The Short Version:
Went to Redding, saw a friend.
Went to Yosemite N.P., loved it.
Went to Carpinteria, CA, visited a long lost cousin.
Went to Palm Springs, visited aunt and uncle and also old neighbors of mine.
Went to Tucson, stayed with grandparents.
Went to Biosphere 2- pretty cool.
Couchsurfed in Las Cruces with Aaron and Jonny, had fun.
Went to Carlsbad Caverns N.P., maybe coolest thing I have ever seen.
Came to Austin, visiting a friend we met in S.A.
Headed to Dallas tomorrow.
The Long Version:
What a ride we have had so far! (pun intended) Many rides actually. We started last Wednesday the 13th departing Albany, OR and heading straight for the California sun. Our first stop was in Redding, CA where we caught up with our friend Eric. It was great seeing him and he encouraged us to dream. It was really fitting that we see him first and have dreaming be the theme of our time. So here we are, dreaming...
From Redding we went straight to Yosemite National Park. Breathtaking, speechless, in awe. What a beautiful place. We decided to camp two nights (two very cold nights) so that we could have at least one full day there. We did a grueling hike to the top of Yosemite Falls. A great falls with great views along the way. For some reason I really love looking at valleys, especially unique ones like this.
From Yosemite it was pedal to the metal again. (actually we drive the speed limit for best fuel economy like any good green oregonian would)(hannah wants to add tight-wad to that list) :) We went over to a small coastal town near Santa Barbara called, Carpinteria. It was a great little town. My cousin Kevin lives there. He was out of town for the night, so he let us stay in his humble home. We love humble little homes, especially because of coming from our fifth wheel. It was soo great and such a blessing. Having a little place of our own for the night, getting some laundry done etc, was awesome. We caught up with Kevin when he got back in to town and he toured us a round a bit. A lot of fun and mostly awesome to catch up with cousins you havent talked to in years.
Next on the journey was Palm Springs. We stayed for two nights there with Hannahs aunt and uncle. They are really fun people and we hit them at the perfect time as they both had presidents day off. So we got to hang out with them and talk good life stuff with each other. We were encouraged many ways from them. Getting to know people can be so much fun sometimes. What a pleasure to have been able to get to know them more.
While we were in Palm Springs we were able to connect with some childhood neighbors of mine. They moved away around 2000 and it might have been that long since I had seen them. They were kind of like another set of grandparents to me growing up. They had all the fun toys and things to do. Ron taught me to ride a motorcycle, took me flying, took me up in his hot air balloon, took me for a special motorcycle ride and lunch for my 12th birthday... stuff like that. So it was so much fun introducing Hannah to them. We shared pictures of the past few years, many stories and of course stories of things that I never remembered. It was funny accessing that side of my memory and reliving some of my childhood with people that obviously cared about me. Such a blessing.
From Palm Springs we detoured from our planned course. We saw a blizzard coming in to Southern Utah and decided to skip Zion N.P. and Bryce Canyon N.P. My grandparents from Salem were also on a road trip of their own and they were in Tucson, so we met up with them their and stayed a night with them. That was Really fun for us because we got to see more of how my dad is like them. It was funny. What a hoot :)
While in Tucson we went to the Biosphere 2. A really cool place where a lot of scientific research is done about different ecosystems. They are these huge buildings with 4 different ecosystems in them. One of the most impressive was the Amazon rain forest. Inside this one gigantic room was the amazon rain forest. The guide told us that at this exact moment, what it feels like temp/humidity, everything about it, is the exact same as in the amazon rain forest in Brazil right then. He said "congratulations, you have just arrived in Brazil", pretty cool. So not only was their a lot of scientific stuff, but how the whole building operated as well, which was just as impressive if not more. You can look into that more on your own if you like. (and I know some of you will)
When we came out of the Biosphere 2 there was about 3 inches of snow on our car. The blizzard came suddenly. Luckily we were able to drive our way out of it. We got all the way to Las Cruces, NM. where we stayed with a couple of guys that accepted our couchsurfing request. They were very hospitable and we really had a great time hanging out with them for the night. Sharing the journey is such a fun thing.
From Las Cruces we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. EASILY one of the best things I have ever seen. SOOO. SOOO. SOOO COOL. We loved it. 750 ft down into the earth (about 16 stories) is the biggest best cavern/cave you have ever seen. I thought I was batman for a little bit :) It has all these amazing rock formations and the place is just HUGE. About 6.2 football fields can fit in their. I will never be able to explain how awesome it was. I hope you can see it sometime in your life.
I like seeing big stuff, especially naturally formed big stuff. SO COOL.
We are now in Austin TX visiting a friend that we met in South Africa last year. We just drove/walked a lot of the city today.
And tomorrow we head for Dallas.
We hope this blupdate finds you all well. What a joy life can be if you just let it be :) (had to put in my cool, hipster, blog thing to say)
Love you guys,
C(&H)
Went to Redding, saw a friend.
Went to Yosemite N.P., loved it.
Went to Carpinteria, CA, visited a long lost cousin.
Went to Palm Springs, visited aunt and uncle and also old neighbors of mine.
Went to Tucson, stayed with grandparents.
Went to Biosphere 2- pretty cool.
Couchsurfed in Las Cruces with Aaron and Jonny, had fun.
Went to Carlsbad Caverns N.P., maybe coolest thing I have ever seen.
Came to Austin, visiting a friend we met in S.A.
Headed to Dallas tomorrow.
The Long Version:
What a ride we have had so far! (pun intended) Many rides actually. We started last Wednesday the 13th departing Albany, OR and heading straight for the California sun. Our first stop was in Redding, CA where we caught up with our friend Eric. It was great seeing him and he encouraged us to dream. It was really fitting that we see him first and have dreaming be the theme of our time. So here we are, dreaming...
From Redding we went straight to Yosemite National Park. Breathtaking, speechless, in awe. What a beautiful place. We decided to camp two nights (two very cold nights) so that we could have at least one full day there. We did a grueling hike to the top of Yosemite Falls. A great falls with great views along the way. For some reason I really love looking at valleys, especially unique ones like this.
From Yosemite it was pedal to the metal again. (actually we drive the speed limit for best fuel economy like any good green oregonian would)(hannah wants to add tight-wad to that list) :) We went over to a small coastal town near Santa Barbara called, Carpinteria. It was a great little town. My cousin Kevin lives there. He was out of town for the night, so he let us stay in his humble home. We love humble little homes, especially because of coming from our fifth wheel. It was soo great and such a blessing. Having a little place of our own for the night, getting some laundry done etc, was awesome. We caught up with Kevin when he got back in to town and he toured us a round a bit. A lot of fun and mostly awesome to catch up with cousins you havent talked to in years.
Next on the journey was Palm Springs. We stayed for two nights there with Hannahs aunt and uncle. They are really fun people and we hit them at the perfect time as they both had presidents day off. So we got to hang out with them and talk good life stuff with each other. We were encouraged many ways from them. Getting to know people can be so much fun sometimes. What a pleasure to have been able to get to know them more.
While we were in Palm Springs we were able to connect with some childhood neighbors of mine. They moved away around 2000 and it might have been that long since I had seen them. They were kind of like another set of grandparents to me growing up. They had all the fun toys and things to do. Ron taught me to ride a motorcycle, took me flying, took me up in his hot air balloon, took me for a special motorcycle ride and lunch for my 12th birthday... stuff like that. So it was so much fun introducing Hannah to them. We shared pictures of the past few years, many stories and of course stories of things that I never remembered. It was funny accessing that side of my memory and reliving some of my childhood with people that obviously cared about me. Such a blessing.
From Palm Springs we detoured from our planned course. We saw a blizzard coming in to Southern Utah and decided to skip Zion N.P. and Bryce Canyon N.P. My grandparents from Salem were also on a road trip of their own and they were in Tucson, so we met up with them their and stayed a night with them. That was Really fun for us because we got to see more of how my dad is like them. It was funny. What a hoot :)
While in Tucson we went to the Biosphere 2. A really cool place where a lot of scientific research is done about different ecosystems. They are these huge buildings with 4 different ecosystems in them. One of the most impressive was the Amazon rain forest. Inside this one gigantic room was the amazon rain forest. The guide told us that at this exact moment, what it feels like temp/humidity, everything about it, is the exact same as in the amazon rain forest in Brazil right then. He said "congratulations, you have just arrived in Brazil", pretty cool. So not only was their a lot of scientific stuff, but how the whole building operated as well, which was just as impressive if not more. You can look into that more on your own if you like. (and I know some of you will)
When we came out of the Biosphere 2 there was about 3 inches of snow on our car. The blizzard came suddenly. Luckily we were able to drive our way out of it. We got all the way to Las Cruces, NM. where we stayed with a couple of guys that accepted our couchsurfing request. They were very hospitable and we really had a great time hanging out with them for the night. Sharing the journey is such a fun thing.
From Las Cruces we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. EASILY one of the best things I have ever seen. SOOO. SOOO. SOOO COOL. We loved it. 750 ft down into the earth (about 16 stories) is the biggest best cavern/cave you have ever seen. I thought I was batman for a little bit :) It has all these amazing rock formations and the place is just HUGE. About 6.2 football fields can fit in their. I will never be able to explain how awesome it was. I hope you can see it sometime in your life.
I like seeing big stuff, especially naturally formed big stuff. SO COOL.
We are now in Austin TX visiting a friend that we met in South Africa last year. We just drove/walked a lot of the city today.
And tomorrow we head for Dallas.
We hope this blupdate finds you all well. What a joy life can be if you just let it be :) (had to put in my cool, hipster, blog thing to say)
Love you guys,
C(&H)
