Thanksgiving 2010

Our Thanksgiving began the Sunday before Thanksgiving with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at home with the Oregon families. Great food, family and fun together.

On Monday after noon we began our journey to Southern California.

We drove our truck down and pulled Aidan's 1962 Ford Fairlane down so he could have his car.

Our trip to CA included bringing Molly along which the kids always enjoy.

And of course Thanksgiving is all about being Thankful for, family, food and all that God has provided and given.

After dinner it is time to relax or play a game together.

We enjoyed the pier together.

The Friday after Thanksgiving we first went down to the pier and enjoyed a walk to the end. We saw fisherman, one even hooked a Seagull which he had to untangle from his fishing line, we also saw surfers and most of all we had a good time together.

A new place for us to visit was Point Loma a beautiful place on a beautiful sunny, clear day. We could see the San Diego and the Bay and the Pacific Ocean from one place. We had a great time watching birds, ships, sailboats in the area. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Point+Loma,+San+Diego,+CA&sll=44.946648,-123.065662&sspn=0.007351,0.018754&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Point+Loma,+San+Diego,+California+92106&ll=32.728664,-117.189102&spn=0.139787,0.300064&z=12

As we wrapped up our time in California we enjoyed a day with our family in Riverside along with some good food before we headed home to enter the more normal routines of life.

October 17 Ride

We had a beautiful ride from Salem, down by Triangle Lake to Florence then up the coast to Lincoln City and home.

Stopped in Newport to enjoy lunch at one of our favorite places on the bay.

Look closely and you can see a Bald Eagle in the top of the tree in the middle of the picture.

Sea Lions near the Sea Lions Cave fill the beach.

Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Summer Vacation

Our first destination was to drive through Glacier National Park. It happened to be a nice day which made our visit awesome.

A hike to a waterfall was very enjoyable.

We really enjoyed discovering more about the "Journey of Discovery" with Lewis and Clark. Many stops at places like museums, roadside parks, interpretive centers, parks and even road side parks.

Replica of portage over the Great Falls in Great Falls Montana.

Lewis and Clark traveled up the Missouri River in a craft like this.

Tour guide at Fort Benton in Montana.

This is what a trading post may have looked like at the fort.

Fort Benton

William Clarks carvings on a rock along the Missouri River.

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

Buffalo near where "Dances with Wolves" was filmed.

We were just a couple miles from Sturgis so we decided to drive through. We saw more motorcycles on this trip than we had ever seen in our lives. We were in sturgis two days before the big event and saw hundreds of bikes both in the city and headed there.

Michigan was all about friends, family and fun. We had a great time with all of them and wish to thank everyone for a great time and for taking time to see us and spend time with them.

We almost didn't go into the Mt. Rushmore park because we had been there a decade and or more ago. We were pleasantly surprised by all the new improvement of the park.

On the way to Yellowstone we saw these horses along side the road. We had been looking for a setting to take some pictures of horses and this turned out to be a beautiful place.

As we entered Yellowstone it became cloudy and after a brief lunch at a roadside picnic table it rained all the way through the park. Thankfully you can still view animals, rivers, waterfalls, paint pots and many other things in the park and the rain isn't really a hindrance.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Yellowstone Falls

A ride through the Teton's is so awesome. The rugged mountains, trees and lake make a serene and majestic journey. We were concerned because our trip through Yellowstone was constant rain and very low clouds, but as we entered the Tetons the rain stopped and we could see the mountains.

We ended our vacation with a visit to the Oregon Trail Museum in Baker City Oregon.