License Plate Bingo

To while away a few of the many, many hours on our trip, we started looking for all of the different license plates we could find.

In 4 days we saw 38 different states & 4 Canadian provinces.

Not Bad!

So here's our list:


California
Oregon
Nevada
Texas
Maine
Idaho
Arizona
Tennessee
Illinois
Utah
Wisconsin
North Carolina
North Dakota
Washington
Iowa
Colorado
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Indiana
Missouri
Wyoming
Georgia
Pennsylvania
Massachusetts
Vermont
New Mexico
New Jersey
South Dakota
Florida
Michigan
Minnesota
Alaska
Rhode Island
Maryland
Virginia
New York
Ohio
Arkansas

Quebec
Alberta
Ontario
British Columbia


And yes. Yes, being the homeschooling geek that I am, when we got home I printed out maps & we colored in all the states & provinces & put them in our notebooks :)

Blessings.

California Ghost Town

Blessings.

The Canyon Part 5: Sunrise

Our last morning at the Canyon, my husband & I got up before sunrise & went back to Mather Point to photograph & bask in God's glory.

I am not much of a morning person but it was totally worth it.

LOVE this shot.

Watching the rays of sunlight tip the cliffs & the pinks & the blues spread & the shadows appear was totally worth the icy cold, numbing wind.

The Canyon is an amazingly rugged & beautiful place. Everyone should see it.

I overheard a man say "Imagine. A river did all of this." And I wanted to stop him & say "No. God did all of this."

I probably should have.

After these photos, we backed up & headed out.

Our Canyon adventure was over. Sniff sniff.

Blessings.

The Canyon Part 4: Desert Tower & 17

The next day we drove out to the Desert Tower.

It was built in the 30's as a "sort of" replica "similar" to the watch towers built by desert dwelling Indian tribes.

Whatever the reasoning, it was super cool.

You can go inside the tower & climb all the way to the top. But, alas, the trapdoor out to the roof is blocked off.

Curses! Foiled again!


The views from around the tower were spectacular. You could see the river flowing along the bottom of the canyon.

 Isn't it just majestic? Sigh.

See me in the window? HI!

The inside of the tower was painted & carved & very cool. A spiral staircase ran around & around with windows looking out on the canyon.

One of my most favorite young men on the planet happened to turn 17 that day :)

I just love those cheesy grins.

We found an interesting fellow outside the General Store & stopped for a few photo ops.  ;)

A view from the road.

The requested birthday meal. Along with corn, greens & apple cobbler.

And just for fun, A few shots of life in the trailer...

(yes. 6 people in a 24 ft trailer isn't enough for us. We take 2 dogs with us everywhere we go just to keep us "real"...)

Next up: Sunrise on the Canyon

Blessings.

The Canyon: Part 3 Mather Point & Marauding Mules

Late the second afternoon, I wanted some 'shadow' shots & my girl wanted to sketch, so we headed back to Mather Point.

Thankfully the crowds had thinned out quite a bit by now ...

Few enough people in fact to take a fun photo :)

Isn't she cute?

She sketched & I snapped away while the sun moved across the canyon.

Aren't the shadows gorgeous? Wait until you see the sunrise pictures!

On our way back to the campground we passed the Mule Barn

Now, if you have ever wanted to ride the Mule Train down into the canyon these next pictures may give you pause...

...in fact, you should probably just skip down to the bottom of the page...

Yep.

For those of you willing to risk it, as you view these, please hear in your mind the freaky, annoying music from "Man from Snowy River". You know the part where the wild stallion is stomping him into the dust??? And they keep closing in on his psycho gotch eye??? Yep. That part.

Cue the music.

So...which one do you want to ride down the narrow, deadly, miles long trail to the Canyon?

Hmmmm? Which one? I can't hear you???

Yep. That's what I thought.

Blessings.