L-R (Adam)

I've not yet had a second to read my lovely wife's post below, but just for the record, here are the Groff family identifications for the group photo she included (as strictly left-to-right as I can manage):

My brother Ben, and our host; me; Ben's wife Pat, and our hostess (with the mostest!); my mom (Peg); Bethany; my brother Joe; Michelle Guan (my nephew Karl's lovely new bride, and our favorite new niece); my sister-in-law Kathy; my brother Matthew (behind Kathy); my nephew Karl (Ben & Pat's son); my niece Jenny (Joe's daughter--only a year and a half younger than me!); my niece Katie (Karl's sister, i.e. Ben & Pat's daughter, i.e. (for the record) Bethany's only real challenger for the title of most-fun-loving-and-boisterous-Groff-woman); and last but certainly not least my brother John (Kathy's husband)

Missing were just two sisters-in-law and a handful of nieces and nephews--missed you all, and sorry you couldn't make it! (Oh, and everyone is holding a bottle of Ipswich Ale because because Bethany is best friends with the people who make it, and agreed to take pictures of it all across the country--see the Mercury Brewing Facebook page, fan photos.)

More later...

The End, and the Beginning...(Bethany)

So, friends, you have likely gathered by now that we made it to Washington in one piece, and then just got too lame (and schnockered) to keep posting. It's true. We left Gardiner, Montana on Tuesday morning and drove through the rest of Montana and into Idaho. We finally crossed into Washington State late Tuesday afternoon, and limped into the warm, soft lap of Ben and Pat Groff (Adam's brother and sister-in-law) around 11 p.m. It was a strange feeling to have finished the journey - on the one hand, I never need to see the inside of another Econo-lodge or gas-station bathroom as long as I live. On the other hand, it was an amazing adventure, a lovely chunk of time with our remarkable children, and I was sorry to see the end of it.

We woke up Wednesday to good coffee and the very fine company of the Lynnwood Groffs, and then set off up north to visit Adam's friend Seth and his wife Elise and their girls on their farm. There were goats, deep conversation, and a Wii, to Jed's great pleasure. They are an amazing family and I can't wait to see them again. On the way back to Seattle we stopped at Adam's brother Matthew's blueberry farm, which you could see pictures of here if Adam hadn't left his laptop at the airport in Seattle. Whoops! Stay tuned for more of that adventure.

As we left the farm, I got a call from home, which was somewhat miraculous in itself since I have had virtually no service through the whole trip. It was Arleen letting me know that our mare Molly Brown, who as many of you know was an astonishingly lovely animal, had died earlier that day of colic. Thursday night was spent earnestly trying not to cry, and enjoying the hospitality of Adam's friend Eugene, who comforted me with scotch.

Friday was the reason for the whole shin-dig, the celebration of the wedding of my nephew Karl to the lovely and patient Michelle. All five Groff boys represented, as did many of their associated kin and friends. Again, a picture of me on the floor with the girls would be nice here - you'll just have to wait.

Saturday we returned to Matthew's blueberry farm where we picked and ate until our fingers were blue and our tummies ached, but what a treat! The kids got to play with their cousin Alondra, who is a year older than Jed, a rare treat since all the other cousins are so much older (so I get to play with them!).

Sunday was a mad scramble to meet Eugene in Seattle for brunch, get the rental car back, and get to the airport, where aforementioned laptop mishap occurred. Finally, the kids' first flight, an exercise in patience for all involved, and a very, very late night return home.

So, that's it, kind readers. We will post pictures as soon as they are retrieved, and I hope that Adam will add more musings on the Groff family time, but I must now dig myself out from under the pile of work that has been accumulating on my desk and in my email. Be well, and thanks for following us on our great adventure.

Jellystone (Adam)

'Nother post of mainly pictures here, so I can follow my family to bed after a long day trekking through the fantastic and fantastically large Yellowstone National Park.

First off, I really took this one myself--it's not a postcard or anything:

Yeah, Yellowstone is one of those places that makes everyone a good photographer. Quick sample, then I'm done:

Mammoth Hot Springs--pictures can't do this stuff justice

Mammoth Hot Springs again--looks like the set of a horror movie, huh?

The Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

And there is Old Faithful, which was good enough to erupt about 10 minutes after we got to it (it generally goes off every 80-90 minutes I believe)

And some more of these guys:

(I hear the tree bark in Yellowstone is to die for, by the way.)

Lazing about like they own the place--actually they pretty much do. These are tremendous, majestic creatures, as well as being, according to park literature, the most dangerous animals in the park in terms of threats to visitors--and that's compared to wolves and grizzly bears. Every single year visitors are injured by bison (nomenclature: colloquially known as buffalo, they are technically American bison). Apparently there have been three people injured so far this year. A woman in a park bookstore told me that earlier this year, a herd was crossing a street on either side of a car, and a girl put her window down to take a picture of a cow and her calf, and when the flash went off, the proprietary bull got mad and rammed the car, badly damaging the door. Park literature points out that bison grow to 2,000 pounds and can sprint at 30 mph, "three times faster than you can run." Not guys to mess with. Clearly, however, not everybody gets the message.

     I got some pictures of some deer and some elk cows too, but let's face it--the bison are the coolest kids in town.

     I'm going to let Bethany fill in the details later, because it's late, and tomorrow we have to drive 10-12 hours to Seattle. I'm afraid the tourist portion of our family adventure is nearing its end, and the family-and-friends portion is about to begin--which may cause the blog to suffer a bit (unless you want five days of pictures of us drinking and talking and laughing at jokes you can't hear). The whole reason we chose Seattle as our vacation destination this year is that my nephew Karl and his lovely new wife Michelle are having their official reception on Friday, so it'll be a big Groff family shindig--all four of my brothers, my mom, and assorted other family members. Also, as I lived in Seattle for a couple years (1990-92), I've got a couple old pals to hook up with. We're looking forward to a grand old time--as grand as it's been so far, but in a completely different way.

     The Great American Slideshow isn't over yet though! We still have western Montana to drive through tomorrow, and that's got COOL landscapes--so STAY TUNED!

Oops, guess I wrote some after all.