Tennessee? Tennessee.

So,
  This is the post that everyone expects. The stick is that you were all there, so...

 Minimal information mostly pictures.

We flew out to TN on Saturday. It was a long day. We got up at 3 am and drove to LAX, caught a flight, had a 2 hour layover in TX, flew to Charlotte and rented a car. Then drove 4 hours to Gatlinburg TN. We arrived late, almost midnight. Some hardy folks were up still but as shortly after we walked in the door everyone went to bed.

DAY 1:

Since the first day was a Sunday we slept in a tiny bit then when everyone got home from church we visited and took a nice drive on a loop road south of Gatlinburg. There were streams and hills to climb and a few old cabins and a mill.

Day 2: We went to a really lovely picnic area on one of many rivers in the Great Smokey Mountains. Most of us waded out into the water. The cousins all had fun together.

Day 3: We were treated to a fun filled day at Ober Gatlinburg. The kids and adults had a good time. They had carnival style rides, a maze, an alpine slide, mini-golf, water-slides and more.

Like I said good time for all.

After OBER!!! we came home and Kirk organized a treasure hunt for the cousins.

Then we went to try and take a family picture. I didn't get any of those since I was in it but I did get some shots of the cousins.

Day 4: I didn't bring my camera on this one so I am having trouble remembering which epic activity took place this day (now you know why I'm a photographer). I think Kirk went mountain biking and the rest of us went to another (better) swimming hole. We saw bats, skipped rocks, saw fish jumping and had another picnic complete with stranded baby possum and old ladies angry that kids use the bathroom. Dad has pics of this day.

Day 5: Started really bright and early. Kirk and I went for a great hike up to Ramsay Cascade in the park. Stats here.

It was really nice to hike with someone. I learned that it is much harder to hike when having a good conversation and you're sweating buckets from the utter wetness this hike entailed.

When we got home some of the ladies wanted to go shopping and it was decided we would go to the outlets in Pigeon Forge. Then others (I stayed home so kids could nap) went to the arts and crafts loop in Gatlinburg. Teresa picked up some nice stuff.

When we got home Aunt Candice had organized a communal birthday party. There were balloons, a pinata, waterguns, and cake for the cousins to play with.

Eventually it was picked up and Carter put it out of its misery.

Then water fight.

I think we might've gone into town that night and enjoyed the local... culture?

Day 6: We were treated again to a fun outing. This time at the aquarium which despite being completely landlocked was really great.

Aiden waited a long time to see the baby penguin that the lady in red was holding.

This Turtle was Zoeys favorite thing. This and the slime.

Day 7 we got up really early and drove back to Charlotte for the return flight. The way back was shorter and easier. After we left a bear visited the cabin. We missed it. boooo.

The trip was filled with great food, fun games, visiting, cousins screaming and running and breaking things, adventures, and sights. It was really great to see all of my siblings and my parents. The kids loved all the swimming and cousin playtime. Thanks a bunch to all who made it and especially to Mom and Dad who made it all happen.


RTSZA

Pre Tennessee post.

So,
   This is not the post anyone expects. Since I print this blog out every year as a family journal type book I have a few things that I'd like to make note of before I to the HUGE TN post.
    In the weeks leading up to TN we were still in summer mode, out and doing fun/ cheap things. I finished hiking the three saints (San Antonio (Mt Baldy), San Gorgonio, and San Jacinto) of southern california with a trip up Mt. San Jacinto (stats here).

Interstate 10 about 10,000 ft below me. The North face of San Jacinto is one of the steepest/sheerest in the country.

Palm Springs, Joshua tree and beyond.

Summit Marker and shadow selfie.

We went to Zuma beach. It was a throwback to the old days. The kids loved it. Zoey has really become much more adventurous about water this summer and never left the waves while we were there. Aiden played in the sand and dragged huge piles of seaweed onto the shore, a huge improvement from when he wouldn't even put his feet in the sand.

We also went to the Cabrillo aquarium in San Pedro one day. It is a free (suggested donation) state park. It's a bit old and "well used" but the kids loved it. They touched tide pool animals, saw all kinds of marine animals and had a great time.

The week after that was spent with Teresa in San Diego to attend a Teaching conference. The trip had some ups and downs but it was good for her to hang out with her friends and co workers outside of work.

The day after she got home from San Diego we set out for TN which will be in the next post.

Till then,
RTSZA

Busy in mostly good ways

Howdy,
   As the title implies we've been busy. Last weekend I got the nerve up to drag myself and Buster out into the Golden Trout wilderness for a little backpacking adventure. I was the only person out there as far as I could tell. I camped out next to Red Rock Meadow and hiked 18 miles with the pack on my back in 2 days. Not a huge mileage total but with a 40 lb. pack things are a little trickier. I saw a few deer and a bear had clearly walked the trail the night I slept there since his/her tracks covered a good few miles of the track on the way back out. The main animal I had to contend with were cattle. There are quite a few meadows out there and the area isn't the super high altitude Sierra so ranchers are allowed to let livestock graze. As I was sitting down to get my dinner Buster alerted me to some movement east of my camp. I got up to check it out since that is where I had stashed my bear canister. I was glad to see that the huge black things moving around were cows instead of bears and went to get my canister out of their path. As I was doing that they looped around me and made their way into my camp. I yelled and screamed and threw things at them but they wouldn't move. Many of the mama's had calves they were protecting so I retreated to a hillside where I could watch them and eat my dinner.
    They stayed in my camp for at least 1 hour and eventually retreated leaving my site a little smellier but in tact. I stashed the bear canister somewhere else and made a fire then went to bed. The next morning I woke up early after a fairly restless night due to screaming cattle. (not a joke) I retrieved the bear canister had breakfast and was considering my options when I heard the familiar screaming and moo'ing coming down the meadow. I packed up as quickly as I could and was almost surrounded by stubborn stupid cattle by the time I was able to leave. I hiked out and drove home. It was a great trip. Pics:

Buster at Long Canyon Creek

Casa Vieja Meadow

Wildflowers blooming everywhere

California Golden Trout. The state fish found only here.

The red rock that the meadow was behind.

Red Rock Meadow.

My set up 9 miles from the nearest human.

The herd approaching.

Cow gifts in my camp.

I should've brought a book...

I'll spare you the rest of the pictures but there are more of them and the trail mapped out at:

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2869033


On Tuesday we set out to accomplish a few more of the trips for Teresas class. We researched and discovered we could get a few done and escape the 100+ degree heat by heading up to Ventura so we set out first to the Fillmore Fish Hatchery. We fed the fish but if you've seen one fish hatchery you've seen them all.

Then we headed down to the coast to the Channel Islands National Park headquarters which is in the Ventura Harbor.

Checking out the tide pools in the center.

Hamming it up.

The visitors center is unsurprisingly next to the beach so we went down to the water. The kids couldn't resist throwing sand which turned into going in the ocean despite not having bathing suits.

The next three are .Gifs so you should see motion, If not click on them and you will.

Then on Thursday I had to turn Buster into the Agoura Hills shelter. I chose to drive him there because we've seen them give dogs a really really good shot at adoption and they try not to kill any of their animals. They are not even close to capacity so they said they'd be happy to work with him and do the best they could. He was a great buddy to me but didn't get along so well with others, especially not without me around. I'll miss having him on hikes but things might be quieter and calmer at home.

On Friday Teresa and I set out for Mammoth to celebrate our Anniversary. (she is working by August 17th so we had to do it early)

First we stopped at Manzanar to finish off the class visits for Teresa:

We'd driven by it multiple times and never stopped. From the highway it doesn't look like much because most everything was torn down but inside it was really interesting. They had excellent exhibits and recreations as well as a neat driving tour.

The original guard station.

Mammoth was beautiful. We arrived and were told that the room we'd booked wasn't available so they upgraded us to a 2 floor loft suite with mountain views. These pictures stink but they'll have to do.

The kitchen, living room and at the top is the loft with the bed and 2nd bathroom.

The view from our window. On the second day we sat on the porch and there was a rainbow right over those mountains.

The first night was spent stuffing our belly's and relaxing. The second day we rented bikes and caught the trolley to the top of the lakes basin. We didn't do any off-roading but they've installed a bike path that takes you all the way from the lakes to the town and they have a free trolley that takes you back up.
    It was a gorgeous morning and a really fun day of riding. Neither of us had been on a bike in probably a decade so things started off wobbly but by the end of the day we were clocked doing 27mph down the hill.

By the middle of the day we'd done the ride 2 times and figured out all kinds of alternate routes through campsites and around lakes. There were storm clouds rolling in so we did it one more time.

It was a really great way to see the sights. We rode all the way into town and then toured around town on the bikes before returning them. We ate a ton more amazing food and relaxed. I've been incredibly lucky to get up into the mountains and out on the trails a lot this summer. I'm starting to take the clean air, granite peaks, and pine scent for normal.
     This morning we came home to find that the spoil me rottens had done an excellent job with our kids over the weekend and all is well.
   Teresa is done with the class officially tomorrow and there is only a week and a half before heading out to TN so we might rest up for a bit. Or, knowing me, we might not. For the first time in a while it seems like we don't have anything planned in a 7+ day stretch.

Till next time-

RTSZA...