Our Time Draws Near...

These last few days here are still wonderful and fun but the "time beast" lurks around the corner hissing that we have to go... 

Christian and his brother Oscar, who is here for the day, wash and clean out our car.  Tio mostly supervises.  I'm not sure how much "supervising" happened; he ended up holding this little angel the whole time.  She makes him smile.

The children build one last fort in the yard.

We go all out and feed Little Man and Oliver all of our leftover carrots; oh how we will miss them.

Happy Jack!

Playing wheelbarrow in the front yard.

One last dinner outside with angel food cake and strawberries for dessert.  Mr. Deke spent the day with us that day working upstairs with Jeff; he stayed around for dinner too.

Moo!

Did we really dress like this to get free food?

Of course!  When you have a family as large as ours, who would turn down $40 worth of free chicken at our favorite fast-food place?  We never get kids' meals except this one time of the year when they are free, so it is a really special treat for the little ones because they can turn in the "prize" for ice cream.  I did, however, spend a few dollars to get the older ones some ice cream and a little bit of extra food for Scott; one complete meal doesn't quite satisfy him.  Still a great deal by anyone's standards and they had a fun time dressing up. 

 We brought these 2 cowboys along to help with all the cows!

Tuckered out after a night as a cow-hand but ready to jump up with his gun at the first sign of a disturbance.

Mt. Diablo State Park

One Saturday afternoon we went up to the summit of Mt. Diablo.  We can see it easily from the house.  I walk towards it every morning to the entrance of the State Park, exactly one mile from the driveway.  That particular entrance, though, is only for hikers and horses.  We left the house, turned towards town, then back again and around and went in the North Entrance which is for vehicles.  It took awhile to drive the long winding road to the summit.  While Clayton sits at 394 ft. elevation, the summit is almost 4,000 ft. 

The road we live on that "dead ends" into the state park entrance.

Along the way there are many picnic areas and hiking trails.  We stopped at one called "Rock City".

Lots of rock outcroppings to explore and climb upon.

Elizabeth found her own cave.

While it may be 80+ degrees in Clayton, on the mountain, it was much cooler; it was almost 60 degrees and windy up top.

At the top.  According to the signs and information here, the top of this mountain has been used for surverying Northern CA and Nevada.  Many survey points are taken and line are drawn from this top point. 

While we picked a clear day to go, it was cloudier at the summit.  We were able to see rivers, bridges, and towns aways off but the Golden Gate Bridge and the city were in the haze.

With the binoculars, we could easily see Mitchell Canyon Rd. (our road) that goes into the park.  Following that, we could make out the quarry, and just barely could tell where the house was.  Jeff found 3 spruce trees that are in the back in a Zen garden and I found the light color of this gravel in the driveway.

The mountain again as seen from Mitchell Canyon Road

The quarry as seen from the road.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The Great Sand Dunes

Along the road in Colorado

Snow in Colorado

Morley; a church front from an old mining community along the Santa Fe Trail

This morning (Wed.) we left Raton, New Mexico and followed the interstate and also the Santa Fe Trail through the Raton Pass. This was the first time we got a glimpse of the way the trail went in daylight. According to the maps, we were right on it. Several times going up into the pass (up to 7,500 ft.) I noticed "washes" along the highway. A lot of years ago, Dorothy Stone, who is now with the Lord, showed me some ruts from the Oregon Trail in the side of the hill in a park in Kansas while we were at an Alpha Delta Kappa picnic. When we were at the visitor's center the guide there said we could still see remnants of the trail if we knew what we were looking for. I knew when I saw the "washes" what I was looking at. It would have been so much fun to continue on into southeastern Colorado along the "trail line" and go to Bent's Fort; apparently a place with much living history about the trail but our time is limited. While we are having fun and seeing things along the way the objective is to get to CA by Sunday evening; Jeff begins work there on Monday with a meeting with the DOT in Sacremento. I'm glad we saw what we did and the scenery was breathtaking from our vehicle and gladly not from a covered wagon.

We turned toward the northwest and trekked towards the Great Sand Dunes National Monument or is it park? This was fun for the children; they could barely believe all that sand and how high the dunes were, and yes, you can climb, roll, run, and more there. So they were tickled. On the way we went through snow; yes snow in May. The temperature dropped to 30 degrees. As we settled back down into the valley at the Visitor's Center it had risen back up to about 50 degrees. Clad in shorts and short sleeves (appropriate when we left NM); we had to change into our "long clothes". I had anticipated this might happen and one of our totes had all this for everyone and was handy in the back. So we had a dressing room going on right in the car. We even put the baby in a covered suit type outfit with a hood (the wind was strong). However, it was way too windy after leaving the Visitor's Center to be out on the dunes with her and as I had been there before I decided to go back and sit in the car. Jackson and Elizabeth stayed with me as well. The wind had picked up and then the snow began and it got worse and worse. It looked like a blizzard and no I don't have a picture because Jeff had the camera. Further, the others were not coming back. I didn't worry about them; I knew they were having fun, but I couldn't see the bushes in front of the car it was swirling so much. So, we made lunches and sang songs in the car. Almost as soon as it had begun, the snow went away and the sun came out. Shortly they returned, smiling, and wet! They had climbed all the way to the top of one of the dunes only to be met with the swirling snow at that moment so their view was obstructed but they had had fun. We will be finding sand everywhere for days I'm sure. The rest of the day was spent, you guessed it, driving. We are staying in Cortez, CO right near Mesa Verde National Park.

An industrial car floor for industrial kids. Mercedes has got it right!

Santa Fe Trail

Lodging in New Mexico. Jeff earns points in Holiday Inn Express as he travels so we have been so grateful for lodging for "free" with a hot breakfast the next morning. I am so interested in history and always have been. Tuesday night as we were coming into New Mexico (in the dark) I began to see signs for the Santa Fe Trail, a National Scenic By-way. I had not realized that not only would we be close to the Trail but that we would actually cross over the Cimmaron Cut-off and travel along the trail itself. The cut-off was the choice for settlers going into New Mexico from Colorado. It was faster but more desert-like with very little water. Most took this route. We actually crossed right over the trail ruts and I didn't even know it until later. I'm sure if I had I would have asked my sweet husband to pull over and I would have been out looking for them with a flashlight. I'm sure he would have done this. When we reached the hotel in Raton, NM we were on the trail or it ran right beside the interstate. As we walked in under a clear starry night I wondered what it must have been like to travel such a distance over 62 days sleeping each night under that same beautiful sky. What a perilous fearful but wonderous adventure it must have been. How many mothers before me tucked their precious children in under that sky as I did that night as well in New Mexico. Thank you Lord for a safe place to stay and a beautiful night.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011





Well I promised to post about everything, well, almost everything. And of course every trip has its glitches. Ours happened Tuesday. First the cooler blew a fuse; we had been told this was a possibility. We went to an auto parts store and fixed that. But even though it is working (making the right noises), it is not too cold; not sure what we'll do about all that. Jackson dropped his water bottle on the floor which resulted in a mini-flood. Thank goodness for a new vehicle with no carpet or upholstery. I also keep a few golf towels handy in the car at all times for times such as this. We also got a late start since one of the children was in the bathroom for about an hour, trying to "go". Oh, the joys of traveling. I'll post a few pictures when I have a faster internet connection. I've been trying to do this on the road but most of the time we are in the middle of nowhere.