Yellowstone Day 1

We are back from vacation and have so much to share! We had an amazing time, definitely a trip to remember. We drove for hours and hours through the California desert, across Nevada and a small corner of Arizona, up the state of Utah, through Idaho, a tiny peice of Montana and finally into Yellowstone National Park in the top left corner of Wyoming. Remember though, Yellowstone was a national park before any of the surrounding states existed so it is really a territory of its own complete with a court of justice and a federal judge. When we arrived it had been lightly snowing, which was a bit worrying, but nothing that was staying around. Within the first 15 minutes of entering the park, we pulled to the side of the road and saw buffalo and a small coyote running along the road near by. We hoped this was a good sign of things to come but were ready for a hot shower and a nap so we headed straight for the hotel.

On Sunday was our first full day in the park. The snow was gone and it was a clear but cold day. We headed out to the Lamar Valley and Tower / Rosevelt area pretty early in the morning to see what wild life we could spot. It's pretty easy to see when wild life is near the roads because you end up getting a few cars parked to the side and a lot of excited people with cameras. So after about 15 minutes of driving we pull over to see what everyone is looking at. To our surprise there was a Grizzly and her cub just in the valley below. They were too far away to get a good picture but we did have our binoculars and could get a pretty good view of them, from a very safe distance. It was pretty amazing and a great way to start the day.

The Lamar Valley is in the Northeast corner of the park. The park is huge, 2.2 million acres, and each village within the park is usually between 20 and 40 miles apart. So we did do a lot of driving but we did get to see some amazing landscapes.

There are rivers, streams, lakes and ponds all over the park.

The bison or buffalo roam all over the park. As it was still spring the calves were still pretty small and there were loads of them. They are usually in herds but often you will get a lone bison in the distance or right next to your car.

This is Tower Falls just one of the many falls and cascades that can be found throughout the park. We did a small hike down to the falls, it was sunny but the wind was really cold. The park is surrounded by snow covered mountains so when the wind comes down the passes it's freezing and always manages to go right down the back of your neck.

After we went to see Tower Falls we headed back towards our hotel in Mammoth Hot Springs but stopped for lunch at a picnic area. As we approached the picnic area we saw some people on the side of the road. We stopped and got out of the car to see what was there and saw these bull Elk lounging in the shade. Their antlers are still growing, it's still early in the season so they have a few more months to grow them

Here I am at the picnic area with a stream side picnic bench all to ourselves.

No Yogi Bear around though =>

After lunch we headed back to our hotel area to check out all the geothermal areas surrounding us. Here is one of the terraces.

It was still cool outside and the sky was a beautiful blue with clouds rolling by.

Jamie got some pretty amazing pictures!

We were determined to get more pictures of the two of us this trip:)

The colors were so amazing and the view spectacular but lucky for you, you don't have to smell the sulfur which was incredibly strong and according to Jamie not the best thing to be breathing.

This picture is my favorite, it looks so surreal!

The steam coming off of the Earth and the dead trees were quite a sight.

Later that evening we drove to the North Entrance to see Roosevelt's Arch. This was built to commemorate the 1st National Park. This used to be one of the only entrances because it is the lowest part of the park, about 5,000 ft but now it's pretty quiet.

As we headed back to our hotel this guy was there to welcome us back! They grazed near our hotel along with the Elk and just go about there day without any thought to the cars or people looking at them. Luckily for us the park didn't officially open for another week, so it was pretty quiet wherever we went. I'll be posting more pictures from each day that we were there.

Mother's Day

This last weekend was a busy one. I got my haircut, we had our new buffet table delivered and we went to my cousins graduation party. Chris graduated with her Masters degree in Clinical Psychiatry from Vanguard University. She had a bbq on Saturday night to celebrate and it was a very nice evening. But the highlight of the weekend was Mother's Day on Sunday.

We had my parents and Anthony over for a bbq at the house. We cooked carnitas and carne asada and it was so good. My Mom enjoyed the day. It wasn't as warm as Saturday unfortunately so we ate inside but it was still a nice day.

The best part of the meal, of course, was dessert! We had homemade lemon cake, made with lemons from our own garden. It was lemon cake, with lemon curd filling and lemon frosting! Can you tell that my Mom loves lemon desserts, lol. It was delicious. I hope all the Mother's out there had a wonderful day and didn't have to do much of anything but enjoy their families :)

Wish List...

So I know Jamie and I have a car list that seems to grow each day but this weekend we definately found one that would near the top of the list. Along with the many classic trucks and muscle cars, we would like to have one of these:

We went to a British Car Show on Sunday at the Olde Ship Pub (one of the many events going on in Southern California, as it is Brit Week). Along with the above, 1954 MG, they had a pretty impressive selection of British cars and as a result we keep adding to our list =>

Amanda's Wedding

Last Saturday, we went to Amanda's wedding in Dana Point. The ceremony took place at the Chart House Restaurant, which is located on a cliff overlooking the harbor. The day started out a bit cloudy but eventually it burned off and turned out to be a nice, sunny day.

Here is the view from the restaurant overlooking the harbor.

Mr. & Mrs. Mark Carter, the happily married couple!

Amanda and me inside the restaurant on the dance floor. It was a very nice ceremony and the restaurant turned out to be the perfect venue. We had a great time and some good food, laughs, and fun.

The day flew by and we were thrilled that Amanda and Mark wanted us to share their day with them, especially since it was mostly family. We wish them all the best and many, many years of happiness.

Big Dogs!

Last week, while we were over at my parents house for Easter and before the crazy earthquake that day, we took some pictures of the "puppies."

They've gotten so big over the last few months and they're not done growing just yet. Although they aren't growing as quickly as they were a few weeks ago.

They're full of energy and made it a bit of a challenge to get a nice picture of them.

Casper Wilderness Park

Saturday we decided to go out for the day and do a hike. With all the rain over the last few months we figured it would be pretty green and many of the wildflowers would be blooming. So we drove down south and went to Casper Wilderness Park which is about 7 miles inland from San Juan Capistrano.

Everything was green and the weather was perfect for a hike. As the day went on it got a little warm but for most of the morning it was really pleasant.

All the trails were sign posted and the majority of the paths were pretty wide. A few of them had some mountain bikers but for the most part we didn't see many people. A lot of the smaller trails we went on were only for hikers which was really nice.

There is nothing like the California landscape. We walked throug Oak groves, green meadows and of course saw lots of Cacti!

As it is wildflower season we saw lots a beautiful flowers!

Not to worry, I took an alergy pill before we left the house =>

As a native Californian, you would think I would be used to native plants but they still do surprise me. As we were hiking we saw this giant asparagus! Now that was a surprise, lol. Ok, so it's not related to the asparagus family, it is actually a flower that hasn't bloomed yet.

You can see the flower blooming in the picture above. It's the one standing straight up on the left with yellow flowers on it.

Another unusual species!

A lovely picture with a beautiful background :)

Some of the meadows we walked through were gorgeous.

The Orange County version of white cliffs.

We did about a 10 mile hike and we finished about 12 o'clock. Just in time to have lunch. We were really impressed with the area and all the trails were great. We would definitely go back and do a different hike again. We did see quite a bit of birds, lizards, butterflies and caterpillars. Not to many large animals which is perfectly fine with me. The weather was perfect but today it is raining again. It's great for the vegetation but I'm ready for sunshine.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELA!!!!