Stop 5: Mt. Saint Helens, WA

We stopped at Mt. Saint Helens in Washington. It was rainy and cloudy, but we still got to see part of the volcano. It was huge.. We also drove through the Cascade Mountains and saw big cliffs and waterfalls. There was still snow on the ground there! We couldn't see Mt. Rainier because of the clouds.

                                                               Mom and me

                                                          The base of Mt. Saint Helens

                                                             A logging farm

                                                          sign for logging farm

                                                                   A waterfall

                                                               A cliff

                                                    The ash and stuff from the volcano

Stop 4:Cape Perpetua State Park, Oregon

We stopped and saw some seals on the way there. After we set up camp we watched the sun set over the ocean. We camped in a temperate rain forest and it rained! In the morning we hiked to a 500 year old sitka spruce, and some tidal pools. We saw lots of urchins, anemones, and starfish.

                                                                Seals

                                            Sunset at Cape Perpetua

                                                        Out tent almost got crushed by a tree!

                                                                Us under the 500 year old tree

                                                            Starfish

                                                      Green anemones

                                                                  Starfish and anemones

                                                            Purple sea urchins

                                                                  Mussels

                                                   Dad and Gavin on a tree

Stop 3:Redwoods

We drove to the Redwoods and I finally stopped puking by the time we got there. Then we went on a walk in the morning and saw giant redwoods.

                                                                   Hike in the redwoods

                                                            Giant Banana Slugs

                                                               Me with a Redwood

                                                                    Redwoods

                                                          Me and Gavin in a Redwood

                                                         Us with our tent

                                                                        Redwood tourist stop

Stop 2:Sonoma Coast Beach.

We  crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and saw rain for the first time since the Great Smoky Mountains in NC, way back in May. Then we camped right on one of the most dangerous beaches (or so the sign said) in CA. I woke up with a stomach bug the next day, and had to drive on the windiest roads in California.

                                                          the Golden Gate Bridge

                                                      Our tent on the beach

                                                                    The dangerous beach

                                                                  Me and Gavin on the beach

                                                   A rock

return trip stop 1:Big sur, CA

On July 21 we started our return cross-country trip, but I haven't had internet access until now, so I'm posting  4 days at once. The day we left we drove to Big Sur. Along the way we stopped at an MVF restaurant in San Luis Obispo, The Ribline, and we also stopped to see the elephant seals.We camped at the Andrew Molera State Park which we had to hike a half mile in to get to. All the other campgrounds were full.

                                                         The tri tip sandwich at Ribline

                                                    Gavin eating a rib

                                                          Ribline

                                                     Elephant seals

                                                      Elephant seal

                                                 Our tent is under the tree in the back

                                         A snake crawling out of a hole - Amanda can you identify it?

                                                   The squirrels lived in holes too

                                                      The awesome view from Molera Point

                                                                Us in a tree

Long Beach Aquarium, CA and Beverly Hills

We visited another of dad's friends from college. They lived in Beverly Hills in a really cool house that they had built. The pool was super cool. Yesterday we went to the Long Beach Aquarium. Gavin loved it and was extremely hyper. Lena and Phoebe came too.

                                                       Gavin and a scuba diver

                                                         A cool leafy sea dragon

                                                                 A shark

                                                          cool sea horses

                                                       A sea turtle

                                                                   A frog

                                                                      A rock fish

                                                   Clown fish

                                                                        

                                                                    A puffin

                                                                 Phoebe looking at a sea otter

                                                            A jellyfish

                                                     A sea otter

                                                          A lorikeet

                                                         Another Lorikeet

                                                         Gavin with a penguin

                                                               Gavin and a sea star

                                                                  A moray eel

                                                            Gavin jumping across the pool

                                                                  Dad jumping off the roof

                                                           Me, Gavin, Quincy, and Avery

                                                       Mom, Dad, Eric, and Adrienne