Fall trip to Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks

 We had to do some rearranging of dates and plans for this trip to come off.  Lots of rains and also the cancellation of our tour of the Sequoia Crystal Cave made this necessary, but it all turned out great weather wise and otherwise.  We left early on Monday morning for the long drive to Lyndsay California.  It was our base camp for the time at Sequoia/Kings Canyon.  We had a cold, windy picnic in Barstow.  We got there in time to go to the park and see Tunnel Rock, Hospital Rock and some beautiful waterfalls.  We met some nice people from Canada there and continued to run into them throughout our time there. Then it was time to head back to town and get some dinner and some rest.  We ate at Burger King that night. 

Tuesday morning we got up early to see as much of Sequoia as we could.  We drove General's Highway and stopped off along the way to see things: Auto Log, Moro Rock, Crescent Meadow, Tharp's Log, The Big Trees Trail and General Sherman Tree.  We had a really nice picnic at Pines Picnic area. Then we stopped in at the King's Canyon Visitor Center and watched the park movie. That was it for the day and we had dinner at Taco Bell  in Lyndsay (Olive Capital).  We loved seeing all of the amazing agriculture as we arrived in this town.  There were endless orchards of one kind or another with some of them trimmed flat on top!  Oh, we saw a bear, maybe two up on the overhang above the highway this morning; going by too fast to get a picture. 

 

Wednesday morning we stopped by the to see the General Grant/National Christmas tree before we headed to Kings Canyon.  We did the amazing drive down the canyon and stopped off to see Knapp's Cabin and Roaring Springs waterfall along the way.  We got clear to Roads End and hiked around a little to see Muir Rock and the beautiful Kings River. We found a great lunch spot for our picnic down there and then stopped to see Grizzly Falls. Then we hit the road to Mariposa.  It was our base camp for Yosemite and had dinner at Subway, the only fast food place in town.

Thursday we started our Yosemite adventures.  This was our day to see things in Yosemite Valley.  Of course, from the valley you are overshadowed by all of the amazing peaks - Sentinel, El Capitan, Half Dome and so many others.  First thing we took a little hike to see the dry, but still beautiful, Lower Yosemite Falls.  We saw chapel, the Sentinel Bridge, the Heritage Center and did a lot of walking to see the Welcome Center and the Exploration Center while walking to a big meadow with amazing views.  Then we had a great picnic.  Next we went to see beautiful Pohono Bridge and Bridal Veil Falls and then drove up to Glacier Point - another one of many, long and winding, edgy roads that made Bean very nervous.  But the views along the way were so worth the drive.  We enjoyed the rest of the day and then made a pretty long drive back to our base camp at Mariposa for dinner at a crazy hamburger joint.  It was wallpapered on the walls and ceiling with old time record covers.  We waited a long time, but the food was very good and plentiful.  

Friday was go home day via Tioga Pass road.  The weather was perfect and the drive beautiful.  We stopped off  at Olmstead View Point for a beautiful view of the back of Half Dome, and then for lunch at Tenaya Lake/Beach.  We walked some on the beach and I braved the cold water to get my feet wet.  Then the drive home really started. We stopped just a minute to see Mono Lake. Along the way we saw cool rocks, wild horses, antelope, cows and mules and lots of long, straight roads. We got snacks and gas at Tonapah and then again in Caliente and finally got home about 8:30.  So glad to get here and get to bed after that long drive.  It was a wonderful, beautiful trip of around 1,700 miles.  Paul did nearly all of the driving and was so great driving those endless, narrow, winding roads!  Glad we did it and glad to get home!  

Sister's Reunion in Washington

 We planned a little get together for us sisters, Janet, Marilynne and me up at Janet's cabin in Washington.  Of course we had our husbands come too!  Paul and I got there Friday late afternoon and left Monday  morning.  Lynn and Marilynne got there a bit earlier on Friday and left Sunday afternoon. Janet and Tony left when we did on Monday.  We had a leisurely time visiting, eating, going to church and playing a few games.  Mostly we visited.  Tony brought up some Walleye fish and pheasant that a friend gave him and cooked it up for us one evening.  I thought it was very good!  Marilynne and I brought the rest of the food so Janet would not be stressed about it.  She's in early stages of Alzheimer's and says sometimes she can't remember how to cook things.  And besides, they provided the wonderful accommodations  at their cabin! I think attending church was very interesting.  They have such a small ward there.  I think there were 50 people their in total including us.  They kept saying they wished all of us could find a way to move there!  There used to be some very big food processing plants in the area and when they closed them down the town (and that ward) lost so many people who just had to move away to find new jobs.  But, they were a nice friendly ward and I enjoyed the maybe 10 people Relief Society group and the great lesson that was given.  Sunday afternoon we picked lots of apples to bring home for Janet and Tony to can and just for us to eat.  There are so many different kinds of red and yellow apple trees growing all over their property.  Some are wild and not as good they say.  I liked all of the ones I tried.  We made an apple pie with some of the Granny Smiths and it was very good.  It was a very relaxing time.  It's hard to see Janet struggling sometimes to remember things, but sometimes she amazed us with remembering things and names of people from long ago better than we could.  It was a long drive of about 1800 miles.  It took 2 days to get there and two days to come home.  We weren't up for making it in one very long drive each time.  I am having some really bad back problems (found out I have a herniated disc) so Paul did all of the driving, so we wanted to break it up.  We stayed in Jerome, Idaho, in the same hotel going and coming.  I'm glad we could get together while everyone can still make the trip. None of us are getting any younger.  There were beautiful, big, cloud filled skies all the way there and back.  We got a bit of rain a few times.  We listened to some good books along the way.  OH, while we were out picking apples, I looked down the path ahead where Janet and I were going to pick some other apples and there was a black bear down there eating black berries we think.  I was so excited I yelled to Paul and Tony that there was a bear...and scared it away.  We only saw the rear end of it, but it was pretty cool!  They have seen a mother bear and two cubs on their game cameras around the place, so it was not that surprising.  They said they've seen a bigger male bear.  I was glad not to see him I think.  I didn't feel afraid, just excited and sad that the men didn't get to see it.  

Down Memory Lane in California/a visit with Sister Randall!

 While we were in CA for Aunt Georgia's funeral, we had a little spare time that we used to drive around and check out our old houses, etc.  It was fun!  Some of them took a little bit of looking to find since we weren't quite remembering the exact addresses!  These are  pictures of my family home that I lived in from Kindergarten on and the 3 apartments/houses that we lived in after we got married until we moved to Farmington, NM, about 9 months later.  The big red apartment building was first, the big gray house second and last was the little house.  Paul actually lived in the big red apartment building in a different apartment when he was on his mission!  It wasn't red then.  We also found the old house that was the office where my mom worked.  It had been repurposed to be an office for structural engineers.  She took over as secretary there for Janet when she went off to school in SLC.  Mom was there until she retired.  We also drove down to Fairmont Park and saw the old tank.  They used the lake to test the tanks to make sure they were waterproof!  We also took a picture of the street sign for Wong Street in English and Chinese.  I'm pretty sure that in the old days it was named Wong Way instead of Wong Street!  Ha Ha! 

 

On Friday evening after the funeral gatherings were all over we drove over to Hemet to take Sister Randall (Ellie) and her companion, Sister Gozart, out to dinner.  They got permission to spend an hour with us and it was such a fun time.  She's serving in the Riverside California Mission which is headquartered in the same chapel I grew up attending from Kindergarten on.  One of the local mission presidency members and his wife were actually attending the funeral luncheon that day.  It was crazy to visit the chapel of my childhood and even see people there from the ward helping with the funeral lunch that I remember from way back when I was in that ward.  Ellie got a good recommendation for a place to eat from a ward RS president.  It was really good food and not terribly expensive.  We had a good visit and then took them back to their apartment to go off to do some missionary work.  Such good girls!  So glad Ellie is making such good choices that will bless her life and many others as well.  

We love you Aunt Georgia...and LeAnne

The time came for Aunt Georgia, number eleven and the last child of Mary and George Broadbent, to head home for a wonderful family reunion in heaven.  She passed away on Tuesday, August 18th in Riverside, Riverside County, California.  Here's what her daughter, Jana Cheney posted:

"Our sweet mother, Georgia Swainston Abernathy, passed away very peacefully about 30 minutes ago.  She had family by her bedside holding her hands and no doubt, family across the veil extending their hands.  What an amazing 98 year adventure." 

She was the aunt that I had the chance to know and love much more closely than all of my others.  She and her family moved in with us for about a year and a half after they moved down from Idaho leaving a very bad marriage situation.  They became a much closer aunt and cousins that way.  I was pretty sad when they moved out and felt very lonely. We have all grown up and gone our separate ways, but they still hold a special place in my heart from that time we had together. 

Georgia was ready to go home after her long adventure.  She was struggling with hearing and vision and her heart and lungs were worn out.  We will miss her here, but we are glad she could leave her tired body behind and join the family waiting for her on the other side.  Happy graduation Aunt Georgia!  You passed your earthly test with flying colors!  We love you and hope the reunion with family is sweet!  

Georgia's children are, left to right in the top picture:  LeAnne, Jana, Thom, Anelle.  You will see a beloved "adopted" daughter in the lower picture - she grew up best friends to Anelle and neighbor to the family - Jennifer Conium.  

The picture below was created by AI and shows Aunt Georgia welcoming her daughter, Audrey LeAnne Wood, to heaven.  LeAnne has fought cancer for 18 years and passed away on September 5th, just 18 days after her mom, Aunt Georgia.  It's a hard blow to this family to lose both of them, but they were both "ready" to go.  I'm glad I got to visit with LeAnne and some of her family when they came to see us as we vacationed in Oregon a year or so ago.  I'm sad for her husband to have to go it alone now.  He still has some life ahead of him.  It's hard to say these goodbyes, but thank goodness we know it's not forever.  LeAnne was 76.  She and my sister, Marilynne were pretty close and actually had a double wedding/reception.  Rest in peace LeAnne.  

My cousins with LeAnne in the front (Jana, Thom and Anelle Cheney).

Clair (Les and LeAnne's daughter and husband up front and LeAnne and Les Wood back seat in Oregon.

Paul and I went out to the graveside/funeral and lunch.  It was very nice.  It was strange to be back in that old chapel I grew up going to for my whole life and even see some of the people that I went to church with there.  Most of the funeral took place at the grave with a brief talk from the bishop and a life sketch written by LeAnne shared by Daniel Wood, a grandson.  Afterwards we went back to the church where another life sketch written by Georgia was read by another grandson, Brian Cheney.  The lunch and visiting was very nice.  Now the next funeral coming up will be for LeAnne.  Such a time of loss for this family.  Thank goodness the knowledge that life goes on gets us through and brings peace to us knowing that they are in a better place where their sufferings are over.  Georgia was buried at Olivewood Cemetery in Riverside, California.  

These are pictures from LeAnne's funeral.  We didn't make it to that one.  My back is in bad shape with a herniated disc and pinched nerve.  Just couldn't add one more long trip to it.  

Colorado rock trip + Colorado NM, Rocky Mountain NP, Pike's Peak, Capital Reef NP and more!

Paul needed to check out some stone he hopes to use for an upcoming job for city.  The quarry is in Lyons, Colorado.  We decided to make a great rock plus more trip!  We left on a Monday morning and made a long drive all the way to Parachute, Colorado that day with a stop along the way near Grand Junction to drive through Colorado National Monument.  This is our second time there, but we took a bit more time to stop and see lots of the roadside attractions. This is such a beautiful park! It was perfect weather and my sore back/leg cooperated to let me walk without pain.  We saw quite a few Rocky Mountain Sheep along the way which was awesome.  One of our favorite stops was at an Echo Point overlook where you could shout out and your echo would come back at you perfectly.  We tried to record it, but the phone wouldn't pick up the echo.  We had so much fun there!  After that we drove on to get to our stop for the night in Parachute, Colorado.  We stopped for picnic lunch at a park in Green River  and at Grand Junction for dinner at Wendy's.  It was a long but so beautiful drive.  

Tuesday we got on our way to the Quarry in Lyons, Colorado.  It was about a four hour drive through some so beautiful scenery.  We did our business there and then had  time enough left of the day to get to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We stopped for a picnic lunch in our car at Estes Park. Then we went to the park and got there right after 2 pm when you didn't have to have a timed entry reservation.  We decided to take scenic drive over Trail Ridge Road which is the highest continuous paved road in the United States.  It is 48 miles long.  We stopped at most of the pullouts along the way to see the awesome views.  It was good weather except for one stop when we got a little wet during a quick rain/sleet storm.  SOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!  There aren't words to describe it! We went up and back over that road and got down the mountain just in time to drive the Bear Lake Road which opened up without a timed reservation at 6 pm.  What a beautiful lowland drive that was and we saw so many elk along the way.  We hiked the short Bear Lake Loop at the end and then headed on to drive to Longmont for that night's stay. We stopped along the way and ate dinner at Freddy's after we failed to be noticed at Taco Bell!  This was a much better motel than the one at Parachute! 

Wednesday we had reservations to drive up to Pike's Peak.  We got there a little early for our 11 am entry reservation but they let us in anyway.  There are 156 curves in this 19-mile drive with a 6,715 foot elevation gain. It is a crazy drive, but the views and changes in ecosystems along the way are amazing.  At the top is a beautiful visitor's center.  (We had stopped at the two visitor's centers along the way up too.)  There's a cog train that will take you up the mountain, but we liked the drive.  We stopped off just before the summit and  hiked around in some cool rocks for a little bit.  At the top, you can feel just a little bit off because of the high elevation.  Just a little bit of headache, nausea.  It wasn't bad, but just kind of there. It was an amazing place with awesome views and it is the highest elevation place that either one of us has ever been to other than in an airplane.  We crossed the continental divide twice on this trip.  Once coming down from Rocky Mountain NP at Milner Pass and then again the next day going over Monarch Pass.  We were among so many high mountains during this trip.  We saw them all around us and also on a topo map at the top of Monarch Pass.  Such massive mountain tops! That night we ate dinner at Arby's in Boulder and then drove on to Grand Junction for the night.  

Thursday it was time to come home. We went through Green River, then over to Hanksville and across through Capital Reef NP.  We saw a sign there that said "U-Pick."  We stopped at the Visitor's Center and asked about it and they gave us bags and said we could eat all of the apples we wanted for free and pick more and pay $1.99 a pound.  They gave us bags.  We ate and picked!  Some were quite yummy! After that we continued down through Escalante where we stopped for a picnic lunch and then down to Panguitch and over Cedar Mountain and back to St. George.  It was again, a beautiful, scenic drive...very different, but still so beautiful!   What a grand little trip this turned out to be.  I had to lay down for a lot of the car time because my back was bothering me, but it was so worth it!  What a beautiful trip!