Northern Cali Road Trip part 1

18-22 October

Drove the first afternoon and evening. Slept in my car each night. Started morning on the 19th at…

Delta Meadows State Park
Woodland Opera House state historic Park
Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreation Area
Lake Oroville State Recreation Area
Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park
Bidwell-Sacramento River State Park
Sacramento River National wildlife refuge
Woodson Bridge SRA
William B Ide Adobe SHP
Shasta State historic park 
Castle Crags Stare Park
Hedge Creek Falls
Camped at Lava Beds National Monument
20 October…Woke up to this 😊
Hiked down into the lava tubes
Skull Cave here I come!
Scary and super cool
Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge

SoCal fall/winter 2025

Trained for physics and then technology within a few days.

7 October
15 Oct
Went back to physical therapy. Cupping is the worst
7 Oct. Love seeing shows in this incredible building!
10 Oct. I work in the prettiest place 😊
12 Oct Annual beach camping trip
Axe throwing at its finest haha
Made better with Steve’s paella!
13 October did a Disney day with the ransoms
15 October Asher and Orion did some epic
19 Oct. hung out with Gary and Kaylie
Me and my best Disney Buddy

Nibling Disney Part 2

9-10 December 2025

Emily!!!

Had lots of great treats 😊
Enjoyed the animation academy
Got my first bubble wand!
We each did a Key to Disneyland
I wanted another collectible pin. They are adorable 😊
Emily the steamboat captain 💚
Thanks Brianna for taking us up!
Had fun taking tricky pics for the game
First time this has happened to me!
Had an incredible time doing the magical things with Em

Jason!! 5-6 January 2026

Went to the Craftsman Bar at the Grand Californian…Jason’s first time there

Ben next!! 24-25 March 2026

His first time at the Animation Academy
He loved the Sorcerers’ Workshop
Guardians
Guardians again!
Benny loves Bluey so we went to the show
And got done bluey treats
Guardians #3
He wanted to go 5 times but we only made it to 4 😊

Disneyland with my Niblings

I decided to treat each of Gary’s kids to a couple of days at Disneyland with me. I flew them down and they stayed at my place on my “spare bed” 😁

22-23 Sept 2025

Ellie went first (I wanted to start from the bottom since Gary started with Em for his yearly trips with each child).

She had a really hard time eating this! It also ended up being too spicy so her efforts to be adventurous with food backfired
Went swimming in my pool both afternoons
Loved world of color!
Had an amazing time!!

13-14 November

Claire is next! I know we skipped ahead a few. But I had to find a time when I could fly down with max since he hasn’t flown before. And Ben just barely went with his dad

We had lots of fun coordinating photos
Pumpkin stuff is decidedly delicious!
Claire loves .5 pictures 😁
It poured all day our second day! We rode Jessie’s carousel while we were waiting for Incredicoaster to come back up. She went down so many times that day! Racers too. We were actually in the line. Very disappointing.
Did single rider but synchronized our poses
Finally!
Claire was really nervous to go on guardians. But she went. She was so brave. And she loved it! We actually got in the line again. 😁
First day of the holiday season!
It was so lovely to hang out with my Claire 💚

2-3 December 2025

Max’s turn! We flew down together and then he flew back alone (I walked him to the gate)

One with the sun NOT in our faces 😁
Got soaked on Grizzly!
He tried Space Mountain…and loved it!
Did it again!
Went to the island for the first time
Flew the millenium falcon…also a first for max
First churro! Apple pie…yum!
2nd one
The big 3!
4 baby!
Made it to 5!
We had so much fun doing the Key to Disneyland

California Road Trip – Local sites

3-4 October 2025

Spent the weekend driving to local places while listening to general conference. Camped Friday night at Mount San Jacinto State Park. Got there late since I drove out after work.

Got some great photos in the morning though
Nice views. If you can get em.
Went to the Redlands temple. Couldn’t get an appointment for baptisms. Closed for cleaning I think?
Is it sacrilege to eat an apple at the California Citrus state park?!?
Chino Hills State Park. Did a little hike
The Yorba Linda temple isn’t finished yet but she’s going to be beautiful!
The grounds are starting to get pretty
Bolsa Chica state beach
Corona Del Mar state beach
Also called Pirate’s Cove. Stunning!
Enjoyed sunset…
…and beyond!

Fun trip visiting local places. Going to try to visit all of the California state parks. There are so many!!

Disneyland with Gary and Ben

17-19 Sept 2025

So happy that I got to join for some of Ben’s trip. I did have to work and I left on a road trip on the last day, but we had a great time!

Ben went on Guardians!
And loved it!
Enough to go again!
Weird sort of transparent lemon cake from Pyms
Beautiful view from the treehouse 😊
We had lots of fun eating beignets like children
And again haha!
Great score on webslingers
Got stuck on Midway. Long enough to make me panicky with claustrophobia. And we missed going on Incredicoaster again. Ben was super bummed. We didn’t even get to do any of the ride 🙁
I think this is my highest Astro blasters score!
Ben’s goal was to do every single ride. And he did it! It was really fun seeing him experience so many new things!

Alaska Road Trip Days 23, 24, and 25

Tuesday, 9 Sept through Thursday. 11 Sept

British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah…1546 miles

Drove south from Prince George under smoky skies. McClees Lake
Marble Canyon Provincial Park
Pavilion Lake
The Fraser River – followed along this for a long part of this drive
Cayoosh Creek
Duffey Lake Provincial Park
Nairn Falls Provincial Park
Brandywine Falls Provincial Park
So cool!!
Tantalus range
Porteau Cove Provincial Park
I need to come back to see this bit of the drive when it’s light
Finally got to Vancouver at 9. Had some dinner at Mike and Risa’s. So good to see them!
Vancouver temple

Slept at a rest stop on I-5 just inside Washington

Deception Falls – Mt Baker National Forest

Went to Leavenworth for lunch (The Soup Cellar), chocolates (Shocolat), and cookies (Gingerbread Factory)

Wenatchee River
Perry is very very dirty
Mmm, fresh apples from Washington. The white peaches…also divine
Moses Lake Washington temple
Walls Walla River…a small oasis in a bleary dry landscape
Still very smoky in places
Whitman Mission National Historic Site
What a terribly sad place. So much hate and death and misunderstanding here
Also some remnants of the Oregon Trail here too
A great smoky overlook
Sunset at the rest stop where I had dinner
Brought some souvenirs home

Stayed at Farewell Bend campground

Boise Idaho temple
Three Island Crossing State Park
Thousand Springs area
Hagerman Fossil Beds
Burley Idaho temple. Not open yet but I got a few pictures

Finally got home at 7 pm on Thursday

So happy to be home. My mountains 💚
The view during the sunrise on Friday morning

Alaska Road Trip Days 21 and 22

Sunday, 7 Sept and Monday 8, Sept

Yukon and British Columbia…1052 miles

Found some incredible spots on my drive. Rancheria Falls, Boya Lake, Meziadin Lake, Seeley Lake, and some adorable bears

Stopped to sleep at the edge of Nares lake.
Woke up to this sunrise
What a way to start the day!
Rancheria Falls…short hike off of the Alaska Highway
Stunning!
Had a good hair day even after sleeping on it!
Incredibly green water in this deep pool
The drive south through northern British Columbia was dry and boring until I randomly stopped at Boya Lake…what a find!
The lake bottom is white from silt
Just look at that color!
Not too cold…went for a little swim 😁
Talked to some locals and they said in the summer the place is packed. I can see why!
Hiked up around to the beaver dams
Through the beautiful aspen forest
The other part of the lake…so peaceful
Atlin Lake
Dease Lake
Eddontenajon Lake
Iskut River
Along the Cassiar Highway, a bear crossed right in front of me!
Stayed at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere

Iskut Lake in the very early morning
And what a beautiful serene one
Meziadin Lake Provincial Park
More bears!
Gitwangak Historical Park
Climbed up to the high point
Seeley Lake Provincial Park
Lots of insects!!
Fort St James historic park
Closed fur the season but the buildings and grounds were walkable
Stuart Lake
Caught the sunset on the way to Prince George
Stayed at a campground there. The moon was hazed because of the smoke