Celebration!
When something’s big to celebrate,
Drive a stake in the ground, routine to shake,
Special & different, a trip to take,
Gathering family & friends—Memory to make!
© Forrest W. Heaton September 2018
This blog post is about Celebration, in this case, two celebrations. The first was in the summer of 1978 when my wife, Sally, & I took our three kids, Matt, Sara & Mandy, on a seven-week “Western Trip” to visit the great western national parks including Grand Teton to celebrate the kids getting ready to go off to college! The second was forty years later, this time gathering our sixteen-member Heaton Clan back in Grand Teton to celebrate my eightieth birthday!
The first photo was taken by a Montgomery Village MD neighbor as we packed our Buick for the long drive, each of us “allowed” one duffel plus much camping gear, some of which met a difficult fate at the hands of a bear one night at 8,600 feet elevation camping in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite. The “kids” will tell you many stories about the trip; this is just a teaser for you to ask them for more.
A staff member at Jackson Lake Lodge took the second photo, our Heaton Clan including: Son Matt Heaton & Ondrea Hall, Hampton VA; Daughter Sara Heaton & Eric Helman, Waynesboro PA; Daughter Mandy Heaton & Steve Erts, Portland OR; Granddaughter Claire & Rachel Gillespie & Great Grandson Joshua Guisasola, Springville UT; Granddaughter Amber & Jeff & Great Grandson Bryan Fehnel, Frederick, MD; Granddaughter Christine Heaton & Ian Rogan, Cary NC; Gramie & Grandpa, Fearrington Village NC. Our celebration visit included both Grand Teton and Yellowstone, with river run, hikes, ranger programs and meals together throughout. Since Mary & I have already posted a Yellowstone Park Visit covering our Dec16–Jan17 New Year’s celebration, we’ve written up this 25Jun-2Jul18 Grand Teton visit separately, per the link below. We hope you enjoy! We hope you go yourself to celebrate!