Reunion and a Baby Fix

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (San Jose)  celebrated their 40th anniversary of Rehabilitation Services-that's where I worked for over 20 years....Jerry Wright (pictured below) is the Grant Projects Administrator and a good friend. He told me about the party and I was so glad I went! Lots of old friends and reminiscing....and so many changes! I had a brand new audience to share about my trip and made a few folks envious.....

I left SJ about 2 and went to the kids house to get my fix...Oh, my! Five months is a LONG time in a child's life. Miss C was very glad to see me but hopes that I'll still send her stuff in the mail and Miss E just stared at me...Both put on their socks from Crater Lake and Miss C showed me some moves on WII.

Miss E will try to duplicate everything Miss C does...she's Miss C's greatest fan and gets frustrated when she can't find C...

Miss C is playing soccer on a team this year...she's front and center-look at that determined face!

And of course Miss E is on the sidelines cheering big sister..

They have the traditional hand slapping and congratulating the other team...C's team won!

#35-The long journey home

We stopped in Sun Valley and Ketchum to visit with a dear friend of Jacks..I was happy to meet her-she's a very classy lady! This is a piece of art called  "Centerpiece"-the children have fun playing in and out of the structure. I just thought it unusual...

Outside of Ketchum are several streams and hot springs....we meandered up the road and followed the stream. Later we found the raod, ifwe wanted to, would take us to Boise!

Jack found a few pools in the stream and got his fishing pole out....and caught two rainbow trout!

So, I am treated to my first fresh trout dinner! Yum! 

Jack's culinary skills include filleting and the presentation was as good as any gourmet resturant.

Next day we headed west on 395 and stopped at Mono Lake. There is so much to see there! We watched several films and of course did the work for our Jr. Ranger badges. This was one of the toughest badges in our quest for obtaining the Jr. Ranger status....

Do you HooDoo? Nope, these are Tufas, the calcium deposit formed under water then shows as the lake    evaporates.

Then we continued on 395 to enter Yosemite via Tioga Pass...again, stunning scenery! I hadn't seen Half Dome from this position.

And, to finish the journey we went to Mariposa Grove-this is the clothespin tree.

And this is the walking-in tunnel tree, one of two that were cut out.

And our final, fifth Jr. Ranger badge-very fitting that  we saved our last badge for Yosemite.

So, now we're home, back in Coarsegold and boy, is it hot! We've been gone almost 5 months-where did the time go? It's been the most memorable, exciting journey I could ever imagine!

#34 Craters of the Moon

We left Jackson Hole but not without tasting some of Bubba's delicious ribs-a lunch portion was big enough for two! 

 

And on to Idaho! The first thing you think of when one says "Idaho" is potatoes...and this is a storage area for potatoes 

Most important was our visit to Craters of the Moon National Park-did you know the astronauts trained there? Since they didn't know what to expect when they landed on the moon they used the different types of lava rock  to practice all kinds of scenarios....

We attended a demonstration, several movies and finished our Jr. Ranger books and were awarded our Lunar Ranger patches!

Then we drove through the loop to see all the different areas and types of lava....very interesting!

Can you see the crater?

#33 The Tetons and Jackson Hole...

After Yellowstone, we visited the Grand Tetons-and they are just as beautiful as I remembered...

This is a view  from the window of the Cunningham Ranch-there's a few buildings left. He was very influential in settling the area...

Near the South Entrance to the Tetons is Menors ferry-still running- and a chapel called Transfiguration.

This is simple, inspiratational and moving chapel is an active church-the alter looks at the Tetons...just stunning..

We packed a picnic lunch and stopped at "Lunch Counter"-Kahuna- to watch the rafters go down the Snake River. Jack thinks it would be too tough for me (class 4) but I disagree...it will go on my bucket list for sure!

While we were there, a mom waited with her two month old and a two year old toddler for her husband to come down the chute-so I got a baby fix!

Now, we did go into Jackson Hole several times-trying to get our mail! If you are traveling, I DO NOT recommend using JH for a mail drop-we have been delayed several days because of it, and I don't believe it was the source (Jack's mail came from Livingston, mine from POS). Luckily for us, Ken and Carolyn Kimpton are staying in Thayne at Star Valley Ranch Resort and helped us get comfortable here-We rented Dave and Brenda Neil's site while we were here-we had a lovely visit!

Jackson Hole still tries to keep that old Western flavor...A stagecoach meanders around the town square and offers rides...

Anyone who's been to Jackson Hole recognizes the Elkhorn arches positioned at each corner of the town square-nice to see they survived! Now we head for ID to visit a dear friend  of Jack's, then heading west-home, Toto!

#32 This and That

We took a side trip with just the car and drove to SD to see a few small towns....Sturgis is one of them! We got there just after the big motorcycle rally-now I can say I've been to 

Sturgis (even have a t-shirt thanks to Jack) and I don't need to go back!

This is the Crazy Horse Monument-the face is almost finished and Jack says the hole is new from  the last time he was there....It's going to take a long, long time! 

This is a monument to Wild Bill Hickock-actually it's his burial place-Deadwood...

This is Lead...the biggest gold mine in the US. Jack was very surprised to learn it was closed down...

We couldn't be this close and not re-visit the Devils Tower....

Still magnificent! We chose not to go to Mt. Rushmore 'cause we both have been there, done that.

The road to Cody from SD was so georgeous...Here's the monument to Buffalo Bill in front of the Museum.

And here's a look at Yellowstone Lake from the East Entrance

More memories...I worked at this store in Mammoth Hot Springs about 10 years ago when it was owned and operated by Hamilton

Ooops! We were just driving around in our camp (Grant) when this beautiful Elk came rambling by....

This is the firehole-fishermen say you can catch your trout and put it in this hole and it will cook in no time!

And, no pictures of Yellowstone would be complete without a few buff......