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.