Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early, reloaded the car and saddled in to ride across Big Sky Country. Kellan's eye was still swollen shut, even though we were hopping for a steroid induced miracle. Swollen or not, he was all smiles.
Oliver may have had a rodeo smorgasbord midnight carnival hangover.
He assumed this position before we hit the freeway.
Just over the Wyoming / Montana state line, Kellan declared, "I've got to Go Po.....otty!"
With no rest stops in sight, we declared this a great time to contribute to the greenery of Montana's roadways.
Good Morning, Montana!
Rodeo smorgasbord and midnight carnival proved to be a great success as Oliver continued to provide us with interesting sleeping positions.
Even Kellan got in on this action.
Believe it or not, this road trip was strategically planned with high action followed by long drives. This turned out to be a magical masterpiece.
The drive through Montana was great. Keith and I commented on how we had forgotten how pretty western Montana was and how nice it was to drive along the river. The river eventually led us to Missoula, our resting stop for the night. After checking into our hotel, we headed out to Jeannette's house.
Yes, Jeannette is a new name to the blog, but not to the Garner family. Jeannette and her family have been family friends with us Garners for decades. Yes, decades. When I was young, she was my idol. Seriously. She had all of the best toys; barbies, barbie accessories, barbie houses, barbie cars and the toys that sealed the deal... the Annie House and Strawberry Shortcake house complete with all of the character dolls. In the second grade, she introduced me to Michael Jackson and the Thriller video. Several years later, it was George Michael's blue jean butt as he swayed to Faith across the big screen TV as she was making a music video compilation on VHS for the school dance. (I was still in about the 4th grade. She was SO cool.) On top of it, for many years I was the recipient of her hand me down clothes. I never saw those Barbies, Strawberry Shortcakes or Annie's ever come my way, but she was still the coolest chic around.
Then, there was my brother Jerry and her brother Jack, who were BBF's before there was such a thing as BFF's. I suppose back in the 80's they were probably just Dudes or Rad Rockers, or whatever.
Fast forward a few decades and life came full circle as my brother Jerry started dating Jeannette.
At Jeannette's house, we got to visited with her and Jerry as well as the Trans Am GTA.
Jerry has had this car since ... practically the dawn of time.
I will always remember when he was stationed at Bremerton, WA in the Navy and he would drive home for the weekends. I was still in high school at the time, but when I was willing to tolerate his noogies and jabs at looking like a boy with my short hair, we would hang out. Big brothers can be such pests. (Honestly, I always thought that he was cool dude too and I was always thrilled when he would ask me to hang out... but you can't actually admit that to your brother.)
It is funny what different memories people have from times in their lives. Jerry reminisced about how we were in this car at a stop light in Spokane and in an effort to show off as we took off fast, the drivers seat broke, he fell back and it was so embarrassing. He also remembers a lengthy conversation between us about why it's important to have a clean car. After a memory jogb, I was right there with him.
For me, I remember learning how to be a proper co-pilot who wraps drive-thru burgers just right so that the pilot can drive and eat without making a mess. Plus, I remember being stuck in a statue position as he left to go into the gas station while I was in the car with a motion sensor car alarm.
Either way, it was fun to talk about those days and check out the car that he has put so much work into restoring.
As Kellan was eyeing the car, Uncle Jerry said that he could get in and check it out.
This may have made his day.
VAROOM!
Would you really mess with this guy? No, I didn't think so.
We paused for some quick photos before the sun went down.
Uncle Jerry with his nephews, Oliver and Kellan.
Carrie, Jerry and the Trans Am GTA.
As the sun went down, Kellan found a quiet place in the corner of the yard with a fantastic hammock.
The sun wasn't the only thing going down, so was Kellan's eye swelling.
Quick Quick.. lets take a photo before it's completely dark.
Jerry and Jeannette.
It was so fun to see these two together. It was very obvious how happy they are together and it was so great to visit and catch up. Maybe Jeannette will convince Jerry to come to Colorado for a visit (hint, hint, wink, wink).
As we glanced at our watches and were shocked that it was 9:45 PM (and not completely dark) and Kellan was being offered pickle juice (he approached us and said, "Mommy, do I like pickle juice?") we decided that it was time to call it a night and head out.
Thanks to Jerry and Jeannette for a perfect ending to Day 2 of the 12 Day Road Trip. We loved spending a relaxing evening with you in your great backyard. We hope to see you again soon.
For the record, Kellan now claims that he loves pickle juice. We're not quite sure what to make of that.
Plus, Jerry and Jeanette are still pretty cool, even after all of these decades.
No comments:
Post a Comment