Our family's "Great Vacation" started on the morning of July 19th, 2007. Dan and I had talked about wanting to go West to California for the last two years, but for some reason, there had always been delays. This year, however, the pieces all fit together, and at just the right time in the summer. The timing was so right, we felt it was now or never. After packing, loading everyone in the truck, giving our ducks fresh water and lots of food, and dropping our ferret off with friends, we took off for California. Our vacation was almost cut short before we even left Pryor. Right after we crossed Highway 69, we were just about to go over the railroad tracks when a large pickup truck cut through the KFC parking lot and almost sideswiped us. Dan was in the left lane and couldn't move over because a car was on our right side. Looking back, I'm not sure how we avoided a wreck, but thanks to God's protection, and Dan's skillful driving we were able to continue on our way.

Our first day was mostly driving. We didn't stop at too many places. We went straight through Oklahoma, and stopped only for gas and food.

The Johnson Ranch.  When we reached Texas, about midway, we found a picnic area to eat at. The picnic area overlooked beautiful scenery.





Dan gave the kids some fruit to eat along with their chips and sandwiches. They whined over the fruit, but since vacations can disrupt the digestive system, Dan and I felt it important to maintain some form of healthy eating habits. Unfortunately, the fruit cups were to be almost the last healthy thing they were to eat for the rest of vacation. Since we have superb eating habits at home, we weren't concerned about them also taking a vacation from the vegetables. After we got done eating, we were on the road again. We stopped to help out a family who's car was over heating. We took one of them to the nearest stop for water for his radiator. When we dropped him off, we also gave them water to drink. There were three adults, and five small kids in the back of the car. We know how we would feel if we were stranded on the road with kids in the summer heat. We weren't about to just drive by and leave them. By the time we found a place to sleep that night, we were already in New Mexico.

We drove through New Mexico and into Arizona. First we drove through the painted desert, then the petrified forest. We went through a trail at the painted desert and were literally awestruck by the beauty, and it's glorious desolation. As we walked through it, we would often stop, get real still and listen to thesound of it's silence. Even Alan and Audrey would cease all noise, and listen.

We saw animals that lived in the desert also. I saw squirrel like creatures scamper from one bush to another. While Dan and Audrey walked back to the truck, they saw a whole family of these squirrel type animals (kangaroo rats)run out of one bush and into a shaded area, one right after the other.

We went to some ruins close by that still had the foundations from houses from 9,000 years ago. Much of the paintings were still on the sides of the rocks.

While at the petrified forest gift shop, we decided to buy the kids some junior ranger uniforms. The kids also earned badges from the national parks we went to. The first badge they earned was at the petrified forest. We drove through the forest, and stopped to look at the petrified wood. The kids, in order to get their badges, had to fill out workbooks, and pass verbal tests. The ranger who tested them about the petrified forest, and painted desert, questioned them extensively about what they learned. At the end, she had them raise their hands and take an oath. Finally, she presented them to the whole center, and announced they have been sworn as junior rangers.

Afterwards, we went to see some ruins from people who had lived in that desert area thousands of years ago. Dan took pictures of some of the artwork they drew. He also got some pictures of the wildlife, who were accustomed to people.

We then backtracked through Arizona, and went to Four Corners. Four Corners was a bit out of our way, and even though it would mean we would have to reverse our route somewhat, we decided to go through there anyway. We wanted the kids to be able to say they had been in four states at the same time. We got there that same night, but the gate was shut and it was closed for the evening. We were told that the closest motel room was about 40 miles away, in Colorado. We stayed in Colorado, and drove back to Four Corners to take pictures. Dan said he didn't remember there being a gate when he was a little kid, but when we got inside, we knew why the gate was up. There was a flea market set up on all sides, with people selling Indian made jewelry. After taking pictures of each of us on all four states at once.

On our way to the Grand Canyon, right outside a town called Kayenta, we helped a stranded woman fix her flat and get to town. The nearest town we went to, did not have a phone line. Our cell phones could not get any reception we were so far out in the desert. She managed to get help from some of the local truck drivers and thanked us for seeing her safely into town. We then headed straight for the Grand Canyon. When we got to the Grand Canyon, we were once again awestruck with the magnificence of the scenery. The Canyon looked like a painting in front of us. It was so enormous that it didn't seem like it was real at all. From the scenic point where we were at, we could see for hundreds of miles. We went up into one of the towers to get a good viewpoint. I asked one of the workers at the gift shop about the new glass observatory deck just opened this year. He said there were no roads to it, but people had to be flown there from Las Vegas, and then flown back to Las Vegas. He also said that reservations were required, and it costs $75.00 a person just to get on it, with a fifteen minute time limit. For a plane ride around the Canyon, it costs $75.00 a person for a fifteen minute ride in the air. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know which is the better deal.

The kids worked on getting their Grand Canyon badges while we stopped to eat lunch at one of the nearby picnic areas. It was a beautiful woodsy area, and the only annoyance were ravens who kept hopping up close to our table trying to get something to eat. We weren't allowed to feed any of the wildlife, and I felt bad about not being able to feed them. After we were done at the Grand Canyon, we headed toward Las Vegas.

We first had to go through Hoover Dam. The Dam is an amazing feat of architecture, but we didn't get to see much of it because we were traveling at night. Also, Dan had me drive, and trying to maneuver around all the twists and turns was making me very nervous. People were behind me tailgating me, and trying to pass in less than safe conditions. This also did not help my anxiety. I made it through, and we were on our way to Las Vegas. After Dan had slept awhile, he drove the rest of the way. When we reached the hill overlooking Las Vegas, we were overcome with the scene of the lights, It looked like one large blanket of light had been spread over the city. The city itself was enormous. We got to Las Vegas on a Friday night, so the city was packed with people. We went around trying to find the cheapest possible motel room. Instead, we stayed at a fancy hotel room that was actually cheaper then the cheap motel rooms. It wasn't on the main street, which is why it was cheaper, but the rooms were fancy, with a huge casino at the ground floor. Dan went to the casino early the next morning, and won several hundred dollars. We didn't get a chance to take any pictures of Las Vegas because we ran out of memory for our camera. When we checked out, we got an additional $100.00 back from the front desk. We left with our extra money, and decided to head straight on to California.

We reached California, and went into Death Valley. At Death Valley, we saw Sand Dunes, and scorched looking rocks. It got so hot, the thermometer on our truck hit 124 degrees. Nothing was growing there at all, not even the toughest of desert plants. It was all sheer, and utter desolation. I told Dan it reminded me of the landscape on the movie, "lord of the rings" when Frodo had to go through the land of Mordor. There were signs telling people to turn off their air conditioners to prevent the cars from over heating. Dan left ours off the whole way through there because the engine had begun getting too hot before we even reached Death Valley. We couldn't stop the car, because it would just get too hot sitting around and not having wind blow through it. I was getting nervous with the kids being in that much heat, and I often would check on them; asking how they were doing. They did really good and took it in stride. Dan made me very nervous though when he waited until we were in the hottest part, and then commented about how the first wagon train through there got completely wiped out. He told the kids that if they paid attention, they might even be able to see remains of a wagon wheel. We went through mountains on the way out of Death Valley, that were very curvy and windy. Dan commented about when he was a kid, his family would stop on one of these roads. He said when they did, he and his dad would look over the edge and see cars that had run off the road and fell to the rocks below. Dan said he would like to go down there and see if he could find some money.

We also stopped at a ghost town called Rhyolite. Parts of the town buildings were still intact, and the cemetery was just at the edge of town. Their was a plaque erected that said that the town at one point had a parade go right down main street. As we were standing there in the spooky silence, it was hard for us to imagine a parade.

After the mountains, we stopped to eat at Lone Pine.

Lone Pine was where we ate pizza at the Pizza Factory. Their pizza is probably the best I have ever eaten. It was even better than Pizza Hut, though when I mentioned that to Dan, he said they probably wouldn't appreciate the comparison. We went from Lone Pine to Yosemite national park, but didn't get to see much because it was in the evening. Dan was getting anxious to get to his mothers house, so we traveled straight on through to San Jose, and made a mental note to spend at least a full day at Yosemite on our way back home. On our way to San Jose, we passed a place called Mono Lake. I knew when we drove by it that something was definitely different about this lake. There were no trees or grass or anything green and alive around this lake at all. There were no birds around the water either. Dan said the lake was toxic and would disintegrate aluminum cans if thrown in it. I thought about the first wagon train of people who made it through Death Valley and came to the lake needing water, only to find out it was completely undrinkable. Dan called his mother to let her know we were going to get there that night. We went on straight through to San Jose.

We didn't get to his mom's house until around 2:30a:m Sunday morning. Dan's sister, Deanna, and her husband, got there the day before, and were staying overnight. I met his moms husband, Deanna, and her husband for the first time. We all got along really good from the start, and Deanna and Steve invited us to church. We stayed through church, but Dan was wanting to leave early. He was getting annoyed with the preacher, who was preaching some strange version of escatology, or, end time prophecies. He was saying things like how Daniel in the Bible really meant a year when he said a week; things like that. I talked Dan into staying until the end of service, mainly out of courtesy for his family, Deanna and Steve. I didn't want them to feel awkward or uncomfortable. It's good we did stay because afterward, we all went to Dan's dad's house to meet and visit with him. His dad had a stroke and couldn't speak very good, but understood us and enjoyed the company. He met me and the kids for the first time. The children enjoyed the dog, Bonnie. We were warned about her by Steve. He said just to be cautious around her and with the kids, since no one was sure how she would act. She was a sweet dog, and seemed to like all of us. Dan's dad gave Alan a boat, and me and the kids some money. After our visit, Deanna and Steve went back home, and we went back to Dan's moms house.

Dan's mom, and Roger took us through Chinatown in San Francisco on our first day. We went to see the Bay, took pictures, and went across the Golden gate bridge. We went across it, then parked in a rest area to view the bay. We could see Alcatraz off in the distance. I mentioned going to tour it, but we weren't too sure if they were still doing that. We drove back across the Golden gate bridge, and drove around the city to sightsee a little bit. We then decided to go through Chinatown. We walked through most of it and saw things that just aren't in Oklahoma. We ate at a Chinese restaurant. When Roger ordered fish, a few minutes later, we saw a fish net go into the tank to take out a fish. I ordered duck, and the kids ate some type of noodle dish. Doris, Dan's mom, took pictures of Audrey's awkward attempt at eating the noodles. It was so cute how she would hold her mouth wide open, and tip her head back trying to get the noodles in. After eating, we walked some more around Chinatown, and then decided to go to Big Basin the next day.

Big Basin park was was absolutely magnificent. We went to the park, and everything was so quiet and peaceful. I've been in wood areas before surrounded by trees but it was different here. When we walked down the trail, we were surrounded on all sides by enormous trees. I've been in the woods and surrounded by trees before, but it is a totally different thing altogether to be surrounded by gigantic sized trees. Many were hollow where you could camp out in them overnight with an entire family. The kids were mesmerized by it. We came upon a set of trees called the Mother of the Forest, and the Father of the forest. Dan took pictures of me and the kids trying to climb on the roots just to get to the base of the tree itself. At one point, I slipped on a tree and fell backwards, hitting the corner of my wrist on the root, and hitting my backside on the root also. I tell people now that I got into a fight with a Redwood. We spent the entire day there, and in the afternoon, the kids were able to go get their badges for the Redwood forest. We had missed the junior ranger morning trail walk and lecture by fifteen minutes, so we decided to stay until later that afternoon so the kids could get a badge. The ranger doing the junior ranger testing said that the minimum age was seven. We didn't feel it was fair for Audrey not to have a chance to participate since she had worked so hard in earning all the other badges. The Ranger said to go ahead and put down that she was seven, and if the junior ranger class wasn't too full, she would let her stay. Aside from Alan arguing with the ranger, and trying to be overprotective of Audrey, it all went wonderfully, and they both got their badge. One of the things I noticed about redwoods is that the bark swirls gently around the tree all the way to the top. I also noticed that the older the tree is, the more prominent this swirl is. Dan's mom has a redwood in front of her house that is small, and the swirl isn't really well defined yet. After spending the whole day at the Redwood forest, we decided to leave, and Dan's mom showed us around the neighborhood where Dan grew up. After that, we went home, and decided to go to the beach, and the Santa Cruz boardwalk.

We left that morning to go to Santa Cruz, and this was the whole part of the trip I had been waiting for. We got there around noon, and first looked at the surfer memorial. We then went down a flight of steps that was a dock for boats. I took the kids as close to the water's edge as I dared while Dan took a picture. The landscape was very rocky, but still just beautiful. I think the sights of the ocean are neat, but what I'll remember most are the sounds and smells. When we walked down the wharf, across from the boardwalk, I could hear the sounds of sea lions barking underneath. It scared me at first because I thought somebody's pet dog fell into the water and was trying to get out. I realized early on that it didn't sound like any dog I heard, and when Dan commented on the sea lions, I put the two together. They served mainly seafood on the wharf, which me and the kids don't like. Dan, ate some seafood, and me and the kids sat down and ate hot dogs with fries. The air blowing off the ocean was cold, so Dan ran to the car to get our jackets. The seagulls were very used to people, but they would stay just far enough away to where I couldn't pet them. We also saw a pelican swoop down all the way into the water, and fly out into the sky with a fish. After swimming a small ways, he decided to swallow it.

After walking up and down the wharf, we decided to go across to the beach, in front of the boardwalk. We walked down to the water with our shoes on, and when we got to the waters edge we took them off to play in the wet sand and water. The kids got a little bit nervous with the tide coming in and out like it did. It was neat how we would stand there while the water flowed around us and swept sand literally out from under our feet. This scared the kids a bit too, and Audrey grabbed hold of me very tightly. I always wanted to taste the ocean water, and had the idea that it would be grainy in texture because of the salt. It wasn't grainy, but was cold and foamy. After we walked across it a ways, Dan showed me some tide pools. He had mentioned tide pools on the way up there, when I mentioned that I was always interested in marine life. He said that many times, you can find little animals in the tide pools, like starfish and such. I completely forgot to look for them when I was down by the tide pools. I wasn't particularly interested in just a large puddle of water. At the time, I was interested in the ocean itself, and looking for sea animals completely slipped my mind. Trying to go from the beach to the boardwalk was a completely different experience. Doris kept telling me we should get sandals, but the idea of walking on the beach barefoot did not seem all that bad to me. When I tried to walk back up to the boardwalk, the sand burned the bottom of my feet. Dan had both the kids with him, and told them to keep running and not stop. Alan tried to run across the sand, but his poor feet were hurting, and he kept hollering and crying. Audrey wasn't much better and kept running saying, "ouch, ouch, oooh, ouch!" It hurt my feet too, except instead of saying ouch, I said a few choice words instead. I finally made it up to the base of the boardwalk steps, put my shoes on, and joined Dan and the kids for a day at the boardwalk.

California is such a different place from Oklahoma. Dan had commented about it being full of nutcases, but I personally didn't notice that about the state. When I went on the boardwalk, I noticed the people don't look all that different than the one's from Oklahoma. And from my limited exposure, they didn't act real different either. Of course, we went there on a Tuesday, and even with it being slow, it was still busy. The ocean was the most spiritually rejuvenating, and fulfilling part of the trip, but the boardwalk was by far the absolute funnest. I went on all the roller coaster rides with Roger. He and I were the only roller coaster people in the group, and that was the first thing we went to. We got pictures of us on the big wooden roller coaster. After the roller coasters, we met back up with the rest of the family, ate some ice cream, and went on more rides. All of us, except Doris went on the water ride, but Doris took Alan and Audrey on several kid rides. Dan took Audrey on a bunch of kid rides, one of which was a kiddie roller coaster. I went on it with both the kids, and for a kid coaster, it was rather intense. Adults wouldn't be too excited, but I could see where little kids would be scared. Audrey just had a blast on it, and I haven't seen a ride yet that scared her. I went with Doris and Alan on a ride that flew around. I had a small accident when I was running up the ramp to get in a car. There were these little tiny yellow speed bumps that I tripped over and both of my knees slammed into the metal ramp at the same time. What was so embarrassing is that Alan, and Doris were behind me and saw the whole thing. Doris was worried that I got hurt. I was in quite a bit of pain, but I didn't want to disappoint Alan, so I got up and put myself in a car next to him. I figured I would rest a bit and let the pain go down. Fortunately, it felt worse than what it was. When we got back to the house, I put some stuff on my knees, and the next morning, there was little bruising, with almost no swelling or pain.

Later in the evening, we decided to sit down and eat. I don't remember what if anything Doris ate, but trying to eat healthy in a place like that, is, I'm sure, a nightmare. Doris and Roger have the healthiest eating habits of anyone I know. I have no doubt those two will still be biking when they are well into their 100's. We had already bought a whole bunch of tickets, for a small fortune, when it was announced over the intercom that all tickets would be for only seventy five cents. We were a bit annoyed that we bought all the tickets, but at least we only had to hand the ride operators one apiece now instead of six apiece. We tried to use up all the tickets, but at that time, more people came in, which meant longer lines. We didn't get them all used up, but still had a blast. We tried to use them up on food, but they were only for the rides. When we decided to go home, Dan said we should go down to the ocean one more time. The sand had cooled down, so we had no problem walking down to the ocean. We walked by the water again and just relaxed a bit to soak in the ocean, and all the day's events.

The next morning, we decided to pack and start heading back home. Doris was more than happy to have us stay a few more days, but I didn't want to wear out our welcome. We had stayed there for three days, and I was reminded of the proverb concerning fish and friends after three days beginning to stink. California weather is mild and soothing, and I had regrets about leaving for just that reason. But we packed and were off on the road again. Dan wanted to stop through Yosemite again to have a daytime view of it this time. My knees were throbbing from the fall the day before, so I wasn't much help to Dan when he was trying to get something out of the back, or read a map. My knees hadn't hurt so bad when I first woke up that morning, but I think as I was walking back and forth to the car loading stuff in the back, I overdid it and the pain came with a vengeance. Dan got very upset over me not being much of a help, and didn't seem to think it should have affected my ability to read a map. Well, actually, it did. I tried to explain that when a person hurts bad enough, they aren't much good with anything. The pain, along with trying to read a map in the car was making me sick to my stomach. I was on the verge of kicking him out of the car and "hoofing" it back to Pryor over him being mean, nasty, and insensitive, but I thought it would ruin everyone's vacation, so I tried my best just to stay quiet. We reached Yosemite before nightfall, and decided to find a motel in the park area. Almost all of them were full, but we did manage to find a room overlooking some rapids.

The next day, we decided to take the whole day walking around Yosemite park. The kids got their ranger badges at the end of the day. We meant to get the badges that morning, but we missed the junior class by about fifteen minutes. Audrey walked up to the falls with Dan, and we all rode on the electric shuttle busses to the various locations. We went on a tour and saw some bears and small animals in the meadows. We also saw deer wander through the park. Later in the evening, when we were at the end of our tour, Dan fell and badly twisted his ankle. Somebody looked at it to see if it was broken, but it only appeared to be sprained. Dan hobbled around for a while with the tour, and we decided to try and get him treatment at the parks first aid station. When we got to the first aid station, their was a long walkway we had to walk up, and a flight of stairs Dan had too somehow jump up. When we got in there, they told us they would not see him unless he could pay for services. They also charged an outrageous amount for bandaging tape. I told Dan later that it was ironic that with many of these laws passed to help people, such as anti-discrimination, free healthcare for those who can't pay, and handicap accessible laws for the disabled, when we needed help so many miles away from home, it wasn't given unless we paid for it. The clinic wasn't even handicap accessible. I tried to be very compassionate with Dan and his foot, and offered to let him lean on me instead of putting unneeded pressure on his hurt ankle. After all, I know what it feels like being injured and in pain that far away from home. Deep down though, I couldn't help but think it was his "just desserts" for the way he treated me over my hurt knees the day before. Dan commented that he was glad he twisted his ankle at the end of the day instead of at the beginning. We got the kids their Yosemite park badges, and decided to head for home.

We drove to Visalia because Dan wanted to try and locate his old foster parents. We got a hold of them and met them at Dennny's. We talked for a while, and got the kids something to eat. Dan's old foster dad was glad to see us and said he was happy with how Dan's life was going now. His foster mom said the same thing, and wanted to know about the kids, and what was going on in their lives. We got a motel room for that night. Dan put his foot up and it was badly swollen with a bad knot on one side.

We drove from there, all the way to Flagstaff for the night. At this point, we decided to end the vacation and just try to cover as much driving as we could. We made it all the way to Flagstaff, where we stopped for the night. Dan propped up his foot, and it looked worse this evening than last evening. It had a bad bruise on one side, which I couldn't quite understand since he hadn't hit it on anything, only sprained it. We thought maybe he had a pulled ligament or muscle, which might account for the bruising. After we left Flagstaff, we drove straight home and made it back to Pryor early Sunday morning around 1:30a:m.

This is a view of the Johnson Ranch, around the middle of the Texas panhandle. We stopped near here at a very nice rest area and had lunch. Dan made the kids eat fruit cups with their sandwiches. That was probably the last healthy thing they ate for several days

This is a our first view of the Painted Desert. We didn't take as many pictures here as we wanted to; We had a limited amount of memory in the camera, and thought we'd best save it for later.