Back in California, we stopped off to rest at one of Rest Stops along the highway. The kids spent some time along the river.

As we continued are trip towards Yosemite, the weather changed quickly. Clouds began to darken and we could see the rain in the distance. By the time we reached Mono Lake, it was coming down very hard. The car finally got the needed wash that it needed from the 3000+ miles.

Northern Nevada

Here are some of the sites that we saw during our migration across the Nevada dessert.

Wagon Wheel Inn

Here are some pictures from the Wagon Wheel Inn. This was our home during our stay in Jackson, WY.

Teton and Jackson Hole, WY

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. A north-south range, it is on the Wyoming side of the state's border with Idaho, just south of Yellowstone National Park. The two principal summits are the Grand Teton at 13,772 ft (4198 m) and Mount Moran at 12,605 ft (3842 m); most of the range is within the Grand Teton National Park. Early French voyageurs gave the name "les Trois Tetons" (the three breasts)

From the Tetons, we headed to Jackson Hole,WY. This is a shot of the moon as it rose over the mountains.

Old Faithful - Yellowstone National Park

Ansel was asleep during all the excitement. But we captured it on video for him to see later. This peice doesn't show the maximum height that was reached, but you get the idea.

Idaho Falls. Idaho

We made it to Idaho Falls on the Saturday evening. Once we found a place to stay, we took a walk along the Snake river before we went to swim in the hotel pool for a while. Once we finished our swim, we settled down for the night.

The goal for Sunday is Yellowstone National Park.

Pocatello Zoo

On our way from Salt Lake City thru Idaho, we spent a few hours at the Pocatello Zoo.

The kids a good time, outside of the car. The kids got plenty of exercise walking the exhibits.

Check out the video below where the kids tried to get the coyote to howl.

Utah State Capitol Building

Utah's Capitol building, located on a hill overlooking downtown Salt Lake City, is an elegant architectural masterpiece. The building is set on over 40 acres, with beautifully maintained and sculpted lawns, trees, flowerbeds, and shrubs. From the south steps, Kiwanzar trees can be viewed circling the drive. From the front steps you see a spectacular view of the Wasatch and Oquirrh Mountains, and Salt Lake City below.

As you can see, there is construction all around the building. The restoration of the Capital building started in 2004 and will take four years to complete.

Temple Square

Here are some pictures from our visit to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Timpanogos Cave National Monument

Here we are at the Visitor Center of the Timpanogos Cave. We spent the night in nearby Lehi so we could get an early start on the 1.5 mile hike up the mountain.




By the time we got to the top... Ansel ended up in the backpack so we could make it to our destination on time for our scheduled tour. I thought the 90 minutes they gave us to make it up the hill was more than enough time...but with small legs, it took us just about that amount of time.

Did You Know?Timpanogos Cave is known for its high concentration of helictites - a spiraling cave formation that seems to defy gravity. Helictites are formed when calcite crystals and dissolved impurities are forced out of a tiny central canal in the helictite by hydrostatic pressure.

Cove Fort

This is my attempt to making a podcast. This is of the kids attempting to play a game that was played at the fort by the children in the 188o's.

Cedar City, Utah

Ansel spent his time at this museum playing with the lincoln logs in the Activity area.






This is one of the house that were brought to this site to show visitors how the settlers lived in the 1800's.














This is one of the wagons that we found at the museum. Ansel had to have his picture taken with this one...

Zion National Park

Today we spent the day in Zion National Park.

We took a hike up to the top of Zion Canyon where the Canyon narrows to the width of the Virgin river. The kids enjoyed playing in the water.

We had a late lunch at the Zion lodge under a beautiful shade tree. The kids had their favorite meal, Pizza.

St. George, Utah

Today we visited the "Dinosaur Discovery Sight" at Johnson Farm. We could see 200 million year old dinosaur tracks that were uncovered when the property was being cleared for commercial development. For $62 we got a room with 3 full size beds (Ansel already claimed his), a gigantic hi def tv, flat screen, a fridge and microwave. And motel 6 costs $77. We are at the Best Western Travel Inn, and we have a heated pool, and free breakfast included. Yay! Oh, yeah, I wouldn't be telling you this without the free high speed internet. Great deal, huh? For a hotel this good at home, it would cost $225. Well, I'm going to get in the pool with the kids.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Our first day of vacation landed us in Las Vegas Nevada. We visited Irene's family and Jaime's friends.

Here are pictures from our visits.

What's in your garden?

This summer we have had the pleasure of watching pumpkins grow from our compost bin. Last winter, sometime in November, we tossed the pumpkins that we had for Halloween into the compost bin. To our surprise we got several plants sprouting in late Spring. After transplanting some of the plants around the garden, we now have about 10 pumpkins that will be displayed around our house this season. Here are some pictures.... Check out the one growing out of the compost bin.

The sunflowers have been guarding the vines.

In the front yard we have tomatoes growing next to the pumpkins, at the base of the sunflower.

The picture with the scarecrow was taken behind the playhouse. The plants make a great view from out of the back windows.