Home Sweet Home

After a very nice visit with my grandma we drove in a rush to make it to my hometown of Richland, Washington. A 6 hour drive easily in a car but hauling a trailer, well let's say it took us a little longer. We really wanted to make it for the 5:00 pm mass at Christ the King, where I celebrated my First Communion, Confirmation and our Wedding and just have so many amazing memories. Did I happen to mention that today is actually July 3rd. our actual 12 year anniversary? Well we made it to mass and saw the priest that performed our marriage ceremony and saw some friends too. The church has made some updates, but it still felt like home.
After mass we headed to a local restaurant for dinner with some close friends that we hadn't seen since our wedding day 12 years ago. It was a little surreal and amazing to introduce them to our little family.

The kids got an awesome experience at the Richland fire station, it pays to know the Fire Chief. Thanks Tom, the kids loved every moment.

The rest of the 4th of July weekend we spent with my Aunt Kay & Aunt Pam in Pasco at Kay's new house. We enjoyed yummy food, good company and fireworks from the backyard. It was also so nice to spend a few nights in a house instead of the trailer and shower in a bathroom that isn't 4x4!

The kids playing at my childhood playground, Chapparal Park. Our house is right behind the fence.

New Memories

We have now made it to Oregon and are visiting with my Grandma Kay. She is the sweetest most kind Christian woman and has always been there for my family. I feel so blessed that we were able to spend time with her and make new memories. Grandma Kay is a very accomplished seamstress and sewed many outfits for my sister and I when we were young and now she is creating beautiful pieces for my children. They are always so excited to open the brown paper wrapped packages. 

Grandma Kay was very excited to ride with us to visit Crater Lake. She grew up in Oregon and explored the area around Crater Lake with her family and it was great to hear her stories and show us the sights. Crater Lake is another park that cannot be fully captured in photos and must be explored. The water is a blue color like no other and the surrounding mountains are stunning. And yes, that is snow at the end of June.

California: End

We finish our California week with a visit in Lassen Volcanic National Park. We would have loved to spend many more days in this wonderful park but it is just an overnight stop on our way to my grandmothers in Oregon. The evening weather was perfect and we enjoyed a family meal outside and broke out the s'more goodies. We also enjoyed a very full and bright starry night sky. In the morning we woke up and visited the visitor center where we learned about the volcanoes history and were lucky to get a private tour of the first seismometer that was installed in the park and now is being restored by a park ranger. Before we got back in the car we enjoyed a short hike around beautiful Manzanita Lake.

California: Middle

Yosemite is amazing! This post will be full of pictures in hopes that it inspires you to come to this great family friendly park. So many parts of the park to see and explore. We saw the valley the first day with our friends and saw all the sights. The next day we headed to Tuolomne Meadows and even though it rained we had one of the best days of the entire trip. Our last day we played at a little beach and I took a photography class with the Ansel Adams Academy. Enjoy the photos!

First Problems

This leg of our trip is one I have been really looking forward to. We will be spending 4 nights in Yosemite and 2 of those nights with my best friend from college and her sweet family will be staying with us and visiting the park. Stephanie and I were roommates in Tempe and both very involved at the Newman Center at All Saints Catholic church on the ASU campus. We were both in each others weddings, she and her husband are Sydney's Godparents and we have shared many memories, yet we had not had the chance to meet her 3 beautiful sons. Well with all the anticipation of getting to see them came car and trailer problems. :( Leaving Sequoia our truck battery had difficulty turning over, so a quick trip into town and a successful trip to O'Reilly Auto Parts and all we needed was a new battery, on the road again. With only an hour to go into the park we stopped at a grocery store to get some supplies and gas. As Eric was filling up the car he noticed the 7 pin connection wire had been cut. With further inspection we discovered that it must have gotten caught in between the hitch. With that being said we definitely had an angel with us, because we have no idea when this occurred and 5 of the 7 pins were completely severed, which for those who have never towed means no trailer brakes or lights. The kids ate some ice cream as we patiently waited for daddy to splice the wires. Success!!! We now had brakes and lights and felt safe to continue and we were all feeling very blessed. Thank you for your prayers.

All of those troubles melted away as soon as I hugged Stephanie and Justin and met her boys. We had a great night of s'mores, laughter and new shared memories.

California: Beginning

Today I write to you from Estes Park, Colorado from our trailer just outside of the Rocky Mountain park entrance. It is a bittersweet time, as this is our last national park stop and we will be on our way home shortly. The adventure has been more than we could have ever expected and we are sad to leave and a little ready for routine.

After our amazing stop at the Grand Canyon we spent one night in the hot air of Las Vegas near Lake Mead. We crossed the Hoover Dam at sunset and it was still 98 degrees out, Eric had the perfect description, "it feels like someone is blowing a giant hair dryer on you!"

 After our short stay in Vegas we were on the road again to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park in California and in to bear country. The park even required us to place the kids car seats in the bear box.


We spent the day playing in the most amazing sequoia trees and forest for that matter. The weather was perfect and we wish we could have stayed there longer. The hardest thing to capture in photos, in a lot of these parks, is the true scale of how large these trees, canyons and mountains really are.

 Eric was very anxious to fish in the crystal clear rivers and caught 5 pretty trout in Sequoia. Sydney also experienced the river in a more intimate way, by falling in. :) All was good and her boots got to ride on the roof up to King's Canyon. The kids also were able to see their first wild rattle snake and thought that was pretty cool.

We ended the day with an awesome hike up Morro Rock and enjoyed the beautiful view and the wonders that our God has made.

  

Very Grand Canyon

Our next stop brought us to the Grand Canyon and although the park was very crowded with many tourists the shuttle system was great and easy to use. We were able to catch the shuttle from our campground and explore the entire rim. Sydney finally got to set up her hammock and enjoy reading and we all enjoyed getting to see some wildlife. The elk freely roam the park and frequently came through our site.

We also really enjoyed a great Junior Ranger Program and all 3 of us earned our badge. Yes, I did too, it's for 4 and up! I highly recommend getting the Jr. Ranger booklets at any park even if you are not there long enough to complete the program, it is a great tool to learn so much more about the park.