July Roadtrip to Iowa

In the middle of July, Alec and I took an unexpected roadtrip to Iowa for the funeral of a special man, Ron Bartlett. From our place in Citrus Heights, CA you make about 2 right hand turns to get onto I-80 and then you head east for about 22 hours until you hit Des Moines, Iowa. (Yes, I know the GPS says 24 hours...it didn't take that long.) = ) We took a ton of pictures (mostly from the car) but here is a quick overview of our two day trip there.


On our way!



Nevada - NOT my favorite part of the drive



Utah salt flats



Utah



Salt Lake City - Morman tabernacle



The next day: Out of the blue rainstorm in Wyoming



Nebraska



Nebraska



Iowa (these last 2 pictures were actually taken on our way OUT of Iowa, since it was quite late on the 2nd day before we made it into Iowa)



Iowa

4th of July Road Trip

Alec and I spent the 4th of July weekend relaxing at Lake Havasu, AZ with family. We decided to take the scenic route, and we were glad we did! These first six pictures were taken along the highways as we headed southeast through the Sierra Nevada mountain range from our place in Citrus Heights, CA.







(Picture below) View of the mountains from our motel in Bishop, CA


Headed into Death Valley and leaving the mountain range behind...




In Death Valley, the temperature hit 115 degrees and our lowest point was 250 feet below sea level. We stopped for icecream in one of the few places to stop, which was aptly named Furnace Creek. The mansion in one of the pictures below is a resort, but is only open in the winter because they do not have air conditioning. There is also an 18-hole golf course in Furnace Creek...sounds a little on the warm side to me!





Playing in the pool in Lake Havasu with my cousin Shannon and her cute girls and my Aunt Mary and Uncle Kirk...hit 117 degrees on Sunday. We had an early 4th of July display with thunder and lightening on Sunday night.







The trip home...we had planned to just do the I-5 route, which would have saved us about 2 hours in time, but in the end we opted for the view again. = ) The next three pictures were taken at what was once the Manzanar War Relocation camp. One of my favorite picture books (both personally and for teaching writing traits) is called "Baseball Saved Us" by Ken Mochuzuki. That book is set at Manzanar.




We had a little rain on the drive home...


The next four pics were taken at Mono Lake. We've decided we are going to have to spend some time camping there. The pictures absolutely do not do the place justice.





Last views of the Sierra Nevadas before the sun went down...

Goofy pics of Alec and I from this weekend...

Kitty has a name!

Kitty Cat now has a name! "Puisin" pronounced "Pu-sheen"...which is Irish and means "kitten". Rather appropriate, given she has spent a month being called Kitty Cat. Alec and his room-mate are not the biggest fans of the name...they are currently insisting on calling her "Pud". Whatever works, I guess!

August already...jeepers.

Time to catch up again...here are a few fun pictures from this summer. = )

4th of July - San Fran

Alec and I - San Fran

Becky and Greg Hermanski

Silverwood Amusement Park - Idaho

Left to right: Joel Shroyer, Jacob Shorten (of the Ireland Shortens!), Chelsey Shroyer, Me, Katie, Matt, and Lindsey Shroyer

The following pics were taken at Lake Trinity...a group of us rented a houseboat for a week and enjoyed the sunshine and the water and the company.

Houseboat stunt...how many people can we get up behind one boat? Answer: a lot!

Alec - showing off his fancy skiing

Me showing off my "fancy" skiing - I got up. It was an accomplishment!


My patient boat driver...


Learning to wakeboard


Ty and Janelle heading out on an adventure...


Matt and Brittany



Alec and I

The kitty in these next pictures followed Alec and I back to his house after we went walking one evening. Apparently she has decided she likes us, because she hasn't left since then, over 2 weeks ago. Thus far, she remains unnamed, but I'm working on that. For now, she is simply Kitty Cat.