Happy Trails Part 5

Friday, January 16
Hueco Tanks, Texas to El Paso

We stayed with our good friends Marty and Jenn in El Paso for a few days. It was a lot of fun to catch up with their family and get to know their sweet girls. Here are a few pictures I had fun with.

Happy Trails Part 4

Thursday, January 15th
Carlsbad Caverns headed West

We left Carlsbad in the afternoon and made it to Hueco Tanks State Park about an hour outside of El Paso, our destination for the weekend. It was a beautiful spot, but very protected. We had to watch a 15 minute video before they would let us into the park. This park has lots of ancient Indian drawings on the rocks. Here are some shots as the sun was setting that night.

Happy Trails Part 3

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Monahans Sandhills going West

Our next stop... Carlsbad, New Mexico. We had never been there and had decided to take a little side trip to the National Park.

We parked just outside the park at White City. After parking and setting up we headed to the visitors center. There we learned that we had almost arrived too late to go into the caverns.

We took the opportunity to go down and do a self guided tour. The next morning we arrived back at the caverns in time for a ranger guided tour of an area that is only open to tours. It was spectacular. We were so glad that we stopped.

Happy Trails Part 2

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Fort Richardson State Park going West

Back on the road after some lazy days we headed west across Texas... and it was depressing. All of the oil wells and web of power lines across the scrubby bushes... it looked like an industrial wasteland of dinosaurs.

We did manage to make it to another Texas State Park at Monahans Sandhills. The light was so beautiful that I took a little time to have some fun with my camera.

Happy Trails

Mom and Dad parked behind Sandy and Rodney's house for nearly 3 weeks over the holidays



Thursday, January 8, 2009
El Dorado, Kansas going South

We hit the road again. It was time to head south to warmer climates. We drove south to an Oklahoma State Park at Murray State Park. We almost had the whole place to ourselves.

This is our Oklahoma site.

Friday, January 9, 2009
Lake Murray State Park going South






We drove to Fort Richardson State Park in Jacksboro, Texas. It is west of Dallas and a bit north of the interstate. There we settled in for a few days in a pretty hallow where deer walked around us and racoons tried to get into the dog food. Our good friend Barbara came and camped out with us in the camper for the weekend. On Monday dad's cousin, Bill and his wife Linda came to spend the day with us. We had a great time catching up, playing cards and learning a bit of TX history at the same time. There were a few nights that got below freezing, but we stayed snug in the camper.







I will end here for today. Enjoy the photos.

To be continued...

Qick Note

January 14, 2009
Carlsbad, New Mexico

I have been away from internet for nearly a week. I the last 20 minutes I deleted spam, read emails that were real, checked facebook, and caught up on a few blogs.

I only have a few minutes to be online in the lobby of a hotel that is attached to our RV park. I have actually been taking some photos to document the last week of travel and friends. But I don't have them downloaded. To peak your interest... we did stay at Monahans Sandhills in Texas last night and got there late in the evening. I left mom and dad to set up the camper and I took off into the sandhills with my camera. The light was fantastic. Check back and I will have a few to share with you.

Stay tuned for more detail... next on the agenda, El Paso, TX and Pheonix, AZ.

Kansas for the Holidays

We have been in Kansas since the 13th of December. Mom and Dad flew to Washington DC shortly after we arrived. But you can read the update on their blog about that trip.

It has been a lot of fun spending time with family. There have been endless games of Hand and Foot with a few rounds of Mexican Train, Fives, and Up Words mixed in.

We parked the camper at Dad's sister Sandy's house so they get to have their 'house'. I got to move into Grandma's house with my own room.

Christmas Eve Mom and I drove in to Wichita to see her sister. Christmas day we spent at Grandma's house. But not all of Sandy's girls could come until Saturday. So the big Christmas party with everyone was on Saturday after Christmas. The next day we drove in to spend the day with Laila. I snuck away for a couple of hours to see my college friend, Julie and meet her husband.

The picture of Dad with the guys... these are some of his Lambing cousins... I guess I know where I got my height.

New Year's Eve day Sandy gave some of us the family history tour. We drove around around the county to see the family homesteads and farms that they lived. It was great to learn a lot of family history and see where our roots are. The picture of the house and red barn is where my Grandad moved with his family when he was 17. I lived here when I was 3 and have some of my earliest memories of this farm. That evening Grandma and I watched a movie late enough that we rang in the new year before heading to bed.

New Year's Day Laila came out to get me and we had a lovely day. Cousin Elaina danced in a recital. Laila and I went out to lunch, browsed Barnes and Noble, shopped Kohls, cooked dinner. And then went to a late showing of Australia.



That about brings you up to date on things. We are planning to drive south
sometime this week.

To be continued...

Travels

Wednesday, December 10th
Boise, Idaho

Mom, Dad and I hooked up their camper to the suburban and headed down the road 'for the winter'. We didn't get away as early as we had hoped... but we did get out of town. We drove from Boise to Idaho Falls. We lived in IF for 13 years. Mom kept up with some friends over the years so we parked in Dave and Sara's front yard for the night. She fed us well and we had a nice visit with them.


Thursday, December 11th
Idaho Falls, Idaho

We got up early to meet another great friend for breakfast. Our next door neighbor for those 13 years came across town to have breakfast with us. It was great to catch up on his family as well.

Then we headed down the road with our destination of Cora, WY. Brother Wade is working with some cousins servicing equipment on oil rigs in that area. It was a fun drive through familiar scenery. We spent so much time camping and rafting in the area when I was a kid. We pulled into Wade's and Ty's about 1pm. They have a snug little house with a great view. We had fun hanging out with them for the rest of the day.




Friday, December 12th
Cora, Wyoming

We got up and had a great breakfast, fixed by the guys. They do very well for two guys 'baching' it. They know how to keep a clean house and cook tasty food.



We needed to get down the road because we kept hearing about weather that was coming from the west. And the wind did blow us around a bit across Wyoming. We ended up driving to Sydney, Nebraska. We stayed that night in the Cabela's campground there. It was a nice campground with hot showers and wireless internet.

Saturday, December 13th
Sydney, Nebraska

By this time we knew it was going to be a long day to make it all the way to El Dorado, Kansas that day. We drove to York, Nebraska and started south. When we started south the wind really started blowing us backwards. It had been a slow going trip already, but now it was really slow. We finally pulled into Sandy and Rodney's about 9pm and were so happy to be here!




To be continued...

Where was I?

So I got as far as Thanksgiving week in my update.

Once all of the family left, I camped out at my friend's house and worked and worked and worked on all of the portrait work I was behind on. It was good to have some consistent time with my computer. I feel like I am really starting to be good at my editing software.

Then Misty and Peter went to Portland for the weekend and Mom, Dad and I were the babysitters extraordinaire. We had the kids for two and a half days. It was fun and we managed to go to the park twice as well as get in all the required naps and meals. My only complaint is that those kids get up early EVERY day. I felt a little lacking in sleep by the time the parents got back. They only nodded in agreement to my complaint.

I was able to take family photos for some friends in Boise. It was fun to do them outside on a nice day for some fantastic people.

I took one day to go through all of my stuff, store things away at Misty's, and pack the things I would need for a few months on the road. Then began the big adventure... but I will save that for another post.

Kelli

It was pointed out to me that I spelled your name wrong in my slide show. I am so sorry, sweet niece. Here is your very own picture just to make up for my slip as super aunt.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Back Again

It has been a while since I was able to post. But it isn't out of laziness... it is busyness and lack of internet at times.

I left you at the end of my 3 week trip to Kansas. The day I flew out I took family photos of two fantastic families, quickly packed my bags and ran to the airport. Grandma and I were headed back to Boise, but had a bit of a rabbit trail to Bozeman, Montana. Boise was fogged in and we would need more fuel to circle the airport. We were able to land at nearly 2am.

Over the next few days both of my brothers and their families came to town. We had a lodge rented in Idaho City for the holiday. So we had a lot of fun playing cards, eating great food and being together. Here is a little slideshow of some shots from the weekend.