During our home leave this summer, Nils and I decided to take the kids on a road trip to various State and National parks. So how was it with a toddler, an infant, and a minivan? Wait and see.
First stop, Crater Lake. We drove around the upper rim of the lake down to our campsite within the park. We could kinda see the Lake from the road as we drove, whenever the haze and fog shifted. Here is Nils sitting in the van, where we decided to sleep for the night since it was rather cold and raining.
The rain turned to snow, but I was just happy to be out camping.
We had planned to stay in Crater Lake for two nights, but because of all the snow, most of the roads into and around the lake were closed the day after we arrived. That meant we didn't get to see the Lake. Disappointed but undaunted, we decided to head further West to Bullards Beach State Park and spend the night there.
After a good night's sleep in a tent, we proceeded to our next destination, Redwoods National Park. Here we are in front of the Big Tree. Click here for more photos.
On our way to the Sacramento area, we decided to stop and picnic at Lassen Volcanic National Park. We were so impressed by what we saw, we're already making plans to return in a few years and spend more time there. More photos here.
Next we visited some of my family in the Sacramento/Folsom area. My aunt has a beautiful home where we spent some lovely time on the lake.
Here we are in King's Canyon
And Yosemite
And of course, having recently watched Star Trek V, we had to take a picture of El Capitan.
I love camping, so this trip was really fun. I will say that staying in a hotel in the middle gave us a chance to shower and rest. And when I say rest, I'm talking about the kind without kids' little feet in your face.
3 comments:
Aahh...my old stomping grounds! We lived in northern CA for seven years, before we left for VA. Tony hiked Mt Lassen with the scouts once. We also did the Krater Lake trip. As well as Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Park. Never did make it to an Oregon beach, though. Miss the West Coast! Looks like you had a good time, good to see pics of you, Nils, and the cute kiddos.
Wow! There was some gorgeous pictures there and those trees are so darn big, I thought I'd seen a huge tree before but nope those trump mine experiences. And cutting through them for a foot path.
One of those shots even reminded me of Canada and that is saying something since I have notihing but praise for the canadian countryside.
Camping is so fun! Can't wait to do some site seeing with you guys next year :)
Yay! I went to see General Grant to this summer! Miss you all!!
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