California Dreamin'

Hey all! We made it to California! We drove 11 hours from Bryce Canyon to Laguna Nigel, CA where my Aunt Fran and Uncle Steve live. What a drive. I gotta say that I do NOT like the desert. The car thermometer read 109 degrees at one point. Our plan was to drive from Bryce to Las Vegas and stay on the outskirts of town somewhere near Vegas, but once we got there it was only about 3:00pm and honestly, I just got a kind of sick feeling in my stomach. Las Vegas is appropriately named "sin city". It's hard to explain my feelings, except that my spirit felt heavy. I didn't like the billboards, I didn't like the gaudiness of the buildings, it was all just dark to me. So we just kept on driving.

Barstow was the next town and it was about a 2 hour drive, but it was in the middle of the desert too, and San Bernadino Valley looked like it was only another hour, so again we kept on driving. Once we got to San Bernadino the smog was really bad! A huge grey cloud hung over the whole area and it just seemed gross, so we kept on driving. By the time we got past that area we were only another hour from my aunt's house, so we just kept on driving. I gave Aunt Fran a call and let her know we were nearby and she graciously took us in a day early. It was a long day, but I'm so glad we kept going straight to my aunt's because it felt great to be with family.

Aunt Fran and Uncle Steve totally spoiled us for 2 days. They took us out to dinner to a place called "Dave and Buster's" which we had never heard of, but it's kind of a high class dinner/video arcade. It was so fun. The kids had a blast, well ok, and so did I! After that they took us for yogurt and we walked around the beautiful outdoor mall complete with a giant ferris wheel and carousel. There were tables with umbrellas and beautiful strings of lights everywhere. Not something we get to experience while shopping in Michigan. We also spent some time at the beach. Chase has only been to the ocean once and he was too young to really remember, so this was really a first for him. I should mention that he loves to read about sharks and watch all the freaky Discovery Channel shows about them, so for months he has said that when we got to California he was NOT going to swim in the ocean. Well that promise was forgotten the moment we stepped on the beach. He was having the time of his life and I've got the pictures to prove it.

He ran right out into the water....

...realized how cold it was and ran back.

This is Aunt Fran, my dad's sister. Sorry Uncle Steve, I meant to get a picture with you, but you were already off to work. We'll have to get you next time! Thanks for showing us such a great time!

Final pics from Bryce Canyon

Here's a few last minute photos of our fun at Ruby's Inn Campground at

Bryce Canyon National Park.

These outlaws were arrested for attempting to rustle some cattle from the local ranchers. Fortunately they had an excellent attorney who was able to convince the judge

that they were temporarily insane.

Poor little critters, insanity is only 1/2 their problem.

Somehow I think Chase will regret his choice to be the woman in these pics...

...because this one I will definitely use against him.

That's it for Bryce Canyon fun, now on to California!

Another Amazing God Story and Hiking Beneath the Rim

Ok folks, this story is going to knock your socks off so put some rubberbands around 'em or something.

Yesterday, which was what?...Tuesday? We have no idea what day it is anymore. Anyway, it was the day we left Bryce Canyon National Park and began the trek toward California. The camping part of our trip was over and a friend had suggested that I leave the camper at a campground rather than tow it all the way to the coast and back for no reason. I didn't want to leave it at Bryce because it would be an 80 mile out-of-the-way trip to pick it up. So I began praying about it and looked at the map. I noticed 2 state parks near St. George, UT which was on our way.

Well as we came to St. George I saw the signs for the state parks and pulled off at the exit. But there was no sign indicating which way the parks were and it was pretty barren land so I figured they were probably quite a distance from the highway, so I got back on the expressway and continued to pray and wondered if this was a good idea. I started to think that maybe I should look for a storage facility, but thought they'd charge more than I was willing to pay.

There were 4 exits at St. George and for some reason I just decided to pull off at one and ask someone if there was a storage place around. As I pulled off I notice a huge sign that said Desert RV Sales and Service, so I drove in thinking that someone there would direct me to the right place or maybe they'd even let me store it there. The first person I saw was a really nice woman who quickly asked if she could help me. I told her I was from Michigan and she immediately said, "I'm from Michigan!" As we talked I found out she was from Coldwater - go figure. When I told her I lived near Jackson she said she had family in Jackson, so I asked their name figuring it was a long shot, but ya never know. Turns out the name was Ferris. "I know a Ferris", I said, "her name is Tressa." "No way," she said, "her husband Don is my cousin!" Oh my nerves!!! We finally got around to talking about why I had stopped and Tammy, that's her name, told me she didn't know of any storage place but she and her husband lived on 2 acres back up the road and we could store it there. No kidding! Can you believe that? Tammy called her husband and he immediately agreed it'd be ok. So she gave us directions to her house and we met her husband Brian there. He was such a nice guy, he even showed us the rattlesnake he had killed and had put in the freezer. :-)

I know God directed us to Tammy and Brian and I am so grateful to them for their kindness. I feel good knowing that the camper is in good hands and after driving through the 109 degree temperatures of the desert, I know it was better for both the camper and Captain Jack (that's what I call the truck...you know, after my hero Captain Jack Sparrow).

We drove 11 hours from Bryce Canyon to Laguna Nigel, CA where I am sitting in luxury at my Aunt Fran and Uncle Steve's house just blocks from the beach. It is absolutely beautiful here. Aunt Fran gave us a quick tour of the area last night and the kids and I are headed down to the beach later this morning while Aunt Fran volunteer's at the nearby hospital and Uncle Steve is at work.

So this is a huge post, but I'm going to now put pictures of our hike at Bryce Canyon.

HIKING BENEATH THE RIM

We hiked beneath the rim of Bryce Canyon on Monday morning. Our friends the Varlands recommended we hike from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point and it was so cool...well, not cool as in temperature. We started at 9:00a.m. though so it wasn't bad at all. Here's the pics.

The above picture was actually taken when I got up at 6:00a.m., left the kiddos asleep in the camper and drove out to see the sunrise. If I had my druthers, we'd be up by 5:30a.m. and out hiking trails by 6:00a.m. so we could get pictures before the sun gets too high. I'd be voted off the island for sure though.

These rock formations are called "hoodoos". They were believed to have been people and animals that were turned to stone.

Here we go heading down into the canyon. It was steep and quite a drop off so I gave Chase a good talkin' to about not being squirrely and giving his mom a heart attack.

It was 1 1/2 miles down and 1 1/2 miles up. I took tons of pics, but how many rocks do you really want to see? So here we are heading up.

Switchback after switchback.

More highway of people.

This is at the "ampitheater".

Is that amazing or what?

So that does it for Bryce Canyon. On to California!

Last Day at Tetons

The last day that we spent at the Tetons was beautiful. We had great plans of going kayaking at Colter Bay. Then we'd have a picnic lunch and do some hiking. We got to Colter Bay around 10a.m. and went to the boat rental place only to discover that one person in each kayak had to be 16 or over. Only 2 could be in a kayak and since Jodie's only 15, we couldn't all go. So I left all the kids and went by myself...not really, that's just how it went in my head. We were bummed because this was something we had really looked forward to. So instead we went to String Lake which is the "warmest" lake in the Tetons because it is shallow. After our picnic lunch we set out to hike around the lake. We didn't get far because getting in the water was just too tempting for Chase and Jayme. Calling the lake "warm" though is a bit of an exaggeration...all the lakes are filled with melting snow for crying out loud. Anyhoo, here's some pictures of our day.

This is String Lake, so named because it is long and skinny....like a string. Creative.

Look how green it is. The color was so different than any lake I've seen.

They should have called it Jade Lake, that's way more creative.

Chase decided to wade out a bit. Looks "warm" right?

Jayme's either thinking it over or she's got an ice lake headache.

There's a rock out there that Chase wants to walk to. The water's icy cold

and there's sharp rocks covering the bottom, but

he doesn't let it stop him.

Feelin' pretty good about himself right about now.

He starts callin' for Jayme to come out.

She's inchin' her way..

The face says it all.

She made it, but of course Chase somehow figures he deserves the credit.

"Oh man, now my shorts are wet. Didn't think about the chaffing

that would cause."

Jodie's just takin' it all in and not about to be tricked into going past her ankles.

So now they have to get back.

No fat to help warm that body.

Jayme's wondering what she was thinking.

Can't ya just hear those teeth a chatterin'?

On the drive back to camp we saw a coyote. See his little head way out there?

That's the best I could do. It was still cool.

Then all of a sudden we came upon this bear on the side of the road. There were only a couple of cars there, so he must have just come around. The dark line at the bottom of the picture is the car door, that's how close we were. I was sitting on the console between the front seats and leaning over Jodie to get the picture.

He was just foraging around and eating grass.

He's a black bear even though he's not really black.

Black bears can be many shades of brown as well.

Check out his front claws.

See the car mirror on the side? That gives you an idea of how close we were. I'm not sure what the sticks were doing there. I think there was some kind of grass being planted which is probably what attracted him to that spot.

That was a great way to end our last day at the Tetons!