From Pullman to Wichita

Dear Friends, This blog is a brief note on my current journey with Aleksander, my son, on a trip from Pullman, WA to Wichita, KS.  For those of you who do not know, Aleksander was hired to a tenure track professorship at Wichita State, GO Shockers.  He was also offered a job at Florida State College in Jacksonville.  But for a variety of reasons, he chose Wichita.  One reason is that Emily was told she could be an adjunct voice professor when she wants a job, other than chasing the girls around.  So, they bought a house, sold the one in Pullman, and I am driving one car and Aleksander the other, as we enter the heat wave of several weeks of 100 deg. plus heat in KS.  It is a dream job for him, especially in todays job market.  He will be teaching composition and theory, as well as developing an "online" course, like he did in Wa. State.  Wichita also has a wonderful Opera, thanks to oil money and a benefactor who shall remain nameless.  Wichita is old oil money, and I am told by a friend who grew up there that they have a world class western wear clothes store, and cowboy boots are for everything from work to play to opera.
     Today we hit a major hail storm in Cheyenne, WY and tonight we are bedded down in Sidney, NE.  For those of you who do not know, Cabella's (see first blog of las trip) has a 62,000 foot store here.  We will check it out tomorrow.
  We left Pullman on Friday afternoon, and stopped just west of Missoula, in St. Regis Montana.  We then fished Rock Creek, Sat., where Aleksander had some luck.  As you all know from the news, the west and midwest are being flooded by big snow melts, and Montana and Wyoming are not excluded.  The water was high and fast, and has been everywhere we have been.  We had hoped to do some more fishing but the water is too high and fast.  We next drove to Cody, WY and spent the night.  There must have been 5,000 Harley Davidson's in town.  Everyone is going to Yellowstone and then on to Sturgis, South Dakota for the big Bike get together.  I felt very much at home as all the men were bald, middle aged to old, and looked like befuddled, accountants, lawyers, dentists and insurance salesmen.
     Today we drove through the Wind River Valley alongside the Bighorn River.  The picture that follows does not do justice to the immensity and beauty of it.  It is a miniature Grand Canyon in sweep.  We stopped at the Buffalo  Bill Museum for a few hours in Cody.  It is so impressive that I joined the museum and hope that I can go to the benefactors dinner and break bread with Dick Cheney, and family.  He has gifted many guns to the musuem.  I wonder if he will give them the one he shot his friend with?
   Tomorrow we head to Wichita, I think, unless we can find a place to fish.  It has been great to spend some time with Aleksander on the road, despite the fact we are in two separate cars.  We have walkie talkies, and I point out lots of fascinating things to him, AND don't have to see him rolling his eyeballs.  So many important things to know, such as why the Sinclair gas company has a dinosaur as its logo.  Or why the snow  barricades are built and installed alongside the freeway the way they are, and why the Bear Tooth mountains looking from the east are called the SawTooth mountains and why the French Trappers and explorers of the region named them the Grand Titons, and what are Titons in French?
So here are a few pics.

WIND RIVER VALLEY, WY

cloud in Cheyene

WIND RIVER VALLEY

Aleksander catches a fish.  Can you find it?

David just fishes!

So hope you are all well and hope to see you all at weddings or vacations in the near future.

Love David and Aleksander