Thursday.

No snow

We are now heading west on Rte 64 to Anamosa, IA. We just had a lovely stay with Maggie and Jerry. Ellen is still coughing some but doesn't feel sick. Just sort of "blah." The amazing thing is that in contrast to back east, there is no snow on the ground. This has been true since Ohio. We're not complaining! We are speculating where we will again see snow. Are the plains states snowless?

                  Snow-less field, Sycamore, IL

Family gathering

We just had a lovely family gathering at Maggie and Jerry's. Sadly, I did not think to take any photos! I'm getting a bit absent-minded in my old age!!  But we had a good time anyway in a photoless sort of way. Daniel was here, Becky, Tristan and Samantha, and Peter and Lori, who came directly from a piano and guitar recital that two of their grandchildren (Ronan and Moira) were in - held at the local Riverboat Casino. Ronan played the Star Spangled Banner on the electric guitar. Shades of Jimmy Hendrix! Suzy and Dennis went to a concert at Rivinia tonight, so they were not here, but they came by last evening and had supper with us. We learned a lot about what is happening in people's lives.

Perhaps the most interesting is Samantha Crockett, who has just taken a job as a staff assistant to Raja Krishnamoorthi, the newly elected Representative from the 8th District in Chicago to the U.S. Congress, the first Indian-American in the Congress and a rising star in the Democratic Party. She works at his office in Schaumburg, IL. It is obviously a very interesting job. Krishnamoorthi has a connection with Barack Obama going back at least to 2000, when he was a staffer for Obama's Congressional campaign. He has been in the Congress less than a month and is already a ranking member of an important Sub-Committee. We'll be hearing more about him I'm sure.

Tristan is working now at the University of Chicago, near my old stomping grounds, when I was at CTS.  He has an hour commute on the train, and Samantha has an hour-and-a-half commute, part bus, part train. They will be moving in June to an apartment that will make both of their commutes somewhat easier - his shorter, hers only by train, which will eliminate standing on cold corners waiting for a bus. 

Peter works in Glenview, IL right now, but his office will be moving soon. However, he is looking forward to retirement in another year and a half or so. When Ellen asked what he was looking forward to in retirement, he said, "Not going to work!" He and Lori will leave in a couple of weeks for a week-long winery tour in Oregon.

Becky is still doing home care. She has been using the laundromat for years to do her wash but now has just gotten a washer/dryer for the house. Suzy and Dennis will leave soon for a trip to visit Ryan and Alicia in Everett, WA. Daniel's life is pretty stable at the moment.

Ellen is feeling some better tonight. We will be here tomorrow and head out for Wyoming on Tuesday. Our understanding is that it will be clear sailing, weather-wise.

Erie, PA

Well, we got off at about 9:45 this a.m. Travel was fine, a bit sloppy at first, but then dry road on Mass Turnpike. We decided to take I-88 to Binghamton, and then I-86 to Erie. We went through some flurries around Bath, NY but they ended pretty quickly. We are in a Super 8 at Erie tonight. Ellen is feeling a bit under the weather. Rare for her. I'm doing pretty well. In the car I read some aloud, we listened to NPR and also a Teaching Company lecture series on "American English and Dialects."  Tomorrow should be an ok day for travel and we expect to arrive in Bartlett by early evening.