eurojenny

Disneyland with my nieces and nephews

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

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

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

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. 😁

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)

Flew the millenium falcon…also a first for max

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 drive out after work.

Got some great photos in the morning though

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!

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!

Weird sort of transparent lemon cake from Pyms

We had lots of fun eating beignets like children

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

The Fraser River – followed along this for a long part of this drive

Nairn Falls 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!

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)

Mmm, fresh apples from Washington. The white peaches…also divine

Walls Walla River…a small oasis in a bleary dry landscape

What a terribly sad place. So much hate and death and misunderstanding here

Also some remnants of the Oregon Trail here too

Sunset at the rest stop where I had dinner

Stayed at Farewell Bend campground

Burley Idaho temple. Not open yet but I got a few pictures

Finally got home at 7 pm on Thursday

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.

What a way to start the day!

Rancheria Falls…short hike off of the Alaska Highway

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!

Just look at that color!

Talked to some locals and they said in the summer the place is packed. I can see why!

Through the beautiful aspen forest

Along the Cassiar Highway, a bear crossed right in front of me!

Stayed at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere

And what a beautiful serene one

More bears!

Gitwangak Historical Park

Closed fur the season but the buildings and grounds were walkable

Caught the sunset on the way to Prince George

Stayed at a campground there. The moon was hazed because of the smoke

Alaska Road Trip Day 20

Saturday, 6 September

Alaska, BC, and Yukon…90+ miles

No electronic tickets here! Had to go in here to get a physical ticket haha

Got a window seat on the cliff side of the train so I did most of the photo and video work on the way up to the top from my seat

Somebody’s following us

Occasional glimpses of the river below

The US border control building. It’s way on this side of the actual border since it’s pretty treacherous at the top

Black cross monument… a few who died during the laying of the railroad are buried there

Tunnel!!

The old bridge is pretty creepy in the fog

From darkness to light

One of the gold Rush trails

Trailer part two

Border crossing

Turning around at White Pass Summit

Since I was now on the wrong side of the car, I went outside for some of the trip back

Time lapses are fun

Especially backwards and through tunnels

Wave to the nice people on the other train!

There’s a little Sasquatch figure here, but he goes by really fast so you might not see him

At Denver stop, they left an old caboose there so that backpackers can use it for shelter

Visited lots of Klondike Gold Rush sites

It was incredibly hard for the prospectors

Beautiful old piano kept in very nice condition

In order the fish and chips, which were awesome

And then his house when he got rich after the gold rush

Everyone involved with this project is certified insane

There is no plumbing in the building and never was. Jane was put here to scare people.

Skagway was swarming with people, here from cruise ships.

I want to go climb in the cave, but I didn’t

Soapy Smith. Conman Shot by the guy with the huge monument

The trailhead for the Chilkoot trail, one that many prospectors took and died on and you can still take. But hopefully not die on.

Went to the historic Dyea site. Boomtiwn during the rush but now mostly gone back to nature

So quiet here.

On my way back to Skagway I spotted this guy!

Truly, a ghost town at the end of the day.

Pretty waterfall on the way out of the town and the state

Bye Alaska! Taking lots of memories and insect carcasses

Stopped to sleep by a lake in Carcross

Alaska Road Trip Day 19

Alaska, BC, Yukon, BC, Alaska 😁 366 miles

Camped at an RV park in Haines… woke up with the sun

Needed to kill some time before the ferry, so I drove toward Chilkoot Lake. Bunches of people were pulled over at the side of the road, so I stopped and here’s what I saw!

Caught some bodily functions

Bye!

Chilkoot lake…I did an amazing job of keeping all of the people, canoes, dock, and fishing out of the photo

Driving back along the chilkoot river. Stopped where cars were parked and people with cameras were…

Caught a fish!

Still had a bit of time so I sat on a big rock and enjoyed…

…this view!

Went to the very terminal and it turns out they were sold out! Sad face. So I had to drive on our way through Canada to get to Skagway.

Stopped on Whitehorse to do a little shopping. Dollarama had the best prices on the candy I need to buy my nieces and nephews.

This museum is closed for the season but I got a shot of the steamboat that was used during the gold rush.

Stopped at kookatsoon lake for dinner. Beautiful

The drive into Skagway was nerve wracking. There was a marathon along the road and I had to be super careful with pedestrians and support cars. It was also dark so that didn’t help. looking forward to enjoying the scenery on the way back out 😊

Garden City RV park tent site in Skagway (taken Saturday morning). I checked in late and wasn’t given the bathroom code, so I used the men’s room since that door wasn’t locked haha

Alaska Road Trip Day 18

Thursday, 4 September

Yukon, BC, and Alaska…240 miles

Started the long drive day at Soldier’s Summit trail

Love chilling in the red Adirondack chairs that are in the Canada parks

When I drove through this area before it was just green and now it’s all fall colors just a week and a half later

Drove all the way to Haines. This is the Chilkoot river.

I sat for a while in Haines trying to figure out what to do. The flight seeing over gates of the Arctic and Kobe Valley can finally happen on Saturday, but I have to fly to Kotzebue. It would mean, taking a sea plane to Juneau, then flying to Anchorage, staying the night there, then flying to Kotzebue, doing the tour, staying there, flying out the next morning to Anchorage and then Juneau, staying there, and then taking a sea plane back out Monday morning. All of this without my car. Delaying my trip three days days and costing a couple of thousand dollars more. I really want to see those parks but that’s a lot. I texted Steve and he said he would come with me later to see those parks so that’s what I’m going to do.

In the meantime, the company flying over glacier Bay called and said they had an opening that afternoon. So a day early, off I went!

And the whole trip was incredible.

Amazing sight after amazing sight

And Paul, the pilot talked about how much these glaciers have shrunk over time. It’s very sad.

I’m really glad that I got to sit in the copilot seat. Much better views than on my Katmai flight.

Smoother too. Didn’t get even a little bit sick

Landing!!

That was incredible! And all in an hour!

Alaska Road Trip Days 16 and 17

Tuesday, 2 September

113 miles

Went kayaking from Valdez out to the Columbia glacier. Had a 2-hour boat trip out there and back

Getting all geared up. I have never kayaked with that much stuff on haha

Landed. Getting kayaked up

Here’s where we are headed. It looks pretty close but it’s really not

In a kayak with August, one of the guides, so I got to take a video while he paddled hehe

So much ice on these waters

We sat in front of the face and watched for a calving event for quite a while

Calving event, zoomed way in

Lauren took a picture of me and Goofball

Taking off. Can finally take off all this gear!!

This was on the boat heading away. We explored the bit off to the left

Cutest rabbit at the food truck where I got this for dinner

This is the group I used for the kayak tour. They were awesome!

Just a teeny local creek…

Salmon everywhere!

Drove past the original town site on the recommendation of August

So cool how nature has just taken over since the earthquake in 1964

I hiked up to the trail end but it was just a viewing platform and I really wanted to touch it so I kept going

The scenery 😁

This was as close as I got before it looked too precarious and turned back

I’m sad that I didn’t get to touch it. Such a beautiful place and felt so tantilizingly close

Wednesday, 3 September

Alaska and Yukon…353 miles. Mostly a travel day.

Started at the Wrangell-St Elias visitor center and a short hike in the area

Usually these mountains are shrouded in clouds!

Driving along Highway 1

Crossed the border (took almost an hour!) while talking to my fam on our weekly Boggle call. Driving through the Yukon wasn’t as painful this time because there weren’t any work crews to worry about.