Where have I been?

Tonight we were watching the Discovery Channel.
As they progressed with the Top Ten Wonders of the West, We sat in awe. So many beautiful places to see, so many beautiful places that we now can not navigate.
We never made it to Carlsbad Caverns, but we will. That is one place we must go.
We never made it to Yellowstone. But we will, We only wish we had taken our children while they were young.

We went to the Grand Canyon we never made it to the bottom of the Canyon, although we were there in the Mid 196o,s.
We went to Hoover Dam in the 80,s, never knowing my Dad worked there as a very young Man.
We went to the Painted Desert and marveled at the beauty.
We have seen the Petrified Forest and taken tours.
We toured the Redwoods on many occasions. We have silent movies of that trip, made in 1968.
(now before you all laugh too much, that is all the Super 8 cameras would do, movies, no sound.
While in the Redwoods, we also had time on the Ocean. The Redwoods get their strength and growth from the moisture and fog of the Pacific Ocean.
We visited Yosemite National Park. It was amazing. We remember the water falls as the most outstanding. While there, they usually had a fire fall, (I think someone threw fire off a mountain)but it was cancelled that night.
We Have been to the Columbia River Gorge. Magnificent place to visit. However we realize after this show, we missed a lot. David and I took a drive through there a couple of years ago and took the highway that winds above the Gorge. It too was beautiful.
We have been to the Rio Grande. We visited it in the 1990,s.
We have been to a Volcano (Lassen) and we had a picnic on top of a mountain of snow. It was so beautiful so sit there in the snow, on a blanket, eat a picnic lunch and the sun actually be so warm you had no need of a coat. Oh Yes lest I forget we also toured Mt. Saint Helens.
We made the trek up to the Mountain, and had to go back down before Dark. Our Dream was to stay and watch the sun come up. (Lassen)
We took Many Many Mount Lassen Hikes. One on which we got sort of lost. Not lost, we knew where the road was and we knew where Kings Creek was, we just had no idea how far to either place.
We have been to so many beautiful places in This beautiful state.
I have made a trip down the Trinity River on a Raft. I did that with two little girls. (That was undeniable the most stupid thing I ever did.) The river was so high and treacherous at that time because of rains but Sheri and Bobby Joe had on life vest. That is a story in itself.
We have enjoyed the beauty of Death Valley, only as we flew through it in a car.
We have been to an inland sea. In Indio California. Name? I can't remember.
We spent the night there and we also spent the night in Palm Springs, (Many years ago,) just so we could say we did.
We have been to the Caverns but not the National Park caverns, ours were on Shasta Lake. It was quite a trek and My Mom made it with us.
We took moonlight cruises on the lake aboard a Tour boat.

We have had many experiences and we plan on having many more.

Do not forget to take your family on Vacations. It is important and it is vital to their learning experience. In a few years they will NOT want to go with you and believe me those years pass so fast.
Sometime it is hard to plan a vacation, sometimes we just have to DO IT.
Even if it is to a Ghost town in Oregon, (which we did on two occasions) we did it as a family. Not a lot of money to spend but time together. Time we will never forget.
Times we threw things in the car and made our way to Mount Lassen for a weekend. It was so quiet and the smell was so fresh. We usually forgot things but we had time together and the tent was not really conducive to sleeping.
The times you played on the downed trees until dark, then sat around a campfire and warmed up until bedtime. (which comes really early in the mountains).

One of the most memorable was the Dune Buggy Rides in Oregon.
Fun Fun Fun. We all laughed until we were sick, or was it the wild ride?
Whatever we had a family vacation often, We had time together and time to just laugh and play.
Time to cherish each moment. Time with friends, Time to hold in our memories forever.