Day 7: Sacramento

Finally, a day with NO driving! We started out the day with a nice breakfast outdoors, with some good ol' traditional Portugese Linguisa. We were fortunate to see many relatives during our brief visit to Sacramento, including Aunt Joanie, Cousin Andrea, Uncle Eric Hill, Grandma Patsy, Grandpa Jim Soares & Tina, and of course...Grandpa Mike & Grandma Cyndi who drove their coach down from Portland! We spent most of the day visiting, catching up, and getting to know each other.

We split up for the afternoon to chill out for a while. Eric, Preston, and Grandpa Mike did some fishing. While Grandma Cyndi, Grandma Patsy, Addison, and I drove around Folsom & did a little shopping.

We had dinner with Eric's long-time friends, Jeff & Noel who live just around the corner from our stay. We had a great time at their beautiful home & Jeff even took the kids for a ride in the cool car he built!

The night was wrapped up with some games & drinks. Of course - that means some yummy milk latte's by Barista Cyndi!

A milk latte

Owned (left) Rented (right)

Notice the large Texas flag. Eric said he 'Didn't come to Play. He came to Represent".

Grandpa Jim Soares, Preston 7 yrs, Addison 10 yrs

Grandma Patsy, Addison, Preston

Preston, Addison, Cyndi, Grandpa Jim, Tina

Eric, Francie

4 generations: Eric, Preston, Jim, Michael

Preston, Grandpa Jim Soares, Addison

Preston & his big Catch (see below)

Addison & Jeff Fick

Jeff & Eric

Francie, Eric, Jeff, Noel

Uncle Eric Hill & Addison

Oooh! Late night Latte's!

Preston literally fell asleep in the middle of the floor about 3 minutes after getting his latte.

Day 6: to Sacramento

After a good night's sleep under the glow of the WalMart parking lot, we got back on the road and were not far from Reno/Tahoe. We stopped at Donner Lake to swing by the old Walker cabin, viewed a local park with the famous Donner family story, and then drove to the Shingle Springs (CA) KOA where the Grandparents were waiting!

Donner Lake

Donner Lake State Park

Day 5: Yellowstone!

Day 5 consisted of spending most of our day taking in the sights of Yellowstone. We packed up early & took the big bohemeth (aka RV) over to the Old Faithful section of Yellowstone. Prepared with our walking shoes & sweatshirts, we headed out for about a 2 mile walk full of different geysers & different water/mud-spewing natural formations.

The very first stop was Old Faithful, erupting an average of every 75 minutes. We were fortunate to only wait about 5-10 minutes to see it blow. We continued down the path for a few hours and saw numerous geysers, natural springs, and various formations.

After leaving the geyser area, we stopped for a few more wildlife viewing opportunities, picked up Addison & Preston's Junior Ranger badges (upon swearing them in), and headed out the West exit on our way to Sacramento!!

Almost immediately, we were in Montana and then Idaho. I was so surprised to be in Idaho, realizing that my sister & family were only a stone's throw (okay, maybe like 5 hours) away and I didn't get to see them or their home. Sob, sob. We continued through the Idaho farmlands for quite a while. We finally stopped at the only restaurant open for dinner at 10 pm: Ihop. We didn't even know what time zone we were in at this point. About 4 hours later, Eric decided to pull over for a rest in Elko, Nevada. We tried so hard to make it to California, but just couldn't do it. So we pulled into the WalMart parking lot & were surprised to see the entire perimeter surrounded with RV's and 18 wheelers, much like us. We got a good 4+ hour rest here.

Old Faithful

Even more impressive than Old Faithful, was a geyser called Beehive. I don't recall how often it erupts, but the geyser was much bigger than O.F.

Junior Ranger #1

Junior Ranger #2

We were SO close to Aunt Emilie (really about 5 hours)

Old Faithful

Day 4: Thermopolis to Yellowstone

It took us just a few hours to arrive at Yellowstone. This was one of the more beautiful drives we took. We passed through a really cute town -Cody, WY - that I would like to go back & spend some time in.
Once we arrived in Yellowstone (YEA!!) we still had about an hour drive to our campsite (BOO!!). But it was really cool to see the clear sky, waterfalls, wildlife everywhere. I think the most amazing part of Yellowstone is that there are no fences in the 2.2 million acres of the park.

This is where we encountered the first of many road construction areas - 'Your Recovery Dollars at Work.' This is also where we jostled on the uneven pavement, resulting in a huge cracked windshield. Bummer! It was not the first damage done...and it would not be the last.

Once we arrived at the campsite & got all set up, it was a gorgeous afternoon! We hopped on the mountain bikes and took off to check out Grant Village. Our first stop was the Grant Village visitor center, where the kids picked up their Junior Ranger packets and got right to work. We had dinner down by the lake (with water averaging 45 degrees). The national parks are lacking in the restaurant business....

After dinner we made it to 2 ranger programs - one about Birds and another about Bears. I was so impressed with both Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon's Park Ranger programs. The people we saw were so friendly & knowledgeable and did a great job with each topic they covered. Both with the information & delivery.

At the Bird Talk

Preston said, 'what's a Slow Ranger Check?'

That's where they check for slow rangers!

At the Bear Talk