Career move...

We went whitewater rafting on the American river near Lake Tahoe and ordered the photos on disc- they arrived yesterday, and are a great reminder of a brilliant day.
Emily has decided she wants to teach rafting all summer (and snowboard all winter!!). She was totally fearless and actually sat on the front for part of the journey, dangling her legs in the river......
Last summer she got into jetskis too- she obviously likes the fast and furious lifestyle- I am keeping her away from motorbikes for a while........!

(double click on the pics to see her expressions!)

Gorgeous!

We organised some photos last night, and I love this one which Nigel took on the banks of Lake Tahoe.

Watch out!

Seeing the Grizzly Man reminded me of how powerful the visual image is, and how it shapes our behaviour.
Watching the Discovery channel (June 23rd post) and seeing signs like this had an amazing effect on the kids at the beach!! They refused to go in further than ankle deep, and so boogy boarding was out of the question! We did discover the answer though....a skim board! And had a lot of fun in the very shallow water, whilst watching the rest of the world 'surfing USA'....

Grizzly!!

Well, life is back to the mundane again. The kids have been back in VBS Bible school this week, with a Western theme- so they have been 'hooting and hollering' with a few 'yee haws' thrown in!! I am not sure what they are learning, but they are having fun!
We watched 'the Grizzly Man' last night, about a man who spent 13 summers in the wilds of Alaska with grizzly bears. It was a documentary, and I have to say I was expecting a 60yr old man with a fuzzy beard- a shock to discover an Owen Wilson lookalike, with blonde hair, shades, and bandana! He was a Hollywood dropout who decided bears were nicer than people- but of course they weren't really, and he met a grizzly end! Great film if you don't like sleeping!!!I was seriously disturbed by it- and jolly glad not to have seen it before going to Yosemite!!

Las Vegas

We broke the drive from Yosemite to Phoenix by stopping in Las Vegas for a night. On the first 7hrs of the journey we saw 1 gas station (eek!), 3 brothels and an ice cream parlour!!! It had to be the most tedious journey of all time! Vegas then loomed upon us......
We arrived to 106 degrees and a dust storm, so we walked 'the Strip' with our eyes closed- and declared it was probably the best way to do it! We saw the amazing dancing water outside the Bellagio, and some of the weird hotel fronts. The pirates at Treasure Island refused to climb the mast in a thunderstorm (meanies!)and cancelled the show, so we jostled back along the road with the crowds. Busy, loud, bright and brash, and a total assault on the senses- and despite the amazing pools in the hotel (5 pools- lazy river, wave pools etc...)it was an experience we would not wish to repeat in a hurry!

Back to Phoenix via the Hoover Dam, more spectacular scenery, and a journey a million times more interesting than the previous day!

Yosemite

Absolutely stunning.
The photos do no justice to it whatsoever.....

If you go down in the woods today.....(you're in for a big surprise!)

We drove throught the fabulous Yosemite park- awesome scenery, the sort of stuff which makes you think about God...
And, at the last minute decided to camp in the park, and were directed to a wooded area full of pines (and apparently bears...). We were totally shocked to discover that our next door neighbours were Mark and Lizzy Smith!! Lizzy and Nigel led worship together over 10 years ago(when St Toms was only at Crookes), and then they moved to Nottingham and now worship at Trent Vineyard.
So, we had a lovely evening by the campfire reminiscing and drinking wine, and encouraging and praying for each other- a real Kairos moment in an awesome place.

Amazingly, Ben has just finished GCSEs and the other kids are looking pretty grown up too! (Jess was still a baby when they left)
I love stuff like this happening in life......

$93.00 v. $3.90

We took the gondola up to the top of Heavenly ski resort, with fantastic panoramic views over Lake Tahoe,and made the 0.8mile(!!) hike around the top. Sweet music all the way- "are we nearly there? how long will this take? my legs hurt....."
We came down and found a toy shop,and spent pocket money- on a very cheap pack of plastic Cowboys and Indians, complete with tepee and covered wagon. The rock at the back of the campsite was quickly converted into a fort, with twigs, stones, mud and even a lake, and the day was declared the 'best ever!!'

Lake Tahoe

Tasting,

Well, as a treat for being patient with adult wine tasting, we headed off for a trip round the Jelly Belly factory, for candy tasting!!! The place was fabulous for little people, with free samples, and a tasting bar where you could try anything you liked. The carpets and elevators were all covered in candy images, and to cap it all, the pizza was shaped like a bean too!!

Tasting,

We drove on up to the Napa Valley, and decided it was faintly ridiculous to be wine tasting with kids in tow. So we just took in one vineyard which had a fun cable car ride up to a fabulous tasting area overlooking the valley. The kids had juice and crayons, while mum and dad had 5 glasses of wine........
I don't see how we could have visited more!!

San Francisco

We loved being in a big city again, and whilst we are enjoying rural scenery throughout California we have decided we miss the buzz of city life. We took tram rides, a harbour cruise around Alcatraz, meandered through China town (and ate the best food we have found since living in the Far East), we strolled on Pier 39 and found carousels, candy floss, and silly hat shops, we marvelled at skyscrapers (realised the kids had never seen one before) and generally took in the atmosphere. The best bit?
Watching Superman Returns in 3-D on a massive Imax screen!!

The Big Sur

The journey continues beyond San Simeon, the fabulous Hearst Castle, a beach full of revolting elephant seals, and on to the Big Sur. The road hugs the coastline and is a winding, undulating pass through cliff face on right and sheer drop on left. Many of the turns can only be made at 20mph, and I am sure this is where Mr Disney got his idea for a theme park from......it is white knuckle all the way. It probably would be great seen from a motorbike or convertible, but is intimidating in a 31ft truck! The coastline is very craggy and marked by abundant kelp, sea otters, pelicans, seals.
Today we visited Santa Cruz- interestingly seedy and hippyish, bustling and touristy-worth a look but good to move on.....also took a steam train up into the redwood forests which was great.
Tomorrow we head off to San Francisco for 3 nights and are really looking forward to pitching camp for a while.

King of the Grill

For Nigel's birthday last month I bought him a portable gas BBQ which folds up small and opens out into being a substantial size. He loves grilling anyway, but particularly with his new toy. I have had him making bacon, eggs, sausages, waffles, shrimp, salmon, steak........
He has had loads of fun, and I have not had to cook- now that is what I call a RESULT!!

Strawberry fields forever.....

We drove up through Santa Monica, Malibu, and beautiful Santa Barbara, along the coast, and through lush, fertile agricultural land- road side stalls selling strawberries, artichokes, avocados, and fields full of gorgeous flowers...
The highlight of the day for the kids? Driving through pungent fields of broccoli and cabbage- hours of raucous toilet humour!!!

Hmm!

Somehow, I managed to get to drive through LA as well as Phoenix- 7 lanes this time...
However, with my secret desire to have an HGV licence, and Nigel's wonderful spatial awareness we are a fabulous team, and relaxing into it. We can now back into campsites, fill up with fuel (interesting challenge...),and even negotiate a packed supermarket parking lot!
My childhood holidays were spent in a caravan, and I remember fetching water, emptying elsans, and the occasional joy of an electrical hookup. These rigs connect to running water, electricity, have full sewage outlets-and even WiFi!! We are also loving the fact that the campsites provide picnic tables and firepits for each vehicle. It is still camping- but it is definitely at the more luxurious end!

On the way...

Well, we packed everything in, and, most impressively, as it has lots of storage space inside and out -3 wardrobes, a fabulously large fridge freezer, and what they term 'a basement' which holds deckchairs, barbeque, bats, balls etc. We set off on a relaxing navigation of the 6-lane interstate through Phoenix at rush-hour, and tested out the Bernoulli effect( I knew I had studied physics for a reason!). The size of the suction seemed proportional to the size of truck overtaking us- and if there was a truck on either side then life got more interesting.....
I perfected a technique of gripping the steering wheel, taking a deep breath, and squeezing my eyes tightly shut....
After that, it was a tedious 8 hour journey to LA- made slightly more interesting for the kids as they were allowed to sit at the table for lunch whilst on the move, and for us- well, we had the luxury of hauling our own frappucinos, and our G&Ts were ready within 30 seconds of arriving at destination!