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Lewis and Clark Trail Revisited
by Mary K. PrussYes, I have returned to work from my 6 month sabbatical and I am ready to jump back into the practice of law with new vigor. I will always be grateful to my partners and the associates who filled in for me while I was gone from July 1st through December 31st, 2006. Since I am the resident attorney at the Waynesburg Peacock Keller office it required a real commitment to cover my cases. Each client and case was assigned to one of my partners to monitor while I was gone and our five associates, Frank Adams, Andy Chumney, Steve Curry, Bob Fratto, and Heike Mills along with my secretary Pam physically covered the Waynesburg office during my absence. 2006 was the 200th anniversary of the end of the epic expedition of Lewis and Clark to establish the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. My husband Stan and I decided to retrace the route which they took. We left on our long anticipated trip on August 10, 2006. Our six-week itinerary took us down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River, up the Mississippi to the Missouri River near St Louis and across the country to the headwaters of the Missouri River in southwest Montana and thence across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River and down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. We traveled in Stan's Jeep with our canoe on top and a bicycle in a rack on the back to use to get back to the Jeep when we canoed. We put over 9,000 miles on the Jeep and had fantastic experience, which renewed our faith in the goodness of the American people. Numerous times total strangers were helpful to us as we sought out landmarks and visited many reconstructed forts and interpretive centers honoring the events of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We also traveled fully prepared to camp out if necessary with a tent, sleeping bags and camping equipment. That never became necessary as we were always able to find lodging. We did use the camp stove to grill some great rainbow trout which we caught in the Missouri River downstream from Holter Lake in Montana. For the most part we sought out small mom and pop motels, lodges, and local restaurants, which often were recommended by our lodging hosts. We saw some impressive sights and met many wonderful people. On the way out we stayed at the National Arbor Day Foundation's Lied Lodge in Nebraska City and toured the Arbor Day Farm. Their apple pie made from apples grown on the farm was delicious. We also visited Glacier Park, Mt. St. Helens and Mount Rainier on the trip West. On the way back we stopped to visit our daughter Jeanne and her family in Monument, Colorado where we met our newest grandchild, Emily, who was born on July 15, 2006. We also took a side trip to the Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon Dam, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Dixie Forest and Capital Reef National Park in Utah. While we were gone our daughter Teri and her son Daniel took care of the farm, helping apple customers, feeding the cats, mowing the lawn and doing other chores which allowed us to travel without worrying about the farm. We are very grateful for their help. And of course, there was time for our family. Stan and I traveled to Fairfax, Virginia to help our son Tom while his wife was on a mission in Africa for the World Bank. We also enjoyed trips to the annual Pruss Thanksgiving gathering near State College where we got to see all but two of Stan's 9 brothers and sisters and their families. At Christmas we hosted Teri, Daniel, Tom, Agata, Kasha and Gregory for several days and I had time to bake all the favorite Christmas goodies. Now that I am back at work there will be no more leisurely breakfasts with Stan, which I will miss, but I am also looking forward to seeing my clients again and helping them solve their problems. |
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