My 77th Year to Heaven

LtoR: Greg, Glen, Wyona, Bonnie, Arta, Dave, Janet

... see the clock for the exact time of the party ...

... Wyona pretending to snitch some of the icing ...

If I wanted a really good trip for my birthday, I might choose going through the Rockies.

To make the event more special, I would choose a time when the water is gushing down the waterfalls and streams and tumbling over the cliffs.

An important stop along the way would be at Three-Valley Gap.

 Not that I haven’t stopped there before, but this time the stop was right in the avalanche path.

 A vehicle drove toward us on the wrong side of the road, stopping at every car, then moving on.

The woman driving the car held a sign in front of us that read: Delay until 12:10 pm.

We knew to get out of our vehicle and walk up and down the road for 20 minutes.

Wyona investigated the bank on the lake side of the road.

The water was full of rolling waves.

 The embankment was steep and there was no beach along the water’s edge.

The birch trees only had branches that leaned toward the water.

“I guess that tells us where the sun and shade are here,” Wyona said as she continued to walk and look to the water’s edge, still searching for beach.

We saw a train move slowly along the north side of the lake.

All of the trains have been moving slowly at Annis Bay this week, as well, all on the lookout for washed out track or a mudslide.

I know this stretch of the road, for a few miles toward the west is the treacherous winding passing-lane where the 18 wheeler hit Richard and Miranda’s car. Trucks and cars were behind us, the line snaking up the hill toward the west where there are often accidents in the winter: trucks slipping off the highway and over the embankment on the lake side.

... look for meadows full of skunk cabbage this time of year ...

We had our Free Parks Pass with us. Every lover-of-parks should have one this year. I tried to get Wyona to stop somewhere. My first wish was Skunk Cabbage but it was still closed. That didn’t matter. I could see thousands of yellow flowers in the marsh as we drove along the highway. Giant Cedars. Closed. Hemlock Grove. Closed. Rock Gardens. Closed.

The top of the pass seemed like the only logical stop, but Wyona said she doesn’t always like turning left at that point so we drove on, the holiday not over yet.

To be continued ...

Arta