Homeward Bound

I've finally made it home.

Here's a quick recap of my trip from the northwest to the rocky mountains.

Seattle

My dad arrived and we spent three days touring Seattle, packing up my apartment and somehow getting it all to fit in storage and the car. I took him on the Ride the Duck tour - a crazy ride in a 1940's amphibian bus which tours around Seattle and drives into Lake Union for a water tour! Altogether, lots of fun! We also ventured to Pioneer Square and took the Underground Tour which was fascinating and I now know a little but more about Seattle and how it burnt to the ground.

We also visited the Ballard Locks and soaked in the sunshine and beautiful (and expensive) boats that passed through. Then off we went headed south.

Oregon

We stopped and met my Uncle Leon and stayed with him for a few days. Oregon is beautiful and it was wonderful to see my dad and his brother re-connect. It was wonderful weather and such a relaxing break from driving, packing and school.
Once again we were on the road headed south.

California

Dad and I drove through the Redwood National Forest and looked at the immense and stunning redwoods. They tower above and are so large around that they hold a majestic power to any who see them. Driving through the forest the sun would try and penetrate the thick foliage and when it did it was a fire red and gold which lit up little patches. One of the most amazing things I've seen. From there we headed on toward Grass Valley. California happens to be on fire. So as we traveled farther and farther inland the smoke began to thicken. We stopped in Ukiah in an attempt to stay the night and found it full of strangling smoke and all hotels were full of firefighters (there are over 1,000 fires in one county and Ukiah happened to be in the middle of most of them). So we headed on into the night toward Yuba City narrowly missing an elk in the thick fog of smoke, curves and overall tiredness. A good night's rest later and we were off to Uncle Norm's (little did we know, 27 miles in the wrong direction) so after a little delay we arrived at Uncle Norm's where he and my dad set off eager to catch up and Aunt Suzi took me on a wild tour of Grass Valley, Rough-n-Ready, and Nevada City where I got to enjoy a little of everything and get to know my Aunt Suzi. The smoke gave an eerie glow to the small valley and smoke tickled all of our noses. Unfortunately we were unable to stay much longer and needed to head home. Long good-byes with hopes of sooner hellos.

Nevada and Wyoming were a boring blur with an exciting stop in Salt Lake City in between. Finally, "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" came into view and we were soon home in our own beds.

Lila has been here this week and today we went to the zoo which was very exciting - we hit the animal exhibits just right and were able to see lots of animals up close and very awake and active. Here are some of my favorites: