Despite the reason for the trip, we did try to take in some sites since we most likely would never be driving across country again.
When we made it to Iowa and it was the night of the super moon and eclipse.
Going through Wyoming we detoured to Devil's Tower.
Washington, Mt. Rainier in the distance.
(You need to really look since it blends into the sky).
At last we get there and see my sister-in-law and nephew.
(I see a lot of my brother in my nephew, Thomas. The last time I saw them, he was a tot.)
The last time I saw Chris she looked like this picture.
Can you see the resemblance of my brother (Gary) and Thomas?
(Sorry this is not clear, it is a picture of a picture)
The Church (Korean)
The memorial
The service was full and said in Korean with some English since they know we don't speak Korean. Afterwards we were told to go in the basement of the church for some food. The amount of food was overwhelming. Everyone must have made and brought something and everything was delicious. We ate and heard stories of my brother and how others knew him. It was nice to see so many people know both him and Chris. We felt much better having to leave Chris alone when we all went home because she has so many people she can talk to and they can help her with things she may not understand.
Just a quick background so you understand. My brother met Chris when he was stationed in Korea. They eventually married and when his tour there was finished, she came with him to the US. She knew no English or much about how things work here. Her family is not here and her son lives in NC now. When we left, we were leaving her alone so we were worried about her.
While in Washington we took a day trip to Mount Saint Helens which was awesome to see. Did you know that on the way up the mountain they had a place that had the prints of Big Foot. Of course, Washington has lots of forests so it only stands to reason they'd have Big Foot as well.
Speaking of big, I never saw cover this big. I put down a dime for comparison.
We stopped at one house that was there when Mount Saint Helen's erupted and it is still buried but so interesting to see what happens years later when everything is covered in so much ash.
Nothing beats the beauty of the volcano even though it is not as grand as it was prior to the eruption.
It is very much alive and is building a new dome right in the center.
It looks small in comparison but it stands over 1,000' off the creator floor.
Since I routed the trip, I couldn't resist taking a route through Yellowstone. Although we didn't stay or spend much time there, we did stop to see Old Faithful. My route took us in the west and out the east side of the park, we stopped at a few other 'sites' along our way. Neither of us seen anything like it.
They may call them Bison but they are American Buffalo.
It is sad to know they once roamed free across the US and now this is the only place they are free with such mere numbers.
So beautiful!
I wanted to stop to take a photo and Jerry pulls over and lets me out here. I look down and see a baby bear. Where there is a baby, there is a mommy. Now I tell him he was just trying to collect on my insurance policy. (Joking of course)
In South Dakota we also detoured a bit so we could see Mount Rushmore.
I doubt we'd ever get out this way again so I wanted to take advantage of any sites along our route to see. It was a long (and painful in more ways than one) ride and although I wished we could have really looked at Yellowstone instead of the few minute stops we made, I was glad to be home.
