The Grand Tetons

The drive out of Texas is tortuous.  For 10 hours, we battled flat, brown landscape.  The drive into Denver was during the wee hours of the morning, and we weren't able to appreciate the mountains rising over the horizon.  The much shorter drive in the Grand Tetons made up for all 10 hours of Texas.  The mountains were spectacular.  Actually, spectacular doesn't begin to describe the majesty of the country.  As we gasped and awed, pointing out the window at each new glorious scene, we were abruptly stopped.

The bison wanted to cross the road for lunch.  We we not about to disrupt their plans for food!

They appeared to be having enough of their own drama....

The goal of leaving Warren Bridge early in the day was to arrive at  Headwaters Lodge and Campground at Flagg Ranch early enough to secure at walk in camp site.  Folks, these sites reserve up to a year in advance!  A YEAR!  I got in line for a site, and managed to score two out of the last three!  It was 9:08, and the host opened at 9:00. HALF of the campground was booked in 8 minutes.  Geez.  With lodging taken care of, but a few hours till check in, we opted to take a short hike.  

We hiked for over an hour, and the views were...again...no words to describe.  The God I serve has a bigger imagination than I can think of.  From the raging rivers to the deepest canyon to the highest peak of the snow topped mountains, we are BLESSED to live in and experience His AMAZING creation.  

Hiking over, we pitched our tent, showered, and made the hour long trek back to Jackson to meet up with my parent-in-laws and my oldest daughter.  We ate, we laughed, we shared road stories, and when were were done, we headed back to camp.  I was SO thankful for our 20* sleeping bags.  34* is pretty chilly at night!  Tomorrow, we would explore Yellowstone and meet up with an old friend.  Don't miss the next installment of the Jolly Camper!

I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse....

My moms side of the family are great historians.  They have tracked our families history for generations.  It's been really neat to follow my roots.  My dads side....well, the closest I've gotten to the history of my dads side is a book called Louisiana Power and Light.  It's not exactly a flattering rendition of my history.  Monroe, Louisiana is where the Fontana family settled after immigrating from Sicily, and since we were close, I thought, what the heck, lets go see what there is to see.

Being good Sicilians, they were all Catholic, and Catholics keep GOOOOOD records!  I got a hold of the perish in Monroe, and I hit the jackpot!  I found birth records, baptisms, deaths, marriages...  It may not seem all THAT exciting, but for me?  Well, I'm a huge nerd, and LOVE research, so this was a big deal for me.  Plus, I was able to peek into the lives of my ancestors, and start in depth ancestry documentation.  I hope to one day obtain a dual citizenship to Italy.  Look for Dominic and Lena Fontana (my great grand parents), and Mary Fontana (my dad's mom).  Pretty neat stuff!

From Monroe, we headed for home.  We were able to surprise Gordon a day early!  Travel is fantastic, but it was good to be back home.

Cotton Pickin Good Day

Charlotte, North Carolina!   We drove to the outskirts of Charlotte to the Latta Plantation.  The grounds are really fantastic, with over 750 acres of State park.  Horse and pony rides were available (for a nominal fee), which we,  of course, partook of.   

The trail guide was very impressed with Annikas fearlessness, 

Siris posture,

and Gannons knowledge of "My Little Ponies".

We climbed the hill to the plantation home where we were able to roam the grounds and tour the home and the outbuildings.

We learned about wool cards, cotton gins, spindles and wheels and looms!

A short three and a half hour drive took us to Goldsboro, NC so cousins could meet for the first time.   All of them enjoyed a grand time, trouncing around a stark contrast to the plantation. ...Chuck E. Cheeses!  

We ate pizza, spent tickets, and enjoyed company.   

After goodbye was done, we decided to shorten our evening drive and re-rout to.........

Are you coming to the tree?

No WiFi for days and life both ends and begins.  We are having a blast!  Today (the dan blogging about, not the actual day), we drove to Sweetwater Creek State Park near Atlanta. You may or may not recognize some of the ruins, as this is where the Hunger Games was filmed. In a different line of fandoms, also some of the walking dead!  It was supposed to a mile hike down to the Old Mill, which was burned by the Union Army.

We weren't able explore the ruins for safety reasons, the whole thing was fenced off.

Lunch was not magic mushrooms.   Pretty,  but not yummy.

The creek behind the ruins was peaceful, there was plentiful shade, and a cool breeze.

The kids worked diligently on their Jr. Ranger books for State and National Park badges.  The hike back in was slow and tiresome.  By the time we reached the Confederate memorial, we were too tired to hike to the top!   We drove by the relief in the side and waved.   

Atlanta was beautiful.   We drove to South Carolina for dinner, then headed to.......

Grand Canyon Day

We drove from Lake Havasu City to Flagstaff in a day.  We were exhausted, thought the van was broken, took the day talking to mechanics and Gordon trying to figure out what was wrong, found out nothing was actually wrong, and spent the night in a hotel because we could.  

We woke up early and headed to the Grand Canyon.  There is so much I could say about this place, but I won't  There are infinite adjectives to describe the beauty, awe, depth, majesty and grand-ness of this the Grand Canyon.  I'll caption my photos and tell you to GO THERE.  Some time in your life, visit this place.  None of the pictures have filters.

The map of the Canyon in the visitors center where we got the kids Jr. Ranger packets

South Rim

Annika Says Hi!

Gannon and Siri get their Jr. Ranger Badges

I hiked the Grand Canyon today.  What did YOU do?

Sunset at Desert View

Alia and I.

Panoramic.

NorCal and Oregon - Over Half Way Done!

August was upon us.  We left Utah and began our trek across the most boring state in the Union, Nevada.  Seriously.  The kids watched hours of movies in between 2 gas stops.  The only neat part was the very Western section which includes the Great Salt Flats.  Salt for miles.  We were able to stop the van, pull to the side, hop out and grab hands full of salt!  We walked around for half an hour, got back in the car, and watched X-Men:First Class again, and again, and again..............................

Our drive into California took us through Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It is one of the most serene places I have visited.  As we came off Rout 395 from Reno and rounded into Susanville, radio reports gave me the impression we may be in for delays and detours due to a wildfire in the park.  While we weren't delayed or re-routed, we were able to capture the pillar of smoke coming from deep in the forest, blending with the clouds.  The shadow it cast with the smell of burning lumber and brush was heavy, but seemed very far away.

We stayed with my husbands parents in Redding, and were able to meet up with old, wonderful friends.  Ken and Linda (Gordon's parents), Laurie and Joe (Alia's grandparents) with cousins, aunts and uncles, plus the bonus of Eric, Diane, and Erica Rapport met us at Manzanita Lake for a day of hiking, picnicking  

And a little bit of R&R for this Jolly Camper

A beautiful sunset wished us fair well as we headed to Redding, CA for a few days of friends and family.

 We spent about three days getting FAT.  We ate In-n-Out Burger, we had a potluck with dear old friends, we had Grandmas cooking, and we rested.  

 We rested till the 4th of August.  

Then we had captives.

We dragged (very willingly dragged) Ken and Linda (ok, maybe they dragged us.  Very willingly dragged us) to the southern Oregon coast line.  We spent the night in a charming little cabin by the ocean.  The sea air, seagulls and freshly picked blackberries met us in the morning.  Siri and Alia had gone exploring and fed us their bounty of juicy, coastal berries.  Delish!  

Brookings, OR Harris Beach was a cloudy, cool day to climb rocks, find shells, and play in the sand.  Annika hadn't seen the Pacific ocean before, and was in awe of its size.  She ran from the waves with a smile and a giggle.

 Alia was King of the Hill as Grandma Linda helped Annika navigate walking in sand.

A few hours south found us in the land of the Giants.  Paul Bunyan and his faithful Ox, Babe welcomed us to the home of the redwoods.  We recently visited Italy, and when we were sharing pictures of places to visit in the US, he very eloquently said "That is a MOUNTAIN, not a TREE!"

We said goodbye to the redwoods, the cool ocean air, and our traveling companions and headed to SoCal.