Last night while staying in Salt Lake City, we made our travel plans for the next several days. This morning we were out nice and early and headed for Jackson, Wyoming where we planned to spend
Monday evening. We traveled east on I 80 and then headed north on 189 in Wyoming. The road was very good and not too hilly until we got closer to Jackson. The weather was very warm when we left SLC, but by early afternoon we ran into rain showers and cooler temps. We reached Jackson around 2:00 p.m. I had made room reservations on the internet last night, so we were able to check in and then spend some time looking around town.

Neither John nor I had ever been here before and we were both pleasantly surprised by the size of Jackson and all the many shops and activities that are available. It certainly is a very busy place. After checking in, we found their visitor center and spent the rest of the afternoon talking with the volunteers and lining up our route for tomorrow in the Teton National Park and Yellowstone.
While at the center, John was also able to purchase a life time pass to all national parks. Since we are seniors, it only cost us $10.00--we thought that a pretty good deal. There were some very interesting displays at the center so I posted some photos.




Following supper at Pizza Hut, we did a little grocery shopping so we would have some snacks to take on our travels. We watched a little TV and then called it a night as we have an early wake up call in the morning.

We were up bright and early and after saying good-bye to Susie's family, we were on the road once again. There was little to no traffic driving out of Sacramento and after being on the road for half an hour, we stopped at a Denny's for breakfast. From there it was on to Reno and then the long, long, drive across the state of Nevada. The landscape is very barren, but the snow capped mountains were a beautiful sight.



It was a long day, but we reached Salt Lake City a little after 7:00 p.m. Today was the biggest push so we should be able to do shorter days the rest of the trip. We checked into a motel and then went to Perkins for supper. While we were eating, a fellow who also winters at Fort Clark came over to our table. It was Gary from Yankton, SD. He told us he is working in SLC for several weeks. Talk about a small world! Tonight we will look over the maps and decide where we travel from here.

This morning Susie and Mike took us to a nice trail for our morning walk. The path followed a little creek and we saw some wildlife--snails, turtles, ducks, and cranes. It was fun to walk in a different place. Afterward we stopped at a coffee shop where John got coffee and Susie some tea.

Following breakfast, preparations started in earnest for the open house. I worked in the kitchen getting some of the fruit ready. Isaac and I then arranged the lunch meats on trays. John was busy outside helping to clean the pool, set up canopies for shade, and arranging balloons.


Some of Susie's church friends arrived to take over the kitchen and continue the setting up. Soon the guests began arriving. John's nephew Ben and his wife, Kamy, came to the open house. We spent the entire afternoon visiting with them and catching up on what they have been doing. We last saw them two year's at graduation for Ben's sister, Becky.

As the afternoon progressed, the open house soon became a full blown pool party with water fights and cannonball contests. The party is still going strong, but I wanted to get the blog done early as we are leaving tomorrow morning. We first thought we would head to northern California to see the redwoods, but we discovered that it is much further than we thought. It would take eight hours to get there which is one travel day, and then another eight back to Sacramento. We decided to leave the redwoods for another trip because we want to do some sightseeing on our way home and don't want to spend two days traveling back and forth to the north.



We have certainly enjoyed our time with Susie's family and seeing their new house and visiting with their church friends. Tomorrow we start the next leg of our adventure.

Well, we made out much better on our walk today--we didn't get lost. John and I pretty much kept to our familiar route and familiar surroundings. We didn't want to take too long as we had a very busy day in front of us.

First thing this morning, Susie baked the first of two pound cakes (it's Zach's favorite). While we waited for the cake to bake, John and Jesse fixed the picnic table to make it more sturdy. Then we all loaded in the van to drop Zach off at work. From there we headed to Sam's Club to pick up the food for tomorrow.





After lunch Susie took Isaac to his doctor's appointment. John and Jesse did some more trimming in the yard while Maggie and I did some straightening up in the house. Mike came home early from work to lend a hand with the preparations. Later in the afternoon Mike took Isaac to his life saving class while Susie and John went to pick up Zach from work. Jesse, Maggie and I stayed home and got supper ready.

After supper everybody did their own thing--watching DVD's. reading, and playing electronic games. Tomorrow is the big party--we need to be up nice and early to get ready. Everyone has their job assignments.

Boy, did we ever have an adventure this morning. After all my talk yesterday about finding our way around the area, John and I got lost on our walk this morning. We walked in a different direction and thought if we kept making right turns, we would end up where we started. Only problem was, there was a school complex right in the middle and the streets did not run through. I finally told John that we needed to stop and ask directions. Fortunately, we found a kind gentleman who helped us out. He went and got his GPS and gave us directions back to Susie's. As we came down the street, we saw Susie and Isaac in the car--they we just on their way out to look for us. From now on we take a cell phone and GPS when we take our walks.

Susie took Zach to work this morning and then she and Maggie picked up some party supplies. While she was gone, John, Isaac and Jesse did some repair work on a couple of kitchen stools. I did some laundry as we were running out of clean clothes. This afternoon was pool time again, but I had gotten enough sun the past couple of days, so I thought it prudent to stay out of the sun. John and kids had a good time trying to dunk each other.



When swimming was finished, we sat outside for a little bit enjoying the nice breeze. I took the opportunity to take some photos of Susie's beautiful roses.



We had a delicious supper of meatball sandwiches and then the boys played poker again. Both Zach and I were the winners. The rest of the evening was spent watching some more Andy of Mayberry. Tomorrow will be busy getting ready for Saturday's open house.

It was another beautiful day in northern California. John and I have been able to walk each morning since we arrived. It is a lot different walking here than in either Minnesota or Texas. Everywhere you walk is a residential area. However, the streets wind around and there are many circles and courts that have no outlet. Our first morning even John got disoriented, but we finally learned how the streets run and made our way back to the house okay.

Today is graduation. Susie had to run Zach back to school for another practice. While she was gone, Jessie, Isaac, and John did some chores around the house to help ready things for Saturday's open house. I was in charge of cleaning up the kitchen and then Maggie and I pressed Zach's graduation gown.

Maggie wants to repaint her room, so following lunch, John, Jesse, Maggie and I went off to Lowe's to pick out some paint and wallpaper border. Maggie found exactly what she was looking for--not too sure Mom and Dad are going to like it, but, hey, it's Maggie's room. When we got back to the house, we had another game of bean bag toss--this time Isaac and I won. Then it was pool time again.

Zach left for graduation and then the rest of us went about an hour and a half later. It was a beautiful evening and the ceremony was held out of doors in the football stadium. It was great to be here to see our grandson graduate. There was a reception in the school afterward and then we went to an open house for one of Zach's friends. It was a busy evening and everyone was ready for bed when we got home.

Today was a busy day in the Rath household; however, with four kids, I guess every day is a busy one. After breakfast Susie and Isaac headed off for Isaac to get an x-ray of his knee. He hurt it jumping off a swing and they need to see if he has a torn ACL. When they returned, everyone grabbed a little lunch and then we all headed off to Borders to look at books and where several nice purchases made.

Susie then took Zach to school for his graduation practice. While they were gone, Jesse, Isaac, John and I played a game bean bag toss--Jesse and John were the winners. We all got pretty warm playing, so it was time to hit the pool. It was a little cold getting in, but once you were in, it was very refreshing. Susie stopped back home long enough to pick up Isaac and take him to a class where he is learning how to teach swimming. On her way back here, Zach sent a text message that said he was ready to come home, so she turned around and went to pick him up.



Susie asked Maggie to peel some potatoes while she was on one of her many trips. Grandpop was very kind and offered to help. They did a good job with the potatoes. Dinner was delicious.



After supper Mike took Maggie to her tumbling class while John and I and the boys played some poker with the new cards and chips Zach purchased at Borders. I won the first game and Zach was the winner of the second. We then taught the boys the game of "31" which we learned in Texas.
It was a nice relaxing night after such a busy day. Tomorrow is graduation.