Reno to Ogden

Can I just say that I am so glad that Porter is a good traveler? He was a champ on our 8 1/2 hour drive from Reno to Ogden Utah. We had a very pretty drive due to a ton of rain storms, also made for interesting driving as well. 

We stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats to stretch and check them out. Due to so much rain lots of it was under water, but there were still a few places where you could get out and walk on it. Porter had fun running around with the wind and the water.

We were able to pull off the big surprise too. We made it to Ogden and Porter and I went and hid on our front porch. I called my mom and asked her if she wanted some Facetime with Porter, she was trying to get it up on the iPad when Porter's patience had run out and he started knocking on the front door. My brother let him in and he marched straight into the kitchen where my mom and sister were pulling up Facetime. There were screams and a crying grandma. We were able to make it to the Speth's just as Miranda's homecoming date was picking her up so we got to surprise them too.  It was fun, and it felt good to not have to drive anymore.

Medford to Reno

We had 3 full days home from Portland before heading to Utah. We ended up leaving a few days earlier than planned since things worked out with JD's new job and my work a little better that way. We booked our hotel Thursday night and left Friday morning. This was Porter's first time forward facing in his car seat and he was quite pleased, probably partially because his 33" frame was pretty crunched against the back of the seat before we turned him. He kept pointing out cars, talking to us and laughing when we would look in the mirror or glance back at him.

We drove the 5 hours to Reno Nevada and went straight to the temple. JD and I took turns going to the temple and watching Porter. The temple was very pretty and cute. Being a smaller temple, it reminded us a lot of our Medford Oregon temple with different colors, patterns, and glass.

We saw many traffic signs on our way into Reno instructing drivers to watch for motorcyclists and stating that lane sharing was illegal in Nevada. We didn't think much of it until we passed by the Harley Davidson store and saw hundreds of motorcycles parked out front. We got to our hotel and there were a ton of motorcycles out front too. Turns out it was a Fall Motorcycle Ralley in Reno and they were everywhere. It was kind of fun to see all the different motorcycles and hear many motors revving all over the place.

Mount Rainier National Park Part 2

We had fun going on a few hikes while up on the mountain. Porter walked the entire Box Canyon trail which was a 1/2 mile long. He REALLY needed to stretch those little legs. He also thought it was really fun. The views were absolutely amazing all day. I am not one to get teary, but there were a few places where you just would look up and see the peak, glaciers, blue sky, rivers, streams, and falls and it was just too gorgeous to be real. We hiked on the Paradise Trail and checked out Narada Falls, Porter kept pointing out the rainbow to make sure we weren't missing it. I am so grateful we were able to finally make it to this outstanding National Park on a day that couldn't have been prettier.

Mount Rainier National Park Part 1

We finally made it to Mount Rainier National Park. JD had a mandatory conference to attend in Portland so when we found out, we made the goal to get up to Mount Rainier if the weather was good. Let me just say, the weather wasn't just good, it was perfection: 72 degrees, sunny without a cloud in the sky. Fall was starting-a happy bonus for me, and we had a great time hiking all over the park. In order to accomplish this feat, we were on the road leaving Portland by 6 AM and in the park at 9:30 AM. We started at Grove of the Patriarchs and had a blast hiking among these giant, acient trees located on an island that is accessed from a rad suspension bridge that only allows one person at a time.

A few fun facts about Mount Rainier:

• It is the 21st most prominent mountain in the world with an elevation rise of 13,211 feet from its nearest low point. It is the most prominent mountain in the lower 48 states.
• Mount Rainier, a giant stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, is considered an active volcano with its last eruption in 1894. Rainier erupted over a dozen times in the last 2,600 years, with the largest eruption 2,200 years ago.
• Mount Rainier is the most glaciated mountain in the contiguous United States with 26 major glaciers as well as 35 square miles of glaciers and permanent snowfields

Lassen Volcanic National Park

When we were debating on what to do for Labor Day, I happened across Lassen National Volcanic Park. JD and I had never heard of it before, but we love National Parks so decided that the 3 hour drive to get there would be more than worth it.  We had a blast in volcano land. It is kind of weird to think about living on a volcano chain. Mt Lassen is an active volcano but the stretch goes all the way up to British Columbia, so the peaks that we have enjoyed since moving to Oregon including: Crater Lake, Mt St Helens, Mt Jefferson, Mt Hood, Mt Rainier, etc are all volcanos, and a lot of them are active ones too. Kind of neat, the more we learn about these peaks, the more we are able to notice the changes in geography and landscape created by these volcanic cones.

Lassen last erupted in 1915, and it is a beautiful park. We enjoyed walking around Manzanita Lake, seeing the "Hot Rock"-a two ton piece of lava that was tossed from the volcano over 3 miles and was still warm when the photographer took a picture of it back in 1915. We hiked Bumpass Hell, a mini Yellowstone of sorts complete with sulpher air, geysers, mud pots, and fumeroles. We were able to enjoy a gorgeous day and views of the different peaks as we hiked and spent time together as a family. It was also a hot and sunny day. I had brought along 6 waterbottles filled with ice water as well as 5 large gatorades and we drank everything except one Gatorade during this little day trip.

On our way back home we also stopped by Burney Falls, a California State Park that was beautiful! It felt so good to hike down to the level of the falls, the canyon was shaded and the water cooled everything down, complete with a nice breeze through the canyon we were able to cool off, a welcome relief after hiking around in 95-ish degree heat all day.

It was a really fun day, I absolutely love doing things like this with my family. There is something about hiking and being together that is just plain awesome.