9 days of vacation

35 hours of driving.

9 days of vacation.

6 days of camping.

3 different states.

Equals to a wonderful roadtrip/camping vacation 

that was more than needed for our hardworking bodies! 

The long days in the car were worth it. 

Suzy, our Suby (Subaru) made it. 

After the hot days traveling through the mountains, she was glad to take her rest... when we ate some food in the wee hours of the morning at Denny's or the million stops we made at the gas stations to fill er' up! She was thankful for those rests and so was I! 

Daniel, he drove majority of the trip. I generally do best sitting in the passenger seat holding his hand and singing to my favorite Jack Johnson songs as the windows are down and the hot breeze hits my face making my eyes smaller and smaller. I am a great companion for a road trip. :) We drove through lots of dessert, yuck. But we totally enjoyed the heat. We don't get tremendously HOT days here in Washington... so we took advantage of the sun... taking in more than we knew we could and leaving off the sunscreen. After stopping the first night to sleep at some random campsite- random and spontaneous- we headed up the mountain into Tahoe to see my wonderfully great family! 

Some of the many things we were able to do when we arrived for the next 6 days:

Daniel got to meet our niece, Emma-Elizabeth for the first time ever (at 2 1/2 months old)!

We got lots of hugs and kisses all week.

Long walks and conversations with each other.. and me personally with my momma and sister.

Campfires, lots and lots and lots and lots of BIG campfires!

(One night, the Ranger came by... we thought we were being too loud but he was REALLY upset about our large fire!)

Big trips to Fallen Leaf Lake... a quick walk up the path!

Lots of relaxing in our double-man hammock!

Gambled and didn't lose too bad.

Went out to dinner at "The Beacon," Lake front for my grandparent's anniversary (25 years)!

Jumped, swam and floated in the lake.

Played catch with my daddy, the best!

Got demolished in Scrabble one too many times.

Made dinners and lunches and breakfasts with my family!

Played with family I haven't seen in ages!

Went to breakfast with my sister... and played Rummy there too!

Held the Emma-E girl, oh she is a great snuggler.

Took a platoon boat on the lake... it's a favorite thing of mine to do!

Road around all of Lake Tahoe with my husband... 6 hours and 73 miles.

(I'll blog about this probably tomorrow.)

Laughed with my family.

Cried with my family.

Enjoyed my family.

& now of course miss my family. 

After a great 6 days, we unfortunately had to leave. Responsibilities awaited us back here in Washington. So we left... on a long trek home. BUT some great friends of ours were living in Oregon for the summer (farming) and they just HAPPENED to be on our way home. So after another long day of driving, we made it to the dessert-y farm area of Christmas Valley where the Troyer family welcomed us with hugs and delicious dinner! 

We enjoyed our stay with them as we caught up on life, played with their adorable kids, and taught us all about how this farm thing works! Daniel and I were able to ride in the "swather," I think I spelled it wrong- which is a large lawn mower to cut the alfalfa to make big blocks of hay... each one weighing about 1,500 pounds! After a great nights rest, some coffee and snuggles with the kids... we all headed to Bend, OR (Daniel and I taking the girls) to check out the city. It was all such a blast! And after a hot day there... we left for Washington and made it home before midnight!

Now we are home... it's suppose to be 80*+ here and I have to go grocery shopping and laundry. I am so excited to blog more about this trip... but I couldn't leave you all hanging! Posting more pictures, more stories, and some things I have learned these past 9 days!

Thanks for reading!