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.

Tues, May 23

We left our campsite in CO Springs with snow on the ground, and climbed a scenic mt. road to a restaurant where we ate breakfast.  What's better than a $.49 cone from McDonalds? A $.49 breakfast which included hash browns, toast, and eggs.  They lost on us:)  This town had lots of stray donkeys roaming the back streets.

A lot of our driving was up, down, and around the beautiful CO mts.  At one of the steep overlooks, Kyle comforted us by saying, "Don't worry, those trees would stop us in a heartbeat...but 'til we'd get there, we wouldn't have one anymore."

Some of us were very happy to get back on the 70 again.  We stayed at a beautiful state park beside CO river.  A few brave boys swam in a swimming hole in chilly water.  We also biked alongside the river.

Pikes Peak Colorado

Monday, May 22

Thank you, God, for a beautiful day!  We enjoyed walking the pathways, and the boys climbed some rocks at the "Garden of the Gods."  The highlight of the day was riding the cog train up Pike's Peak.  The paved road was closed because of snow, so we were thankful we had reservations made for the train.  The chatty conductor that sat with us the entire ride, kept us entertained and helped distract from how high and vulnerable we felt climbing the mountain.  At the top, we enjoyed watching it snow and eating popcorn and donuts.  Thankfully, the engineer waited until we were at the bottom to mention how he had brake problems on a previous trip.

It snowed in the evening at the campground, and overnight the low temp was 29 deg.

Sunday, May 21

burning off some energy at a rest stop playground

checking out our next destination

Rocky Mountains ahead of us

Shawn soaking it all in

scenic hike we took overlooking our campground

St Louis, Missouri

 Saturday, May 20

We left in heavy rain this morning at 7:45, and arrived at the arch at 9:15. The tickets to ride the tram to the top were all sold out, much to mom's delight. :) We roamed the gift shop and watched an educational movie on the building of the arch. Then after eating lunch at "home", we were ready to hit the road and head to Colorado. Tonight it is Chinese and Subway for supper. 

Carson writing in his journal.

Heading West

Friday, May 19
     After all the hugs and goodbyes from the Kauffman cousins we headed out at 11 a.m.
     We soon realized we had problems with the generator, so we stopped at an RV store in Ohio near Columbus. Chet got his mechanics "tool kit" out and changed the carburetor.
      We drove through lots of rain and some hail, stopped at Arby's for supper, and kept on rolling. Our plans were to be at St Louis Arch by evening, but we decided to wait till morning because of the delays.
       Most of the children were already sleeping when we pulled into Walmart at 10:30, beside a row of other campers. Despite the heavy rain and thunderstorms, our night was very restful.
      

"THE ARK"

Getting ready to load up the bikes on "The Ark".