Vacation and Wedding
We took a quick and much needed trip to the lower 48 in September. Our daughter Tanya was getting married in Washington and my dad who lives in South Dakota is not doing well with his health. We decided if we were going down for the wedding we would just make a trip out of it and visit my parents since we are down there anyway. It was a little hectic and a lot of fun, we were gone 10 days and came home exhausted but it was worth it.
Tanya & Bryan Pelach
Tanya and Bryan have been together for several years and we liked him so we were very happy when they told us they were getting married. Tanya had a beach wedding and then held the reception in a beautiful house in Seabrook, Wa. We were able to stay at the venue for a few nights and all the siblings were able to stay in the bunk room which was pretty neat, I know Jessica enjoyed it immensely. Staying in our old home that Tanya bought was a little strange at first but it was really nice at the same time. Jared and I took a walk around the house and property just going through so many memories of our life there. Jared has lived his entire life in that house and I have lived there for the past 15ish years. It was good to go over so many happy memories and know our daughter has it now and eventually our grandchildren will run around the property the same as their parents and grandpa once did.
Jared and I were able to meet Bryan’s family finally, we both really liked them! His dad and stepmom are great people and I hope we can see them again sometime. The wedding was beautiful of course, it was relaxed and a lot of fun. Tanya and Bryan did a great job! The beach wedding was great, a little windy and chilly but not too bad. We had to hike into the spot by Elephant Rock, they had some 4wheelers for those who needed a ride. I hiked in but my bad knee was not happy and Jared gave me a ride back out when it was over. There were quite a few in attendance from both sides of the family. Tanya’s bio-mom, Roxanne, did an amazing job on her head piece and matching jewelry, they were gorgeous. LOL, I like the set so much I’m thinking when Jessica gets married down the road a few years I might ask her to make her a set too, she really did a great job. The reception went off great as well and the house was beautiful, it was on the beach side. There was plenty of food and a lot of jesting and fun. Everyone pitched in and clean up & check out was easy the next morning. Great job Tanya & Bryan!!
We were able to spend 4 days in Wa which was not nearly enough but we needed to catch the next flight to MT. We were able to attend our old church in Pacific Beach and catch up with our friends there. They had a potluck so we had some great food and fellowship while we were there. It was so good to see them again! We met up with some friends at the Rainforest restaurant on the Quinault Lake, always good to see Steve and Barry!! There were so many folks we wanted to see but only had a few days unfortunately. We do plan to go back next summer and spend about a week, hoping to catch up with quite a few folks then!
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
It was cheaper to fly into Billings, MT and drive to Rapid City, SD then it was to fly all the way….like over a thousand dollars cheaper between 3 tickets. I had rented a car online before we flew down, however, when we got there they had record of it! We checked every rental car place in the airport and there were NO CARS left, zip, zero. I finally found a car to rent across town plus it was several hundred dollars cheaper. It totally worked out though because my brother needed a car driven from Billings to his house so the guy he was getting the car from came and picked us up at the airport and gave us a ride to where we could go pick up the rental as well.
On the way to my brother Grant’s house, we stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. That was a very informative and interesting! Jared is Native as is Jessica, I tried to see it through their eyes as well as the warriors and soldiers who died. I tried to look at the information objectively as well, its such a sad and thought provoking memorial. In my opinion, Custer was driven from the racist view of the Natives that was prevalent that time. He was not a nice person in my opinion and made many mistakes in judgment. He could have stopped fighting several times and was given several opportunities to do so but chose to try to wipe out the natives there instead. The memorial and battlefield is laid out very respectful of the tribal warriors and soldiers who died with grave markers at every spot where a warrior or soldier died. Thankfully it is very factual and not biased in either direction, it shows the facts and lets the individual make their own conclusions. You can follow the battle as it happened, there is a road you drive down with markers, plaques, and speakers for audio that shows each step either side took during the battle. There is a museum and gift store as well with more information and several outdoor memorials and places to visit with more information and facts. It is very well done and I would like to go back someday to see the stuff we didn’t have time to stop at. Jared or I will do a more in depth post on this later with a ton of pictures, so keep an eye out for that if you want to see more of this incredible place.
There was so much misunderstanding and lack of clear communication between the natives and the settlers and soldiers. So much distrust, dishonesty, lack of respect and general misconstrued information its no wonder they fought so much. It is truly very sad and I wish there was a way to change history. We cannot change it but we can learn from it. I may not understand different cultures or another’s way of life but I can respect the fact that it is not the same as the one I live in and be considerate and mindful not to offend. We can listen with kindness and respect and maybe, just maybe learn something new. I cannot go back in time and bring the different sides together in open and respectful dialog to figure out a compromise on both sides, but I can make sure my children learn from that history and not repeat the hate, death, and destruction it caused.
Rapid City, SD
We stopped in briefly at my brother Grants house in Buffalo, WY to drop off his car and then continued on to Rapid City. My other brother, Keith, and my parents live in Rapid City so we were able to stay with mom & dad while we were there. Their pastor has a nice trailer they set up at my parents house for us to stay in, it was nice to sleep in quiet after the noisy hwy in Seabrook. After living in quiet rural Alaska for so long any noises outside at night wake us up so it was good to sleep in the trailer, we slept quite soundly! I haven’t seen my parents or any family in several years so was VERY excited to see them!! Dad’s health is on the decline and only God knows how much time any of us have left on in this world. I would rather visit them now than attend a funeral later. I don’t know if I will be able to afford to attend any funerals or weddings or anything in the lower 48 for quite a while, lol, so the visit was very, very good and much needed.
We were able to visit a few places and do some sight seeing while we were there. I insisted dad use a wheel chair so he wouldn’t get overly tired, he was a trooper even when he was exhausted he tried not to show it. (why do men do that?) Mt Rushmore was pretty cool, smaller than I had thought. Crazy Horse was much better in my opinion, that place is amazing! If you ever get the chance to go to Crazy Horse – DO IT! Very well done and all in donations, great job Lakota Nation, its amazing. We stopped in Keystone to check out all the touristy shops, lol, that was fun. I need to go back when I have more money! Super cute little town and train depot. I would love to explore the area when we have more time. We ate at Pizza Ranch for the first time….I ate way too much! The kids all had to check out the arcade room and see what kind of prizes they could win.
Keith & Rhoda held a BBQ at their house while we were there which was really nice. We were able to visit with our family and some friends and eat hamburgers, that’s always a great day, lol! I really wish my sister could have made it, hopefully next time. Grant, Keith and I were able to get in a good talk, haven’t chatted with just them in many years. We made some plans and just visited, they might never know how much I needed that. I was raised in a very close family, we have always been close and living up here is hard when it comes to family in the lower 48. It makes the visits that much more precious when you get them. I just need to convince my family to move up here, lol, they would love it! Need to convince my older 2 kiddos to move here as well. Our son in law, Bryan, wants to move up as he has family here somewhere, we just need to team up and convince Tanya now.
We drove the rental car back to Billings, MT then had to order a Uber to get to the airport. Wow, just…wow. The guy that showed up, smoked like a chimney and was….well, I don’t know how to describe him. Lets just say he *may* not have been the cleanest or most legal person in Billings. Nice enough I guess, just ODD and I’ll leave it at that. oof-da! The trip back home to Alaska was tiring but it was so good to get home! It was too late to pick up Kimber from doggie daycare so we went after church the next day. She did surprisingly well and we had to call her name several times before she realized it was us, lol. She is such a timid shepherd that they put her in with the little dogs and she was fine there, she is very, very gentle so it actually worked great. They tried the dogs her size but it didn’t work very well she was just too timid and scared with them. She was almost as happy to get home as we were.
I wish it wasn’t so expensive to fly. We would love to go visit friends and family all over the lower 48, maybe some day we will. Until then, we will continue to call, text, video chat and hopefully some of you guys can come up to visit us here in Alaska. We have a guest room always ready and available!
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