Home!

We got home Sunday, July 27, 2014, at about 4:15.  We were greatly surprised to find Micki, Mitchell, Mazie, and Michael here to help us unload.  After a visit we were able to enjoy a meal together.
 
We had left Breckenridge at 6:30 a.m. MDT.  That was following a wonderful time with the wedding and a day with the family.

On Saturday we went up to a mountain, I don't know the name, on a gondola.  While up there the kids enjoyed an Alpine slide and roller coaster.  Barry & I had issues with the altitude and went back down to spend a relaxing afternoon and evening in the room.  The kids continued to take in the sights of Breckenridge.

I'll post a picture of the family and then call this blog officially done.  It's been a great time and we have enjoyed the trip immensely!
Enjoy!

Lauren, Heather, Ben, Guin, Barry at Breckenridge

End of a beautiful trip!

Breckenridge, CO

I've been lax getting the blog done.  We got into Breckenridge on Thursday afternoon and Lauren, Heather, and Ben joined us about an hour later as they came in from Denver.  We had a great time walking down to the Main Street and having a meal at the Motherload Tavern.  Ben ordered a half rack of ribs; ate them all plus the watermelon and fries, and then ate a deep fat-fried Twinkie.  We kidded him about having a hollow leg.
Friday Lauren fixed all of us omelets.  JayDee & Julia joined us for breakfast.
Barry, JD, & Julia went for a walk down to the art festival.  The kids went down later.  I'm having a little trouble with the altitude.  Any physical activity and I feel like I don't have enough oxygen; get a little lightheaded, etc.  I'm trying to drink plenty of water and conserving energy.  That's the long story for why I didn't go with Barry to the art festival.
At 3:45 we boarded the bus for Megan & Zack's wedding celebration.  The setting was beautiful at Dillon Lake.  The weather was cool, windy, with slight times of rain.  During the actual ceremony, the rain stopped and no one seemed to mind the wind.  The rest of the evening was wonderful.  The time to visit was great, the meal delicious, and the dance was a good time.  Barry & I didn't do any dancing due to my altitude problem, but it was great to see all the others dancing.
Enjoy and talk to you later.

Megan & Zach at Dillon Lake

Salt Lake City Day Two

We did two tours today.  A tour of the city and one that included the copper mine and the Great Salt Lake.
On the city tour we visited the Pioneer Heritage Park, the State Capitol Building, B. Young's home, and the Tabernacle.
The copper mine included a mountain road that went from asphalt to gravel to dirt and included a lot of switchbacks.  Barry was glad not to be driving and not taking our van on the road.
I've explained some of the things under each picture.
This is our last day as a tourist.  Tomorrow we travel to Breckinridge, Colorado, for our niece's, Megan's, wedding to Zach on Friday.  I will still blog, but we are really on the way home.
Enjoy and talk to you later.

Statues of a pioneer family in prayer and the

handcart with all their belongings.

The State Capitol Building

The copper mine.

The wind was blowing my hair straight.

The mine is a mile deep and three miles wide.

B. Young had the symbol of the eagle on a bee hive.

The eagle to show allegiance to the US and

the bee hive to show the culture of the Mormans.

B.Young's home.

We eat a meal on the main floor which was the

kitchen, dining, and living areas.

The second floor was the wives' rooms and

the third floor was the children's rooms.

We did not tour the other floors, just the main floor.

The Great Salt Lake

Selfie with the Lake behind us.

It was great to be in the Tabernacle.  

Beautiful place and we heard a 30 organ recital.

Salt Lake City

We drove 364 miles in beautiful sunshine.  No more rain or clouds!
We stopped at Twin Falls, Idaho, to view the Shoshone Falls on the Snake River.  It is called the Niagra of the West.  It's not near as big, but it has many water falls like the Niagra.
We did take care of the car at Twin Falls.  The oil got changed and we went through a car wash.  It was needing it after all the rain we've been through.
Enjoy the few pictures and talk to you later.  I'll have more to say tomorrow as we are taking a city tour of Salt Lake City and we are driving out to the lake.

Can you see all the water falls?  Upper & lower levels.

Rainbow in the water!

Boise Day Two

We hung out in Boise today.  A late breakfast, finished laundry, got haircuts, shopped, and went to a movie.  We saw "Begin Again."  It was a fun film.  Lots of original music.
So, no pictures today and no big tourist report.
Talk to you later.

Boise, Idaho

We did it!  We have driven to 49 states!  Completed the task at 6:15 p.m. on Sunday, July 20, 2014.  We started going to the states on July 16, 1972, which was the day after our wedding.  It has taken us a while, but glad we got to 49 of the 50 states.  Hawaii is in the future.
We started the day in Oregon with a tour of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.  It is a hydroelectric dam and generates 60% of the electricity for the Northwest.  The guide said that some electricity is sold to states like Nebraska, too.  He also said it is the only hydroelectric site that allows citizens to see the generators.  We were over 30 feet below the surface of the river.
After touring the generating area, we went to view the fish in the fish ladder.  There wasn't any fish jumping up the ladder.  That only happens at the peak season which is not now.  We did see the fish fight against the current.  One would be swimming forward and suddenly be swept back to the previous window by the current.  The whole process was very interesting.
The rest of the day we drove 389 miles arriving at Boise at 7:15.  We stay in Boise tomorrow and still haven't decided what we are doing.
Enjoy the pictures and talk to you later.

Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

Outside view of the fish ladder.

The generators are the round, orange tops.

Generator up close.

Grown-up size tricycles the employees use 

to get around the generators.

You can see the size of the generator 

next to the large tricycles.

A fish trying to get to the next step.

This is the scenery on the east side of Oregon's mountains.

Very barren.

Made it to Idaho!!

Hood River, OR

We are settled in at Hood River, Oregon, for the night after driving only 190 miles.  We started the morning at the site of Lewis & Clark's winter quarters for 1805.  They made a fort at what they called Fort Clasop after the Native Americans in the area.  We spent about 2 1/2 hours watching videos and touring the replica area.  The experts believe they have the fort reconstructed very near its actual site.  It was really neat for me to see the area after having taught about it for so many years.  Especially interesting was the raising of the flag over the fort.  The ranger, dressed in period clothing, explained the 15 stars and 15 stripes on the flag, as well as the different things the expedition did with the flags they brought - like giving them to the tribal leaders.
After the fort we went to the Flaval house.  It was built by George Flaval in the late 1800s.  He was a bar pilot (he led ships through the sand bars at the mouth of the Columbia River) that was successful in many of the things he did.  He was considered upper-middle class, not wealthy.  The house has been restored to the period and is on the National Historic Register.
We then drove on Highway 30 instead of the interstate.  Wow!  What Barry had driven on before was just child's play to this one.  It was not only full of curves and hills, but extremely narrow as well!  We drove to what is called the Vista House to see the Columbia River Valley, and there is a picture of the view.  There were 11 falls along the highway.  We stopped at three and got a decent picture of two of them.
After the Horsetail Falls we got on to the Interstate and took it to Hood River, arriving at about 6:00 for the night.
Enjoy and talk to you later.

Replica of Fort Clatsop

Ranger explaining the 15 stars & stripes flag

Lewis & Clark River flows by the Fort Clatsop

Statue called "The Arrival" depicting Lewis, Clark,

the dog, Seaman, and Clark's slave, York.

The Flaval front door.

View of the Columbia River Valley 

Tallest waterfall of the 11 with a 620 foot drop-

Multnomah Waterfall

The Horsetail Waterfall