Well, I'm going to kind of smoosh what could be two posts into one, and I apologize already for how long it is, but don't give up now, there are a lot of pictures.
This week I'm thankful for a wonderful, busy, fun vacation! We had a blast traveling through California and into Arizona. Here is what we did (with pictures!)
Day one: Nothing too exciting, we drove 11 hours from Boise to Merced, CA. Brandon's youngest sister Breanne rode in our car and we had a great time. We almost got hit by a truck with a boat, traveled through at least an hour of torrential downpour, but it was a good travel day overall. Unfortunately I don't find car trips particularly picture worthy so there are no pictures for day one.
Day two: We spent a few hours driving to Sequoia National Forest/Park. Then a few hours roaming around the Giant Forest. We saw several huge trees, it was really cool. Not quite the weather we had hoped for so we didn't go on as long of a hike as most would have wanted but it was still fun. And while the fog was a big contributor to the cold, damp, did I mention cold, conditions, it was really cool, kind of gave the forest a mysterious feeling. After visiting the forest we drove another 5 hours to get to another hotel for the night about 30 minutes from Newport Beach.
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| General Sherman |
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| Cross section of a Sequoia tree, they are huge! |
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| You had to walk under the tree, next too the splashing water fall, cool but I was very aware of the possibility of slipping and getting really wet. |
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| This tree was really cool, you could walk into it , and look at the inside of the tree. |
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| Sequoia tree huggers ;-) |
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| I thought the Senate was the coolest because there were so many of the Sequoia's all together. |
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| This tree was pretty cool, it was really tall, but half burned which made it look cool. |
Day three: We drove the thirty minutes to Newport Beach, dropped our car off at the new hotel/resort and headed to the beach. We spent a long time at the beach, playing in the cold water, walking to a sea cave, building great walls of sand to protect our stuff from the incoming tide, and laying in the sun. Unfortunately most of us did not apply sunscreen as often as we should have (Brandon blames the sand) and so most of us got burnt. Brandon burnt the bottom of his legs and his feet so bad it was painful/hard to walk, I felt bad but he was a trooper!
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| Sea Cave |
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| Stephanie and Breanne trying to wake board. |
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| After the tide started coming in and got our stuff twice we decided to move everything up onto a little hill, and Brandon and his brother's began making a great wall of sand to protect our stuff from the incoming tide. |
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| Great wall of sand |
Day four: We headed over to Disneyland for a day of excitement. It was pretty fun. although I wish it was less crowded. We didn't get to go on all of the rides, but we made it to a few great ones. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures. Brandon's parents took a few, but we have not gotten any from them yet, so no pictures for day four.
Day five: We finally got to sleep in. The whole reason the California trip came to be was because Brandon's parents were offered a really great price for a resort, if they went and listened to an hour and a half shpeel about the resort and why they should sign up. So day five was the day for that, and everyone else got to sleep in and relax. That afternoon we went to Newport Beach. It was a much bigger, sandier beach; however, it was really windy, the water was cold, and Brandon was still sporting his terrible burns. Brandon's siblings got out in the water, I laid on a towel on the sand, trying to be as low as possible to get out of the wind and be warmed by the sun (it worked nicely for a while), and Brandon sat in a chair underneath a huge umbrella. Might not sound like a blast, but it was relaxing and not too bad. And once again we didn't take any pictures at this beach. We are not the best picture takers...oops.
Day six: We all went on a deep sea fishing trip. I didn't actually fish, I have no problem eating the fish but touching them is a totally different story. So, I sat on the boat and documented everything through pictures. Trevor and Dad were the only two to actually get their fish on to the boat. Most of the fish being caught that day were Barracuda and they are not the easiest to real in. Brandon got his all the way to the boat, and then a sea lion snatched it and swam away, kind of freaked Brandon out since his line just kept going and going, he didn't know what he was going to do when there was not more line, but luckily he didn't have to find out because the line broke and the sea lion got away with his fish and the hook. Overall it was a great time. After the fishing trip we drove for seven hours, 2-3 hrs more than we originally planned because of terrible traffic, to get to Lake Havasu City, AZ.
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| Sea Lion trying to get some of the bait while we were filling the boat with bait. |
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| Dad, Trevor and Westy setting up their poles |
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| Brandon, Stephanie, and Breanne setting up their poles, and mom watching everyone. |
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| Dad's first fish. The guy that brought it into the boat kept kicking the fish to knock it out...poor fish. The hole is from where they stab it with a long spearish hook thing, to bring it into the boat. |
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| Trevor's first fish, too small to keep, but still cool. |
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| Trevor's second fish, this one was big enough to keep. |
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| Dad's second fish. He was a fighter, he kept squirming around, squirting blood everywhere. Gross. |
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| Dad and Trevor with their fish. |
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| Brandon holding one of their fish, since technically he did catch one, but it was stolen. Dumb sea lion. |
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| A bunch of sea lions on the buoy. One sea lion kept trying to get up but there was just no more room, so he kept sliding off. It was kind of funny to watch. |
Day seven: We drove up to the southern rim of the Grand Canyon, after visiting the London Bridge in Lake Havasu. The Grand Canyon was spectacular. After the Grand Canyon we parted ways and Brandon's family headed for Mesa Verde, while we headed for home. We drove five more hours through mountain roads to get to Cedar City, UT. On the last road of our trip we had to drive very slowly, as Brandon put it the poor road had nothing going for it. We saw 13 deer, 1 of which was actually in the middle of the road, the rest all right off the road, the road was very curvy and completely lined with trees and the road had been damaged by a lot of felled rocks. Luckily no rocks fell as we were driving, but the cautious driving did make that road seem to take forever.
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| The London Bridge. |
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| Old watch tower. It was really high. You could walk all the way to the top set of windows. I'm gonna say maybe not the best idea when your "afraid" of heights. Kind of makes you light headed to look out the window and down into the Grand Canyon, but it was pretty cool. |
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| I didn't walk over to the windows, I stayed grounded in the middle. Too high for me. |
Day eight: We drove the 8.5 hrs back to good old Boise.
Overall, it was a great trip. We had a lot of fun and we all traveled safely. I am so grateful we had this vacation, we needed it. And even though it wasn't the most relaxing it took our minds off of a lot of things and we have been a lot more relaxed since. I am grateful that Brandon's family was willing to have us tag along, it was a lot of fun to hang out with all of them, and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to get to know them all a little better.
Sorry the post was so long maybe this week you are grateful that you got through it?
