Scrapbook Score

I made Mitch stop off at a small local scrapbook store along our drive home today. They were going out of business, happened to have die cuts for my machine, and were super friendly. So I went a little crazy but made out like a bandit! For what would have been $350 I paid less than a fourth of that!

Company on the Beach

So this guy deserves his own post. This is our friend the seagull. We met him on the beach at the Navy Base on Coronado Island. He came around us as we were eating our chips and peaches, calling to us for food. He's a cute little guy. We named him Uno Foot. He has the heart of a champion. His poor little knobby peg-leg would sink into the sand like a skinny stiletto heal as he hobbled along begging for food from the people along the beach. We can only imagine how he lost his foot. Perhaps in a shark attack, web entanglement, an altercation with other seagulls, or maybe he was born with it. We'll never forget you Uno Foot.

San Diego

For our stay in So Cal we have been at the Navel Base in San Diego. (Benefit of Mitch being in the Air Force; we get to stay at any military base.) We didn't get to stay on the North Island Base where the private beaches are. Instead we are by the ship yard but nice all the same. We did get to use the beaches though and if you are familiar with Coronado Island it is right next to Imperial beach but blocked off from the public. We were right beneath the incoming flight traffic for both the jets and the helicopter. It was the best! The beach sand had flakes of what looked like gold throughout and the texture was in between powered sugar and brown sugar. The water was freezing but the day was warm windy and beautiful. There were hardly any people there and the environment was so much more family oriented and less “college” town-ish. Over all this has been a great way to end our trip. Tomorrow we will go home, sun burnt, warn-out, and broke but happy.

Disneyland

Phew! For two days Mitch and I ran around Disneyland and for the first time the California Adventure Park too. We got to see all the shows including the new World of Color show that was pretty amazing, incorporating lasers, water, and flame. We rode Space Mountain as much as we could. Star Tours is being re-done and returning in 2011 so it was closed. We also got to see a short musical play with live Aladdin music. If we don't have our own kids by the time we come back here we are going to have to steal someone else's so that when we go on the little kiddy rides like Alice in Wonderland we don't look so funny.

The White House

Our stay at Travis Air Force Base was fast. We stayed just overnight and drove around the base a bit. The drive to there was pretty as it went through Napa Valley but the traffic was unbelievable. The next morning we left to go to Riverside, California where we meet up and stayed with our long time friends and old neighbors the Whites. Anna was one of my companions on my mission in Idaho and when we were living in Utah we lived by them, Justin her husband and eventually the two cuties Joshua and Nathan, on more then one occasion. We have had fun through the years and it was good to see them now. One day maybe we will live close again. :) Their two sons are impossibly cute and very entertaining. It was a short stay and we wish they were going to Disneyland tomorrow with us but we live close enough that a visit in the future shouldn't be too difficult to squeeze in between Mitch's tight schedule and theirs. ;)

Redwood Forest

From our stop in Crescent City, on to the Sacramento area were we stayed at Travis AFB, we took a drive along the Avenue of the Giants and the Redwood forest. We both agreed that being among those giant trees made us pretty much feel like we could be rodents. What an amazing piece of history and beauty. If we had more time we would for sure be hiking and taking more time to wander.

From Portland to Crescent City

After leaving Portland we drove to Crescent City. We got there in the evening and almost immediately as we came down into the area we entered a dense fog. We cold hardly tell that the ocean was right out our window. The only clue was the fog horn sounding every 30 seconds or so along with the barking seals. Even in the morning we couldn't quite see the shore. As we drove the next day toward the Redwood Forest we were in and out of the fog all day. The man at the hotel told us that the fog was what really made the Redwood Forest what it is today. It was beautiful to see the light coming through the trees and the fog. Eventually, we even got a few glimpses of the ocean we were driving right next to.

Portland Temple

After the long drive on the 101 Coastal highway we stayed in Portland, Oregon and went to the temple there. It is a beautiful temple and almost hidden in between all the evergreens. It was a nice and rejuvenating much needed spiritual break.

Tillamook Factory

On our way to Portland where we are staying for the night, the one place we knew we wanted to go, again on the suggestion of Grandma and Grandpa Beecher, was the Tillamook cheese factory. We got there with little time to spare before closing but had enough time to take advantage of the free samples, go on a self guided tour, shop, eat, and of course have some of there delicious ice cream. The strawberry cheese cake was the best! The whole place was very interesting. We enjoyed our selves. Tomorrow we are going to the Portland temple and then on to San Fransisco.

Leaving Washington

Good Bye Washington. We left early this morning from south of the Seattle area and decided (as persuaded by Grandpa Beecher) to take the Coastal Highway route down the 101. We stopped to eat in a town called Olympia where Mitch took me to a Pizzeria in downtown. He had eatten there before on his mission. (His mission was the Tacoma Mission covering most of the NW area of the Olympic peninsula.) The comic picture above was painted on the exterior wall of the building the Old School Pizzeria was in. From there we took is easy and stopped along the way at what ever shops looked fun or to get a picture of the view. It really felt like the two way highway with the never ending canopy of trees was never going to give way to a view of the ocean but we finally got a few good glimpses. It was a very cloudy day and only got to see the sun a bit on the whole drive. I guess that's Oregon for you. :)

Washington State with our Family

So we made our 4am get away from Pocatello, Idaho (yikes) and finally made it to the north most point on our trip: Washington. Here we spent time with family; Grandma Ruth and Julian Maule and then the Beechers; Grandpa Glen & Grandma Jan, Dan & Ginger, Kenny & Linda, Billy and kids. We didn't get great pictures of everyone so if your reading this...send us some! :) We love visiting everyone up here and wish we could stay longer.

By the Snohomish River

Hulie the cat on Grandma Ruth's porch

Having a great time with family at Grandpa & Grandma Beechers

Our Stop in Pocatello with the Jorgensens

It's always an adventure with the Jorgensens! We finally got around to going shooting. Kasey had been promising to take us forever. We all got to shoot and get a lesson on some of his guns. Abby even shot her "cricket" with the rest of us. It happened to be their son Jordan's birthday so we got to party too. We took a lot of picture and had a ton of fun.