June, 2013

There is way too much to share from our trip to California, but I will put a few pictures here and give some of the highlights.

Our first night on the road, we stayed with Christina Stegall and her family in Sioux Falls; always a fun time with them!  

Day two we headed across South Dakota and stopped to see the Corn Palace in Mitchell.  Yes, folks, it does exist and the entire facade is decorated in corn cobs.  

I realize that long miles of flat, open land does not appeal to everyone, but it appeals to us and we enjoyed our drive across the prairie.

At the end of that long day, we stopped briefly at Devil's Tower, Wyoming.

The next day was Sunday and we worshiped with a tiny PCA congregation in Sheridan, WY.  They were very friendly and we were sorry to turn down an invitation for a church barbecue that afternoon. 

But time was a-wasting and the West was calling!

So, we drove on to Yellowstone National Park.

We waited in the rain to see Old Faithful!

Right on time, she blew.  I'm told she does that.  

And, of course, we started to see lovely mountains.

Here is how Miss E. spent much of her time on this trip!  She was usually patient and sweet about it, too!

After too short a time in Yellowstone, we drove south out of the park and stayed at Flagg Ranch for the night.  

Next day, it was on to Grand Teton National Park.

Here is Grand Teton with the Snake River in the foreground.  This photo was taken from the spot Ansel Adams stood on to take his famous photo lo those many years ago.

Eventually, we made our way to Jenny Lake where we took a short boat ride across the lake and hiked for a little way up the mountain.  The path followed this rushing mountain stream.  It was a beautiful, but tiring hike, especially with Evie strapped to me!  She may be little, but she gets plenty heavy on a long hike!  

We really enjoyed Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and look forward to taking the other boys there with us one day.

After that we had to be all business and get going to California.  We crossed Utah and Nevada in one day (yawn!), and stayed in Reno one night before going on to Moraga, CA.  

While John was busy with church business, the kids and I got to meet up with some friends of mine and go play! 

One day we went to the beach.

Sam has been watching too many cartoons about ninjas.

I wiggled my toes in the California sand and dipped them in the Pacific.  It was mighty cold there, though, way too cold to put more than a toe or two in the surf!  

(Yes, I know the Mark Twain quote and summer in San Fran was cold!)

The next installment will include our day at the "big trees."