Jeff's Journey: Oct/Nov/Dec, 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OCTOBER
10/1 - 10/2 Yosemite N.P., CA
We drove to Yosemite N.P., and got dinner in Groveland. We had gotten a good campsite, and didn’t do much exploring. But the next day, we went to Yosemite Valley, and what beautiful views we received! We also saw a few climbers scaling Capitan mountain, and boy, they were brave! We also got lunch at Yosemite Village and saw a really neat view of Bridal Veil Falls. This scenic park covers over a thousand acres, and every inch of it is beautiful. We stopped at every single lookout over the valley, and even stopped at a few waterfalls. They were all terrific! I thought this part of the country was even prettier than Tennessee. Beef stew for camp dinner.
10/3 Yosemite N.P., CA -- Nearly every day since entering the park, we had set a new record for the biggest tree ever seen by our young eyes. But the Grizzly Giant (2,700 years old), in the Mariposa Grove, overwhelmingly replaced the latest record, with its lowest branch! Seven feet in diameter, it is bigger than any other non-sequoia in the grove! . . . went to a library in Groveland, then stopped in Fresno, CA.
10/4 - 10/6 CA -- We saw General Grant, and after a good night’s rest, were ready to take on the enormous size of General Sherman. . . the largest living thing in the world! . . . enjoyed climbing up the staircases on Mora Rock, and . . . we reached Los Angeles (9:30 p.m.) Remembering Ground Zero, burial site of thousands of innocent civilians.
10/7 Los Angeles, CA - San Diego, CA
We stayed right outside of LA, overnight, and headed for San Diego to Marriot Suites. When we were driving, we saw many breathtaking beaches, but never stopped. We finally got there and feasted our eyes. We shopped and had dinner in Old Town.
10/8 San Diego, CA -- After a very nice church service, we went to a doughnut breakfast at the church. When we got back to the hotel, we changed into our brightly colored swimsuits, and headed to the nearest beach - Ocean Beach! Now, we built our sand castle. It was very grand, with two outer walls and a big moat in between.
10/9 San Diego, CA
We went to the library first. I read a few interesting books, starting with bioterrorism. . .then, at the San Diego Zoo, disappointment arose when we found out the adults tickets were $21 each! . . . the Panda exhibit closed early, but we saw every animal besides the elephants. My favorite was the Alaskan Brown Bear swimming in his pool!
10/10 CA -- We drove quite a way today, watching spectacular scenery pass before my eyes, as I listened to the latest reports on the bombings in Afghanistan. We hightailed it to the library, trying to squeeze in another word or two..We were well informed in quite a few areas when Daddy came in with an offer from Priceline.com. . . another 9 miles to the hotel. We ate at Mimi’s for dinner.
10/12 Las Vegas, NV -- We went to “The Strip,” as downtown Las Vegas is called. We peered in some casinos, and looked at a white tiger; he looked pretty bored. The mall inside Caesar’s Palace included a moving statue with an aquarium in it and an FAO Shwartz, three stories tall – the second largest in the world. We went to an international buffet in another casino.
10/13 Las Vegas, NV -- We went to Luxor, the Pyramid and Sphinx,. . . and Excalibur, a medieval castle, aimed at King Arthur. We went on Wild River, a 3-D motion picture ride, and a neat movie on M&Ms called “I lost my M in Las Vegas.”
10/14 Las Vegas, NV -- Play day! We went to church, then finished our work and headed to Circus Circus. I rode the roller coaster that went upside down four times. We also stayed upside down for ten seconds on the Inverter! I then rode the Chaos, rocking boat, bumper cars, and an IMAX ride film.
10/16 - 10/17 NV - AZ - UT
Daddy and I hooked up the trailer to the car. We drove through three states today. We stopped at Chevy’s Mexican, and I split nachos with Daddy. After lunch, we drove through a colorful desert, saw some very red rock formations, and found out they were called beehives! (Utah is the beehive state!) We pulled into St. George, UT, ate ice cream, and went swimming in the hotel’s heated pool. . . . We drove into Zion N. P. . . . and took the shuttle bus through the canyon. We stopped at a trail head, and went up. We learned that an old shack was crushed by an earthquake. We also saw quite a few rock climbers on Angel’s Landing (a sheer rock face). Zion attracts more mountain climbers than any other N.P. in the world besides El Capitan in Yosemite N.P. . . . at the visitor center, we got our junior ranger badges. . . . we drove through a mile long tunnel that had little windows in it that let in light and ventilation.
10/18 UT - AZ -- It was a dirty, dusty, bumpy day. . . drove to several scenic lookouts, the highest one at 9,104 ft. We found out how the pillars were made: 1. An arch-shaped depression in a rock face, mostly like stone; 2. Another depression forms on the opposite side. 3. The two depressions deepen until light shows through. 4. An arch is made, probably by wind, water, or an earthquake. 5. The arch gives no warning, and collapses, leaving one side (a column) to erode more slowly. There must be tons of arches in Bryce Canyon! The white-red hill and pillars made the canyon one of the most scenic parts of the trip, yet! We drove through a canyon wall, and into a rocky, hilly desert. We felt like we could walk up the Grand Staircase and sit on the four thrones! We got a refreshingly tasty treat at McDonald’s after driving on Utah cow ruts! . . . Leaving Page, AZ, we drove along Hwy 89 looking at Lake Powell, which was made to preserve Lake Mead, stopped up by the Hoover Dam. We also stopped at a dinosaur tracks site in the desert (which used to be wetlands). We ended in Flagstaff.
10/19 Prescott, AZ -- From our tents, we listened to ravens wooshing past. We stopped early on our drive, at Yavapai Observation Center,...completed our Junior Ranger books for Grand Canyon N.P. We enjoyed watching some funny ravens. We drove to a library in Prescott, AZ...got a hotel in Phoenix for next night.
10/20 Phoenix, AZ
After doing lessons, we all went swimming. It was cold, and it felt good to sun myself in a relaxing chair. After that, we kicked the soccer ball around, and only let up when Daddy called me in for a haircut. Before bed. . . knocked pine cones out of a tree!
10/21 Phoenix, AZ -- We drove through the streets of Phoenix, and looked at the saguaro cacti, weeping willow, and tall palm trees, all on the same 15sq. ft.! We also saw an “A” for Arizona colored in red, white, and blue. (Everyone’s being more patriotic since 9/11.). . .played on basketball court at hotel, then went swimming.
10/23 Phoenix, AZ
We ate at the Homewood Suite’s bountiful breakfast buffet . . . drove into Saguaro N.P., and learned that barrel cactus always point south (a desert cacti compass)! We got our Junior Ranger books, too. . .entered Tucson, and got a Doubletree Suite.
10/24 Saguaro, NP, AZ -- . . . went out to Saguaro N. P., had a nice talk with the Park Ranger, and got our Junior Ranger badges and certificates. We all loved the scenic desert loop trail that we drove, looking at all the cactus from the safety of our air-conditioned car. There was even a saguaro 50 ft. high! We saw two roadrunners, one looked like a chick. We ate at Charro Mexican Restaurant.
10/26 AZ - Las Cruces, NM
. . .drove most of the day . . .saw lots of sotol cactus, too. We drove to Las Cruces, and got a hotel, . ..went to the library and swimming pool. The color of the Organ Mountains was purple at sunset, . . .we went shopping and enjoyed the desert sunset.
10/27 Alamagordo, NM - El Paso, TX
We drove to White Sands and had a great time there. We also made a clubhouse out of a hole in the sand. We all loved to be pulled down the gypsum sand dunes on our pieces of cardboard. My personal favorite part was rolling down the hill over and over again! (Except when I rolled down the dune and got a mouth full of sand!) I also loved the drive over the packed-down sand! We drove to Alamagordo. . .then to El Paso.
10/29 TX -- Today and yesterday were HOT! We drove into Fort Stockton, and checked in at our hotel. The wind was blowing very hard; moreover, it was very flat!
10/30 Laredo, TX
We ate the continental breakfast at the hotel,. . . journeyed into Big Bend N.P. We saw three dead javelinas in the middle of the road. We also saw at least five roadrunners, alive and well! The visitor center was nice,. . .we finished a puzzle of a painted bunting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOVEMBER
11/2 - 11/3 San Antonio, TX
We reached San Antonio, in about 2.5 hours! We’re staying at the Airport Hilton. We went to a cathedral (All Soul’s Day), and ate at Ninfa’s. We went car shopping, looking at the Odyssey, Sienna, and Windstar. We liked the Honda Odyssey, by far the best.
11/5 San Antonio, TX -- We went to Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, and left prayer messages with acorns on the benches... favorite part was watching a dove land on the shoulder of the statue of Mary. I also liked putting at the hotel putting green...wanted to swim -too cold!
11/8 San Antonio, TX -- What a homecoming! I helped unpack boxes from the office into the garage. . . we will update the house. I’d like my room to have a fresh coat of paint and maybe a new carpet. The whole kitchen will be ripped out and rearranged. . .also will be a lot more wood floors.
11/9 - 11/12 -- We’ve finished our journey (except for returning to MS), and sadly settled back in San Antonio. . . . we’ve gone paint, car, and carpet shopping. Mama and Daddy have ordered a white Odyssey. . . . on the 9th we were still unpacking boxes. On the 11th we were out shopping, and took a tour of the Humane Society and got a cat and a kitten . . .two for the price of one! The kitten is being spayed. We played with the 3-year-old Maine Coon, named “Coon” for her purr (trill). The kitten is a domestic shorthair; fur is gray and white.
11/13 San Antonio, TX -- Warm day! We did our lessons from 8:00 to 1:30, and played around after that. It was cloudy, and then rain pounded down at dinner. The kitties are content. Coon is a glutton. She eats Queequeg’s food, and her own. Luckily, they don’t fight. We played Monopoly as a pastime. I like having my own space!
11/14 San Antonio, TX -- . . .didn’t do much but lessons; also picked out tile. There was a tornado in New Braunfels! Luckily, no one was killed. . .rain was pounding and sky was yellowish-green!
11/15 San Antonio, TX -- The kitten chases its tail! The weekend was drizzly, but we only needed Katherine and Lauren Teter to keep us occupied.
11/16 - 11/20 LA - Meridian, MS
We drove for MS, at around 7:30, before traffic was very bad. My favorite part was crossing the long bridge between Atchafalaya and . . .Baton Rouge. The sweetgum trees were turning a dark red, and we got our share of fall color. We were very excited about seeing our relatives, and we loved eating at Pancho’s,! We arrived at Grandma and Grandfather Alan’s house at 9:30 P.M. . . . we ate lunch with Nana and Great Grandmother at Barnhills. We played with Bradley, Miranda, Rachel, Lauren, Morgan, and Brandi, and Sarah, on the Wright side. Then, Patrick, Preston, Anna, Luke, Jake, Duncan, Alexis, and Olivia on the Goldner side, and of course, all of aunts and uncles!
11/22 Meridian, MS -- Thanksgiving Turkey – AAAHHH! We woke up at Nana’s house and said “Happy Thanksgiving” to her and Aunt Trish before going to Grandma and Grandfather Alan’s house. We said “Hi” to the cousins. Patrick and Preston played football, ping-pong, chess, and Sims with me. Anna, Luke, and Jake arrived later. Uncle Michael and Aunt Sue spent the night.
11/29 San Antonio, TX -- Back at our house, the carpet’s nearly installed, and the kitchen is being ripped up. There’s no turning back now. The new carpet feels like a cloud! I love it, and it makes the wood five shades brighter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DECEMBER
11/30 - 12/2 San Antonio, TX
The weekend was okay. Megan, Emily, and Amanda went to the Teter’s house for a sleepover, and I was a temporary only child. We went to Ryan’s for dinner, stuffed ourselves, and I fell asleep watching “Castaway” with Mama and Daddy. . . went to church the next day, and set up the Christmas tree, and the kitten immediately climbed it!
12/3 San Antonio, TX -- ...detoured from library to Half Price Books and got Daddy some Christmas presents. . .also decorated Christmas tree with wide array of ornaments.
12/5 San Antonio, TX -- Moving day...Furniture is back in, and it’s nice to relax on a sofa. Seems cluttered, only because I’ve been in an empty house for weeks. It was a stressful day. Going in and out...moving 1000lb. pieces of furniture!
12/7 San Antonio, TX -- We lifted even more heavy furniture into the house. . . it goes well with the new carpet! Emily has my old lap top computer; I have Megan’s. Now, all I have to do is wait for my new room.
12/8 - 12/11 San Antonio, TX -- Saturday - Feast of the Immaculate Conception - drizzly all day. ...the sun peeked through a few times, and Sunday we played games. Monday, after lessons, we headed to Garden Ridge. . .selected a few plants, flowers, and baskets for our rooms.
12/12 San Antonio, TX -- ...party hosted by Witte Museum, wasn’t filled with snow, but was filled with bungee jump races, obstacle course, basketball machine, ice hockey, and Pounders. I beat everybody shooting hoops,..nobody bungee-jumping! Singers were few, but twice as good. . .hot chocolate and cake were delicious.
12/15 - 12/16 San Antonio, TX -- After picking up Lauren and Katherine, we went to the Witte and played with robots. On Sunday, we went to church also Las Posadas and re-enacted the journey of Mary and Joseph (they had a real horse, there, too!).
12/23 - 12/25 San Antonio, TX
. . . we got our traditional Christmas chocolate treat at Creative Chocolates, Inc. I got a plane in honor of the victims of the September 11th attacks. . . . ate the chocolate on Christmas Eve, after dinner of tamales. In the morning, after the sleigh bells rang to tell us to come downstairs, I found what seemed like trillions of presents under the tree! That night we prayed for Great-Grandmother. She is on a feeding tube.
12/26 . . . savored presents,...set up my boom box; enjoyed new games.
12/27 . . . started back to our lessons - well, a few. It's getting colder!
12/28 . . . invited the Teters over, but Lauren was sick.
12/29 . . . Teters moved to Scottsdale, AZ. We almost got snow!
12/30 . . . prepared for the new year celebration, bought snacks!
12/31 . . . rang in 2002, popping bubble wrap. Happy new year!
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