The past month has been pretty busy for us. After speaking in Keokuk on Sept. 14th, we left right after the meetings to head to CA. We had to make an important stop in Las Vegas to visit our old friends – Donny and Marie Osmond. They gave a wonderful show to a packed house at the Flamingo. They sang, danced and joked around with themselves and the audience all night. We thought they had a lot of energy and stamina for being in their 50’s.
We drove to La Crescenta the next day and enjoyed our next week with the CA Harts,
enjoying the new guest bedroom (go try it out). Chris and Wendy left the following morning, before we even got up,to fly to SL for an alumni conference. The kids all got off to school (needing very little help from us) and we spent the day with Ben, who was just wonderful for us. He showed us his trampoline, cars and puzzle skills and entertained us all day long. Saturday was our busy day with 2 soccer games to attend at the same time – it was split up time. Thank goodness for the GPS, I’m sure that I would have gotten lost trying to find Elizabeth’s field. Chris and Wendy got home late Sat. night.
Mon. and Tues. we spent giving 9 physics demonstrations on sound to the Dunsmore School classes – that was fun. Wed. we visited the new Americana Shopping area in Glendale, which
features a scaled down version of the Belagio Fountain in Vegas, and ended up at the Nestle store for some always desired –
CHOCOLATE.
We left Thurs. for Berkeley, spending the afternoon with Mike at his new apartment (no school on Thurs.). He and Echo seem to have settled right into their new environment – lots of good friends and neighbors - Echo can even play on the outside balcony with her new friends. Fri., Hal’s dream was finally fulfilled, we got to see the Trolley Car museum and the main power station for San Francisco trolley system. We’ve tried for years, but could never find a parking place along those crowded streets. We also
found a fortune cookie factory down a scary, narrow alley. After classes, Mike met us, along
with a couple of his friends, at a climbing gym in San
Francisco. Who knew that Mike could climb like that? The competition lasted several hours with Mike and friend making several successful climbs at varying levels of difficulty. (I have proof on camera for your viewing pleasure.) We spent Sat. at Alcatraz (just visiting of course) – interesting place. Mon., we gave Mike back his space and headed for SL. Samantha has developed quite a bit since this summer and is getting quite mobile. She loves her activity center and jumper and kept us entertained during her waking hours. I’m sure that she will be very different
when we see her at Christmas.
After only a couple of days (way to short), we headed for 4 of the southern Utah National Parks - Capital Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, and National Bridges. We loved the scenery, what a feast for the eyes. Each park is different, each with it’s own beauty. I took lots of pictures, bet you can’t wait? I can’t believe that we haven’t been there before – what did we do all those years we lived in Utah?
We spent the last weekend of our trip at Jeff and Grace’s – nice house, with plenty of space for a family gathering. We even checked out our place of abode for Jan and Feb. – it looks pretty good from the outside, anyway.
The drive home wasn't nearly as fun as the drive to visit everyone. We stayed occupied with our audio books and food. Now we need to recuperate and get some home jobs done before the next trip. Thanks to all of you for a very fun and eventful vacation.
