Wyoming: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Moonbeam. It’s nine day mission - to explore strange new wonders. To seek out new clues and new mystifications. To boldly go where no man has gone before.
Well, actually I’m hoping that Forrest was there once upon a time. And if any of you are wondering about the reference to Moonbeam, this link might add some context:
I digress.
Yes, we're off to Yellowstone National Park - our favorite of all the parks. A little sightseeing. A little hiking. A little letterboxing - our newest hobby. A dinner of mountain stream trout. All in the pursuit of those infinite facets that we call treasure.
So in case we’re bedeviled by bears or yours truly simply makes a wrong turn into Utah, we trust that at least one of you will give these coordinates to Search and Rescue as they set out on their quest.
Nephew Ethan will be looking in on Faet the cat in our absence.
Phones: Jamie – xxx-xxx-xxxx
Doug – xxx-xxx-xxxx
Day 1, star date JN28fri
The Moonbeam will pull away from her docking platform aboard the M. S. (mother-ship) Skyline in the early afternoon. Highway 2 to Wenatchee. Bivouac near The Federations pride and joy - Grand Coulee Dam (a gravity turned luminescence transformation hub).
Well, actually no bivouacking in the truest sense of the word. We’ll be staying in some of the finest Motel 6’s known to man.
Day 2, star date JN29sat
Quick reconnaissance patrols at Douglas Park and Northrup Canyon, Steamboat Rock State Park.
Deflector shields deployed as we enter the Bugliumsplatonus Region of the galaxy. Warp drive primed…..ready….engage! Ludicrous speed here we come. Highway 2 to I-90. Bivouac in the Missoula star system within the Montana galaxy.
Day 3, star date JN30sun
Continuing east on I-90 to Highway 89. Entering the YNP Nebulous via the north portal at Gardiner. Slowing to crawl speed. Straight across east and exiting at the northeast portal. Bivouac at space station Cody, currently stationed within the Wyoming galaxy.
Day 4, star date JL01mon.
Day trip to Meeteetse, Wy. - furthest of The Federation’s outposts. And just beyond......an abyss……an area not yet mapped on any starship charts. The day will try the courage and resolve of the Moonbeam’s intrepid crew. Indeed, a new “navigational” system will be deployed for the first time at altitude - and under battle field conditions no less. The device – part sextant, part riflescope, part slide rule - is designed as an anti-cloaking tool in an effort to defeat those masking mechanisms contrived by the Force of Fenn. The apparatus functions as a directional, unmasking, guidance gun and linear alignment system. Yessiree…..that would be The DUGGLAS for short. Affectionately named so by its inventor, the ever humble Captain of the starship Moonbeam.
Well, actually I’m hoping that Forrest was the inventor and I simply did some low level reverse engineering.
Is it real? Yes. Does it work? Hope springs eternal. However, candidly, there are skeptics. It has been reported that the First Mate refers to The DUGGLAS as The Daffy Dug when out of earshot.
Yes, the day will test not only the physical conditioning of the crew but long established loyalties as well. Assuming no mutinies and that The DUGGLAS will allow us to reemerge from the abyss unscathed, we will backtrack and bivouac once again at space station Cody.
Day 5, star date JL02tue
West on Highway 20 and entering the YNP Nebulous for a second time. This day via the east portal. Again, slowing to crawl speed. Many stops along the way as we meander west on the southern route. The highlight being a reconnaissance hike into Fairy Falls. Could the DUGGLAS be deployed yet a second time? Oh mercy what excitement!!! Continuing west, we will exit via the west portal and bivouac within the West Yellowstone star system.
Day 6, star date JL03wed
An easterly tack and reentering the YNP Nebulous via the west portal. Our mission today is to explore and document as many of the sights as possible in the northwest quadrant of the YNP Nebulous. But there is this – a code red, priority “IS ANYONE AWAKE?!?!” order received directly from the Federation Counsel: “Summit The Purple Mountain Trail. It is critical that The Federation find out what’s up on top”.
Well, we’ll give it a go. But I fear that altitude and heat in the company of old age may prevent a successful conclusion to this mission. Hope springs eternal.
Then out the north portal and bivouac in the orbit of the Gardiner solar system.
Day 7, star date JL04thr
Our mission today is to explore and document as many of the sights as possible in the Gardiner area. The Devil’s Slide and Tinker Hill Cemetery being at the top of the list.
I suspect the First Mate will require some serious R&R by this time and simply want to lounge next to the cool and gentle persistence of the Yellowstone River in the heat of the afternoon.
Bivouac once again at Gardiner, Mt.
Day 8, star date JL05fri
The cool and green of the Puget Sound solar system beckon the crew home. Deflector shields deployed. Warp drive primed…..ready….engage! Ludicrous speed here we come. Bivouac in the Cour d’ Alene star system within the Idaho galaxy.
Day 9, star date JL06sat
Deflector shields deployed. Warp drive primed…..ready….engage!
That is really fun to say but I fear that some of the luster may have worn off the glimmer in the ears of the First Mate by this time.
Ludicrous speed here we come. The Moonbeam should gently ease into her docking platform sometime in the late afternoon.
Mission accomplished? Hope springs eternal.
Love you all – The gallant crew of the S. S. Moonbeam.
Epilogue
Captain's Log, star date JL06sat1600
The S.S. Moonbeam has arrived without incident at her docking platform on the M.S. Skyline. It is nice to be back in the familiar environs of the Puget Sound solar system.
Not all missions were completed successfully. One (Purple Mountain) was aborted before it began as the gallant First Mate had expended every ounce of energy, courage, and physical prowess the previous day at Fairy Falls. It is the Captain's recommendation that First Mate JLEaston be awarded The Federation's highest commendation - The Leafy Cluster of Simply Good.
The DUGGLAS proved unreliable at altitude and therefore no tangible plunder was returned to The Federations coffers. The Daffy Dug it will be until bugs can be worked out at The Federations home port laboratories. Hope springs eternal.
However, not all is lost. A host of intangible treasures were captured - all left a a lasting impression upon the crew. And the long voyage home through the vastness of the universe allowed the captain to envision new opportunities and new strategies in the ongoing struggle to overcome the Forces of Fenn.
Love you all.
DPEaston, Captain, S.S. Moonbeam
Thirteen to Share
A fourteenth for me
Thirteen to Share
A fourteenth for me
