It took a little over a week for me to recover from our 8,346 mile journey. To feel like I was at home again.
I don't have time for many words, so I'll post many pictures and few words. Hopefully that will work for now.
(For some reason they did not upload in order. Apologies.)
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| The one spot the boys *had* to see, on the drive out west. |
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| So, we saw it. |
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How the trunk was packed the day we left.
I ROCK at packing. |
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| In Danville, Illinois - "Where's Perry?" |
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| It stormed during dinner in Rapid City - this was the view out of our Hotel when we returned. |
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| We made it! |
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| We saw Crater Lake, another *must see*. |
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| Iron Castle, at Crater Lake. |
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| Hiked to Paulina Falls. |
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| Hiked the Big Obsidian Flow at Newberry Crater |
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| "WE LOVE HIKING!" |
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| And rocks. They love rocks. We came home with about 50lbs. |
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| (See, out of order.) More Crater Lake. |
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| Night time light up of the balloons at Balloons over Bend. |
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| Mi Madre! |
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| Chocolate on the face, and a fishin' pole. Life is good. |
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| My brother and I out for a paddle. |
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| Poppy spent this whole day fishing, untangling lines... |
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| My turnout could use some work... |
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| Beer and a Fire pokin' stick. |
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| Cleaning, on the last day of camping. |
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Then we visited Mt. Bachelor - rode the chairlifts to the top.
(That's Jefferson in the background) |
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| "I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!!!!!" |
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| Billy Goat Kenny. |
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| Spent a fair amount of time in Poppy and Grammy's Saltwater pool. |
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| Of course we visited! |
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| I really miss this place. |
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While we were camping - my parents' neighborhood was evacuated because a fire swept through.
Thankfully - no one lost their house, but things were pretty dicey for a bit. |
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| My gramma. |
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| Chairlift. |
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| My other Grandma. |
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After four weeks on the road, we "turned around" and headed east.
Well, first we went south. |
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Two places at once!
Hoover Dam! |
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Canyon of Grandness.
One of my favorite places on earth. |
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Dried strawberries are possibly not the best road trip snack.
Unless you want to glance in the mirror after hearing maniacal cackling and see this. |
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| Power plant tour at Hoover. |
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| "Mom - get away from that ledge or you will fall and become death!" |
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| Puerca Pueblo Ruins in the Painted Desert National Park |
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Petroglyphs in Petrified National Forest
This particular one is the Summer Solstice Calendar Marker. It's pretty nifty how it works. |
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| On the Historic Rt. 66 |
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| Smashing Geodes in ABQ. |
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At the very tippy-top of Sandia Peak.
(Explanation for B-rox's face:
He threw a tizzy about climbing onto the roof [everyone else there was]. I wasn't
so sure in the beginning [this cabin is on the very edge of a 10,000 foot peak]. But then decided we'd climb
the non-ledge side and scoot to the ledge for a photo op.
Halfway into the little scuttle up, he got scared.
I couldn't let him chicken out, so I helped him up.
The ledge was just too much. Hence the face.) |
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| Digging out fossils. |
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| The big Texan in Amarillo. |
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| Yes. |
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| Fire museum in Charleston, SC. |
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| And, the 23rd and final state of our journey. |
That's it in pictures, folks.
We had an awesome time and learned a ton - about a lot of things. My main goal for the trip was to instill a love of adventure into the boys. I think I succeeded - and that's what matters most to me.
I plan to (we'll see if it happens) write up a post about how we did it. What tricks I used (especially on the days where we exceeded 600 miles of driving), what didn't work, where we stayed, etc.
Until then, enjoy our journey with that rather long picture journal!
