I grew old before I could get there. And with age there are sometimes disabilities or lower energy. So what was it like with a walker, walking sticks, or a wheel chair? Fabulous!!! Three exclamation points. Five Stars!
We had planned to visit the National Parks right after we moved to northern Washington State. We would be retired and have lots of time on a budget of course. I prefer hotels to camping or motor homes. I used to camp a lot but now I am having a hard time with it. So hotels are the choice. Soon after getting into our new house in Bellingham, my mom needed to come stay with us. 8 months of work and she passed surrounded with love and care and all her stuff. Another 2 months to clean out her stuff and have a memorial with the rest of the family in San Diego. Whew! That was a lot of work and driving and it was February 2020. On the way home from San Diego the world shut down behind us. Covid-19 was now in charge of our lives.
We had made reservations for the spring 2020 in Yellowstone, but everything shut down. Hotels. Federal parks. Restaurants. Rest stop toilets. The message was "stay home and stay safe", which we did. 2020 was happening in our house and on short road trips to the mountains to take pictures.
In August, we decided to go to Crater Lake. We could drive down and hotel camp one night, visit the park and hotel camp another night. Things were looking better and hotels were open so we booked one near the crater. Oh no! not going to happen. Fires were everywhere and the park was shut down. The hotel shut down. And Covid decided to spike again. We were just going to wait to get vaccinated before we traveled again. More home projects and local day trips. Outside of course. 6 ft separated. With masks.
This will eventually be about Yellowstone Park but the lead up is necessary. Near the end of 2020 I developed Knee problems and started using a walker or cane to get around. Slow, but functional. I can walk short distances with the cane but cannot stand in one place for any period of time. The walker is also a chair. I can use the cane at the grocery store or around the house, but for times when there is distance or standing, I use the walker. Getting up at night, I use the walker also. I started physical therapy. The Doctor said full knee replacement. One to two years of recovery time, if it doesn't reject or need a second surgery. I decided not to have surgery.
2021-Time passes. We drove to San Diego to see my son's new house. It was Mother's Day 2021 and we had furnished their guest room. I was able to function and stay in hotels with accessibility rooms. I was still able to drive. On the way home we stopped at Crater Lake and a bunch of Bird preserves. We were vaccinated now, but still cautious. We ate every meal in the car or hotel room. It was a good trip and I enjoyed seeing my son and his wife again. When we got home we worked on the house for things we knew were coming. New roof. New paint. New deck. The summer passed and I was able to walk a bit more and sleep without pain. Still using cane and walker but more mobile.
Sometime during the summer of working on the house, the covid thing started to ease and we made reservations again for Yellowstone Park. Late September when the park is cooler and most of the crowds are gone, we would be able to drive there and see stuff. I could still drive and get around with the walker or cane, so I thought it would be good to go. We could camp in the room if necessary. Hotels were open. Parks were open. Gas stations were open. We packed the cooler and walker and clothing bags and hit the road in September. At the Autumnal Equinox. In the rain.
We had booked a hotel at the half way point of the long drive. And we shared driving one hour each time until we got there. We ate lunch at the rest stop and dinner in our room. So far so good. Day 2 was like Day 1, but ended at the West Yellowstone Best Western Hotel. Lunches on the road, dinner in the room. But the breakfast area would be open at the hotel so I could supplement our food box.
Now we were there and tired and ready and excited. It was snowing and freezing cold.
This blog continues in a new page. With pictures. Read on.
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