the way the West won my heart

Worn out after a trip to Disney Land

As a little kid, our family vacations never went south, north, or east. The car or van would always head west. I remember making several treks out west as a little tike. I remember the long drives that coloring books and comic books would have to help pass. We went to California twice, visiting the Grand Canyon and driving part of Route 66 along the way. In California we went to Disney Land, there was no Disney World yet, stopped by my great Aunt Goldie’s house in Oceanside (my Grandpa Garner’s aunt) and we went to Yosemite National Park. These trips would take us back through Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park.

Riding Methuselah at Reptile Gardens, at 3 years old

It was Yellowstone that our family most visited. We went once to Glacier and to Elkhorn, a ghost town in Montana, but our time in Yellowstone was most memorable. Looking for animals, seeing Old Faithful and the lodge, and taking the annual picture in front of the Yellowstone Falls, these were the things that made the trips memorable. And so was the long, long drives through eastern Wyoming where we looked for “bottoms up” or antelope, and found some respite from the drive at Wall Drug and Reptile Gardens. I remember leaving for the big trip from the truck stop, telling Grandpa and Grandma good bye, then driving nearly all night before stopping at a rest stop to sleep through the night. I thought that was so cool.

Methuselah doesn't give rides today....he looks a little worn out eh? That's my son, 35 years later.