Since the Navy only shipped one of our cars to Hawaii, we drove my car up to Oregon to leave it with my family while we are gone. We drove about 1400 miles in 4 days, and it was a great trip. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted all of the pictures from the second half of the trip, so I will just have to write about that part. The first night, we drove through San Diego County, up past LA, stopped for dinner in Bakersfield, and then spent the night in Visalia, about 45 minutes outside Sequoia National Park. The next morning, we drove up to the park, picked up our free national parks pass (I love military discounts!) and started up the mountain for an adventure. It was so beautiful!
Massive trees and beautiful mountains
We walked around a corner on one of the paths and realized that this guy was about 50 feet away. I had never seen a bear in the wild before. It was a little scary but so cool! He walked around for a few minutes and then got spooked by some other people and ran off. Awesome!
I don't know how you can help but feel God's love walking around a place like this. It was so majestic and peaceful. I'm grateful we have national parks to save some of our most beautiful places.
After our drive through Sequoia, we ventured into California's beautiful central valley. I have never seen so many different things being grown in one place. It was fascinating. We stopped at a fruit stand and bought some of the most beautiful peaches and nectarines I have ever seen. I had to take advantage of the "washing well" because it was just so charming.
That is the last picture before my tragic picture transferring fiasco. We spent that night in Chico with Kelson's brother, David. We hadn't seen him since our wedding, and it was great to catch up. The next morning, we went to church in Redding and then drove over the border into the great state of Oregon and went to Crater Lake. That was our 2nd national park for the trip. Again, the beauty was breathtaking. It was also freezing. We went from 90 degrees earlier in the day to probably around 40 at the lake. Brrr! It was worth it though. I borrowed this picture from http://maddox2.wikispaces.com/Crater+Lake.
From Crater Lake, we drove through more beautiful countryside to Bend to spend the night there. We had plans to go to Sisters the next morning, but we hit a little bump in the road when I got sick and my doctor told me I needed to go to urgent care. It fortunately didn't take too long, and we were out of Bend by early afternoon.
We skipped our detour to Sisters and made time to stop at the John Day Fossil Beds instead. We were too late to stop at the part with the most fossils, but we got to see the painted hills. The geology there was fascinating, especially for a rock nerd like Kelson. I borrowed this photo too.
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| http://www.lovethesepics.com/2011/04/mind-blowing-kaleidoscope-of-colors-at-painted-hills-50-fantastic-pics/ |
We enjoyed the rest of the beautiful drive home to Baker, arriving a little later than scheduled, but it was a great trip. I love being from such a beautiful part of the country!
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