Last Week

This last week has been one of ups and downs. On the Friday before last my grandmother died after her battle with cancer was lost. I flew out to Mora the next day (Saturday) and Dad and Grandpa picked me up in Minneapolis.

After being in a car and plane for multiple hours, Dad found it prudent to allow me to walk around the Mall Of America for a little while. I got to go to the American Girl Doll Store which was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed getting to walk around and see it all for possibly the last time.

We got back to the cabin and it was all a little eerie. Things just seemed off. The spirit and busyness that Grandma had instilled in the cabin was gone. It was too quite, too still. Even the wildlife seemed a little off, like they knew she wasn't there. The first night I cried myself to sleep. I didn't want anyone to see me cry during the day, and Grandma would have been so unhappy if she knew I was crying when I could be smiling.

On Monday Dad and I went to the Minnesota State Fair to let Grandpa and my aunt Gwen sort some things out, That night there was a family barbecue and I got to meet a lot of my family that I couldn't remember meeting before. I'm glad I got to meet them all, I just wish it had been under different terms.

Dad and I left Mora for possibly the last time on Tuesday morning. We spent the day at the Minnesota Zoo, then headed south. We spent the night in Worthington, MN. On Wednesday we drove from Worthington to Rapid City SD. We stopped in Mitchel to see the Corn Palace and in Wall to enjoy the atrocity of tourist traps we call Wall Drug. Before Wall we drove through the Badlands, one of Grandma's favorite places, and enjoyed the awe inspiring sights.

We had a really long day on Thursday as we drove from Rapid City SD to Bozeman MT. Yes, that was a VERY long day of driving. From Rapid City we drove into Wyoming and to Cody. In Cody we enjoyed a few hours at the Buffalo Bill Cody Historical Museum. It was incredible to walk around. What an amazing array of guns and history! After Cody we drove to the East entrance of Yellowstone and enjoyed an evening jaunt threw the park. We drove a little way into the Lamar Valley and were fortunate enough to watch the wolves! They were amazing, and at one point we got to hear them all sound off! The wolves were all the way around us. Simply incredible. We didn't even get into Bozeman until around midnight.

Friday was a short drive from Bozeman MT to Missoula MT. We ate at the 4B's in Deer Lodge (BEST TOMATO SOUP EVER!) and enjoyed a short day on the highway. Dad showed me some of his old hangout in Missoula and we just relaxed and laughed about how much we had done in the last few days. We were both flabbergasted by the amount of things we'd managed to cram into such a short amount of time.

I got back to Pullman on Saturday after a beautiful drive through Lolo Pass. Absolutely gorgeous. The last of true wilderness honestly. We saw a moose which made me smile, and lots of beautiful forest. My return to Pullman was strange, I had missed a week of class and the flow was disrupted. I had to scramble to get myself caught up because I couldn't take my books with me (I tried to travel lightly).

Today was my first day of class after my week away. Things are getting back to "normal" but I know there's something missing and its that my grandmother isn't here. I can't believe she's gone, and sometimes it still shocks me. I'm glad I got to go be with Dad for the week because I think that it really did help me, and him.

I took almost 200 pictures this last week, I'm going to make some collages and videos to post. Give me a week or so to put it together because of class.