Monday Memory Moment

Where as today is my mother's birthday I have been thinking of momentous events. Those which came to mind will begin with this thought: Unless you want to get lost, don't let mom navigate.

The first truly memorable event was in the summer of 1999. I don't recall what all led to my mom and sister being in Moscow. However, it was to be a trip for the three of us to return to Star. For some reason we mom suggested a short cut, taking off highway 95 about Council and Indian Valley.

The first turn in the road was not long after the Indian Valley. There was a sign which said something about Ola. Mom said we didn't want to go there, so we went another direction. We spent a fair amount of time driving around the Payette and Boise National Forests.

At one point I thought we might be able to get over a mountain and find highway 55. Don't know what I was thinking. It was only late June. The roads over the mountains were still blocked with snow.

At one point we say a construction sign. We decided to go that way. My mom needed something to keep her blood sugar steady. She was prepared. My sister wanted a shower. I was grateful it was a beautiful sun shiny day. The next thing we say was a cow..another sign of civilization.

We did eventually make it to Ola, although that wasn't the way we went. There we stopped to use the restroom, get ice cream, and let dad know why we weren't home yet.

We obviously made it home. However, I didn't learn the lesson very well. A couple years later I was again driving my mom from Moscow to Boise. There was a lot of construction on both highway 95 and 55. I had mapped out a course through WA and OR. We were doing fine. The drive was beautiful. The weather as fine.

Mom wanted mee to stop in Joseph, OR to get a map. I did so. We continued on our path. As I was driving I saw a road coming up. I asked mom if we should turn. No. So I kept going straight. We drove a little further. We then came to where the pavement ended and the road took a very steep climb. I told mom we could go up and look down Hell's Canyon. I should have turned.

Oh well. It was a beautiful. We took a meandering drive through Oregon country side. We crossed the Snake River at Oxbow Dam and returned to the path well known at Cambridge.

So as you can guess, I have spent a fair amount of time in a car with my mom. I remember her telling mee her favorite color is green. The color of grass after a refreshing rain.

Happy Birthday Mom...