Family Reunion Time!

Day 15 - 21

We Wish We All Could Be "Northern" California Girls!  Originally I was!!!  So our next stop was back to my roots in Fair Oaks, California.  There is nothing more wonderful than to pull up and see a home that has so many treasured memories.  The smell when you walk through the door just makes me practically limp, like I want to flop on the couch for hours and drink it all in!  Not to mention the wonderful people I get to claim as parents that hug and kiss you and make it PERFECT! (HOME: there is no place like it) So not only were my parents there, but my brother, his wife and his two children.  I was so excited!  That afternoon there was church and a quick stop to visit a close friend from high school, who just happened to be in town one day overlapping with me.  It was short, but wonderful! A few days at the Johnson suite then off to camping at Bodega Dunes.  We had so much fun.  The air was crisp and cold, but the love was warm.  We did family skits one night that were a hit, (my youngest sister taught us how to belly dance) and we all shared favorite memories about my, one and only brother who was turning "40"!  We spent two days at the beach, ate sandy gummy bears, taco salad(every Johnson's favorite), collected shells, played games, had scooter races, made crafts, climbed trees, got dirty and much more.  It was AWESOME!

Taco Salad Rocks!  If you ever visit a Johnson Family for dinner, it is guaranteed that this meal will probably be served!

Cousins rock!  click on this picture for a closer look!  They are touching their noses with their tongues!

Scooter Races!

Campfire!

Our newest addition, Baby Myles Castillas.  (What a Doll)

All the grandkids!

Sisters!

Relay races on the beach!

Those wonderful Northern beach waves!

The famous climbing tree!

Behind the scene pictures!

Attack of those Wyoming Mosquitos! No these are not my hairy legs, they are Dwane's!

The flash took away how black these little feet were!  

Tent fun!

Dwane laughed so hard when he saw this sign we had to take a picture!(Crater Lake)

They Might be Giants!

Day 13 and 14

By far this was our favorite campsite.  The REDWOODS surrounded us and the kids couldn't believe how big they were.  They are so beautiful.  We went to this tourist trap where they have a statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe his ox, and low and behold Paul talks.  There is actually a man in this huge statue that personalizes each conversation.  Alexa was so excited about this that she started flapping, Paul commented,"Wow, you are waving with both hands!"  It was fun!  We loved crawling through the trees trunks and riding above them on an sky tram.  We viewed an ospreys nest and oohed and awed over the chain saw sculptures.  Hurray we officially made it from coast to coast! 

The beautiful Trees of Mystery!

Climbing through tree roots!

Redwoods Grow trees out of existing trees.  Here is a fallen tree that has three more trees growing out of it!  Cool huh!

Chain saw sculpture!

This picture cracks me up! They were trying to see if Dwane was right when he told them the trees were so tall that they couldn't see the top!

Crater Lake (Oregon)

Day 12 

BREATH TAKING! If you want to see something that gives you chills this is a place to get them. Unfortunately the pictures do not do this justice.  What we thought was most interesting about our summer travels is that we had been spending most of our time in places that were created by Volcanos.  Yellowstone, Craters of the Moon, and Crater Lake.  Fascinating huh!  Anyway the campsite was beautiful and everything smelled like pine the kids had the best time playing on the piles of snow and getting dirty!  We felt like pro campers by now!  You would be amazed at how fast we could put up and take down the tent.  Madeline we found out is a master tent roller!  Go Madeline!!

The family!

I wish these pictures did this amazing lake justice!

Who would have thought snow in mid July!  This was definitely and unexpected treat!

Madeline and Robb made the family hoagies for dinner.  They loved the part about throwing them in the fire!  They were amazingly delicious even the burnt crispy parts!

Our Little Bears!  Dwane was so excited about the "Bear Box" I guess this is a manly thing to have on your campsite.  The kids thought it was fun to hide in.  Alexa and Kate played puppy for at least an hour, closing each other in it! (it was easy to keep an eye on them)

Stayin' in Idaho Falls!

Day 11 

Just a travelin' day!  Some of our favorite memories about this place is our view of the Idaho Falls temple, though I was a little concerned when we drove around to our room and there was a Magic touch Massage!!!! (this was a last minute stop so hotels were limited) Yikes!!  If you are from N.C. you'll know why I was creeped out!  We ate our breakfast out by the river yet before we were done we were attacked by a gaggle of geese they were not friendly at all!  We had to run for our lives to the car.  It was funny!  We drove until we hit Crater Lake!

My favorite, sprinklers in open fields.

Killer Geese!

Idaho Falls Temple!

Kate's favorite sleeping position!

Craters of the Moon! (Idaho)

Day 10 

Idaho has some very neat attractions.  This one is located in the middle of nowhere. By far was the most unique thing we have seen.  For miles it looks like you are on another planet.  The earth is blackened with lava rock, cinder cones and lava tunnels.  It was fascinating.  It was created by a rift which is when the earth cracks open and lets out hot magna.  The kids loved it.

Lava Beds!

Climbing a cinder cone!

Hiking through lava tunnels.  These tunnels were made when hot lava ran under the surface of the earth.

Fry Sauce!

FRY SAUCE:  For some of you this definition for these two words would be "Ketchup", but for those of us who have ever spent any amount of time in Utah or Idaho you would know different!  So for those of you who don't know let me give my best definition of FRY SAUCE!  

Mayo...Ketchup...Pickle Relish...mix it all together to make a tangy pinkish colored fry dip! Many who try it are instantly addicted, others despise it!  Here are our reviews on the Frostop fry sauce:

Dwane: 9

Megan: 7

Madeline: 7 (first experience) 

Robb: 4 (tolerable)

Alexa: 0 (refused to try, it smelled yucky)

Kate: 10 (she dipped everything in it)

What are your thoughts on the stuff?

The famous Frostop!

Can you see the excitement on Dwane's face?  He can hardly wait to dip into some "Fry Sauce"

More Yellowstone!

Yellowstone - the Readers Digest version!

There she blows! (Old Faithful)

The stinky, but very cool bubbly paint pots!

Campin' kids!

Mud Pies anyone?

Day 7, 8 and 9

So after a refreshing night of uno and snuggling with a bunch of wiggly excited kids in the tent, we woke refreshed and ready to tour Yellowstone.  We lucked out to see a Buffalo and her calf, Elk with babies and a lot of birds.  We decided that Moose do not exist and that the mosquito is Wyoming's state bird.  The kids favorite parts of yellowstone were the geysers and bubbling paint pots, not to mention they really loved wading in the rivers trying to catch fish. Our second day in Yellowstone we went fishing.  What fun!  I think we untangled more lines than fished, but it was sure fun.  Kate sat on the bank and had the best time making mud pies.  

   We were all amazed at the height of the Old Faithful Lodge and climbed the stairs as high as possible.  We loved the ranger station were we took a couple classes and qualified for a Junior Ranger badge.  I could go on and on.  This park is just to amazing for words.

Buffalo or Bison?  Kate says, Bubble-o!

Fishing, what an amazing view!

Yellowstone - Junior Rangers

Yellowstone!

Camping!

Cascade Falls

Old Faithful Lodge

Old Faithful Lodge on the outside!

Watch out Yellowstone here we come!

Day -6

We woke late and packed for another day of traveling! 6 hours to Yellowstone!  But before we could leave we said good bye to cute Grandma Great who looked great!  Dwane promised her breakfast!  This was a sweet experience.  Because of our late start we didn't have time to grab breakfast and the kids were disappointed that they might not be able to eat at the restaurant they had hope and after a lot of convincing and a fair amount of tears from still tired kids we went to take Grandma her breakfast! After our visit, we hopped into the car and Madeline said, that when she saw how excited Grandma was to get her fancy breakfast she forgot all about herself and was so excited just to see Grandma that she didn't care about breakfast. The other kids agreed they felt the same. Little lessons sometimes come when unexpected! (Don't worry they didn't go with out breakfast Dwane surprised them and took them to a fun restaurant)

The rest of the day was filled with a few stops in Cache Valley to see Utah State, and Dwane and I 's first home.  We bought some gear for camping then, headed to Bear Lake for a Raspberry Shake.  YUMMMMM!  When we finally reached the outskirts of Teton National Park the view of the mountains were so breathe taking.  The kids loved watching the white water rafters on the snake river and keeping their eyes peeled for wildlife.  

Utah Canyon

"Taco Bell" (Dwane and My first Bungalow, Cache Valley, Utah)

Bear Lake and the home of the famous Raspberry Shakes!

The TETONS!

Home Sweet Home!