Star Wars Christmas Eve

I've always considered myself more of a Trekkie than a Star Wars fan. I grew up with the original Star Trek television series. I did revel with my first born son Matthew through the first three Star Wars films with all their action figures and collectible spaceships; but Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Bones have always been foremost in my science fiction space travel fantasies.

My dream has been that "Beam me up, Scotty" would become real technology. My wanderlust has me stepping into our walk-in closet with a suitcase and dialing in the coordinates for Yellowstone National Park on the Transporter Room control panel. A few seconds of shimmer later and...I'm scarily in the middle of a bison herd in Hayden Valley.

But, alas! My imagination drifts me from my topic. Shortly after the first Star Wars movie became a hit, I  found myself parodying those characters into some popular Christmas songs. Some of the agenda for the Shreve Christian School Chorus, of which I was the director, included the following: Up on the Death Star, Chewy the Star Man, A Star Wars Wonderland, The 12 Star Wars Christmases, among others. My favorite, R2 the Bleeping Droid, I present in this blog for your holiday enjoyment. Feel free to sing along...

from robojapan.blogspot.com

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen;
But do you recall the most famous robot of all?
R2 the Bleeping Droid (droid) had a few funny walk (knee, walk)
And if you ever heard him (heard him) you would laugh at how he'd talk (bleep, squawk)

All of the other robots (robots) used to laugh and call him names (like C3PO)

They never let poor R2 (D2) join in any robot games (like Staropoly)

Then one Star Wars Christmas Eve Leia came to say

"R2 with your bleep so bright (bleep) won't you guide Luke's fighter tonight?"

Then how the Rebels loved him (loved him) and they shouted with C3 (PO)

R2 you Bleeping Droid (droid) you'll go down in history (like Ben Kenobi).

from robojapan.blogspot.com

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas Eve; and may your dreams of a white, peaceful Christmas Day tomorrow come true!

In the Planning

Robert Frost once penned about the road less travelled. It was all about choices. Recently I've joined several Facebook groups concerned with vacations to national parks and other scenic places. These sites get lots of questions from those planning trips. People want to know about those experienced with lodging, eateries, side trips, hikes, and best time of year, etc. They get lots of answers in addition to many fantastic photo posts. Many of these travelers I agree with; some not so much.

Today I read a query submitted by a family planning a trip from an eastern state to some of the parks out west. They had 16 days for the entire trek. Over the years I have planned many such pilgrimages of varying lengths. I took time to share my preferences. In my opinion there are several general ways to form the itinerary for such an occasion. None is right or wrong. They are just what's best for preferences of those going.

The first is to visit as many places of interest going and coming and spend a few days at your main special destination. The second is to get to the favorite spot as quickly as possible and spend as many days there as you can, returning home speedily. Of course an alternative would be to go one way expeditiously and the other way stopping frequently to smell the roses. I have followed all three of those advisory timelines in my planning over the decades. 

My wife and I have managed to see every one of the 50 states and have so far visited about 50 of the 62 national parks including my favorite Yellowstone. I've been there 18 times.

Contemplating the sunset on Kauai

So what gem of wisdom did I offer to the Facebook questioner? I quoted a line from an old pop song Kokomo by the Beach Boys: "Get there fast and then...take it slow." The planning options are many; choices will vary depending upon the traveler's Bucket List. I believe much of the pleasure in any vacation is in the planning!

Roads

 We love to road trip. In our 49+ years of marriage, Delores and I have travelled some very rewarding and challenging highways. This Labor Day we added The Dragon (Highway 129 at the Tennessee/North Carolina border - also known as the Tail of the Dragon) to our list of roads conquered. We actually stayed within the 30 mph legal speed limit most of the time. The same couldn't be said for the many supercharged cars and loud motorcycles who apparently took the challenge to drive the 318 curves in 11 miles as fast as mechanically possible. They can claim the title of dragon slayer. We had no such aspiration. This highway is known for its daring drivers and terrifying crashes.

In fulfilling our bucket list item of visiting every state in the USA, we have driven SAFELY on some amazing roads. This blog is about my sharing our favorites.

For scenic beauty a road tripper couldn't beat the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain NP that takes you up to 12,000+ feet. The last time we summited that road we not only saw the awesome vistas but several bull elk resting in the meadows just beyond the highest point.

Going to the Sun Road in Glacier NP is incredibly breathtaking as well. The result at the top is to view the mountain goats and big horn sheep that frequent the area.

The figure 8 road (upper and lower loops) of Yellowstone NP are a favorite. This offers a lot of scenic variety from mountains to flowering meadows and thermal features to waterfalls. Its real claim to fame though is that there could be and often is a very large mammal or group of mammals around the next curve. We have been surprised by bison, elk, moose, black bear, grizzlies, big horn sheet, mountain goats, deer, pronghorns, et al. I have visited this park 18 times and hope to return in 2021. The secret to seeing the wildlife is to get on the road before the sun wakes up and stay there until the sun goes back to sleep. Take plenty of food and water for the day; because, in this time of pandemic, many sources for those staples are closed. It's simply a waste of  critter-spotting time to have to return outside the park between the hours of dawn and dusk.

One of the most challenging roads of my life was the Dalton Highway -- 500 miles from Fairbanks to Deadhorse, AK. The Ice Road Truckers drive this road on ice in the winter. I conquered this road of mud, gravel, pot holes and frost heaves on my 12,800 mile solo road trip from my home in Columbia, Tennessee, in May of 2011.

Those are a few of the more memorable roads of our travels. We have been on parts of Highway 95 on the east coast, Highway 5 on the west coast, and the famous Route 66 across the country. Additionally we have driven the length of Highway 1 to Key West. We hope for more of the same in the years we have remaining to travel.

One road I do not aspire to drive is the infamous Death Road in La Paz, Bolivia. You can Google that for some terrifying images. 

Best of luck as you travel the roads of your life. Be safe in the realization that wildlife along the forests and meadows of Yellowstone can offer as great a danger as the motorcycles you encounter on the curves of the Dragon's Tail. Wherever you drive, take your time and smell the roses along the way.

Photo of The Dragon from carthrottle.com

Beautiful Feet...NOT!

From where do your memories come? Mine often come from imagining or daydreaming. Sometimes they originate in song lyrics. Occasionally they materialize in scripture. Such is the case with today's blog.

Isaiah 52:7 (NIV) states: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

In my younger days I used to backpack a lot. Two teacher colleagues of mine and I started a company we called Ozark Backpackers in the hills around the town of Ironton, MO. We led groups of teens on overnight trips in that rugged part of Missouri. Taum Sauk Mountain, the highest natural point in the Show Me State, was in that area of the Saint Francois Range. It was a towering 1,772 feet in elevation and was called an elongated ridge rather than a mountain peak.

portage with canoe

Our next move was to Shreveport, LA. I teamed up with the educational minister and led the Dirty Dozen (12 teens from the church) on a backpacking trip into Yellowstone National Park. One of our hikes was from the Canyon rim to the bottom of the river at Seven Mile Hole. Coming back up the same day was quite an adventure. The next year I led a group of those same guys back into Yellowstone. We had a several night pack planned. As a conditioner we did the Seven Mile Hole trek, once again in a single day. We surpassed our goal for that hike of coming back up from the Hole in less time than it took us to descend.

A few years later we lived in Dallas, TX. While there I joined with several other men and led members of the youth group on wilderness canoe trips to the lakes and rivers on the Minnesota/Canadian border. The portages were often short but strenuous backpacking hikes between lakes. We carried all our gear and the canoes on our backs.

RMNP backpack, 1975

I will never forget the time my brother and I went on a backpack of several nights length in Rocky Mountain National Park in the summer of 1975. The most memorable part of that trip was when I contracted a mild case of hypothermia one afternoon. My problem was I didn't adjust my wardrobe to match the quickly changing weather. Fortunately I taught the what to do if... to the teens I led often enough so I recovered quickly.

Remembering and relating some details of these adventures is pleasant. Rethink the Isaiah passage above. Think about the "beautiful feet" phraseology. In all the hiking and backpacking I did during my first decades as an adult, I never remember myself or any other group members having what could be described as beautiful  feet.

The scree wreaked havoc on our feet in the hiking boots despite our wearing two heavy pairs of socks. Adding moleskin at the first sensation of a hot spot that soon reddened and turned painful, never seemed to keep the blister from forming. Besides that, the feet got crusty and smelly. There was not much preventative we could do except change socks often and bathe our toes in the cool water at day's end.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who backpack...NOT! Thank you, God, for the experiences and the memories...but not for the blisters.

L00K!

Robert Fulghum stated in his book All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten, "Remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you learned -- the biggest word of all -- LOOK?" What are some things you have looked at with amazement and awe?

Everytime I see a majestic sunrise or beautiful sunset, I am in awe. I never tire of the full moon on the rise. I stare in wonder when the Harvest Moon appears like a huge ball of orange splendor. My first view of the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Old Faithful, or that elusive herd of seven bull moose in Yellowstone National Park all took my breath away. What such memories of awesome looks can you share?

Luke 12:27-28 (MSG) reminds us that we have never seen such color and design as wildflowers display in the fields. "The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside  them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never seen, don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?" That rhetorical question is answered with a resounding, "Of course He will!"

As a child I played in New Orleans' Rose Garden in City Park. Years later as an adult, I wandered through the thousands of multi-colored flowers of Butchart Gardens in British Columbia. I've been privileged to view many other rainbow-like nearly kaleidoscopic landscapes in God's creation. What colorful experiences have caused you to marvel?

Recently my wife and I daydreamed of someday returning to Butchart Gardens. I would like to return to Alaska for my 4th time hopeful of seeing the Northern Lights. With limited opportunity for a chance encounter with the Aurora Borealis, we missed them last fall in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. There is more probability that I will wander the paths of the Garden again than that I will get lucky enough to see the Lights.

I will always take every opportunity to see and thank God for His resplendent marvels. I take joy in wandering in nature just to LOOK!