Even though we are a bit road weary, this trip has been so much fun. The kids have been great, we have been blessed with great weather, and we are seeing things that we all will remember for a lifetime. I highly recommend driving around the country, there is so much to see. Thought I would add a few more pics from the last few days.

My beautiful girls and handsom boy watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon.

This was a hawk soaring overhead when we first got to the GC. At first he was lower and closer but I am no quickdraw with the camera.

This is a California Condor who was sitting on a rock about 300 yards down in the GC. Condors originally lived in this area when it was the coast, they moved with the shoreline to California as the ocean receeded (several million years ago they say). The Park Service has reintroduced them to the GC and they are doing well.

Here is a glimps of the Colorado River which was about 4600 ft. below and 5 miles away from where we were. You can see the bridge across the river that hikers use to cross to get to the North Rim, Its only 11 air miles, but 24 foot miles. Jean bought a book telling about all the people who don't make it, usually because they run out of water.

On out way from LV to GC the sun was setting as the moon rose. I hope I got a better picture than this, but you get the idea.

We have been 5243 miles since we left home. For those who were wondering, Jean does drive the RV, and does a great job too.

On the way to Las Vegas we drove through a stretch of desert that was nothing but sand.
We rode down Las Vegas Blvd. and went to a really good buffett.

Lake Mead.

Because of the construction (they are building a bypass around the dam), you couldn't see the other side of the dam.

The next thing you know, we are at the Grand Canyon.

The South Rim is about 7000 ft in elevation, the Colorado River is at around 2400 ft. The North Rim is 11 miles away from where we are sitting here.

These are Navajo Indians dancing at the Grand Canyon.











This guy was grazing beside the road, he even sat down and posed for pictures.

Sunset from where the Grand View Hotel used to be.

Today we drove through Monument Valley, which starts in Arizona and runs into Utah, on the way to Mesa Verda, Colorado.

Somewhere around here Forrest Gump got tired of running and went home.

Mexican Hat Rock.

We have been 4634 miles since we left home. We have been away from internet and cell service for several days. On July 2, we started the day with a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory just north of San Francisco, It was a very yummy tour.

We traveled all day and the next day we were at Yosemite NP. Again I have to say that words and pictures don't do the place justice.......

Normally the sky would be crystal clear this time of year, but a lightning fire was burning in the park.

Here we are cooling our toes in the pool below Yosemite Fall (not falls).

I think this is Brideveil Fall.

The view from Glacier Point, thats snow in the distance on mountains 12000 feet high.

You had to drive through the fire to get to and from Glacier Point.

That is Yosemite Valley 3200 feet below Glacier Point. It takes an hour to travel that 3200 feet by vehicle.

We took it easy on July 4th with a swim in the river and relaxing on the beach. This is the view from our beach spot.

There was not much shade so when another family asked if they could share ours we said sure, in return they loaned the kids their floats, they would walk way around the bend and float down.

On our way our of the park we stopped at a grove of Sequoia's, this is the roots of one that fell over 100 years ago.

This one was named for Gracie.......

July 5 we went to Kings Canyon/Sequoia NP's. Incredible is all I can say.

This is the Sherman Tree, the largest living thing on earth. It is 106 feet around at the base and 275 feet tall.

There's always time to fish. Hume Lake in the Sequoia NF.

On our way to Las Vegas we found 100's of windmills.

We spent yesterday, June 30, in San Francisco.

The Golden Gate Bridge. We walked out to the first tower while we were there.

As you can see, the "June Gloom" was here too. This was the view from the parking lot of Fort Point, a military fort that was here before the bridge was built.

These are surfers catching the wave beside Fort Point.

Downtown SF and one of the many streets that go up and up and up.



A SF trolly. The metro also runs on the streets in places here and many of the city busses have arms reaching up to electric lines.

We rode all over town and saw many interesting sites. We stayed the night at a hotel in Berkely right on the bay (had a free night that expired today). The kids were able to swim for several hours and we had some delisious Italian food near the U of C campus.

We have been 3274 miles since we left home.

After our Disney fun Friday night we headed north to the big citySaturdaymorning.

If you want graffiti, LA has it.

LA downtown.

I figured Hollywood on a Saturday morning should be pretty tame, but it was a zoo of Michael Jackson fans and other weirdos.

I also thought traffic would not be bad.........oh well.

Hollywood Boulevard.

We saw Edward Sissorhands, Elvis, Maylin Monroe, Jason (the guy in the mask), Indiana Jones, and Darth Vader.

The walk of fame was fun.




We rode down Sunset Blvd to Santa Monica Blvd. We drove through Bevery Hills (no Jed in sight) and Rodeo Drive and we ended up at the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica.



This was later in the evening on the Santa Monica Pier.
Standing in the Pacific, it was cold!!!! Like going to a North Carolina beach in late November.






The next morning we drove up the Pacific Coast Hwy. and stopped for a swim, well it was so cold even the kids didn't get all the way in.

The locals call it the "June Gloom" when the inland heat draws the fog from offshore onto the beach. There was a mountain about a half mile off the beach but we didn't see it for an hour.
We continued up to Monterey Bay but it was so foggy that we could not see any scenery.

Monday morning was spent at the Monterey Aquiarium, it was awsome.

We had lunch at this place....delicious!

Then we drove back down the PCH to see some of the stuff we missed in the fog the day before.

Words and pictures can't convey how beautiful this area is.

Its hard to tell. but this was about a 400 foot drop from where we spent the night to the ocean.














We are now about 15 miles south of San Francisco waitting for rush hour to end.

I will post more on the last couple days, I have skipped over a lot.