Awesome August

We just spent 15 days of absolute fun on the road. We left home and traveled all the way to California and back. We made many stops along the way and I have attached some of our pictures to this post. I must say that we saw some of the most breath taking things that God created and some of the most stinky. Enjoy the trip!


Sunday August 2nd was a long day of driving. As you can see the kids had plenty to keep them busy while we drove until we reached Lincoln Nebraska. It is about 12 hours from home.

You can't tell but Jeremy is looking over his sunglasses at Rob. He looks so thrilled doesn't he?

The black Angus cows, corn fields and windmills are about all there is to look at when driving through Iowa and Nebraska. The cows stunk so bad I almost threw up.

The beautiful sunset made up for the lack of better scenery.

We coasted into Moab Utah very late on August 3rd. Because of the time change we were up and ready to go early and arrived at Arches by 7:00 a.m.

These are just a few of the amazing views in Arches.

I have proof the Delicate arch still stands. There had been a lot of talk in the east that it had fallen. As some of you know I hurt my knee pretty bad 4 days before this trip so one week later I was in no condition to make the hike to the arch. I did make it half way before my knee was screaming at me. I waited under the only tree on the trail and enjoyed a nice breeze and all the passersby. Even though I didn't make the whole hike I had about an hour to myself to clear my head and really appreciate how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful country.

We left at lunch time and headed off to the Grand Canyon. It is only a 1/2 days drive so we relaxed in a hotel just outside of the East gate in Cameron. When we arrived at 7:00 a.m. on August 5th at the East gate of the park there was a sign that said "No attendant. Enjoy your visit." That was cool because we didn't have to pay the $25.00 entry fee. We treated ourselves to breakfast and enjoyed the day.

This is the first view we had of the Grand Canyon. Words can not explain the beauty. I actually cried a little.

We took advantage of the free shuttle bus that the park offers to make it easier to get to and from the look out points of the canyon. While we waited a nice lady look our picture. I should of had Jeremy take off his hat but oh well.

These are just a couple of pictures at the canyon. This one has a story about a battle ship and something else. Sorry, I didn't listen very well.

Yep, that's the Colorado River. It is actually much further down but we used the zoom on the camera to get the shot of it.

This is at Hermit's Rest. It is the furthest point you can go on the rim. We had a potty break and a snack then rode the shuttle back to the car.

I swear it was a thousand degrees when we got to Hoover Dam. They are building a huge expansion bridge to make crossing easier and I am just glad I didn't have to use it. I liked the one they are using now (you can't see over the side).

I guess there are stupid people who need this reminder. It was very clear to us why you shouldn't get on the wall, a bazillion foot drop.

We moved on from Grand Canyon to Hoover Dam to Las Vegas all on August 5th. We took in a little bit of Vegas that night but tried to see the strip on the 6th. I say tried because it was very windy that day and there is a ton of construction on the strip right now so it was like being in a sand storm. So we ditched that idea and hung out at the hotel. We went to see Blue Man Group that night and it was such a good show. We loved it!

Our next stop was San Clemente California. As I was doing this I realized that we did not take one picture in San Clemente or of the ocean. It was the whole purpose of going there. How dumb were we? We stayed over night on the 6th and then headed up the Pacific Coast Highway to Long Beach then we went up to Hollywood. We obviously didn't take a picture of the Hollywood sign either. I was driving so I think we should blame Rob for this.

We stayed August 8th and 9th in Burbank. We went to the walk of fame, Kodak Theatre and Mann's Chinese Theatre. We found George Clooney's hand and footprint's at Mann's.

Hmmm. Who is this? It was a blank star so we made our own.

Emily was so excited when we found Chuck Norris' star.

Now all of you Twilight fans don't hate me. As we were walking down the street taking in the freak shows, I mean entertainer's we noticed that they were setting up a red carpet. So we asked what was up. Well, now don't hate me, but they were expecting the stars of Twilight for a charity event. Emily of course wanted to stay and I said "No". It was going to be 5 hours later than the minute we were standing there. I'm sorry but I'm a mean mom.

We also found ourselves at Disneyland. We had not planned to go there but ended up there anyhow. This is a woozle on the Winnie the Pooh ride. Isn't he cute? We had 14 hours of park time and the kids were determined to do as much as possible in the two parks. We handed them the park maps and said "We are just here to tag along today. You two decide what we are doing all day." They did a great job and I think we only made a suggestion once as to what to do next.

This is Mickey's mailbox. What is that pesky thing on there?

After 12 hours we were all pooped. So we headed out of the park 2 hours before it closed. This is a cool display but didn't turn out so good at night. It says "Thanks for celebrating with us."

On the 10th of August we headed to San Francisco. This is us crossing the Bay Bridge.

This is the world famous Golden Gate Bridge. Isn't it beautiful? I drove across this stupid thing unable to see the car in front of us. I guess fog rolls in like this all the time.

We stayed the night of the 10th in Reno, Nevada then drove into Utah on the 11th. We got to see the Salt Flats (yes, no pictures of that either) and stay with my aunt Jeanette and uncle Gary. We visited Temple square and had dinner with Ben and Claire one night. They have such a nice house and Claire, we discovered, is a painter. Ben proudly showed off some of her work and I really like what she did in the baby's room. Dustin, Janell and Damien joined us for dinner on the last night we were there and we spent time talking and looking at pictures of me when I was little. On Saturday the 15th we loaded up the car to head back east. I always get emotional when I leave Jeanette's. It has always been a place of peace for me, my second home.

We made the long 14 hour trip from SLC to Lincoln, Nebraska. While we were out on this trip my cousin Chris and his wife Kristine had their baby on August 7th. We stopped on Sunday morning to spend an hour with them and Emily beamed when she got to hold baby Cristian. What a sweet baby. Well, that brings us to the end of our trip. After 5,723 miles, $500.00 in gas and 8 different hotels we arrived safely home at 1:30 Monday morning. We are now on the fast track to getting ready for back to school.

WAIT!!! She didn't tell you about me! I am Fredrick. I am the family's mascot. They were going to take a gnome with them but I was cheaper. I am in almost all of the above pictures can you find me?