Grant County Journal Road Trip! Road Trip! Written by Janet Warren April 26, 2012 I spent almost half of April in Syracuse. No, not Syracuse, New York—Syracuse, Utah. If you don’t know where Syracuse, Utah is you are not alone. Most of the people who live in Utah don’t know where it is unless you mention it’s in between Ogden and Layton. Utah has an interesting layout. Here in Ephrata when you set out to go to the next town, you know when you arrive because there is a lot of farmland in between. In Utah, you never know what town you’re in because they all run together. And don’t get me started on their grid system of street layout—it’s the most confusing thing I’ve experienced. It’s not just the fact that I get lost easily—I never get lost driving in Chandler, Arizona where the grid system actually makes sense and is easy to follow. My sister and her family recently moved to Syracuse. My brother-in-law, Denny, is a manager for Gordmans department store, and they just opened up the Utah territory. So Mike and I took a road trip to Utah with our daughter, Jenni, and three grandchildren in tow. I love it when Mike goes on our little adventures because he likes to drive. We dropped a car off at the Spokane airport for him, and then he drove the 12 or 13 hours to Syracuse. Mike flew back to Spokane a few days later, because as he likes to point out—“Someone has to work,” and Jenni did the driving back home. I always offer to drive, but no one takes me up on it, except my sisters. I once drove my sister, Diane, from Reno, Nevada to Ocean City, New Jersey. This was before I had a GPS and we didn’t even get lost until we hit the New Jersey Turnpike. In my defense, who doesn’t get lost on the New Jersey Turnpike? My sisters and I are directionally impaired so the invention of the GPS changed our lives. But that’s another story. Jenni went on a little vacation to Costa Rica and the grandchildren stayed with the other grandma in American Fork, Utah. I have to share them sometimes. I spent a lot of time reading and relaxing and shopping at Gordmans. My sister, Sara, is one of my best friends so we always have good laughs. Our road trip back to Ephrata was a little longer. We spent the first night in Butte, Montana. Have you ever seen the 90-foot statue of Mary, Our Lady of the Rockies, on top of the Continental Divide in Butte? According to a website: “Our Lady of the Rockies is entirely nondenominational and was dedicated in 1985 to workers and women everywhere — especially to mothers. Butte was an area hard hit by copper mine closures in the early 1980s and this Madonna was believed to be one way to lift the spirits of the residents.” Bus tours to the statue don’t start until June, so we only got to see it through the zoom lens of Jenni’s camera. Our road trip continued to Spokane where I had a conference to attend. This is where the most memorable part of our journey occurred—something that still gives me chills. Our hotel was about a half mile from Riverside Park and we wanted Seth and Noah to ride the carousel. We walked and I got a little turned around (it’s that directionally challenged thing). Jenni followed me because even though she is not directionally challenged, she thought since I used to live in Spokane I might know where I was going. This was her first mistake. Anyway, we found ourselves on the end of the park where the Washington Power Company is and we had to cross some bridges over the Spokane River to get into the park. The rapids were amazing and Jenni wanted to get a picture of the twins on the bridge. She was fiddling with the camera and Seth sat down on a concrete ledge, just the perfect height for a 4-year-old to rest on. As I looked up, I realized the iron bars on the bridge were spaced so far apart, all Seth would have had to do is lean back and he would have fallen through to the rapids and rocks below. In times like this, things flash through your mind. I imagined him falling and Jenni going in after him. I know that’s what her instinct would have been. Her father-in-law was killed in Costa Rica when he became sick on a bridge. The limo driver let him out, he walked over to the side where he lost his balance and fell to his death. Jenni’s mother-in-law’s instinct was to go after him and the limo driver had to hold her back. Would I have had enough presence of mind to hold Jenni back? Or would I have lost my grandson and daughter that day? It still makes me cry to think about it. I know that people can become paralyzed with anxieties about things that could have but didn’t happen and I’m working through that. However, that evening while I was sitting in my conference at the INB Performing Arts Center, my mind kept drifting to how the night could have turned out so much differently. Spokane is about the have the wrath of a grandma unleashed upon them. I’m not going on anymore road trips for awhile. As I took a walk this morning in my quiet Ephrata neighborhood, I realized it was enough. I am glad I am home.