Welcome to our long-awaited vacation update. This summer we took a 5 week camping trip from Los Angeles to Wisconsin and back. We drove 7,500 miles, visited 10 National Parks, added 20 stamps to our National Park Passports, drove through 18 states, saw the beauty of God's creation, and visited with family and friends. It was a wonderful trip and we are happy to share our favorite pictures with you. = - )

We spent a lot of time in our van. We passed the time playing travel Scrabble, listening to music, reading books, sharing the Game Boy, sleeping, eating and getting on each others nerves! = - ) Our first stop after an all night drive was a waterpark in Idaho.



The kids stamped their passport books at each of the National Parks we visited. Our first night under the stars was spent in Wyoming at Grand Teton National Park.



A few days later we headed over to Yellowstone. The nights were freezing cold and it was good that we were snuggly packed into our 6 person tent! Evidence of the 1988 fires was everywhere, but the new growth is coming in strong. Old Faithful was as faithful as ever.


We were so blessed by the wildlife that we saw on our trip - it was really the highlight for the kids! These pictures were taken in North Dakota at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The wild horses and prairie dogs were amazing! You can click on the horse picture to see some more great pictures of the animals we saw on our trip.


We then headed down to Rapid City, South Dakota for a few days to visit famous Mt. Rushmore.


After Mt. Rushmore we stopped at a few of the hometowns of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family. It was neat to camp on the prairie, visit a school in DeSmet, SD and then head over to Walnut Grove to stand on the banks of Plum Creek and see the place where the old sod house had stood.


We spent a week at the missions conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin, met the new missionaries and enjoyed visiting with old friends.


A highlight for the girls of the family was a visit to the American Girl Place in Chicago. We visited the store, watched a musical show and then had a lovely tea with a great view of the city! It was an afternoon to remember.


We then drove to Normal, Illinois to stay the night with our very good friend, Mama Jane. = - )


The Hubbard family had a fun reunion week together in Wichita, Kansas. Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Arlene came from Denver and we were able to celebrate their 72nd birthdays!


After our time in Kansas we drove down to Oklahoma City to visit the Memorial and Kathy's friend from college.


We left Oklahoma and drove all night to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon where Doug and Kathy reminisced about their summer of love in 1986. = - )


Our next visit was to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon where Doug and Kathy celebrated their 15th anniversary in a tent with their 4 children and enjoyed a lovely dinner of campground goulash! = - )


In Utah we visited Bryce National Park where we saw beautiful views from the rim and then hiked down into the canyon to look up and marvel.


Our final National Park was Zion. We had the best view from our campground and we also learned to appreciate what the Dust Bowl experience in the 1930's was like - it was SO dry because of the drought they've had for the past 5 years. The Virgin River was also very low, but the kids loved swimming in it!


Five weeks later we arrived back home! Everyone was happy to be home and the kids were SOOOO happy to see Toby, Tigger and Thomas again!!!!!!!