Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Spring Break
We took a long drive down through Utah and Arizona and ended up in California. Then Mama, Noah and Anna flew back while Papa drove the car back to cap off the final week of "early retirement" before starting his new job.
Salt Lake City: Here we are checking out the Great Salt Lake from the Antelope Island Causeway. As you can see, we are bundled up.
Suzanne and Brandon put us up for the night (aren't they cute? they just got married), and we woke up to almost a foot of snow.
We started to thaw out a little bit at Zion National Park (though it was still chilly at night). At least we could take our shoes off...
We lucked out and got a beautiful campsite next to the river with friendly neighbors. We also ate the most expensive s'mores we have ever had -- don't forget your s'mores supplies if you come down here.
...and a little grocery shopping. Whoever put two steering wheels on this shopping cart car was so smart.
Then Papa chose a random dirt road and found us a great campsite next to a river. Althogh the leaves were not on the trees yet, this was the first place where we really felt warm.
Good campfire game: Anna plays the harmonica, Noah dances, yells, and falls down, Anna laughs her head off. Repeat. A lot of times.
Next stop, LA! We visited Anne and Mark in their new (to them) home. Noah enjoyed picking avocados from the huge tree in their backyard and flying Mark's remote control helicopter.
Salt Lake City: Here we are checking out the Great Salt Lake from the Antelope Island Causeway. As you can see, we are bundled up.
Suzanne and Brandon put us up for the night (aren't they cute? they just got married), and we woke up to almost a foot of snow.
We started to thaw out a little bit at Zion National Park (though it was still chilly at night). At least we could take our shoes off...
Next stop was the Grand Canyon. Nice rocks.
Guess who took this photo?
A quick stop in Flagstaff, Arizona with some pool sharking
Then on to Montezuma Castle. The people who lived here spent a lot of time climbing ladders.
Then Papa chose a random dirt road and found us a great campsite next to a river. Althogh the leaves were not on the trees yet, this was the first place where we really felt warm.
Good campfire game: Anna plays the harmonica, Noah dances, yells, and falls down, Anna laughs her head off. Repeat. A lot of times.
Next on to the Phoenix area, which is lovely in late March, as lots of desert wildflowers are blooming. We stopped to check out some more impressive local residents.
Giant saguaro
Barrel cactus and palo verde
A little friendly advice-- do not get this close to a teddy bear cholla.
Near Phoenix we enjoyed a little hike out near the Superstition Mountains
A little ghost town/tourist trap
A little ice cream
And a lot of pool time!
We also paid a visit to Linda and Ed. They took good care of Papa back in his college days when he was a young intern in Mesa, AZ for a semester.
Next stop, LA! We visited Anne and Mark in their new (to them) home. Noah enjoyed picking avocados from the huge tree in their backyard and flying Mark's remote control helicopter.
Next we met up with Uncle Ben and Aunt Mashanda and our canine cousins Kip and Choco and toured their nifty new (to them) house and then hit the beach.
The final leg of our trip was a visit to Claudia and Matt -- another half German half American couple (you can guess by their names which is which) who met on the same scout exchange that first brought Papa to America. They live on a mini farm in the hills near Ojai, CA. They have 4 kids, 2 ponies, 8 chickens, a couple of rabbits, two dogs, a cat or two, a large garden, some citrus trees, a Heidelberg printing press, and baby possums in the laundry room (they are just fostering the possums). Needless to say, we had a lot of fun here.
This is the first Easter we've had where all the eggs were laid on the premises.
Anna picked up scooter riding while we were here.
# posted by Brynne Harald Noah @ 9:04 PM 
