BEE Careful, or The Trip Missoula
One great thing about traveling is how it broadens your horizons--you can learn so many things when you step out of your home comfort zone and seek adventures in new places. Or, you know, when you and your three small children accompany your husband to a conference in Missoula, MT. For instance, I learned that Missoula has one of the fastest merry-go-rounds in the country, that children can be just as happy in a little neighborhood park with one slide and gravel as in an elaborate dragon-guarded two story wooden castle, that I have the cutest kids in the world (oops, I already knew that!), and that honey bees get really mad when the semi truck hauling their hives leaves a rest area.
While Bradley labored away in his Portlets conference at the University of Montana, the kids and I explored Missoula. The Clark Fork River runs through the city, and our motel was just two blocks away from the network of trails running alongside it. On Wednesday we found the Wal-Mart (I forgot to pack diapers! What a ditz!), and on the way home we stopped at a pedestrian bridge spanning the river and just dawdled there for a while:
On Thursday we found the Dragon Hollow playground--the above mentioned wooden castle:
It was within three blocks of our motel--easy walking distance--and was built in just nine days by volunteers. It was amazing! Ezra and Mercy could have stayed there forever, and I have to admit that I wished I was about twenty years younger, so I could run around and imagine and holler and play. We spent a good hour there on Thursday, and on Friday we returned early in the day and spent two hours playing--the first hour nearly alone, which was very very nice. Gideon was a bit bored, though:
Right next to the Dragon Hollow playground is a gorgeous old-fashioned merry-go-round, with hand-carved wooden horses and a band organ. Mercy and Ezra were entranced with the horses ("Horses, Mommy? Horses?" Mercy said constantly while we watched them on Thursday). Bradley's conference ended at noon on Friday, so he met us at the park and stayed with Gideon as Ezra, Mercy and I rode the carousel three times! 
(I think I had the most fun of all. Those horses were fast! And although I never managed to get it, I really enjoyed trying for the brass ring.)
On Saturday we started home. We stopped at a pretty little rest stop on a river to feed Gideon and stretch our legs. At the rest stop were several large semi trucks--nothing unusual about that except one of them seemed to have a ton of flies swarming around it. As we looked closer, however, we realized it wasn't flies--they were honey bees! I've heard of commercial honey beehives trucked around the country for farmers to "rent" to pollinate their crops, but I'd certainly never seen one. It was fascinating! We didn't get too close, obviously, but the bees were totally calm and not scary at all. We took a little video of it (no pictures, sorry), and started to strap the kids back into their carseats.
And then the truck driver, finished with his break, started his truck and pulled out of the rest area. It was like a switch was thrown. All of a sudden the air was full of angry bees, swarming around us! Brad and I--outside of the car--slammed the doors shut to keep the bees from getting into the cab--fortunately all three kids were in the car, although Ezra wasn't buckled in. And then a bee landed on my jaw and stung me! OWWWW! I've never ever ever been stung by a bee or wasp or yellow jacket or anything before, and I admit I totally panicked. Plus, there were still a ton of bees swarming around me (Bradley says it was only three or four, but, c'mon, there had to be more than that, right?), and at least one in my hair. Yikes!
Anyway, we finally batted them away long enough to dash into the car. And although the bee sting hurt (I had to pull the stinger out), it was only for a little while, and now it just feels a little bruised. But if you think I didn't flinch every time my seatbelt rasped against the holder (making a little "buzz" sound), well, you're crazy. Of course I did.
We stopped in Idaho Falls for a couple of hours to see the Ink and Blood exhibit at the Museum of Idaho. It was pretty amazing, with ancient clay tablets, fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the most amazing collection of ancient Bibles ever. It was really fascinating, and a nice way to end the trip. Even the kids had a great time, because there was a children's room with log cabin, puzzles, teepee, and animal skins to look at--Bradley and I took turns in the main exhibit, so one of us could watch the kids while the other could concentrate on the artifacts. All museums should invest in such a room.
While Bradley labored away in his Portlets conference at the University of Montana, the kids and I explored Missoula. The Clark Fork River runs through the city, and our motel was just two blocks away from the network of trails running alongside it. On Wednesday we found the Wal-Mart (I forgot to pack diapers! What a ditz!), and on the way home we stopped at a pedestrian bridge spanning the river and just dawdled there for a while:
On Thursday we found the Dragon Hollow playground--the above mentioned wooden castle:
It was within three blocks of our motel--easy walking distance--and was built in just nine days by volunteers. It was amazing! Ezra and Mercy could have stayed there forever, and I have to admit that I wished I was about twenty years younger, so I could run around and imagine and holler and play. We spent a good hour there on Thursday, and on Friday we returned early in the day and spent two hours playing--the first hour nearly alone, which was very very nice. Gideon was a bit bored, though:
Right next to the Dragon Hollow playground is a gorgeous old-fashioned merry-go-round, with hand-carved wooden horses and a band organ. Mercy and Ezra were entranced with the horses ("Horses, Mommy? Horses?" Mercy said constantly while we watched them on Thursday). Bradley's conference ended at noon on Friday, so he met us at the park and stayed with Gideon as Ezra, Mercy and I rode the carousel three times! 
(I think I had the most fun of all. Those horses were fast! And although I never managed to get it, I really enjoyed trying for the brass ring.)
On Saturday we started home. We stopped at a pretty little rest stop on a river to feed Gideon and stretch our legs. At the rest stop were several large semi trucks--nothing unusual about that except one of them seemed to have a ton of flies swarming around it. As we looked closer, however, we realized it wasn't flies--they were honey bees! I've heard of commercial honey beehives trucked around the country for farmers to "rent" to pollinate their crops, but I'd certainly never seen one. It was fascinating! We didn't get too close, obviously, but the bees were totally calm and not scary at all. We took a little video of it (no pictures, sorry), and started to strap the kids back into their carseats.And then the truck driver, finished with his break, started his truck and pulled out of the rest area. It was like a switch was thrown. All of a sudden the air was full of angry bees, swarming around us! Brad and I--outside of the car--slammed the doors shut to keep the bees from getting into the cab--fortunately all three kids were in the car, although Ezra wasn't buckled in. And then a bee landed on my jaw and stung me! OWWWW! I've never ever ever been stung by a bee or wasp or yellow jacket or anything before, and I admit I totally panicked. Plus, there were still a ton of bees swarming around me (Bradley says it was only three or four, but, c'mon, there had to be more than that, right?), and at least one in my hair. Yikes!
Anyway, we finally batted them away long enough to dash into the car. And although the bee sting hurt (I had to pull the stinger out), it was only for a little while, and now it just feels a little bruised. But if you think I didn't flinch every time my seatbelt rasped against the holder (making a little "buzz" sound), well, you're crazy. Of course I did.
We stopped in Idaho Falls for a couple of hours to see the Ink and Blood exhibit at the Museum of Idaho. It was pretty amazing, with ancient clay tablets, fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the most amazing collection of ancient Bibles ever. It was really fascinating, and a nice way to end the trip. Even the kids had a great time, because there was a children's room with log cabin, puzzles, teepee, and animal skins to look at--Bradley and I took turns in the main exhibit, so one of us could watch the kids while the other could concentrate on the artifacts. All museums should invest in such a room.
posted by Keryn at
11:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home