A Pittard Loop

Well, this is my first post on the new family website. In fact, this is only my second blog post ever, and Giselle and I have a family blog. I think I will do a little better now that I am not in law school.

I want to start by saying that the name for the blog is fantastic and a pure stroke of genius. Second, I think the idea of putting the family crest on the blog is awesome. I never knew that we had a family crest. It would be really cool if someone could look up the history to the crest.
Jeff's description of how the Pittard Loop got started is quite accurate. We were taking a family vacation to Yellowstone and we were staying at Uncle Gordon's sweeeeet cabin. Here is what I remember of the Pittard Loop beginnings.

As Jeff stated, we were on our way back to the cabin. Dad is notorious for trying to find quicker routes, and he decided to take one. I don't blame him for it, however, because our brown and gold (Vallivue colors) van was packed with five dirty, impatient, hyped-up boys and one sweet little girl very anxious to get back to the cabin (I don't think Melody was born yet). We had been sight seeing for most of the day. We all wanted to see buffalo but hadn't seen any yet. (Yellowstone has some of the most amazing and perplexing wonders of nature. I think that Yellowstone trip was one of my favorite vacations ever). As we started to head back to the cabin, Dad saw what he thought was a shortcut on the map. He decided to take it and that is when it began.

I am not sure how long we were traveling before we started to complain. We were hot and sweaty and ready to go home and eat dinner. Thankfully the buffalo saved us. I am not exactly sure about where we were in the Park, but there were a lot of them. Dad pulled into an area where we could park the car and get out. The buffalo were just minding their business grazing on the lush summer grass. They were a sight to behold. It still amazes me how big and powerful they are. Most of us kept our distance. However, if I remember right, Jon got so close he could almost pet one of them. That's Jon for you. :) Anyways, as we started back, we were all tired and ready to eat. Nevertheless, we were happy and content to have finally seen the buffalo. I think it was mom who pointed out that if it hadn't been for Dad's loop, we wouldn't have seen the buffalo. I think she dubbed Dad's detour, a Pittard Loop and since that bright and sunny day in beautiful Yellowstone there hasn't been a Pittard Vacation without a Pittard Loop. Gotta' love being a Pittard!