July 10


We made it home...Yeah!!!


That was a long trip

July 9

We did two hikes today, one to a natural bridge and the other to Union Falls.

The family got into a stick fight ( I caught it all on camera).

I got eaten by bugs. I'll be itching up a storm in a day or two.



Photos to be posted by the 11th.

July 8

We drove to Crater Lake National Park. It is amazing!!

I'm utterly humbled by the beauty this place holds.

The hike I wanted to go on to see the Phantom Ship is closed due to snow. That is a bit disappointing.


Later, we walked down to the Rouge Gorge, just down the street from our cabin. I loved watching the water cascade over the rocks.

July 7

We drove from Redding, CA to Prospect, OR.

We traveled up US 101 and through the Redwood National Park.

We rented a cabin at Union Creek Resort. This place is a total pit. We asked for cabin 13 and was assigned cabin 11. We were told it was modernized with aircondition and internet access. The truth is that they have ceiling fans and a box fan and if you only need internet access for a few minutes, Gary (resort owner) will let you use his home computer.

This place was the truest meaning of the word RUSTIC.

David isn't a happy camper.

July 6

Long drive...Just drove from Oakhurst, CA to Redding, CA today.

David got flipped the universal way of saying hello by a guy with a ponytail because David wouldn't drive faster than 70 miles per hour in heavy traffic (speed limit was 70 miles per hour).


I decided to put more detail on this. David was driving the same speed as everyone else. The guy behind him was tailgating and wanting David to move over to the slower lane (which he couldn't or he'd take out the car there). Once he was finally able to get over, the ponytail guy whipped over in that lane, raced up and cut back over almost hitting us and the car in front of us. Then the ponytail guy started tailgating and honking at the car that had been in front of us.

July 5

Explored the upper section of Yosemite today. We did a 5 mile hike to the Wapama Falls. Oh my...this was gorgous. There is so much water and wind that we got soaked, but it was nice for the walk back. It was 85 degrees today and most of the hike was in the sun.
The photos don't do it justice, but I'll post it anyway.

I promise to post pictures at the next place I have internet access.

July 4

We explored the Yosemite Valley today and saw El Capitan.

We saw an eight point buck and a black bear.

We did several hikes to waterfalls.

July 3

Drove from Barstow, CA to Oakhust, CA we are about 23 miles south of Yosemite.

We drove through Sequoia National Park and King Canyon National Park today. It was a very long day.

I loved the tall trees. We took a walk to the biggest sequia in the world called General Sherman.

July 2

We drove from Cave Creek, AZ to Barstow, CA.

Drove through Joshua Tree National Park. We did a small hike through a field of Cacti. The sign at the beginning of the hike stated NOT to touch any of the cacti because they were poisonous. I don't know about you but when I'm told not to do something, it makes me want to do it all that much more. I didn't touch any, but I really wanted to.

July 1

Went shopping today and packed. Not all that exciting for most but it made my day.

June 30

We went to the Phoenix zoo today. One thing that was super cool, was that we got to walk into the Squirrel monkey exhibit and take pictures. The monkeys were only a few feet from us. Most of the exhibits were still cages. I wasn't all that impressed by their natural exhibits, but then... I'm spoiled by our Woodland Park Zoo.

Will post pictures soon. I need to transfer them from David's machine to mine.

June 29
We are going to the pool today.
My back is bothering me, so I want to rest it before our long days walk at the zoo tomorrow.

June 28

We drove down to Tucsan.
On the way we stopped in Oricle to see the Biosphere 2. We took the 1 1/2 hour tour. David wanted to see the 25-foot ocean containing one million gallons of salt water. He was a little disappointed that they didn't maintain it better. It was an interesting tour and I was sort of surprised that Ashleigh knew of the Biosphere 2. She said her science teacher had been talking about it in class.

We went to the Mission San Vavier del Bac. I loved the architecture. I'll add pictures when we get to a real place with internet access.

I have to blog from the "Business Center" which is really a little closet with a couple computers and no air conditioning. It must be 120 degrees in here.

June 27

David is much better.
We spent the day reading and playing games. I took Ashleigh to the pool.

June 26
David had a high fever last night so we're taking the next two days off for him to recop.

I'm catching up on my reading and the kids like the fact that I let them watch TV. We've had a no TV rule for the trip.

June 25

The drive from St George, UT to Cave Creek, AZ was cool. We drove through this awesome canyon that is in part of Utah and part of Navada. We were on the outskirts of Las Vegas and drove over the Hoover Dam. The water was a lite blue to aqua color usualy seen more in the tropic water.

David spotted our first real tumbling tumble weed.

We're staying at a resort called the Rancho Manana. It's a nice resort, but really out dated. It was supposed to have internet connection in the room, but they haven't done that yet. I was most surprised by the VCR. We can't use the laptop to play movies to the TV because the VCR makes the screen go light to dark. Impossible to view the movie.

June 24

We went to the St. George Dinosaur Discovory Site at Johnson Farm today.

In late February 2000, Sheldon Johnson was leveling a hill on his farm property in St. George, Utah when he came across dinosaur tracks preserved as natural fossil casts on the underside of a thick layer of sandstone. That sandstone layer was part of a lake shore that dates back approximately 200 million years ago and formed when an ancient lake covered the land just north and east of St. George Utah. When a large block tipped out of the bucket of Dr. Johnson’s track hoe, he had no idea that he had just uncovered the first trace of an incredible fossil treasure trove –one of the most important discoveries in the history of paleontological research in Lower Jurassic rocks. (information taken from http://www.sgcity.org/dinotrax/indexmain.php)

This was really interesting.

The rest of our day is a lazy day. After playing Magic, WOW, and Yahtzee, we need to pack for our departure tomorrow morning.

June 23

We went to the North Rim of the Grand canyon today. Boy, that suckers big!!

We saw several deer...one a lot closer than we cared to see it. A buck came barreling out of the woods, across the road, and inches from our front bumper. David was driving and was quick as a bunny in stopping before we hit the deer. I'm so glad he had pity on my soul and chose to drive. I don't know that my reflexes would have been as sharp.

I loved the Grand canyon. It was very beautiful. We did two rather short hikes compared to our previous hikes, but enjoyed the stroll to the viewing areas.

June 22

Achy legs, blisters and sunburn prevent us from hiking today. We decided to take the day off and have a lazy day.

We slept in until 10 AM (we have been getting up at 6 AM). We ate breakfast at IHOP. This was the worst servce and food I've ever had.

The hostess was cleaning the tiles with a tooth brush when we entered. She looked up at us and went back to cleaning the tiles. After about a 10 minutes wait, David made a comment that it must be more important to clean the tile than to seat us. The hostess jumped up, said she was sorry for the wait and seated us.

The waitress was a mumbling sour-puss. She seemed very unhappy to be waiting on us.

David's eggs came out over medium instead of over easy and my pancakes had spots of batter, but all in all the food was ok.

David spent his day playing WOW. Ashleigh swam in the pool for a couple hours. Josh read his book and wondered around watching David play WOW. I decided to catch up on my blogging when I wasn't watching Ashleigh swim.

David says he's sick of driving (I totally saw that coming) so I'll be driving us to the Grand Canyon North Rim tomorrow.

Picture is of the red rocks we saw on the way to Bryce National Park yesterday.

June 21

We went to Bryce National Park. It was so amazing. The canyon rocks (called Hoodoos) are carved out by the rains and ice. The Hoodoos have vivid colors that make your jaw drop in awe.

We did a combo hike of the Navajo Loop, The Queens Garden, and the Rim Trail (3 miles round trip). We had wanted to just do the navajo loop, but part of it was closed due to a rock slide into the slot canyon. This was a moderate hike with several switch backs.
The tempature was in the mid-80's and breezy which made for a comfortable hike.

June 20

We went to Zion National Park. It was a very hot day at 104 degrees. We did three hikes.
The first hike was the Emerald pools hike (1.8 mile round trip.) This hike take you to three emerald pools, the lower, middle and (yep you guessed it) the upper. This is a great hike although I'd have enjoyed it more if it had been a cooler day.
The next hike was the easiest hike ever. The River walk hike is nearly a flat 1 mile hike along the river. David wanted to do the continued hike to the narrows, but I said no. It's a hike in the river with spots being chest deep. I can't swim and thought this not my thing. Besides...why give Ashleigh yet another reason to whine.
The third hike was to the Weeping Rock (1/2 mile round trip). This is another easy hike, even Ashleigh said "that wasn't bad at all."

Zion was gorgous...It's hard to put into words the beauty of the cliffs and canyons. It's more something you need to experience.

June 19

Left Twin Falls today, heading for St. George, Utah (7 hours 45 minutes). David is being a good sport about driving, but I know it won't last long. He's had to do a lot of driving so far and we aren't even half way through.

I know I'll have to drive at some point, I just hope it's later...not sooner.