tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21383513272375302832024-02-19T10:03:44.334-06:00Show Me HomeschoolHomeschooling in and around mid-Missouri.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-71066114166497055942012-08-02T10:28:00.002-05:002012-08-02T10:35:02.462-05:00Blog ChangesYou may have noticed I've migrated our personal blog into this, the regional homeschool activity blog - it's easier to maintain one blog than two, so hopefully I'll post more often and be better able to keep up with the calendar updates!<br /><br />Merging the blogs also allows me to write more about homeschooling - the benefits, challenges and things we do to keep our focus and have fun along the way. There are so many options in Missouri, places to go, things to do, programs to consider, that all enhance what we do as homeschoolers. I'll continue to bring things to the calendar and posts to highlight what's coming up in and around Missouri this coming school year.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-13023163236729447862012-07-29T11:43:00.000-05:002012-08-02T11:53:17.429-05:00The Next Road-Trip is......to Washington, DC and New York!<br /><br />With the summer heat-wave still persisting, we decided to skip the four corners region in September and head instead to the east coast for our next road trip. <br /><br />The decision came partly because of this year's history and social studies focus - American History & Government. While we homeschool using a <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/">classical model</a>, we're going to focus on American history this year rather than pre-modern times worldwide. Next year we'll combine Story of the World 3 & 4 into one year, so that in fifth grade we'll return to the next cycle in Ancient History. The east coast is also home to many friends and family, so we'll have an opportunity to visit with them too!<br /><br />Planning is underway, with our route there going through Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia to stop and explore historic sites. We'll spend a week in Washington, DC then head up to New York, returning after a stay there through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.<br /><br />What should we see? Please leave comments!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-82412292611023344212012-07-19T11:35:00.000-05:002012-08-02T11:40:56.136-05:00More Hours!As previously posted, we need to fulfill 1000-hours of instruction each year we homeschool in Missouri. <br /><br />Those 1000-hours include:<br /><ul><li>600 hours in Reading, Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies (Core)<br /></li><li>400 hours in Core or Electives</li></ul><p>Of the 600 hours minimum dedicated to Core subjects, 400 of those hours must be in the homeschool location, the remaining hours may be anywhere! Woot-woot for field trips!</p><p>The last 400 hours, for additional core or electives may also be done anywhere. So really, just 400 hours a year needs to be spent within your homeschool "base" - home. This leaves lots of options for field trips, programs in the community, and activities outside the home.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-24383915464411063552012-07-17T11:11:00.000-05:002012-08-02T11:27:54.913-05:00Hours, Hours, HoursIn Missouri, we need to fulfill 1000 hours of instruction each year as homeschoolers. It really is the equivalent of the public schools, but at the same time, different because we do not face the same time issues as teachers in public schools.<br /><br />If you look at the school day in public schools - school starts at (in Columbia) 8:50 AM in elementary schools, and goes until children are dismissed at 3:45; basically a 7-hr school day. After factoring in homeroom for attendance, lunch and recess, the "instructional time" is about 5.75-hours a day, or 1000-hrs a year in a 174-day school year.<br /><br />What exactly is "instructional time" then?<br /><br />Honestly, I don't know - but I can guess that in school it's the time allotted for a particular subject, not necessarily the time spent specifically teaching the subject or doing the work in the subject. If math is scheduled from 11:00-11:45, then it's 45-minutes of math in school.<br /><br />So how do homeschoolers keep track of hours?<br /><br />On this, there are two schools of thought - one is that hours of instruction are literal, you record the hours in each subject based on exactly how many you were actually teaching or having your child do work in the subject; the other is based on time-slot management of subjects, followed like the public schools, if you finish early it's the designated time, if you take longer, it's the designated time.<br /><br />I tend toward the more literal myself, recording hours based on what is actually done, not a time-slot schedule. We usually have no problem fulfilling the 1000-hour requirement since we homeschool year-round - in fact we go way over in hours each year, even with ending our school year in early May for our break from "formal" instruction (seat work) until July.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-84560275128431633392012-07-16T12:12:00.000-05:002012-08-02T12:49:30.130-05:00Are You an Appschooler?Appschooler [ap-<i><b>skoo</b></i>-ler]<i> noun</i> (via <a href="http://www.thewiredhomeschool.com/2012/07/are-you-an-appschooler/">The Wired Homeschool</a>)<br /><br />1. a person who teaches with apps, especially a homeschooler.<br />2. a child who is homeschooled with apps<br /><blockquote><br />Using apps for schooling gives parents tons of flexibility. You can homeschool in the car (or minivan), away from home while on vacation, or even at the park. As the use of apps becomes more popular, homeschoolers will start relying on this method much more. </blockquote>I admit, since the iPad arrived in our home, under the Christmas tree in 2010, our use of apps in homeschooling is now part of our weekly repertoire, and is especially useful when we're traveling.<br /><br />There are, however, thousands of apps touted as "educational", so choosing wisely isn't an easy task! There are some websites to help, that review different apps that are used for education:<br /><br /><a href="http://appsforhomeschooling.com/">Apps for Homeschooling</a> is a great resource, where you can read reviews and search by grade, age and subject to find potential apps for your homeschool.<br /><br />But, as Kristen Chase noted, at Pioneer Woman Homeschooling, <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2012/06/a-good-app-is-hard-to-find/">A Good App is Hard to Find</a>. What I look for in apps is similar to those she listed - along with progressive levels of difficulty, how it fits in with our lesson plan and what features lend it well to including in our homeschool day.<br /><br />I still do not use apps as the lesson, but rather as reinforcement of lessons. For example, as we go though US Geography, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stack-the-states/id381342267?mt=8">Stack the States</a> helps Boo by reinforcing the shapes of the states, the capitols and neighboring states. It can't teach him geography, but it can and does help with remembering what he's learned. <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/math-songs-times-tables-7x-12x/id529052194?mt=8">Times Tables Songs</a> helped him practice his times tables (which is still ongoing) and <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brainpop-featured-movie/id364894352?mt=8">Brain Pop</a> offers something new each day, without me needing to schedule it in, it just happens.<br /><br />Where I do use the iPad as the lesson is through the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/netflix/id363590051?mt=8">Netflix</a> app, where documentaries are readily available and easy to schedule in as part of the weekly lesson plan. In addition, if we're traveling, I can also rent movies through the iTunes store, downloading onto the iPad so I don't need WiFi, nor do I need to use up our data plan for movies!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-87830814653759614962012-07-15T10:40:00.000-05:002012-08-02T11:10:34.063-05:00Understanding Missouri Homeschool RegulationsFrom the <a href="http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Missouri.pdf">HSDL website</a>:<br /><br /><b>Compulsory Attendance Ages:</b> Between the ages of 7 and 17 years, or, at the parent’s option, until the student completes 16 “statutory credits” (explained below) toward high school graduation. Missouri Annotated Statutes § 167.031. A student who has reached his 16th birthday is exempt from certain requirements (see below). § 167.031.2(3). If a five- or six-year-old is enrolled in public school, he becomes subject to compulsory attendance immediately until the parents request in writing that he be dropped from the school’s rolls. Mo. Ann. Stat. § 167.031.1(3).<br /><b><br />Required Days of Instruction:</b> 1,000 hours of instruction. At least 600 of these hours must be in the five core subjects below. At least 400 of the 600 must occur at “the regular home school location.” Mo. Ann. Stat. § 167.031.2(2)(b). These requirements must be met within the school term (12 months or less) the parents establish. Not required for a student who has reached his sixteenth birthday.<br /><br /><b>Required Subjects:</b> Reading, math, social studies, language arts, and science. Mo. Ann. Stat.<br />§ 167.031.2(2)(b). These subject areas (including academic courses related to them) are not individually required, but must collectively constitute at least 600 hours of the child’s instruction. Not required for a student who has reached his sixteenth birthday.<br /><br />The homeschool regulations in Missouri are straight-forward and fairly easy to understand and stay compliant with; the record-keeping is the area some homeschoolers find confusing, so let's take a look at those:<br /><br />Home schools must maintain (but do not need to submit) the following records:<br />a. A plan book, diary, or other record indicating subjects taught and activities engaged in (an appropriate daily log could satisfy this requirement);<br />b. And “a portfolio of samples of child’s academic work” or “other written credible evidence, etc.”;<br />c. And “a record of evaluations of the child’s academic progress”;<br />d. Or “other written, credible evidence equivalent to subparagraphs a) b) and c)” Mo. Ann. Stat.<br />§ 167.031.2(2)(a).<br /><br />Parents have the option to follow: a, b, and c, or they can choose to follow only d) which permits more flexibility.<br /><br />I think the confusion comes from the either-or, either A, B and C, or D; in choosing D, what defines "written, credible evidence" that is "equivalent" to A, B snd C? Truth be told, there isn't a definition to work with, leaving it subject to interpretation if you find yourself under scrutiny at some point while homeschooling your children.<br /><br />It's the lack of definition in D that led me to follow A, B and C for my record keeping. While there is still room for interpretation in those three, I think it's easier to be compliant with the regulations when you're following the first options, rather than the last.<br /><br />So, how do I do it?<br /><br />I'm a planner by nature, so each spring I spend time laying out our educational goals for the coming school year, the curriculum we'll use and a rough outline of what we should be able to accomplish each month within each subject. That's the "big picture" part of the plan, the details come next.<br /><br />Within each subject I then go chapter by chapter, outlining the flow of the year - I do this without dates, it's a "next-step" plan, where when we complete something, we move to the next thing. I have a separate document for each subject since I do not know in advance how quickly or slowly we'll progress through the work.<br /><br />Neither of these are part of my formal record keeping. They are my guide to what needs to be done, but do not meet the regulations for record-keeping per the statutes.<br /><br />My record-keeping is simple:<br />1. A weekly calendar book - two page a week layout; in which I record what we do each day and the time spent; this fulfills my A while also providing a place to keep track of hours throughout the year in one place.<br /><br />2. A 3" three-ring binder, divided by subject; in which I place work completed that can be hole-punched, or pictures of things done that can't; this fulfills my B. <br /><br />3. Within each section of the binder, I'll also place quizzes, tests or other things we do that highlight progress throughout the year; this fulfills my C. Each month I also write out my evaluation of how things are going, where improvement was seen and where improvement is needed. At the end of the year, though not required, I do an end of the year standardized test also.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-15242836192544120382012-07-08T11:32:00.000-05:002012-08-02T11:34:28.356-05:00What's in a Portfolio?Take a look, over at <a href="http://heartofthematteronline.com/whats-in-a-portfolio-edited/">Heart of the Matter</a>!<br /><br />Among things to include, "What about dioramas, full-sized body outlines, and salt-dough maps? What about all the learning games we play instead of doing boring worksheets? How are those activities documented in a two-dimensional portfolio? Take pictures! For a while, these projects occupy a place of honor on the dining room table or on the window seat. Then they graduate to living under the guest room bed. When the next project is ready to reside under the guest room bed, the first one moves to the circular file. But first, I take a picture of it. We set the little people up again and the kids pose as I flash the pictures I forgot to take when they originally made the project. You can make professional scrapbook pages to go in your portfolios, or you can slap the pictures onto cardstock, write up a few labels, and call it good."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-52380291605470412102012-07-02T09:03:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.497-05:00It's July!<br />One of the great things about homeschooling in Missouri is that our school year runs July 1 to June 30; we fulfill our hours between those dates and can schedule our year in any manner, so long as we meet our hours within the core subjects and electives. So for our third year now, we're starting back now, in early July, after a six week break from when we wrapped up"formal" lessons in May.<br /><br />Over the summer we'll maintain a light schedule, first reviewing things from last year, then digging into the new work ahead of us for the year - with focus mainly on reading over the summer. Boo is registered for one camp - Camp Invention (Science), and a few programs - Jujitsu (PE), Hand Building Pottery (Art) and Swim Team (PE) over the summer, and will have a variety of programs starting in the fall (Art, Piano, Jujitsu and Swim Team).<br /><br />Our curriculum this year includes:<br /><br />Singapore Math 3B, 4A<br />First Language Lessons 2<br />Writing with Ease 2<br />Our American Heritage<br />The Story of US<br />Singapore Science, Our Pals are Here 3/4<br />All About Spelling 3,4,5<br />Reading <br />Art Class (CAL)<br />Piano Lessons (Columbia Academy of Music)<br /><br />Cub Scouts (Pack 989)<br />Jujistu (Gracie at ATA)<br />Swim Team (Columbia Swim Team)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-40542938294800646972012-06-27T15:46:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.508-05:00Planning the Next Great Road-Trips!We're just home and already starting to talk about our next road-trip! <br /><br />We have two opportunities to travel coming up soon - in September Bear has 10-days off, and in October he has a conference for work (one week) that we go to each year as a family. We've been eying a return to the Four Corners area for September, and know San Diego is the destination in October since it's where the conference is being held this year.<br /><br />Do we drive? Do we fly? Do we train? Do we do a combo?<br /><br />Decisions, decisions!<br /><br />The verdict is - we drive!<br /><br />The decision to drive in September was pretty easy - it's not that far and driving far outweighs the hassle factor of flying with a toddler and all the stuff he needs (ie. stroller, car seat, etc.). <br /><br />October was a harder call - it's much farther away, much more driving and neither me, nor Bear, wants another three-week apart experience; it's way too long for us to be apart, but more importantly, too long for the kids! But I hate flying these days and really prefer being able to stop as we go, seeing sites and things we'd miss if we just flew out and back. In the end it came down to costs - it'll cost half to drive than to fly and rent a car, and we'll get two weeks out of the adventure instead of six days.<br /><br />Now for the planning, which includes thinking about what to do differently this time, from the lessons learned from our last road-trip!<br /><br />In September, the vacation will be vacation and educational - since it's within the school year and we're in the full swing of Boo's lesson plans, I'll need to schedule in daily lessons, educational stops and downtime to just have fun. Same with October - if I'm driving to San Diego, I need to plan out how to get there and back, with adequate time for lessons, learning experiences and just plain 'ole fun. I think I'll start reading some Road-Schooling blogs to get ideas!<br /><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-37854857152526711912012-06-16T14:40:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.514-05:00Fossil Butte, Dinosaur and Home!A last minute change in driving plans led us to Wyoming, to start our day at Fossil Butte - one of the best parks we visited in our travels. It was amazingly well done and geared especially for fossil lovers like Boo! Not only that, but the park rangers were among the best we'd met.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKvWL3uBb7YpLJhCbCZlpvgJxAI04c31Ytjm6-wdCUX21fNdCtI8nTXl3Jb1fgWgl8dys-pWCslMQE76eCuZnVXry_PxVqNakBQ1PKHVcEUFZMH1VCPGd4y6Mfmx_ppgIfKvWPx2u5yWE/s1600/705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKvWL3uBb7YpLJhCbCZlpvgJxAI04c31Ytjm6-wdCUX21fNdCtI8nTXl3Jb1fgWgl8dys-pWCslMQE76eCuZnVXry_PxVqNakBQ1PKHVcEUFZMH1VCPGd4y6Mfmx_ppgIfKvWPx2u5yWE/s320/705.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7m9eZwePLdww2j4jW1lkmojPAQXpR7779AKWyzRccvEDvNQngbe0wRVukiWLiija4n6X0p61cnsDGLYfpG1LQTHgdvdsToL2bUxSe5M4wiaFLYZhpAN5qw6G-CckvPbARbVYPBxk_AE/s1600/707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7m9eZwePLdww2j4jW1lkmojPAQXpR7779AKWyzRccvEDvNQngbe0wRVukiWLiija4n6X0p61cnsDGLYfpG1LQTHgdvdsToL2bUxSe5M4wiaFLYZhpAN5qw6G-CckvPbARbVYPBxk_AE/s320/707.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The only thing I wish we could have done was explore the area more - it was terribly hot, which made exploring difficult with Bug. So, once Boo finished up his ranger badge, we targeted our sights on Dinosaur National Monument, which the ranger said was a pretty easy drive and we should have lots of time to do it to in the same day.<br /><br />He was right on the drive - it was easy and pretty quick. There were, however, no restaurants between the two, so we had to eat gas station food - UGH! All in all though, Dinosaur was fun too!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEOnFAj_n9voGAsk4YfhdMWq8f8pCxipdMq_cdJvV0piKo0Xli5pbN30IzHaZ-0w3DyS20xfzuD8TgxmUU1yQuIL-nOt4eEl6Rxis42f0R5rj577RAfzkPGdXTS9GKq9ZWH9czfmv1Kw/s1600/724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEOnFAj_n9voGAsk4YfhdMWq8f8pCxipdMq_cdJvV0piKo0Xli5pbN30IzHaZ-0w3DyS20xfzuD8TgxmUU1yQuIL-nOt4eEl6Rxis42f0R5rj577RAfzkPGdXTS9GKq9ZWH9czfmv1Kw/s320/724.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Now that we were in Colorado, the push home really started - just Colorado and Kansas to go. We pushed to Kansas in the evening and then, for hours and hours the next day, with this as our primary landscape view:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdBZiQAUGzz0ScRbm4WW9uJ-IQB_1xd0uhmYZ86xQ5Qh3Wgf4ZDNjYjlxa7JxOZutK51svnjopKa_ck4azZ3JB6uh9DcTpPCRv_dUzj7TwKE218zZ6LuUZfvQCqvWV_VuiNJARhVSJQE/s1600/766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdBZiQAUGzz0ScRbm4WW9uJ-IQB_1xd0uhmYZ86xQ5Qh3Wgf4ZDNjYjlxa7JxOZutK51svnjopKa_ck4azZ3JB6uh9DcTpPCRv_dUzj7TwKE218zZ6LuUZfvQCqvWV_VuiNJARhVSJQE/s320/766.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />But we made it, home safe and sound, happy to see Bear and amazed we did it! Now to start planning our next adventure!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-15576755967816913962012-06-14T14:31:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.519-05:00Onward Ho!Waking in Idaho, I checked the map as we headed out, noting we might be able to pull off two Junior Ranger badges today as we headed for the Hagerman Fossil Beds, with the City of Rocks on our way too, as we continued to head toward Utah.<br /><br />As luck would have it, City of Rocks wasn't doable, but Hagerman Fossil Beds was home (temporarily) to Minidoka, so Boo did indeed get to do two Junior Ranger Badges today!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbNtOOC0W8CwWOTdjBbaVG-aVn4wL5J8HcZn6N7niONfFjmc43c_dXvFOVlq7sO0k1vdgBsORULE0d7D0UcgHariUvt_Bn2W5FGjrs3gwAHZ0JWw1JMrioYBqveXCz8MbeINYllW2iBo/s1600/700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbNtOOC0W8CwWOTdjBbaVG-aVn4wL5J8HcZn6N7niONfFjmc43c_dXvFOVlq7sO0k1vdgBsORULE0d7D0UcgHariUvt_Bn2W5FGjrs3gwAHZ0JWw1JMrioYBqveXCz8MbeINYllW2iBo/s320/700.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgErmjYRXcjb7JaGUBi8lU3LKdvEZfZcQ0c0fitFJ8LArWiu5nwJsvk62KjYnw3B82lxfiqG7IV1fqnsNNWSCKkdjsVsN2jubLjuNFqloJIE7nI1uWV8mMYhZVGqsK4BA-uQUgBzmLSh0A/s1600/703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgErmjYRXcjb7JaGUBi8lU3LKdvEZfZcQ0c0fitFJ8LArWiu5nwJsvk62KjYnw3B82lxfiqG7IV1fqnsNNWSCKkdjsVsN2jubLjuNFqloJIE7nI1uWV8mMYhZVGqsK4BA-uQUgBzmLSh0A/s320/703.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Once we realized that City of Rocks wasn't going to happen, we headed into Utah and spent a few hours at Crystal Hot Springs, swimming and relaxing before the long drive to Wyoming.<br /><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-67297835255483355382012-06-13T14:25:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.525-05:00Heading Home!With snowboard camp over, it's time to hit the road and head home!<br /><br />First stop - Fort Vancouver, in Vancouver, WA.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIZdhsF5qKoklaqdUkyytf-thA7jb2yOtg3FSlvw0CBkahBrVWOp-46jZpwoeUdcifByOvxF7Dh4Ul1emA5YkH60dZmBWv4t3sYfLPqv6lq5LfYuP29vbnPreiEnN-jP6mD3PnmG62L8/s1600/652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIZdhsF5qKoklaqdUkyytf-thA7jb2yOtg3FSlvw0CBkahBrVWOp-46jZpwoeUdcifByOvxF7Dh4Ul1emA5YkH60dZmBWv4t3sYfLPqv6lq5LfYuP29vbnPreiEnN-jP6mD3PnmG62L8/s320/652.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipapN-BGQCfGFl_4tQjl7iTXz95B8kZWVZq8-DGtGS2NWEj1EWD-n00WPNx3sMEX8Z4YTf1S4LCptHDqAWP35y0G1fLr7elAgRkak9Q24XRRbYhomDQaJOq0UubHNjeyTcajxl_2zclsI/s1600/657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipapN-BGQCfGFl_4tQjl7iTXz95B8kZWVZq8-DGtGS2NWEj1EWD-n00WPNx3sMEX8Z4YTf1S4LCptHDqAWP35y0G1fLr7elAgRkak9Q24XRRbYhomDQaJOq0UubHNjeyTcajxl_2zclsI/s320/657.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzO8iQld59wCUR7B-fdmunKRVc0BWl0LoMgjCD-NSBdtwuZ7iN55tiXV39xD_ETOxbd6TgR8373tSDhI6yHuTCxK-RnANFWd0C8pDTPM3CE835T8Rk8tFQBCjuPqsvlkV_IryPJZmPhEc/s1600/659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzO8iQld59wCUR7B-fdmunKRVc0BWl0LoMgjCD-NSBdtwuZ7iN55tiXV39xD_ETOxbd6TgR8373tSDhI6yHuTCxK-RnANFWd0C8pDTPM3CE835T8Rk8tFQBCjuPqsvlkV_IryPJZmPhEc/s320/659.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVpzt3XtlYAcz1c64Y_VzGaw16_F1uR17a99_3IdHvrhTosv90-crpjYm95j-_qpYCCK7q93M8_OUoHTFa7lndgYBUg9yticmt6fkczEBeEKb5MB335iIq0WBcImBcLv6ubOtEinTraI/s1600/662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVpzt3XtlYAcz1c64Y_VzGaw16_F1uR17a99_3IdHvrhTosv90-crpjYm95j-_qpYCCK7q93M8_OUoHTFa7lndgYBUg9yticmt6fkczEBeEKb5MB335iIq0WBcImBcLv6ubOtEinTraI/s320/662.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>A few hours, and another Junior Ranger badge complete!<br /><br />Then we headed for Mount Rainier!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHj6h5qU_Ce0FW96Za2yBZLxuSIeJ4ZlG8OsQDxic1_YkEjZ5P5sc-xXNVqgtDKqzAyzpHZcaP8_QcGdjUsPmB6EafHis-3SChjpdvcNPOArd_xvtzfq9idljDGTjsrSRgAURsNa7_SMY/s1600/663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHj6h5qU_Ce0FW96Za2yBZLxuSIeJ4ZlG8OsQDxic1_YkEjZ5P5sc-xXNVqgtDKqzAyzpHZcaP8_QcGdjUsPmB6EafHis-3SChjpdvcNPOArd_xvtzfq9idljDGTjsrSRgAURsNa7_SMY/s320/663.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqKV_FWIRnmUB1jF68W-2aLriVofwlYBa368jlBhumf-vITuLO7pVr3OrX4IaihSwDWf1XVZ2Vr0e1_bqf3ScwLt3c_GoHDmr493WRlN7WMxFSki0RjAzo-OKBl3q6eRabRtMTMyaGjMo/s1600/667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqKV_FWIRnmUB1jF68W-2aLriVofwlYBa368jlBhumf-vITuLO7pVr3OrX4IaihSwDWf1XVZ2Vr0e1_bqf3ScwLt3c_GoHDmr493WRlN7WMxFSki0RjAzo-OKBl3q6eRabRtMTMyaGjMo/s320/667.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02sKWR4oOUlgX9eL3F7wS3YT-jSQEEg9Dwq9f7HMnbWU9cHudE1JyaxjKtvOqtL-NPRiM6UJb5QRSdYiD9nzpOIYHVKWx-kfATiwok6vAde5L7KTyKsVCoGVR1peSmjSqSDQVaun8ZKA/s1600/673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02sKWR4oOUlgX9eL3F7wS3YT-jSQEEg9Dwq9f7HMnbWU9cHudE1JyaxjKtvOqtL-NPRiM6UJb5QRSdYiD9nzpOIYHVKWx-kfATiwok6vAde5L7KTyKsVCoGVR1peSmjSqSDQVaun8ZKA/s320/673.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>And you guessed it, another Junior Ranger badge complete!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOMdtZuIvIq-pfA5lSZZTurQ8RZPkk11J-qFe_IbbJwQWjRmD00s2F_kBlEpLXoVyAfrC-PtMmd4-6Zm2_saF1qELPG2adQdzLra1E6zXi23HAc5VRh90MPc_Dfs5ZWlcAmaHAlU8xRaI/s1600/665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOMdtZuIvIq-pfA5lSZZTurQ8RZPkk11J-qFe_IbbJwQWjRmD00s2F_kBlEpLXoVyAfrC-PtMmd4-6Zm2_saF1qELPG2adQdzLra1E6zXi23HAc5VRh90MPc_Dfs5ZWlcAmaHAlU8xRaI/s320/665.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />And while we didn't have a good view of the mountain while there, we did have an awesome look on our drive heading east, toward Idaho for the evening!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8WFOls4MG_eTxfMwHIRnRzQxCt4iur6vVoqZvn49b8vK2Kx8B2rnoxGwutnMpCI_noVsADoK4PrR8mwIeUPu4kKcDqLHitTBpgnfCNX7o_a43WRv3qoZKqHOF6HLtf5jp8ZtgJRYH24/s1600/688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8WFOls4MG_eTxfMwHIRnRzQxCt4iur6vVoqZvn49b8vK2Kx8B2rnoxGwutnMpCI_noVsADoK4PrR8mwIeUPu4kKcDqLHitTBpgnfCNX7o_a43WRv3qoZKqHOF6HLtf5jp8ZtgJRYH24/s320/688.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-13092154669547729032012-06-12T14:13:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.530-05:00Week of FunI decided to see a couple of things with Bug - namely the Enchanted Forest and the Oregon Zoo. Both were fun, with the Oregon Zoo being one of the best zoos I've visited and well worth the admission and parking fees!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTwivQAPc38uYNE_zEpnxBnlTG6PCrDFuLWfnHhu6Rp36DO1dWlRTIC27hEVl2Cxg6i-23FtXCR9a9Y_4EDyeJrNMa6ZK92pa1S0ajHejqkCCvwIjRtXWSwosZP8Vz3ckpQ3WidkYjz8/s1600/624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTwivQAPc38uYNE_zEpnxBnlTG6PCrDFuLWfnHhu6Rp36DO1dWlRTIC27hEVl2Cxg6i-23FtXCR9a9Y_4EDyeJrNMa6ZK92pa1S0ajHejqkCCvwIjRtXWSwosZP8Vz3ckpQ3WidkYjz8/s320/624.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />For Boo, the week was amazing - lots of learning, snowboarding and making lots of friends. By the third day, he was already planning his return next year with two other boys his age.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqPTtfEktf_DSlonDRcRi46_NTiuCmedD9UHbXOC4PJiO2-XCt7unoNzdJjNr5JF4h6MSqosGbrauIBrQ0nMRGLBjjuXlH-DqbhttnUF4grJIVFWQ89rfdlPRJTRE0CMxWUetFns5Yk4/s1600/572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqPTtfEktf_DSlonDRcRi46_NTiuCmedD9UHbXOC4PJiO2-XCt7unoNzdJjNr5JF4h6MSqosGbrauIBrQ0nMRGLBjjuXlH-DqbhttnUF4grJIVFWQ89rfdlPRJTRE0CMxWUetFns5Yk4/s320/572.JPG" width="238" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPy68cgJNqBLxGUL3s6BNCQsbN3Tt-FAu2fEVeRwnJ8fn5sUbUZow_FFCppSiSvLCu7aIvWSlVZFt6aVdHbvjq_qPZnK92XSqCgBhJ1rKoyXNcs_WY99c1H-9yCFBlFsfmeHa8hPCsARs/s1600/591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPy68cgJNqBLxGUL3s6BNCQsbN3Tt-FAu2fEVeRwnJ8fn5sUbUZow_FFCppSiSvLCu7aIvWSlVZFt6aVdHbvjq_qPZnK92XSqCgBhJ1rKoyXNcs_WY99c1H-9yCFBlFsfmeHa8hPCsARs/s320/591.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMla18RYP4OxI5GK3E6SPsWuz_ek6XlDRBEhKibTQcfMgoHVA2CyDc0K_8wWAi3NXgpSVzTMU3NW6UZt8e6FSXhu89k3lu1uJHqh9AtDhBoRA1AY_ACP1OchIHKyGYyJK-HzM-mzOdNI/s1600/568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMla18RYP4OxI5GK3E6SPsWuz_ek6XlDRBEhKibTQcfMgoHVA2CyDc0K_8wWAi3NXgpSVzTMU3NW6UZt8e6FSXhu89k3lu1uJHqh9AtDhBoRA1AY_ACP1OchIHKyGYyJK-HzM-mzOdNI/s320/568.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJlVmzN_5dV5kJtiLHuZCdDUGuY_6tr1cmi1NUKA5S_zMm9jlxHbLFSu4O2gxKz3bcd-UvpBhl7InsqiGiTQIukOxHL9EYHlpgQSU29LVvmU18OIV6G9NVLONfxLW2m4pJ163UN0GGLM/s1600/630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJlVmzN_5dV5kJtiLHuZCdDUGuY_6tr1cmi1NUKA5S_zMm9jlxHbLFSu4O2gxKz3bcd-UvpBhl7InsqiGiTQIukOxHL9EYHlpgQSU29LVvmU18OIV6G9NVLONfxLW2m4pJ163UN0GGLM/s320/630.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtgQEVbOMtj87jEaQSvXqoOYd02eFQti15JNBkOTd4sE-_ahhgxsgZetxqNR28aYRc2ZduUmYOxpqgf9CDKKogYLQZCZ9XHrk_T1frTtqpFAP38nGcdCWBVUnqKMYEiQXJlaRtbISwgb4/s1600/635.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtgQEVbOMtj87jEaQSvXqoOYd02eFQti15JNBkOTd4sE-_ahhgxsgZetxqNR28aYRc2ZduUmYOxpqgf9CDKKogYLQZCZ9XHrk_T1frTtqpFAP38nGcdCWBVUnqKMYEiQXJlaRtbISwgb4/s320/635.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7JeSe6fp18gAyQblUqgStoyavg3OADt4oLUGkPqqC4wagI7vMPn4jbe5xRhO22-AarsPkW4QL36TaOuoRz5G197J6fbPWejqufvIS77Awmirhbw-mZL_cysRA7xejcm-BIYjvRjN5nck/s1600/592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7JeSe6fp18gAyQblUqgStoyavg3OADt4oLUGkPqqC4wagI7vMPn4jbe5xRhO22-AarsPkW4QL36TaOuoRz5G197J6fbPWejqufvIS77Awmirhbw-mZL_cysRA7xejcm-BIYjvRjN5nck/s320/592.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg93p7KVYhrISYDLd6kOYA4_YxMTavYVFFyvlFcibVpUhQWs-ZXyRq97wi8Iwhz50NVlt6iAJc3ZJXvS2spmzvIOiDTig_G0w-IUfkNC-6CGYkzWenP37oIkpGouMkqU91dQSmPafqZic/s1600/650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg93p7KVYhrISYDLd6kOYA4_YxMTavYVFFyvlFcibVpUhQWs-ZXyRq97wi8Iwhz50NVlt6iAJc3ZJXvS2spmzvIOiDTig_G0w-IUfkNC-6CGYkzWenP37oIkpGouMkqU91dQSmPafqZic/s320/650.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-47062047051053869432012-06-07T14:01:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.535-05:00But Mom! Please Feed Me!First full-day of snowboard camp was great! <br /><br />Except the food. <br /><br />I didn't realize that I'd created a food snob, but it seems I have. Boo didn't like the breakfast and couldn't find much to make for lunch and was really worried about dinner. Needless to say, marshmallow that I am, I'll be making him breakfast in the morning and packing his lunch - honestly, I wouldn't want to eat the food myself either.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRILwNR1rDRXtaP1aBBSrTlu-knyGSVAwibAlwjRBJz-MB8F6V3JhvcnGxx0bHwz0xbPm_ozvXTq1CzyDTbVHnlhvJd8PbaviBRb6Whl2KLV4gFU4cbCO5WqUuQ1lO78Vfg3Xb2wIQIU/s1600/562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRILwNR1rDRXtaP1aBBSrTlu-knyGSVAwibAlwjRBJz-MB8F6V3JhvcnGxx0bHwz0xbPm_ozvXTq1CzyDTbVHnlhvJd8PbaviBRb6Whl2KLV4gFU4cbCO5WqUuQ1lO78Vfg3Xb2wIQIU/s320/562.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to go up to Mt. Hood</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMa4zE_7wqMoqlMpETBIFpCrWlpuFEYsFSdUA8ZHe7qTHx1PpyRlQkO33rCxtVbDVvibAEHtvocax_lBAFNsSKi5I6Sy06FmbCGM-YEoyxtdVBPw7GE_LIwcVMhH25w9EBt1Mnc4kuP4/s1600/579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMa4zE_7wqMoqlMpETBIFpCrWlpuFEYsFSdUA8ZHe7qTHx1PpyRlQkO33rCxtVbDVvibAEHtvocax_lBAFNsSKi5I6Sy06FmbCGM-YEoyxtdVBPw7GE_LIwcVMhH25w9EBt1Mnc4kuP4/s320/579.JPG" width="238" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eying the Mountain!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-77257137149606783502012-06-06T13:55:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.540-05:00Settling In...Arriving at Mt. Hood means more consistency in our day for the next week. Boo is attending snowboard camp at Windell's and we're firmly in place for a week in a cottage we're renting in Brightwood, OR, about 3.5 miles from camp.<br /><br />After settling in last night, we got everything together and were ready for the day when it was time to get Boo registered for the week. He is so excited!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBh0vPYLlVO9htItMQc16zhZnhUQ-oOKy7fT5y4cQyWtHOAkh12vfjmtWEdsqGDzv4VTF7yMwft0RCQ97uxdFuD4mdufbvHmiXa3kVfeYmlBJOu91TtctRLFvApNCQ3wH1GF_5uGKXxlU/s1600/544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBh0vPYLlVO9htItMQc16zhZnhUQ-oOKy7fT5y4cQyWtHOAkh12vfjmtWEdsqGDzv4VTF7yMwft0RCQ97uxdFuD4mdufbvHmiXa3kVfeYmlBJOu91TtctRLFvApNCQ3wH1GF_5uGKXxlU/s320/544.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Within minutes of our arrival, he was off and doing what they do - open BMX and skateboarding the first day:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZq5DXouNYwVg4DjFrK77EGATiW3BjsyaFo6EjPBma3e5HffeXaEFt3nGpYDpFR7ZuP79EtwOhjoYZUH8H-cVBQE-J553SgK4Rmtfg6OgxfNSxLqeLCDLbpu3FJrlNdTzv5zG0jTwdDB4/s1600/554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZq5DXouNYwVg4DjFrK77EGATiW3BjsyaFo6EjPBma3e5HffeXaEFt3nGpYDpFR7ZuP79EtwOhjoYZUH8H-cVBQE-J553SgK4Rmtfg6OgxfNSxLqeLCDLbpu3FJrlNdTzv5zG0jTwdDB4/s320/554.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQyy6yGcJFKIiHuOT7bknvrdSvqiryFqr_riOX51vmlsDTUvnJw9GC8xX48r02J5d-a9EtvbCUy24iFASi7qCQkLpIy86hhcgtvTsH_i7bdflfCKca_jzoHWMdwsO5zhMCm1gVbZRy6E/s1600/545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQyy6yGcJFKIiHuOT7bknvrdSvqiryFqr_riOX51vmlsDTUvnJw9GC8xX48r02J5d-a9EtvbCUy24iFASi7qCQkLpIy86hhcgtvTsH_i7bdflfCKca_jzoHWMdwsO5zhMCm1gVbZRy6E/s320/545.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>As a day-camper, Boo will arrive each morning, have breakfast, make his lunch and then head up to the mountain to snowboard until mid-afternoon. Then they come back to camp and can BMX, skateboard and do various programs to improve their skills until video review of their morning on the mountain. That's followed by dinner and the evening programs, with day-campers picked up between 9:00-10:00 PM. They call Windell's "the funnest place on earth" and judging from the reactions of the kids arriving, I'd say it's true!<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-85922933005521313492012-06-05T13:48:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.546-05:00Adjusting PlansRemaining flexible is an absolute must when you're road tripping with the kids. After an awesome day just playing at the beach and exploring southwestern Oregon, we decided to do it again, just a bit further north and put off arrival at Mt. Hood by a day - arriving the day before snowboard camp started, instead of two days before.<br /><br />So we woke and drove north, getting close enough to Mt. Hood that we'd arrive there in a few hours when we took off again in a couple of days. The drive along the Oregon coast was spectacular, and our digs in Liincoln City were right on the beach, perfect to spend a couple of nights and just relax some more!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWLA1m1IThYbCj5fS7SlNyN6g2JhDiLN7sVo78Xlx3865ASx1CoP_m8ToS46SMRfNq32NFT-EY-Zx41-xkw2Xn_ZM8nPnIYRGV8u1CzXBQvVm5rUlzyAyjgpeCnfX8jcUMUuNG3LiZYI/s1600/516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWLA1m1IThYbCj5fS7SlNyN6g2JhDiLN7sVo78Xlx3865ASx1CoP_m8ToS46SMRfNq32NFT-EY-Zx41-xkw2Xn_ZM8nPnIYRGV8u1CzXBQvVm5rUlzyAyjgpeCnfX8jcUMUuNG3LiZYI/s320/516.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9d7w_4820w_6YHm2E7C8tpmeqy7I8AOdWxMLmXCyUgzChnFbjKcBNM3hRg6a6amybQC8QtUoH8UBDUX8bPAtDHL5cWvmqXK2ozwho23kdQKQ-KGYNP8W2YdWlgltol0twFjNSviyRRSA/s1600/518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9d7w_4820w_6YHm2E7C8tpmeqy7I8AOdWxMLmXCyUgzChnFbjKcBNM3hRg6a6amybQC8QtUoH8UBDUX8bPAtDHL5cWvmqXK2ozwho23kdQKQ-KGYNP8W2YdWlgltol0twFjNSviyRRSA/s320/518.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Our second day there was rainy, but even the rain didn't stop the kids from having a blast!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfidim1TuOeIlNrzzrjINrlqyJgqQSXjhfjflVcPtJjVyPDSELOelWpscno2Xui9p-u-9pTEiO1zjiuvdlKsso2TnrgyHi8VUbUc5mNvjPOQSNQrSfrorMRO3uQP2Lg4QDCOexDh1LX8/s1600/522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfidim1TuOeIlNrzzrjINrlqyJgqQSXjhfjflVcPtJjVyPDSELOelWpscno2Xui9p-u-9pTEiO1zjiuvdlKsso2TnrgyHi8VUbUc5mNvjPOQSNQrSfrorMRO3uQP2Lg4QDCOexDh1LX8/s320/522.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Third day, still more rain, but some sun too, with more beach time before we headed to Mt. Hood!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FbcyG2-3PYyHoPoh7HSdbxzEa24GHg8qFD2vRW7H_mwfo2m764-x_QQdxShQmWL8YiaGgAo94e_PcSwdRejmtcTSA5KhqpDyEgmleJP9sa-ZMhPNwvzYXRMEzMgCkeSdzuAZhn0HBpM/s1600/442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FbcyG2-3PYyHoPoh7HSdbxzEa24GHg8qFD2vRW7H_mwfo2m764-x_QQdxShQmWL8YiaGgAo94e_PcSwdRejmtcTSA5KhqpDyEgmleJP9sa-ZMhPNwvzYXRMEzMgCkeSdzuAZhn0HBpM/s320/442.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-47918776824196743322012-06-03T13:37:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.551-05:00Do I have to Drive?So, yes, I reached a point where even I did not want to drive anymore!<br /><br />Remedy?<br /><br />Beach play for a day!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1IUWNq_Xhq2Eo6Prf4_I_l3Wwg1wNTZ32iME_CXBAyu41fyF_sYe5h7pgTdYcWlxqFn3mqQRM1a_-kCgw81FzSKcn5bXO2FC6dMZUonPeUTSvPfIHP_YU2m8wEp0FVrC6AZzbfxXm64/s1600/406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1IUWNq_Xhq2Eo6Prf4_I_l3Wwg1wNTZ32iME_CXBAyu41fyF_sYe5h7pgTdYcWlxqFn3mqQRM1a_-kCgw81FzSKcn5bXO2FC6dMZUonPeUTSvPfIHP_YU2m8wEp0FVrC6AZzbfxXm64/s320/406.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftOyjn95acwQICGFriDKIEHMRuc-I1IT1OD_Wy-yns4632z7TnqR7JlsokmbHwPa-EuIJSUqzSHTU9RwIAb6t8AM4LbRxiHsCKfoKjYVmLBOaBxH5dLXHW8VXRAJEwQOFthrW0FputiQ/s1600/413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftOyjn95acwQICGFriDKIEHMRuc-I1IT1OD_Wy-yns4632z7TnqR7JlsokmbHwPa-EuIJSUqzSHTU9RwIAb6t8AM4LbRxiHsCKfoKjYVmLBOaBxH5dLXHW8VXRAJEwQOFthrW0FputiQ/s320/413.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />And finding a B&B with an amazing view to kick back and relax!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBISGKXaiJ4qjtmPaXyNdL3hFa_ekw_YuRsQc25Mf9itIHSllw6DB_s0lNN7RvhEYAyU4gbI5zOvqIzmSir5IwE7l0f7ZR2F8BA02NvJHivgqTEO0V8mTjmrZba2eNvl7mUopa6VBcucE/s1600/399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBISGKXaiJ4qjtmPaXyNdL3hFa_ekw_YuRsQc25Mf9itIHSllw6DB_s0lNN7RvhEYAyU4gbI5zOvqIzmSir5IwE7l0f7ZR2F8BA02NvJHivgqTEO0V8mTjmrZba2eNvl7mUopa6VBcucE/s320/399.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Other sites and views from exploring the area:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WAa3SL2bgB3NHaUFU_uSDRYXpXX0EBaL5attBwS5tHHSMCItjQduudoc0hjKbiCYYjl6vijdRP6d0Dpo9lQZLbwfzwKRhUPacsY8w5OtM4Cq2j_6U5TJ-qDyh7JG89DZY017FtfNeIY/s1600/422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WAa3SL2bgB3NHaUFU_uSDRYXpXX0EBaL5attBwS5tHHSMCItjQduudoc0hjKbiCYYjl6vijdRP6d0Dpo9lQZLbwfzwKRhUPacsY8w5OtM4Cq2j_6U5TJ-qDyh7JG89DZY017FtfNeIY/s320/422.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNis08mFvI6gJs9aObtbBTc-EDIx4XLJPN0-ghwulAQvDA2mqip2ZY-xvS0dYz0ZBb3ocJ5iRLpT5PhH-vsqcT5XEoiowYkNVULpAgVp5yT3DqhNQpx66eJbE12_oxLyK423BKcuUk2A0/s1600/439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNis08mFvI6gJs9aObtbBTc-EDIx4XLJPN0-ghwulAQvDA2mqip2ZY-xvS0dYz0ZBb3ocJ5iRLpT5PhH-vsqcT5XEoiowYkNVULpAgVp5yT3DqhNQpx66eJbE12_oxLyK423BKcuUk2A0/s320/439.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Should I worry?</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyh2KJzycMkeQmgYQBabYnpev61zhgWwoDD3gja73v_BIL8x-SaMiCANVZT_VDMbxRxckSxGTV7gvTXyh5k6Mu4k9GCE99YzpAcIxNt2ofTQSJe4__2K-QyjnTkNwUUfL7lsoqYdoR1V0/s1600/449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyh2KJzycMkeQmgYQBabYnpev61zhgWwoDD3gja73v_BIL8x-SaMiCANVZT_VDMbxRxckSxGTV7gvTXyh5k6Mu4k9GCE99YzpAcIxNt2ofTQSJe4__2K-QyjnTkNwUUfL7lsoqYdoR1V0/s320/449.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When the "rock fall" is the road!</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBwHd8n6E8J7UfoXVLev6ujPpDAhodNz7ARy2vS6mVT6MZF2QwE-3GQOowA5GmTfrKjyH2rbr6tSj93pI0B4ZQWcuT0aoRo-1XZH2PHQ4nkCv03GSO5dflpwBwwaY5RHnx1AUe-h64GU/s1600/448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBwHd8n6E8J7UfoXVLev6ujPpDAhodNz7ARy2vS6mVT6MZF2QwE-3GQOowA5GmTfrKjyH2rbr6tSj93pI0B4ZQWcuT0aoRo-1XZH2PHQ4nkCv03GSO5dflpwBwwaY5RHnx1AUe-h64GU/s320/448.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-59529433221759452632012-06-02T13:28:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.557-05:00RedwoodsIf there is one place to take your kids, Redwoods is it...it is spectucular, huge and so much fun to explore!<br /><br />On our way, we stopped at one of the three drive-through trees in California (privately owned park). <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTgIrgqmCdj_7FFBypdwipr6Lhw8gcHvGQeQNbqOoWvbSySgLCLaNVk5htcXw0rIOJ_LH65Z7JHtOe4ixBa5kaATv9OjQ0QWtOkWY5rnoflYQCYgA03n6bZsiTpah8NKtYIDzolwrwzQ/s1600/398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTgIrgqmCdj_7FFBypdwipr6Lhw8gcHvGQeQNbqOoWvbSySgLCLaNVk5htcXw0rIOJ_LH65Z7JHtOe4ixBa5kaATv9OjQ0QWtOkWY5rnoflYQCYgA03n6bZsiTpah8NKtYIDzolwrwzQ/s320/398.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>And then made our way to the Visitor's Center for the national and state park.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOGs3MRkoXosFics8ELg_Pf-9jGpPQpO9HuFiHtGLcw7dxvXd5lcYt6qZ8rS8sQgt86oO4FXphvMFEtbHurUxaW90yXA8clP9CK8or2bm0xM0FyNG6py-WEfEIEPqQOe2HqgxaBrl_fI/s1600/476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOGs3MRkoXosFics8ELg_Pf-9jGpPQpO9HuFiHtGLcw7dxvXd5lcYt6qZ8rS8sQgt86oO4FXphvMFEtbHurUxaW90yXA8clP9CK8or2bm0xM0FyNG6py-WEfEIEPqQOe2HqgxaBrl_fI/s320/476.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3loQ-ap0VNhopljD4Ai7fDCkOL4qqVi_lAGuzohVqnj2Vmt6DFHWkGZuBoGvYslXBzQ_N8qEENmh4GwThmsV94VjQLGJNzVYKOcZNAtYVIn3dGjOcRvYD61IJ2pgmfEQGUAlJ9E3J6ZM/s1600/463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3loQ-ap0VNhopljD4Ai7fDCkOL4qqVi_lAGuzohVqnj2Vmt6DFHWkGZuBoGvYslXBzQ_N8qEENmh4GwThmsV94VjQLGJNzVYKOcZNAtYVIn3dGjOcRvYD61IJ2pgmfEQGUAlJ9E3J6ZM/s320/463.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZk5EnN2MdivFf1ShLNvOgLerkX5RYQHH-nLHJAZ4ZuYqXRocQAkJo12_ho-Ahpq5BtWs5VwYEE4rhoffiHTH-BTLizUYahKNuPehnpU5-BqXkezPnQhM2mCa_hSGLGyuf11AL3gQ63g/s1600/464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZk5EnN2MdivFf1ShLNvOgLerkX5RYQHH-nLHJAZ4ZuYqXRocQAkJo12_ho-Ahpq5BtWs5VwYEE4rhoffiHTH-BTLizUYahKNuPehnpU5-BqXkezPnQhM2mCa_hSGLGyuf11AL3gQ63g/s320/464.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCS2Iiv-_9eQzY5sVZax9VkMUXcpoVYs2rNfUjs9wuFI9sxsdbDLFA7x61igqtuc26JSJLGniGI4rn5BJVr5AblPr66ib844KJxf96-2EBSpxTgQ69KhyHu1uaa05OtFk9leT4VV6-YGU/s1600/471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCS2Iiv-_9eQzY5sVZax9VkMUXcpoVYs2rNfUjs9wuFI9sxsdbDLFA7x61igqtuc26JSJLGniGI4rn5BJVr5AblPr66ib844KJxf96-2EBSpxTgQ69KhyHu1uaa05OtFk9leT4VV6-YGU/s320/471.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-32849184346649817162012-06-01T13:20:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.563-05:00Four Days to get There!Waking in Santa Cruz I realized we had just four more days to get to Mt. Hood - and about 700 miles more to drive. Since we were on the coast, and San Francisco was just a stone's throw away, it was our next logical stop.<br /><br />So, we explored Fisherman's Wharf first, then headed for the Exploratorium!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBoXPm1SG9ozRShVp32cwWjjGv_BxgiDDmmY0mi5ToR0LTrNGU1TgFEW56ImBTMU5rM_ZnJhbrp2T6DIA85Lt-3Ok9uVlE1ZLaEjnajo1QUZtUc7bpmeqeTKSBJ1YpcZg7Kaorn6QyUI/s1600/360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBoXPm1SG9ozRShVp32cwWjjGv_BxgiDDmmY0mi5ToR0LTrNGU1TgFEW56ImBTMU5rM_ZnJhbrp2T6DIA85Lt-3Ok9uVlE1ZLaEjnajo1QUZtUc7bpmeqeTKSBJ1YpcZg7Kaorn6QyUI/s320/360.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzlhHgafAquJl6y_4BizAHxEZvEonbKSGvXcmvZBuh5Um9keeoiPzYr-uovs5WDHgARdmj8m4BxA8IDHAqo0h0nlJMObgC7tvdnbHx3ovokAybJb0UL_F7EItfNHPyFIa57R9bCxlt0vI/s1600/362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzlhHgafAquJl6y_4BizAHxEZvEonbKSGvXcmvZBuh5Um9keeoiPzYr-uovs5WDHgARdmj8m4BxA8IDHAqo0h0nlJMObgC7tvdnbHx3ovokAybJb0UL_F7EItfNHPyFIa57R9bCxlt0vI/s320/362.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqDUwu0XIZ1RoVVJp-vq-AZOrLUUDM6oaXMe4lKufPQLEn_QiksFfuK69JK4poF0CN0xWDzoMy2dlM22g-YnCn1kTuqn_v42sIaHxckuSYFbGDeZqWMOuy99fxZb74VCrWQHB5Nv-7bQ/s1600/372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqDUwu0XIZ1RoVVJp-vq-AZOrLUUDM6oaXMe4lKufPQLEn_QiksFfuK69JK4poF0CN0xWDzoMy2dlM22g-YnCn1kTuqn_v42sIaHxckuSYFbGDeZqWMOuy99fxZb74VCrWQHB5Nv-7bQ/s320/372.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6d-1adx2OF7kcQyWPRXe8lWJQ3TYZHWniJ77SDVwQAuZYuUtmGFo3gpJZcB11Zzybpy8KgpldZHMpoL3mTbH0N-jZaZTyirE6P8_mxgfus_8MgA0nlVJYBadEkhg56vhkMftYLTenSg/s1600/367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6d-1adx2OF7kcQyWPRXe8lWJQ3TYZHWniJ77SDVwQAuZYuUtmGFo3gpJZcB11Zzybpy8KgpldZHMpoL3mTbH0N-jZaZTyirE6P8_mxgfus_8MgA0nlVJYBadEkhg56vhkMftYLTenSg/s320/367.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>While I originally thought we'd spend a couple of hours at Exploratorium, we stayed six hours and left only because they were closing! It was amazing and a definite return-to place when we are in SF again in the future!<br /><br />Over dinner Boo said he wanted to do some more Junior Ranger programs, so I checked the map and our national park passport and decided we'd target the Redwood National Park next.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-28599623868628464482012-05-31T13:10:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.569-05:00California Dreamin'While probably not the wisest thing I did on our long-haul drive, I managed to make it not just into California, but all the way to Bakersfield to start our day heading northwest. I realized once I'd made it to California, we had a lot of desert between us and the coast, so I pushed on, long into the night, so we wouldn't have to do it all.day.long.<br /><br />The good thing is the kids are good sleepers - even after waking at 4:00 AM to get into the hotel room, they were back to sleep in no time and stayed asleep until 10:00 AM, which meant I did manage to get in six hours before getting up and getting started on our day.<br /><br />Decisions, decisions - head north for Oregon, or head west to the coast, then head north?<br /><br />We opted to head west and take the Pacific Coast Highway (road) up the coastline toward our hoped for destination tonight, Monteray!<br /><br />The good - it was a beautiful drive! Perfect weather and awesome views.<br /><br />The bad - it was long, long, long for the kids. In the future, given a similar choice, I'd opt to head right up to Monteray and back-track down the coast a bit if we wanted to see it, otherwise it's too long a drive with kids, with very few opportunities for stops and burning off energy.<br /><br />When we did finally roll into Monteray, it was well worth the wait.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBP-B0qZDoBLoQOeQY4S-4bccr2QfXSQzadXSli8z-KPXwdwWVezFI69Mf3XGa-SCMIYpjbrHWpl93sBszTINwsIzK65djyM1Yia0C4lBYkZEUMI23xHK_dKvsbuyJuI66qD8yJ-eE5jQ/s1600/344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBP-B0qZDoBLoQOeQY4S-4bccr2QfXSQzadXSli8z-KPXwdwWVezFI69Mf3XGa-SCMIYpjbrHWpl93sBszTINwsIzK65djyM1Yia0C4lBYkZEUMI23xHK_dKvsbuyJuI66qD8yJ-eE5jQ/s320/344.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>After a couple of hours exploring the area, we had dinner and then pushed off to our overnight destination, now Santa Cruz since Monteray was over the budget - way over!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-52484809205386851782012-05-30T13:01:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.574-05:00Sure, Let's StopAs we headed out of Flagstaff, with our sites set on California, Boo notes the billboards along the way for Bearizona. <br /><br />Can we stop?<br /><br />Bears? In Arizona? Bearizona?<br /><br />Oh, heck, why not!<br /><br />Yup, a total tourist trap...but one that is totally kid-centered and kid-friendly, especially the end, which is like a zoo and you can walk around and see all different animals. The drive-through was fun too, but the walking areas were better.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjub5QdNBXiL0T2XSK9tv7s-Erykyt1DaBeMrIHjYcluZwxi3EHi7eoCM1Q8diaur3otTiaWMReovbdE2HA9kWZLA5U7VoyIZWiqU141wl3j-84X3v9MjMgkw2W7RMvWs8U_r_d1k-KeZs/s1600/236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjub5QdNBXiL0T2XSK9tv7s-Erykyt1DaBeMrIHjYcluZwxi3EHi7eoCM1Q8diaur3otTiaWMReovbdE2HA9kWZLA5U7VoyIZWiqU141wl3j-84X3v9MjMgkw2W7RMvWs8U_r_d1k-KeZs/s320/236.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Some animals along the drive:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcwDh_GjxSmeUt7CWbB-wx8MYP4yBwwPcgVVaagw08c8GyM0l215F-Dqnyl_INochf6D2bmc50CcJP4IO9zPoG8wVgu-pnkZrWgO8ksr5BVzI5ylZbQdaeygL3g5RpWKv_v5Mc6BKqtY/s1600/253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcwDh_GjxSmeUt7CWbB-wx8MYP4yBwwPcgVVaagw08c8GyM0l215F-Dqnyl_INochf6D2bmc50CcJP4IO9zPoG8wVgu-pnkZrWgO8ksr5BVzI5ylZbQdaeygL3g5RpWKv_v5Mc6BKqtY/s320/253.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQS-EqPFk-DEjwiDTPd7nw_z4bo5cbIldHI6WzeNLqEZtvKK0LmqZYFc3TOpa-vISheB1BipA-jMlYIxvo2TINxR25WgGNfHDsv5aIuNHvn_b55LBJ8le4GY20i5kLhw0Y8hnuAMMub4/s1600/273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQS-EqPFk-DEjwiDTPd7nw_z4bo5cbIldHI6WzeNLqEZtvKK0LmqZYFc3TOpa-vISheB1BipA-jMlYIxvo2TINxR25WgGNfHDsv5aIuNHvn_b55LBJ8le4GY20i5kLhw0Y8hnuAMMub4/s320/273.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Would I recommend it?<br /><br />If you have antsy kids, tired of being in the car - yes; otherwise keep going, it's expensive!<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-54824348871056235272012-05-30T12:51:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.580-05:00Three-in-OneHoly Cow!<br /><br />Doing three national parks, each with a Junior Ranger program, in one day is nuts! Nuts I say!<br /><br />Somehow we pulled it off though.<br /><br />Before we left Sunset Crater - and this is the only way we managed to do it - we completed the activities at the Visitor Center, leaving only the lava flow trail hike to do today. That, and we didn't start here, but ended here today - starting instead at the park farthest from here, Walnut Canyon.<br /><br />Walnut Canyon is a fairly small park, so it only took about two hours to complete the activities and explore the area.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguN9OkYapjimDuSUMH36zGb69GMra6VAUvxEDc04ApJmmj9JO0fyj3IYSl-l04z-T108jWVc3RK_uh6yIEKu3id-cyqaCZCSNF1OyiIM4TsIVynwKN7eCBP27aUUCXZK-njy3IqI98Lpg/s1600/222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguN9OkYapjimDuSUMH36zGb69GMra6VAUvxEDc04ApJmmj9JO0fyj3IYSl-l04z-T108jWVc3RK_uh6yIEKu3id-cyqaCZCSNF1OyiIM4TsIVynwKN7eCBP27aUUCXZK-njy3IqI98Lpg/s320/222.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJ3E0DMrnyWl6v6zDYedXqVD4vyU7RTU1igJ6IbTDH4CRwdKoXgikiiXXLqTYUspVor6lEVd95A5mGV_SvlKSCxBGmnjjnOFAtvbu3LTzIZL0fec0rDWdTWhgiSHFBuGGFFyxqL1Br0k/s1600/223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJ3E0DMrnyWl6v6zDYedXqVD4vyU7RTU1igJ6IbTDH4CRwdKoXgikiiXXLqTYUspVor6lEVd95A5mGV_SvlKSCxBGmnjjnOFAtvbu3LTzIZL0fec0rDWdTWhgiSHFBuGGFFyxqL1Br0k/s320/223.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Then we were off to Wapukti Ruins - and wound up staying much longer than we planned since it was such a fun area! The ruins are amazing, and you can walk through them.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-LPOMvs9Tq1jZyNuqNWZCShgWUpd_nDNH1vMwNt2bHjHrdLVql4-0yKu20lKO5gLBHQQbEjCMeFSumPNC_j0nlZvVeNf9NI9Tf2AZ7yAgC_cBQhhaPfzW6-fxpEfndMPg_j2krm2A7bk/s1600/229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-LPOMvs9Tq1jZyNuqNWZCShgWUpd_nDNH1vMwNt2bHjHrdLVql4-0yKu20lKO5gLBHQQbEjCMeFSumPNC_j0nlZvVeNf9NI9Tf2AZ7yAgC_cBQhhaPfzW6-fxpEfndMPg_j2krm2A7bk/s320/229.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgstlzMYi0MH1I0Df5ld0cFgVav_AP862PmACKD_FgwSyZaiuHfSDGlq45O-Fgu3dCAktsoMJ1hYFPwF5VzPtVZRq9qSmspWySYL3AF4861muAxztO95LifOhCghGg4Pe57QB3ILmieiZ8/s1600/232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgstlzMYi0MH1I0Df5ld0cFgVav_AP862PmACKD_FgwSyZaiuHfSDGlq45O-Fgu3dCAktsoMJ1hYFPwF5VzPtVZRq9qSmspWySYL3AF4861muAxztO95LifOhCghGg4Pe57QB3ILmieiZ8/s320/232.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-qagSkSRhd_-mh6stJWZSGbLDoc9CNXTzLr-e9JVDIbz2-fspBrcrfRRZN858-PlMT5al_GuwntaO4kfD98bwT_06jd-pkZUfyB7KNGBtrAFj4mVsqttfrbYqIwVYp1RSsTbPbI5CnBw/s1600/233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-qagSkSRhd_-mh6stJWZSGbLDoc9CNXTzLr-e9JVDIbz2-fspBrcrfRRZN858-PlMT5al_GuwntaO4kfD98bwT_06jd-pkZUfyB7KNGBtrAFj4mVsqttfrbYqIwVYp1RSsTbPbI5CnBw/s320/233.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>As our last stop, we headed back to Sunset Crater Volcano and hiked the Lava Flow Trail; in a word, amazing!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMUyAztl7fv2_yzUygiwxfdVoNVJg0A8wSt3CKXazhRN_Q8MZNAdxmI7OZlIgj7WadacFbVXbVS8eoCD2BBHYrUpQ4svNV43NywB4pE-maVsMur2KWkgu4-Bc-Pv49WPPaIOPl7HuhI44/s1600/224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMUyAztl7fv2_yzUygiwxfdVoNVJg0A8wSt3CKXazhRN_Q8MZNAdxmI7OZlIgj7WadacFbVXbVS8eoCD2BBHYrUpQ4svNV43NywB4pE-maVsMur2KWkgu4-Bc-Pv49WPPaIOPl7HuhI44/s320/224.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNhoOkUqJHUzYGPn7AX0BTmrWp8xz3soCwN2xGDHgjXgU5dGFObSodB4OBT79n1LZbtkQhoIvwPmgmVuBLIzkS-X3HGU3kngwm5Uc1aLFk265aOlcb3Tmsfi3KjCR8OSeRhqCzE6d-B4/s1600/235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNhoOkUqJHUzYGPn7AX0BTmrWp8xz3soCwN2xGDHgjXgU5dGFObSodB4OBT79n1LZbtkQhoIvwPmgmVuBLIzkS-X3HGU3kngwm5Uc1aLFk265aOlcb3Tmsfi3KjCR8OSeRhqCzE6d-B4/s320/235.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-83078169404324786492012-05-29T12:35:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.585-05:00Grand CanyonWaking up and realizing it was me, and only me with the kids was, well, interesting. It's not often that I'm not with Bear in our travels, and here I woke up realizing for the next three weeks, it's me and just me!<br /><br />YIKES!<br /><br />After a quick breakfast, we packed the minivan up and were on our way to the Grand Canyon, entering from the northeast side of the southern rim.<br /><br />Once we arrived, Boo was awed as he scanned the canyon for the first time:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLB_lsjaHGWCX-2tbTFsyeKWcD5iHsArRAexEFyYyQr15MBPs5j8j8x2sXGXeDVvVpOpK1ixDIIvuzeYJ6GJub66AguWKV7ePXqtmnLtOpHsLkCaSzn4Wj1yu6UJIyKJPqGMQvHwX41Oo/s1600/208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLB_lsjaHGWCX-2tbTFsyeKWcD5iHsArRAexEFyYyQr15MBPs5j8j8x2sXGXeDVvVpOpK1ixDIIvuzeYJ6GJub66AguWKV7ePXqtmnLtOpHsLkCaSzn4Wj1yu6UJIyKJPqGMQvHwX41Oo/s320/208.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>We headed into the Visitor Center to grab a Junior Ranger book, and over lunch realized this wasn't going to be a short stop - we'd need to be here for a few hours to do the program correctly for Boo to <i>really</i> earn the badge. With that, we headed to some of the canyon sites to explore. Not an easy task with a baby in tow, but we managed. Then we headed for a ranger program on the history of the canyon - not its geological history, but how it turned into a tourist attraction and the many changes over the years in tourism.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ojxDtqmA4OmaWlyosFM7t7Jh5QWqyvIpPKa5HF32o0hLTtrMVqxmT4RDjyKVQ15jPHFbIYIaUyDhG_LxWD2BXWkjEGOB4Ek3EvhKqb2FW3hCZRqLqQr1yY7GPCus7yk_NTkyjAjBI8k/s1600/212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ojxDtqmA4OmaWlyosFM7t7Jh5QWqyvIpPKa5HF32o0hLTtrMVqxmT4RDjyKVQ15jPHFbIYIaUyDhG_LxWD2BXWkjEGOB4Ek3EvhKqb2FW3hCZRqLqQr1yY7GPCus7yk_NTkyjAjBI8k/s320/212.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8TCXI1i3JlaHndoMWxvgbeWfslOUOIOFnNPxE-bSWQspD0JSQ0NhfP34e_cWKdO_eyoSyif6_lArrDmCib0q5a2g4ksvUniT_t2nS7G6v9VxjHa6qUDL6kPhY-xKFoaE4PAJzUnM_8w/s1600/210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8TCXI1i3JlaHndoMWxvgbeWfslOUOIOFnNPxE-bSWQspD0JSQ0NhfP34e_cWKdO_eyoSyif6_lArrDmCib0q5a2g4ksvUniT_t2nS7G6v9VxjHa6qUDL6kPhY-xKFoaE4PAJzUnM_8w/s320/210.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZu-6dN0-KBtPkgS0Kla-PNeLzyK2LoVpZYl8MLx2mMiMllJQH80CCFDohgJ5Wkwnt_-WDazwTTN7NDpS31bOEg550x7Hutgx9xBSI58ysoI0151AGTKrmAMx5xr6zT1pOszKA57SKqs/s1600/216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZu-6dN0-KBtPkgS0Kla-PNeLzyK2LoVpZYl8MLx2mMiMllJQH80CCFDohgJ5Wkwnt_-WDazwTTN7NDpS31bOEg550x7Hutgx9xBSI58ysoI0151AGTKrmAMx5xr6zT1pOszKA57SKqs/s320/216.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>After doing a couple more activities to explore and find some things needed, Boo earned his Junior Ranger badge and was duly sworn in!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-T_2u1C5meIVq0L4ZCtL3AadQ0j5xC4awDE7peYBxs6T6eIIOG5KI-aQczIlhe53uAGtiaMv5ZfBPsUbtOOvcSsAT4ILH_HaFFMDjLtPbkdGG32vOOWMzCTu5r8fcSUC6NxgVKUBF9Y/s1600/217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-T_2u1C5meIVq0L4ZCtL3AadQ0j5xC4awDE7peYBxs6T6eIIOG5KI-aQczIlhe53uAGtiaMv5ZfBPsUbtOOvcSsAT4ILH_HaFFMDjLtPbkdGG32vOOWMzCTu5r8fcSUC6NxgVKUBF9Y/s320/217.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Since it was mid-afternoon, I looked at our National Park Passport and decided that we'd likely make it in time to see Sunset Crater Volcano near Flagstaff, AZ.<br /><br />We made it to the Visitor Center about an hour before closing, in time, but not in enough time to do the Junior Ranger program any justice. So, with that, I decided we'd stay the night and return the next day before pushing off to California.<br /><br />Good decision too - the park ranger let me know there were two other parks in the area that we might want to see too, Walnut Canyon and Wutpatki Ruins! With all three junior ranger books in hand, we headed to a hotel for the night and laid out our day to try to do all three in one day!<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-31655174022100594762012-05-27T12:15:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.591-05:00Saying GoodbyeMy husband is absolutely amazing! <br /><br />On Sunday we needed to say good-bye as he flew home from Durango and we were on our way to Oregon via California. He didn't complain, nor did he worry way too much (just a little), and I do think in some ways he was a bit excited for Boo to be able to continue on this grand adventure across the country, even if without him!<br /><br />In my previous life, before kids, I was a road-warrior for work, so I'm not reluctant to drive or do lots of miles and hotels over a month. What I hadn't planned on was how different traveling with kids is, to traveling solo. They need many more stops, more eating breaks and just a lot more time out of the car than in the car!<br /><br />So, if you're planning to do something like this, plan for more stops than you think you'll need to make! And, while I usually plan stops without hotel reservations, that too is something I'm now re-considering after realizing that sometimes you can't find a hotel when you need one!<br /><br />That said, our next stop was Mesa Verde - we weren't able to do much of the park with Bug, but did see enough and do enough that Boo loved it and enjoyed it.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhat_yuNYODBvkUhErA7tt-Mt8d4gifiZMk4SnGdmM1yishxmXZZQKVE5HlGnXB1Wdmx1xyEHa85aio_0_0664XdskLYte2j205gysx7tHPAMMEBj6ShLGi4jvcORCuN78ZFqwrBBNc204/s1600/193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhat_yuNYODBvkUhErA7tt-Mt8d4gifiZMk4SnGdmM1yishxmXZZQKVE5HlGnXB1Wdmx1xyEHa85aio_0_0664XdskLYte2j205gysx7tHPAMMEBj6ShLGi4jvcORCuN78ZFqwrBBNc204/s320/193.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Once we were heading out of Mesa Verde I needed to decide where we'd stay for the night; with Boo eager to earn more Junior Ranger badges, the obvious choice was near Grand Canyon. Little did I know that I'd have to drive late into the night to find a hotel (see above), though we did have a spectacular sunset along the way!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74ey_Gj03E4fEuegEdbqxJfY_1-dYXH1_9e82z8J5hYKTO6rj65hbXGS7nw9c9RhUDLBE1nl1V2i3VCTXQCFIEWAF_ieIzImR8qXU9o1i3WggCKuJVxmxoKKatP8kLtAa1kvNBarM0hE/s1600/198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74ey_Gj03E4fEuegEdbqxJfY_1-dYXH1_9e82z8J5hYKTO6rj65hbXGS7nw9c9RhUDLBE1nl1V2i3VCTXQCFIEWAF_ieIzImR8qXU9o1i3WggCKuJVxmxoKKatP8kLtAa1kvNBarM0hE/s320/198.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2138351327237530283.post-8071094331168001992012-05-25T11:54:00.000-05:002012-08-02T10:25:22.596-05:00Into the Mountains They GoOne of the biggest plans this vacation was for Bear to take Boo up into the mountains to go camping - a hike-in, camp and hike-out experience that would be his first. Bear himself was taken hike-in camping for the first time around the same age and Boo has been chomping at the bit to go, so this was the opportunity to make that happen.<br /><br />The main reason I drove for this vacation was to be able to bring the gear needed for overnight camping - packs, tent, sleeping bags, food, etc. When we arrived in Durango the previous night, all the gear was checked and re-checked so we could head out and Boo and Bear could head out early in the afternoon.<br /><br />Their destination was Ice Lakes, in the San Juans. May is still an iffy time of the year for snow and frigid evenings, but with the warmer weather and pitiful snowfall this year, Bear decided it was probably going to be okay - cold, but not snowed in.<br /><br />At the trailhead there was more checking and re-checking gear and then they were off! It was just me and Bug for the next few days, with no communication between us and Boo and Bear!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9p64VXNNkLBmoeWTYdpM0hARZU_-pNQxPVdrBKX0JbsLEzJ42OZ3pRUS1nfFILGd7Amu1ZsQ0noBDIq3K6UH_MoH_G7BkuklAUMnSvrbZ8wWeB3_H9gdhIVFCBJ8VotgcD8SauRI6tio/s1600/148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9p64VXNNkLBmoeWTYdpM0hARZU_-pNQxPVdrBKX0JbsLEzJ42OZ3pRUS1nfFILGd7Amu1ZsQ0noBDIq3K6UH_MoH_G7BkuklAUMnSvrbZ8wWeB3_H9gdhIVFCBJ8VotgcD8SauRI6tio/s320/148.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_UOxJL7-dn7MdJXJbf2T-nWgY9FlLCGMW7Lt0SSH6Uqs5z4rGKP4sS9hfAcFDtUExN07CfKKj8iNt23-zNKhNOIpLQeoBbJFI6IzziuwiKG98Qs0hMWUxaT0MRAJscT14DtGbaIPAdM/s1600/158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_UOxJL7-dn7MdJXJbf2T-nWgY9FlLCGMW7Lt0SSH6Uqs5z4rGKP4sS9hfAcFDtUExN07CfKKj8iNt23-zNKhNOIpLQeoBbJFI6IzziuwiKG98Qs0hMWUxaT0MRAJscT14DtGbaIPAdM/s320/158.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHCsGULzLTKUcVj5vmOjhsKmd6aKeSuN69qnoZa51thyO2lw9Gc2hZQlWeR3rKd-_SrTQ9i8FNx8f9Zs9rfIBR9Za5YYt7PUFHuQ3IVKUTDtcu2YoO-T2zl8H1pbqjnS9NW9etuHvKkQ/s1600/163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHCsGULzLTKUcVj5vmOjhsKmd6aKeSuN69qnoZa51thyO2lw9Gc2hZQlWeR3rKd-_SrTQ9i8FNx8f9Zs9rfIBR9Za5YYt7PUFHuQ3IVKUTDtcu2YoO-T2zl8H1pbqjnS9NW9etuHvKkQ/s320/163.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>As they headed into the mountains, I took Bug for a ride to Ouray, CO - a beautiful little town called "Little Switzerland in the USA" for a good reason - the village is quaint and the homes are very "Swiss" in design, and the road there is one that will wreck your nerves on a good day! But brave the road I did and it was spectacular to see the area...until this jumped in front of my car, in the middle of the road and then seemingly jumped off the side of the mountain to my right:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGZuPCJxmjzed_czJjEK9VTTyxlbn0znFthlbDhc1KUA510M-NZQYJE4P9wAC6ygf53Ew21r_wEF-GaYsyGHo4Ikb54EDnrVohxR7FT1ZZm1j8ZLe5vh2jnlUoaE5UzohVWPj30qzfQI/s1600/168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGZuPCJxmjzed_czJjEK9VTTyxlbn0znFthlbDhc1KUA510M-NZQYJE4P9wAC6ygf53Ew21r_wEF-GaYsyGHo4Ikb54EDnrVohxR7FT1ZZm1j8ZLe5vh2jnlUoaE5UzohVWPj30qzfQI/s320/168.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Yup, it scared me - but I still had to stop and take a picture!<br /><br />By the time Bug and I got settled into the cabin we were renting through Sunday, I realized my brakes needed to be done - all the mountain driving was taking its toll, they'd never been done and I was at about 93,000 miles. So, I spent the next day tooling around Durango with Bug while the mechanic in town did the brakes!<br /><br />The next day we picked up Boo and Bear and spent the rest of the weekend exploring the area some more!<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0