Mount Baldy Wilderness

Driving home from New Mexico last weekend, we passed through the White Mountains of AZ.  The fall colors looked spectacular.  It was too late in the day to stop and explore, plus, we were ready to be home.  Instead, we were up bright and early yesterday and headed back out there.  

We stopped and made breakfast on our camp stove next to a beautiful lake.  Then we headed for a trailhead and some fall colors.  Both of my kids are pretty good hikers.  The day was beautiful and the colors wonderful.

Mount Baldy Wilderness, Apache National Forest.

Wesley thought being as tall as this tree was pretty cool.

Stopping for a snack next to the creek.

Wesley thought he could jump across the creek and went right in.  Poor guy.  It was COLD!

Hiking out.  We stripped off his wet clothes, tied Lauren's jacket around his waist, and hung all the wet stuff off the backpack.  Thankfully, since we'd left early in the morning, we'd carried kids from their beds to the car and we had dry pajamas for him to change into when we got back to the car.

Time for the kids to drive and the parents to sleep.

Beautiful fall colors!

We stopped at our now favorite park in Show Low, said hello to the cows and horses, had a late lunch, then headed home.  A lot of traveling lately but it's all been wonderful.  I love getting out and exploring.

Annular Eclipse

Gil's had this eclipse on his calendar for years and wanted to be in the band for the best viewing.  We have a dear friend in Albuquerque that Wesley has been asking to visit so off we went.

We left the house early Friday morning, around 4am, and stopped and had breakfast at Petrified Forest National Park.  The kids loved pretending to dig for fossils at the south entrance visitor center.

Not a lot of hiking trails in this park, but we ventured out on one of the few to see some petrified wood.  

We made it to ABQ and found Auntie's house (what my kids call her).  The next morning we walked down the block to a wonderful neighborhood park to watch the eclipse.  What a cool experience.

If you're visiting Auntie, you know there's going to be cookie dough and cookie cutters.  We also carved a pumpkin with her.

We drove up to the Sandia Crest to enjoy the view.  We dropped in elevation a bit and did a quick hike.  What a beautiful part of the country.

There was a radio tower farm at the top and Wesley was in heaven.  He's interested in radio towers and thought that was the reason we were there, not the views and the mountains.  There was even a bench he decided had been placed for people to sit and view the radio towers.

A huge thanks to Auntie who rearranged her house, allowed Lauren to tend to her poor terrified cat, and was run a bit ragged with our constantly on the go kids.  

On the way home, we stopped by the Large Solar Array.  What an interesting place.  I didn't know celestial bodies gave off radiation that can be collected, analyzed, and understood.  Pretty cool.

Hooray for seeing new things and visiting friends.

Quick Beach Trip

We headed to Gil's cousin's house in southern CA for General Conference.  It is always fun to hang out with family!  Wesley played almost the whole time with one of her kids and Lauren refused to nap as there was too much going on.

Monday we headed to Laguna Beach.  Lauren and I stayed on the sand while Gil and Wes braved the cold water.  Gil eventually put on his wet suit and got in proper.  That man loves the beach.

We stopped at the Newport Beach Temple as a final leg stretch before the long haul home.  The kids loved running around and playing in the grass.

Lot's of traveling lately it seems.  Thankful for kids that are good travelers and a reliable car.