Thanksgiving in Death Valley

Death Valley, California

11/18/17

Andi:

Yesterday we drove to Death Valley National Park. Once we got there Nick and I played snap circuits, laser tag, drove the remote control car, and played games. Then we had dinner and then read Harry Potter for a while.

11/19/17

Andi:

Golden Canyon in the Amargosa Mountains

Yesterday we hiked in the Amargosa Mountains. We went on the Golden Canyon trailhead. We found an unmarked offshoot in the trail. I went up and looked over the marked trail. Then we kept moving on the marked trail towards the Red Cathedral Trail. The whole time we were walking I was talking about when we went home to Wisconsin that I wanted to make a lemonade stand. Then we went to Zabriski Point. We went home from there. Then we went home and read Harry Potter and went to bed.

Nick: 

Yesterday we did an 8 mile hike. It took most of the day. It was not a very nice hike. It was long, hot, and there was not much to see. When we were done with the hike we all played laser tag, which is really fun with 4 people. After that we had dinner, played a little more laser tag and then read Harry Potter.

11/20/17

Andi:

Yesterday we did the Titus Canyon Drive. The way into the canyon was very, very, very, very, very bumpy. It got better at the canyon floor. We saw an old town that had old houses. It was called Leadfield. Then we tried to do some scrambling but everywhere we stopped it was shady and cold. The ride was so bumpy I couldn’t wait to get out of the car. The ranger said it would take about 3 hours. We went home when we were done. We made dinner and played laser tag. We read Harry Potter and went to bed.

Nick:

Yesterday we did Titus Canyon Drive. It is a 28 mile dirt road through a narrow canyon. It was probably the bumpiest road we have been on. The canyon we were in was only 20 feet wide in places. The rocks had really weird patterns in them. They also had lots of colors. When we got back we played laser tag and had dinner.

Sunrise on the dunes

11/21/17

Andi:

Yesterday we woke up early to watch the sunrise. We went to the sand dunes. We hiked up a super tall sand dune. There were clouds that changed red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and a little bit of pink and purple. We rand down the sand dunes and went home. We had a down day. We stayed home and I started to learn how to type. I got pretty far, but then we went to Dante’s View to watch the sunset. Then we had dinner and read Harry Potter. Then we went to bed.

Nick:

Yesterday we woke up really early and went onto the sand dunes to watch the sunrise. We went up to the highest sand dune which was 100 feet. It was really hard to hike up because our feet always slid down. When we got to the top we ran down and got going really fast. Then we came home and did homework. Then I drove my remote control car for a while. Next Andi and I played laser tag for a while. Finally we went to Dante’s View to watch the sunset. We missed it by about 5 minutes. Then we came home and had dinner.

Sunset at Dante's View

11/22/17

Andi:

Yesterday we hiked around the Ubehebe (U-bee-hee-bee) Crater. It was hot and the gravel was slippery. Then we went on a hike in the Fall Canyon. We got to a dryfall at the end and scrambled up the rocks on our way back. We had pizza and read Harry Potter.








Nick:

Yesterday we did a hike on a river bed at the bottom of a canyon. We hiked 8 miles. The canyon was really narrow at points. At the end of the canyon there was a dry waterfall. It is a waterfall that is only there when it rains. It was about 25 feet tall. We also did a shorter hike around the rim of Ubehebe Crater which was created by a volcano. It was super deep. After that we came home and had dinner.

Dad found the only flower
in Death Valley

Don't worry - the tarantula is dead

11/23/17

Andi:

Yesterday we went to Salt Creek. It was dry, but cool. Then we did laundry, went shoe shopping and had ice cream from DQ. Then we went to bed.

Nick:

Yesterday we did laundry in the morning. That took a really long time. We also ate lunch out and got ice cream.  Then we went shopping which took a while too because it is Thanksgiving and everything is out of stock. When we finally got home we had dinner and went to bed.

Badwater Basin is 282 feet below sea level

11/24/17

Andi:

So much hiking that Andi's
shoes are wearing out!

Yesterday we had bagels for breakfast. Then we went on a hike that was not marked so we got lost. Then we saw a natural bridge and the Devil’s Golf Course. It was called that because it looked like only the Devil could play there without losing his ball in the maze of rocks. Then we went home and had chicken, stuffing, cranberries, green bean casserole, and potatoes. Then we watched a movie and read Harry Potter.

Not too bad for a camper kitchen!

Nick:

Yesterday was Thanksgiving! We did a hike in the morning. It wasn’t a very nice hike. There wasn’t much to see. When we got back we started making Thanksgiving dinner. We had stuffing, potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, and chicken (we couldn’t find turkey in small enough quantity). Everything was really good. We also watched a movie after dinner. Finally we read Harry Potter and went to bed.

11/25/17

Andi:

Bottle House in the ghost town, Rhyolite

Yesterday we drove. We watched a movie. Then I helped make pesto cavatapi. Then we read Harry Potter and went to bed. In the morning we went to Rhyolite. We saw the bottle house, the old bank, the train station and then left.

Nick:

Yesterday we drove all day. We only stopped a few times for gas and lunch. When we got to our site we had dinner, read Harry Potter and went to bed. I forgot to mention that in the morning we went to a ghost town called Rhyolite. We saw an old bank, a school, and a train station. They were all big buildings considering that they were all built around 1905. Then, like I said, we drove all day.

On the road again!

Sequoias and Red Rock Canyon - Nick

11/5/17

Everlasting Tree House

Yesterday we drove all day. On the way we stopped at a place called Everlasting Treehouse. It was a giant hollowed out Redwood that you could walk into. After a few more hours of driving we stopped at the Chandelier Tree. The Chandelier Tree is another giant Redwood that they carved a tunnel through. The tunnel was big enough to drive a car through. We can’t drive our truck through; it’s too big. We did walk through it. Then we finished driving to our site and set up. Next we went to Glass Beach. It is an old garbage dump. The only thing left is a few car parts and a ton of broken pieces of glass that were smoothed out by the ocean waves. Then we came home and went to bed.

11/6/17

Yesterday we drove all day. We stopped a few times for gas and that was it. At 6:00 we stopped at a Walmart for the night. We had dinner and went to bed.

11/7/17

Yesterday we drove all day. We were supposed to only have an hour drive but the place we were going did not allow big trailers so we went on to our next destination, which was really far away. We did not get there. We stopped at dinner time at a BLM site. We had dinner and went to bed.

11/8/17

Yesterday after breakfast Dad and I worked on the bike motor for a while and finished it! When Dad was testing it the clutch mechanism broke, but the engine was too hot to touch. We ate lunch and then came back outside and fixed the clutch. (The motor was cooled down). Finally I got to ride it. It was really fast and easy to control. We didn’t get to ride long because it was getting dark. When we got back to camp we had chow mien for dinner, which is a Chinese food. It was really good.

11/9/17

Yesterday in the morning Dad and I took the motor bike over to a closed campground and rode it around for about 1 ½ hours. It is really fun to go around corners because you can lean into them a ton. When we got back we had lunch. Then we went down to a river near our site called the Kern River. We walked about a mile down to the river before coming back. Then Dad and I took the motor bike out one more time for about 1 hour. When we got back we had dinner and read Harry Potter.

The sequoias are HUGE!

Today Mom, Andi, and I went running in the morning. We ran about 3.1 miles. Then we had eggs and hash browns for breakfast. Then, without the camper, we drove to Sequoia National Forest. We did a short 2 mile hike in the Sequoias. They were not as tall as Redwoods, but they were thicker. There was a fallen tree that was 30 feet in diameter. When we were done hiking we drove home. We are planning on having pasta for dinner.

11/11/17

Yesterday we got going pretty early and started driving to our next site. It took a really long time. It was a five hour drive. When we got there we set up our camper and then took Mom to the airport. When we got there we said good bye and drove to a Walmart. We got some groceries. When we got back to the camper we had pizza and watched a movie.

11/12/17

Red Rock Canyon

Yesterday we went to Red Rock Canyon in the morning. We went to the Visitor’s Center but there wasn’t much to see there so we went on a 13 mile scenic drive through Red Rock. It was really cool. It looked like a giant painted a strip of bright red paint on all the rocks with a giant paintbrush. We saw a lot of rock climbers on the rock faces. After the drive we came back to the camper and had lunch. Then I rode my motor bike for about 1 hour. I rode it for the first time on an unpaved road. Then Andi and I played Wii for a little while. Finally we had dinner and went to bed.

11/13/17

Yesterday we did a hike in Red Rock Canyon in the morning. It was called Ice Box Canyon Hike. We got to hike through a pretty narrow canyon. On the trail there were lots of huge boulders we had to climb over. At one point we got to climb on a ledge that was about 5 feet wide and about 30 feet in the air. After the hike we came home and had lunch. We ended up hiking just over 3 miles. Then I rode my motor bike for a while. Then we watched the Cowboys Falcons game. Next Andi and I played Wii. Finially we had dinner and watched a movie.

11/14/17

Yesterday we did laundry in the morning. It took a really long time. Next we got McDonalds for lunch. Then we came back to the camper and got all the stuff we needed for a short hike. Next we went to Red Rock Canyon and went climbing on some rocks. We had a great time. We got to climb up some really steep faces. We got about 2/3 of the way up a 1000 foot mountain. We did not have time to get to the top because it was getting dark. When we got back we had dinner and watched a movie.

Today after breakfast we went to Red Rock Canyon and climbed up a 400 foot mountain, which isn’t very high but there was no trail and it was climbing not walking. It was pretty tiring. When we got to the top there was an amazing view of Las Vegas. We could see The Strip. Then we started working our way down. When we got down it was about 2:00. Then we came back to the camper and Dad cut my hair. We are planning on having dinner in about 1 hour.

11/16/17

Yesterday was my birthday!! I had pancakes for breakfast. Andi also gave me her card in the morning which was really nice. We had a lazy morning. Andi and I played Wii for a while. After lunch we went to a solar water heater. They use thousands of mirrors to reflect sunlight onto a metal tower which gets up to 3000 degrees. They use that to turn water into steam to turn turbines to create power. Then we went to pick Mom up from the airport. Next we went to hibachi. Our chef was really funny and entertaining. I got steak which was really good. We also got cake and ice cream for my birthday. Then we came home and I opened my presents. I got a really cool remote control jeep from Andi. I also got Christmas presents early because it is hard to get stuff to us. From Mom and Dad I got some really cool laser tag guns. Then we went to bed.

Birthday celebration

11/17/17

Yesterday Andi and I played with my remote control car and laser tag until lunch. They were both really fun. My car could get over anything. I drove it over a pile of bricks and it made it over. The laser tag was cool too. There were different gun modes and they were really accurate. Then we went to Red Rock and did a scenic drive. After that we went shopping. Finally we came home, had dinner and watched a movie.

Sequoias and Red Rock Canyon - Andi

Glass Beach in California

Nov. 5, 2017

Yesterday we drove. On the way we stopped at the Everlasting Treehouse and the drive-through chandelier tree. Then we got to the campsite and went to glass beach. It has real smooth, pretty, different colored glass.

Nov. 6, 2017

Yesterday we drove all day. The drive was sort of pretty. Then we stopped at Walmart and slept.

Nov. 7, 2017

Yesterday we tried to go to Yosemite, but there were no campsites. We started to drive to Sequoia National Park. We got pretty far. Then we went to bed.

Nov. 8, 2017

Yesterday we had a down day. Nick and Dad worked on the motor, while Mom and I were on Boolean Girl. Then we had lunch. I cross stitched. Then we went to bed.

Nov. 9, 2017

Learning about circuits and coding together

Yesterday I cross stitched. Then I learned how to make an LED light up. I hooked it up to scratch, so now it lights up on command. Then we had lunch. Then I kept playing on Boolean Girl. Then we had dinner. Nick and I made a game on Boolean Girl. It was a reaction game. I used a circuit board to make a little LED turn on. Then I hooked it up to scratch and made it turn on randomly. How you play is you hit start. Then a light will turn on and you push a button. Then you get a point. If you push the button when the light is off, you lose a point.

Nov. 10, 2017

Yesterday we drove to Sequoia National Park. We saw some ultra, mega, super duper big trees. We saw a down tree that was huge. The base of the tree was about 30 or 35 feet wide. About 10 feet up it split into 2 trees. They were both about 15 feet wide. Then we went home. We had dinner. Then we read Harry Potter.

Sequoias: "Ultra, Mega, Super Duper Big Trees"
This is the root base of a downed sequoia - makes Andi look pretty tiny!

Nov. 11, 2017

Yesterday we drove to a new campsite. Then we dropped mom off at the airport. Then we went to Walmart. We watched a movie.

Nov. 12, 2017

Yesterday we went on the scenic drive in Red Rock National Park. It looked like somebody took a red paint brush and swiped once in one section of rocks. There was no parking so we didn’t go on any hikes. Then we came home and played Wii.

Nov. 14, 2017

Yesterday we went on the Icebox Canyon Trail. It had a lot of scrambling. We were in a sort of cold canyon. We reach a steep climb that we couldn’t get over. Then we turned back and went home. We played Wii. Then we went scrambling until dark, which is about 4:00 in Nevada.

Today we scrambled up a mountain. It was hot, tiring, long, and fun. We stopped in a cave to have a snack. Then we moved on. We got to the top and we could see all of Las Vegas. We also found this really cool cave that got really narrow.  Then we went down and went home.

Nov. 16, 2017

We got cake AND ice cream for
Nick's birthday dessert. Fun to share!

Yesterday was Nick’s birthday. We had pancakes and toast for breakfast. Then we played Wii. We played for a couple of hours. Then we had wraps for lunch. We went to the solar water heater. It had lots of huge mirrors that reflected sunlight onto a tower that had water in it. If you catch them at the right angle you can see the rays of sun. Then we went to the auto repair shop. Then we picked mom up. We went to hibachi. Then we opened presents. I got Nick a remote controlled car. Mom and Dad got me a monitor for Boolean Girl. Mom and Dad got Nick a laser tag game.

Nov. 17, 2017

Yesterday Nick and I drove the remote control car around the campsite. Then while we charged it we played laser tag. You can change how your gun sounds, how many lives it takes away, and how many times you can shoot without reloading. Then I played Boolean Girl on my new monitor. Then we had lunch. We went on the Red Rock Scenic drive but it was too windy so we didn’t do anything. Then we went shopping. Then we drove the remote control car. Then we watched a movie.

San Francisco - Andi

Oct. 27, 2017

Yesterday we rented a car and drove. We got far and stopped at a hotel to sleep.

Feeding the rays at the aquarium

Oct. 30, 2017

Over the past few days we went to the Aquarium of the Bay. It had fish tunnels that had weird fish. We also saw an octopus. Then we did a touch tank. I gave plankton to the rays. We also did a VR (Virtual Reality) program. It was a scuba diving show. Then we saw the sea otters. We saw feeding time for the otters.

My new dress from Chinatown

Then we left to go to Chinatown. We went to the fortune cookie factory. They hand made the fortune cookies. Then I got a Chinese dress. Then we ate at House of Nanking. It was great. Then we went to the hotel.

Hanging off the trolley

The next day we had Bob’s doughnuts. I got a croissant. It was good. Then we tried to play on a playground but somebody had previously set it on fire. Then we went to the Academy of Science. We saw fish and butterflies, penguins and turtles, and our ancestors. We saw a scuba diving program. Then we looked at the lobby of the hotel next door. We met Uncle Ryan, Chelsea, Mrs. Shelly and Mr. Jacob. Mrs. Shelly and Mr. Jacob are Uncle Ryan and Chelsea’s friends. We had lunch at In and Out Burgers. Then we did a trolley ride and hung off the sides. Then we had dinner.

In a cell at Alcatraz

The next day we went to Alcatraz. Alcatraz is a prison on an island. We did the audio tour. Each prison had one room. It had a toilet, a sink, a table, a bench, and a metal cot and mattress. Many prisoners tried and failed to get out. In the dining hall they fought about spaghetti because they were getting sick of it. They also got to go outside to get fresh air. Some people got out but couldn’t swim to San Francisco. Then we got off the island and ate lunch. Then we walked the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog. Then we had dinner. The next day we did a bay cruise with just Uncle Ryan. Mom, Nick, Dad, and Uncle Ryan got splashed with salt water. I did not. We went under the Golden Gate Bridge and turned around. We saw sea lions. Then we rode the trolley to the trolley museum. I looked at the video that was playing. Then we went to Uncle Ryan’s hotel and said goodbye. Then we left towards the camper. The next day we got up and had a lazy morning. Then we played on the beach. We had dinner and a movie.

Nov. 2, 2017

Yesterday we had a down day. I cross stitched for a while. Then we went grocery shopping. I made salmon burgers. Then we played dominion and read Harry Potter.

Nov. 3, 2017

Yesterday we had a lazy morning. We had lunch then went to the fish hatchery. There was a cat, which was the best part. Then we came home and I made gnocchi with mushroom cream sauce. Then we played dominion.

Nov. 4, 2017

Yesterday we did laundry. Then we got the truck back. Then we had homemade pesto cavatappi. Then we played games and read Harry Potter.

San Francisco - Nick

10/27/17

Yesterday we got a rental car in the morning because something on the truck was broken but I’ve lost track of what’s broken and what’s not. Then we started driving to San Francisco. We drove all day and then stopped at a hotel for the night because we couldn’t pull the RV with our rental.

10/30/17

On Friday we finished driving to San Francisco in the morning and checked into our hotel, which was nice. Then we started walking to a place called Aquarium of the Bay. They had a ton of cool sea animals. They had light-up jellyfish, giant fish, some small sharks and all kinds of different things. They had a really long glass tunnel with water all around it so there were animals all around you. We saw starfish, sharks, rays, and fish. Once we were through the tunnel we went to the touch tanks and touched sting rays and sea anemones. When we were done with the aquarium we walked to Chinatown and in Chinatown we saw the fortune cookie factory. They handmade all of them. Then we ate out for dinner, came back to the hotel, and went to bed.

My birthday donut (a bit early)

10/31/17

On Saturday we went to a place called Bob’s Donuts in the morning. Donuts are my favorite thing in the world, so my Mom let me get the Challenge Donut, which is a giant donut that was bigger than my head. If you finished in under 3 minutes you got a free t-shirt and your name on the hall of fame. I did not even get close to finishing but I still got to eat the donut and it was good. After that we walked around Golden Gate Park for a while. We walked to a playground that was supposed to be really cool. When we got there it was under construction because some jerk had burned it.


Next we went to the California Academy of Science. The first thing we saw was the aquarium. They had jelly fish and fish. We didn’t spend that log at the aquarium part because we had just seen an aquarium. Next we went to the rainforest area. It was a big enclosed dome inside the main building that had tons of tropical plants, fish, and butterflies. We spend a while there. Next we went to the lobby of a hotel called Zephyr Hotel because it was supposed to be really cool.

Hanging off the trolley with Uncle Ryan
and Mr. Jacob

While we were there we got a surprise visit from Uncle Ryan, Chelsea, Mrs. Shelly, and Mr. Jacob. Mrs. Shelly and Mr. Jacob are Uncle Ryan’s friends. They were going to stay with us for 3 days. Then with everyone we went and got lunch at In-and-Out Burgers. It was really good. Next we rode the trolley to a place for dinner. On the trolley you got to hang off the edge while it was moving. When we were done with dinner we all went back to our hotels and went to bed.

Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at Boudin's

On Sunday we went to Alcatraz in the morning. Alcatraz is a prison where the worst of the worst criminals were sent. We got to go in some of the cells. They were five feet wide, about 10 feet long, and 7 feet high. They all had a table, chair, and bed. The walls were concrete and the bars on one wall were metal. Each cell also had a sink and a toilet. We also got to see the cafeteria and the space outside where the prisoners who behaved got to go once a day. We also learned about 2 escape attempts. The first one 5 prisoners tried to fight their way out. All of them but one died. In the second one, three prisoners escaped through the ventilation shafts. When they got out they built a raft out of wood. (Alcatraz is on an island). They were never seen again. When we were done with Alcatraz we ate lunch at a place called Boudin. Next we walked over the Golden Gate Bridge and back with Uncle Ryan and Chelsea. Then we ate dinner at a restaurant.

Golden Gate Bridge

On Monday we did a cruise that went around the San Francisco Bay. We did it with Uncle Ryan because everyone else was busy. The cruise circled Alcatraz and went under the Golden Gate Bridge. After the cruise we looked at a ton of sea lions that were on a pier lounging in the sun. They were huge. We watched them for a while and then rode the trolley to the trolley museum that explained how the trolley worked. They grabbed on to an underground cable that was always moving, that then pulled it along. Next we ate lunch and went back to the lobby of Uncle Ryan’s hotel. We said good bye to everyone and drove home. It was nice seeing them and I will miss them. We drove until midnight to get to our camper and went to bed.

Today we slept in until almost 11:00. Then we drove to a beach and spent most of the day on the beach because it was such a nice day. Then we came home. We are going to have pizza and watch a movie.

11/2/17

Yesterday we stayed at the camper most of the day. Mom and I ran 3 miles in the morning. It was really fun. After that we ate breakfast. Then we all struggled to find things to do at the camper. We have done everything there is to do in the area and we can’t move the camper because the truck still is not fixed. Next we had lunch and then went shopping. When we got back we started making dinner. We had salmon burgers. Finally we played a couple of rounds of Dominion.

11/3/17

Yesterday we lazed around at the camper until lunch. After lunch we went to a fish hatchery. We took a tour. It was really small but kind of cool. We saw the trap in the river and saw some of the fish they had caught. They kept them in big tanks. When we were done with the fish hatchery we came home and made dinner. Dinner took a really long time to make. After dinner we played a few rounds of Dominion.

11/4/17 

Yesterday we did laundry in the morning. We came back and had lunch. Then Andi and I played outside for a while. Next we drove into town to get the truck. They took out the dents and fixed all the internal problems. Next we came home and had homemade pesto cavatappi for dinner. Then we played some dice game before bed.