Photographing the First Snow of the Season

Lake Tahoe

California Academy of Science [Theresa Le, family time]

At the end of October we were scheduled to go camping. Me with one daughter and her Girl Scout troop. The other daughter with my husband for a daddy camping weekend. Well, both camping trips got rained out. What to do instead?

I grabbed my camera and the four of us headed to The City (San Francisco). We thought it was a perfect day to check out the California Academy of Science. We hadn't been there since they remodeled.

WOW! Beautiful! Some of the original things we remembered and many new things. One of my favorites was the rain forest. I could have spent all day in there. I might go back to do just that.

Here are just a few of the images from our visit.

Gypsy Tour of the West

It has been a busy few months. I'm so sorry for not being good about posting to my blog.

The day school got out my husband, two daughters and I headed out on a road trip. We call it our "Gypsy Tour of the West." Seven states in two weeks! Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

WOW! What a trip. We had so much fun. We saw some of our beautiful country, the Salt Flats, Fort Bridger, Grand Canyon, Petroglyph National Monument, Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West and much more.

I chose one image from each state to share with you. Except California. I had to add a few more. You'll see why.

Nevada

Nevada was just beautiful. I couldn't believe there was still snow on the mountains. IN JUNE. It did make for a beautiful drive. Note: I took this while my husband was driving at 75 - 80 mph.

Utah

Another beautiful state. Actually, we didn't see an ugly state. We loved them all. Again, I took this while my husband was driving at 75 - 80 mph. Oh, and I did drive some of the time. I actually drove from Reno, NV to Salt Lake City, UT.

 Wyoming

 This was taken at Fort Bridger, Wyoming. I have never seen dandelions look so beautiful.

Colorado

My husband was the photographer for this image. This is at the Garden of the Gods. So beautiful!

New Mexico

I just had to take pictures of these beautiful cactus flowers. These happen to be at Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque.

Arizona

None other than the Grand Canyon. So absolutely beautiful!

California

Can you guess our last stop on our road trip?

Do you know where we went yet? One last image...

Disneyland! Did you guess correct?

We surprised our girls. It was their very first trip. It just about killed me to keep the secret, but I wanted them to enjoy the entire trip. We saw so much. It was worth it. My older daughter had tears of joy in her eyes when we asked them, "Do you want to go across the street and go to Disneyland?" We must be the only family who has walked into Disneyland crying.

Our road trip comes to an end. We didn't really want it to. Again, I took this while my husband was driving at 70 mph.

A trip of a lifetime. Spending time with family and friends. Showing our young daughters our beautiful country and teaching them about our history. We loved it all!

Look for more images from the "Gypsy Tour of the West" in future posts.

California Poppies at the Ocean

This image was taken with my point-and-shoot camera on a family day in Monterey.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

I spent some quality time with my two daughters today. I took them to Capitola Beach to see the sand castles. What a beautiful day! Their favorite part of the day....flying their new miniature kites.

What a relaxing day!