Climbing the Hualapi's

Teamwork!  I LOVE TEAMWORK!

These kids take so much pride in each others accomplishments! 

It's really hard work when your legs are only
three feet long!  But teamwork conquers all!

Thank you, Mommy, for cutting my bangs so that I could see to climb that mountain!

And who do you think was takin' all of those pictures??

Headed to Vegas and Red Rock Canyon

FINALLY!  We caught her without a camera hiding her face!  Isn't she beautiful?

It takes awhile, but we finally make it.

Even monster Granma gives the rock climbing a shot!

No child left behind.

 A niche for everyone ... and everyone in their niche!

Living life on the edge.

It's a magical mysterious marvelous place.

Statuesque Redhead and Friends

 

Bright Lights and Good Food

Time's First Haircut

 It's time for a first hair cut - well, bang cut.

Here come the scissors!

 Snip, snip, snip!!  And, voila! (Cheetos and all!)

Fanning Time

Trying to recover from the heat of Death Valley, the kids whipped out their "Ticket To Ride" fans.  You see, I bought all of them hand fans and told them that whenever we went on a Granma-Granpa road trip they had to have a ticket to ride.  No tickky, no ride.  I'm told they may not know where their favorite toy is, but they do know where that Ticket To Ride is!

Heat or no heat, the vistas are astonishing!

Air conditioning, however, is a gift of the gods!

Home By Way of Death Valley

As we descend into the Valley, above the roar of five kids having a wonderful! time, I hear a different kind of roar.  It gets louder and LOUDER and LOUDER, then, wh-oo-sh!  It was an F-15 (or 16 or 18...) from one of the nearby Air Force bases!  Minutes later we were buzzed again!  It was fantastic!
But enough of that...

Remember I said being at the top of the White Mountains in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the summer time was the best time to be there?  Well, August in Death Valley, not so much.

Our little Timer is wondering what Granma and Granpa are doing ...

She wasn't the only one...

   It was oppressively hot.  So hot you couldn't breathe, hot.  But beautiful.

The Why of The Pine

Here's a photo of Granma spending Granpa's money - probably on a coffee mug!  Just little trophies that the grandkids can fight over at my funeral.  I suppose if I had 10 or 1,000 they'd argue over who gets what, but those coffee mugs are truly near and dear to my heart.  They're one of my biggest vices, too!

The hand-drawn t-shirt is very near and dear to me, also.


Would that I could afford a whole set of Ancient Bristlecone Pine dishes.







The story of these pines is so amazing.  The first time we came here it was winter, and there were no tours because the climate is so incredibly harsh.  This time we were blessed to get a real tour and uncover a wealth of information.  I strongly encourage you, too, to time your visit for spring, summer, or fall.

Granma Should Never Sleep In !!

These kids go and go and go.  They never even stop to watch TV.  And yet, they somehow managed to wake up before me, tiptoe and whisper around, until ...

S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E !!

And On We Go To The Ancient Bristlecone Pineforest!

Located at the tippy top of the White Mountains between Yosemite and Death Valley is a very, very cool discovery for the kids.  However, the road to this place was the most exciting for them.  It was a winding, curving, whoopty-do road - and I drove the whoops so fast that it would defy gravity and lift them out of their seats.  (I'm so thankful there weren't any law enforcement types around...)

These are the oldest living trees in the world.  You can see more on the Ancient Bristlecones by checking out my older posts:

http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2014/12/the-methusaleh-tree.html

Viewing Half-Dome

 

Well, this is what we brought them to see:  the very famous Half-Dome of Yosemite National Park! 

 Looks like some specter wearing a hoodie, huh?

Actually, there are several half-domes in the Park, but this is the largest, tallest and most famous one.

From here we go to the Ancient Bristlecone-Pine Forest in the White Mountains.