OUR TRIP TO YELLOWSTONE

Scott and I had a wonderful trip to Yellowstone in September. We were invited by our friends Sam and Peggy to join them in their 41 foot toy hauler and to take our bikes with us. The toy hauler was a motel on wheels, all decked out with a kitchen, living room, two bathrooms, master bedroom, loft with beds for kids, large screen T.V. DVD, the works ! It also has a garage to haul our three bikes in. After the bikes were unloaded the bed pulls down and turned into our bedroom ! We stayed at their house in Huntsville Wed. night Sept 17th so that we could get an early start Thurs. morning. From their house we headed up over Monte Cristo, it seemed as if the canyon was on fire. The leaves were at their peak, and the beauty of the mountains surrounded us. We had a great time traveling, the two guys up front and Peg and I in the back watching movies. We stopped in Jackson for lunch. Peg and I had hoped to do some shopping, but the guys didn't seem to think it was as important as we did and manuevering and parking a 41 foot trailer was not an easy task , so we just were able to go into a little shop right next to where we had lunch. We arrived late at Fishing Bridge campground. We had taked the wrong turn earlier so it had delayed our arrival. We unloaded the bikes and settled in for the night. Friday morn we grabbed breakfast at the little restaurant inside the gift shop ( yeah shopping !) a short distance from the campground and made our travel plans for the day. As a young girl I had camped almost every year in Yellowstone with my mom and dad and various members of our family. Memories came flooding back to me each place that we went to on that day. For years I have had a memory in my head about a time that mom and dad and I had stayed in a cabin. There were no bathrooms in the cabin so you had to go outside, just a few feet across a dirt road to the bathroom shared by all the campers. I remember the color of the bathroom being a khaki green. I was about 7 or 8years old and my dad had taken me in my pajamas to the potty. We were on our way back, me riding piggyback, when we saw mom in the doorway of the cabin frantickly motioning to us and yelling to us to hurry there was a bear behind us. As I looked around, sure enough there was a bear and it chased us right up to the cabin door, dad running as fast as he could ! I have looked off and on over the last few years when Scott and I have traveled thru the park trying to remember where this incident had taked place. As the four of us took off on our bikes after breakfast Sam turned onto a road that he knew from his teen years where he had been a junior scoutmaster working on his eagle scout award. Then it hit me ! This was the place, this was my memory ! There was the row of cabins, the cabin we stayed in and the horrible green bathroom ! We left before I could get a picture, but now that I know where it is I can return to it. From there we did the lower loop, stopping at all the hot pots, and geysers. We of course ended up at Old Faithful and walked around and ate in the Old Faithful Lodge. Again more memories ! I can't tell you what it was like to see the park on the back of a bike ! Everything is magnified and seems so much closer and clearer. Of course when you come to a herd of bison you really don't want to be that up close and personal, but what a thrill ! We saw lots of wildlife on our way. Many herds of bison, elk, a wolf, a coyote, moose and 1 bear. Remember the days when the bears were everywhere? My mom would feed them bread from the car window at the entrance of the park. They would be in your garbage cans in the campgrounds. You would always see them, now they are scarcely seen, so sad. Our butts were tired by the time we made it back to our camp, we watched a movie, then called a night. Rain dampened our plans on Sat. We decided to ride in the truck for awhile and then come back and get the bikes if it cleared up. It didn't quit so we spent the day touring the upper loop in the warmth of the truck. We were really glad when we got to Mammoth Hot Springs where it hailed on us ! There was a large herd of elk at Mammoth, we watched them and ate lunch there and headed back. We had discussed the possibility of staying another day, returning on Mon. but the weather wasn't going to cooperate at all with us so we took our time driving back home on Sun. Although we only got one day riding thru the park on our bikes, it was still an awesome trip one that we hope to repeat next year.

PATRIOT GAURD MISSION

Scott and I belong to an organization called The Patriot Gaurd Riders. Their mission statement is " TO STAND FOR THOSE WHO STOOD FOR US". Basicly we all join together on our bikes and ride to a given destination to welcome home soldiers returning from war. Most of the time it is at the airport or gaurd base. There we stand with smiles and flags waving to give our support to these honorable soldiers. Sadly there are times when one of these soldiers has given his life for our country and is returning home for the last time. Scott and I had the privledge and opportunity to stand gaurd for one of these soldiers. Jordan P. Thibeault was killed in Irag on Sept 5 2008 serving his country. We were given the alert that the Patriot Gaurd was needed to meet his body at the Salt Lake Air Gaurd Base. There were approximatley 30 of us that were there and it amazed me to see how these wonderful people show up to give of their time to honor a fallen soldier ! We met at a restaurant parking lot in Salt Lake and from there traveled to the airport, were we where told that there had been a change in plans and the plane was to arrive at the gaurd base. Our troop then made their way to the tarmack at the base and parked our bikes. We were each given a flag and we all proceeded to the edge of the tarmack forming two lines. The slight breeze in the air made the flags stand up and wave proud, what a glorious sight to behold ! We only had to wait for a short time when the plane carrying the soldier landed and pulled to a stop. At that point we followed in the pallbearers dressed sharply in uniforms to form two lines on either side of the door of the plane. As we stood at attention the casket was lowered out of the plane to the awaiting family members. To watch the mother caress the casket with her hands and gently lay across the casket to give her son a hug, hit home for me. I knew the heartache and pain that mother was suffering and the tears flowed down my face, later that day at the mortuary I was able to speak with her and we shared a few tears. The pall bearers and family then walked slowly behind the casket as it was taken to the awaiting hearse, and then the Patriot Gaurd members followed behind them. After the casket and family were settled in their cars, we mounted our bikes . Four of our gaurd members were to be in front of the hearse and the rest of us followed in behind, with police escorts bringing in the rear. The procession was inspiring. We traveled out of the base to the freeway briefly, then onto Rewood Road to the South Jordan area approximatley 90th South, at each of the intersections there had been police officers blocking traffic so our procession would not be interrupted, there we turned east to drive the soldier one last time by his house were the procession paused. The streets were lined with flags and people that had turned out to pay their respects, it was truly an emotional, reverent, experience. From his home we the proceeded on to Jenkins and Soffe Mortuary where the procession ended. We parked our bikes, stood by them until the casket had made its way into the building and then went in to the mortuary to give our condolences to the family. They were so grateful to us for escorting them and their son and thanked us so very much. Of course it was our honor and privilege to be able to participate in this homecoming. It is a memory that Scott and I will not soon forget.