Our stay in Yellowstone was a highlight for most of us.  We stayed at Fishing Bridge Campground, right in the heart of all the wildlife. In fact, all the campers had to have hard sides, no pop outs or tents, because of all the bear around.  The lake and valley were only minutes away, so we enjoyed  going there frequently to watch for animals.  We were blessed to see a HUGE grizzly soon after we got into Yellowstone, and a female grizzly with 2 cubs.  We also saw 2 wolves, and herds of elk and bison.

Thursday we had a happy reunion, meeting up with Curt's and spending the day together.  What a chatter with the cousins catching up while riding together in the "Ark."  We spent the day going for a hike, picnicking, walking around the hot springs, visiting "Old Faithful," etc.  All too soon the day was over, and our paths separated again.

While heading to Cody on Friday, we saw 2 more grizzlies.  In the evening, we enjoyed watching a rodeo in Cody.  The weather was windy and chilly, but we braved it to the end:)

Our trip is winding down.  Saturday we visited Mt. Rushmore and Sunday, the Badlands, (the last of our "touristy" destinations.)  We thank God for safety over all the 7,000+ miles, and for this opportunity to enjoy His wonderful creation as a family.

Mama bear with 2 cubs

Bison traffic jam

Mammoth hot springs

Finally, we had someone to take our family picture

Cousins at the Old Faithful Lodge

Old Faithful

Badlands

Crater Lake, Jackson Hole, and Grand Tetons

We're trying to seize each moment and not think too much about heading east again.  The drive to Crater Lake was beautiful!  The snow banks along the way were the highest yet.  The lake itself was magnificent!  The water was so blue!

After stopping at Crater Lake Friday, we drove to Bend, OR, and spent the night there.  Chet started out early Saturday morning while the rest of us were still in bed.  It was a big day of driving, but the nice interstate roads were a real welcome, compared to the mountain roads we had been travelling, and the miles went by quickly.  We enjoyed staying at a beautiful campground in Idaho Falls, where we stayed until Monday.  It overlooked a lake, and had nice roads for the children to bike on.

The town of Jackson Hole was buzzing with tourists.  The highlights for us were riding the "Cowboy Coaster", and seeing a moose beside the road!

We can't wait to see Curt's this week!  Our plans are to head to Yellowstone today, and spend the next few days there before heading to Cody on Friday.

Drive in to Crater Lake

Crater Lake

View from our campground in Idaho Falls

Cowboy Coaster

Moose beside the road

Grand Tetons at Jackson Lake

Grand Tetons

Golden Gate Bridge, and Redwoods

So far we've had beautiful sunny weather with temps often in the 70's during the day, and cooling off at night.  The scenic views have been clear except the drive across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  It was very foggy, so we didn't spend much time there taking pics.  Wed. eve we spent the night in Ukiah, CA, and then headed to the coast to experience the Pacific and drive through the redwoods.

Our view of the Golden Gate Bridge

The Pacific!

In the redwoods

We discovered a meadow with a herd of 30-40 elk!

Sequoia, Yosemite

It feels like our days are getting shorter and shorter.  Monday, we headed to Fresno, CA, and got a rental vehicle for several days to be able to drive the mt. roads with ease.  There were beautiful orchards and vineyards along the way!
The sequois are absolutely amazing!  We continue to be in awe of God's creativity in nature.  To tuck such a unique group of trees, only in a section of mountains in CA, is so neat.  We drove further into the park to see the "General Sherman Tree."
It was fun having some freedom to ride around in something other than the RV, so Monday eve we drove the Expedition into town and did some shopping and more laundry.
We enjoyed beautiful Yosemite National Park, on Tuesday, despite more miles and miles of winding up and down mountain roads.  It was nice being able to take the shuttle up to Glacier Point.  From Glacier, we had a spectacular view of Yosemite Falls and the Meadows in the valley.  The falls is said to be higher than Niagara.   We didn't take the time to drive the extra hour into the valley.
Tuesday eve we stayed at a campground in Los Banos, CA.

One of the many huge sequoias!

General Sherman Tree

Views from Glacier Point

Upper and lower Yosemite Falls

Nevada Falls

"Blue day" - top of Glacier Point

More and more laundry!

California

We drove into CA Friday, and stayed at Mammoth Lakes RV Park.  It's a cute skiing resort town, and they still have lots of snow.  They're hoping to be open until Aug. because of record breaking snowfall this year.  The children had a blast swimming in the indoor pool and meeting some new friends.  In the morning, Chet and the children took the gondola up Mammoth Mt., amid all the skiers. I can't imagine what the place must look like in peak season!

From the snow to the sun.  Death Valley was next on our "places to see" list.  To say it was a scenic route, (descending 4,000 ft to sea level in a 35 foot RV) would be an understatement.  The visitor's center was a welcome sight at the bottom.  The temp was 109!  We decided to come out of the valley a different way, thanks to a very smart driver.  Chad was especially delighted to see some wild horses along the way.

The children have been doing very well, considering a lot of our trip is road time.  Although today was a test, driving through the desert.  Carson said, "I wish I'd be in school."  They like to sit up in the front seat.  I'm not sure it it's to have a better view, or hang out with Dad and eat some of his "stash" he keeps hidden beside his seat:)

The next two nights, we're staying in Bakersfield, CA, at Orange Grove Campground.  The name describes it well.  There's orange trees everywhere in the campground, and campers are welcome to pick the fruit off the trees.  Monday, we plan on going to Sequoia National Park.

Sierra Nevada Mts.

Climbing Mammoth Mt.

Death Valley

1. 

   Wild horses
   
   

The all star driver

Happy to have a turn in the front seat

Doing origami

Knocking down oranges.  Most of the fruit was on the tops of the trees.

Thursday May 25

This morning was a more relaxed morning.  I did laundry while the children swam at a nice, heated pool in the campground.  Chet made reservations for some campgrounds for the weekend.  We stopped at Utah Olympic Park and watched a man practice his single flip ski jump into a pool.

It was another day of driving.  We're enjoying the diverse, awesome scenery.  Today it was through the salt flats in Utah, and a lot of flat, barren area.  We're thankful the "Ark" is doing a great job of "sailing" so many miles.  Tonight our "campground" is WalMart.  Yeah for Wifi again!:)

Wednesday May 24

Chet got up at 6:00 to do a couple loads of laundry before driving to Salt Lake City!  We stopped at the Arches National Park and hiked around.  Beautiful! It was the warmest day yet with temps in the mid 80's.

There's a warehouse and office called PKU Perspectives, in Pleasant Grove, UT, where a lot of Kyle and Shawn's low protein food comes from.  It was fun stopping in and being able to buy things for the boys "right off the shelf."

We stayed at a nice KOA campground in Salt Lake City.