California - Final Days - Petrified Forest and Grandpa Roundy

On the drive home we stopped at a KOA to stay the night where Dad had to hide his pink toenails form the burly truck drivers in the shower and then drove through the Petrified Forest National Park. We then stopped to see Grandpa Roundy in Albuquerque where the girls left little notes everywhere to make him smile and finally we made it home. We hope to visit California again soon, it was an amazing trip!! Thank you everyone!!

Log at the KOA

Their breakfasts aren't bad!

We found one of those awesome slides, the kind they don't seem to make anymore. 

Ben became a tree hugger. 

Dad made them run sprints since they had been in the car so long. 

 It has been almost 15 years and he can still smile when he's been on a 10 day trip with this many females!!

Goodbye pretty elevation. We will miss you!

Grandpa!!!!

They love visiting him :) 

Hello Midland!

California - The Sequoia National Forest

We left family and comfort and headed north to the Sequoia National Forest. As we were driving our new pop up camper along the roads we started wondering if maybe our imaginations had exceeded reality. You come over a crest though and see them. The largest trees in the world. There are more pictures but somehow they aren't coming up.

General Sherman. The world's biggest tree.

They were awe inspiring. We all felt like ants. 

Hand to Hand. We still couldn't circle them.

 

Dad, the brave explorer

Hannah, the Little Explorer

And then we saw the bears. We saw 7 the first day and 8 the next day (some of them might have been the same bear from the day before).  This one we followed for awhile. He left us alone and we kept thinking how lucky we were....well, the girls and dad did. Mom was a little scared. Then we saw another bear behind us. We veered a little to not get in any bear's path when we looked up and saw one looking directly down at us from a rock. It just got crazy from there. 

Hard to make out but this is a mom with two cubs. 

A man by the name of Hale Tharp lived in a hollowed out log up with his cattle. The girls like our camper better. 

Tharp's eating area. 

These were fun to play on. They look like rocks but are the fallen trees. 

Now you see her. 

Now you don't.

We want Grandma to paint this one. 

This bear started following us up the trail. We kept looking back and he kept getting closer. We were in the middle of nowhere, on a back trail, with no one near by. When we got to Settler's Cabin we found a roll of smarties and some M&Ms in the backpack. Didn't know if it was the food he smelled or just a coincidence but it got our adrenaline pumping!!

This is what it looks like when you run away from a bear ;)

We had reached Settler's Cabin and escaped the bear stopped following us. I was behind the cabin checking things out and came around to see Ben taking this picture. There was a bear sneaking up behind him. The girls hadn't seen it yet because of the angle but it was only about 15 feet away when I yelled and it turned and ran. 

This is how Sadie looks when she thinks there must be bears behind her.

Hitching a ride and then falling asleep. 

This is the view of Moro Rock. We climbed to the top :) 

We were going to eat granola bars and camping food the whole time but we found this pizza place. It was SOOO good we came back the next night too. 

Wildlife is always fun!

The pop up camper was awesome. Easy to set up, everyone was comfy, and we could play poker at night by the lamp. The final loser had to wash Sadie's smelly feet. Luckily Sadie lost and had to wash her own feet. 

Reading Little House on the Prairie with the sounds of wildlife outside.