The trip to Oregon was really special to me. Oregon was the state I was born in and we went to see our old house. It is hard to believe that my parents did not bring our hot tub when we came to Virginia. We stayed at my dad’s work partner’s house with his two sons who were turned four the day after we got there and his one daughter who is five. Both of the boys are twins and are named Quinn and Cyrus. The girls name was Paige. On the twin’s birthday we went to the zoo. That day I learned that no matter how gross it sounds elephant ears are quite tasty. They taste mostly like funnel cake.

The rest of the day was Wii and cheese pizza with bacon. The next day we went to see the Intel building where my dad works when he comes to Oregon on business trips and went out to lunch with some of his co- workers. On the way home, we stopped by Sky High, a place full of trampolines. In one section, they had a foam pit. In another, they had dodgeball. The last one was a bunch of trampolines including slanted ones on the walls. By the time we got home it was like nine o'clock so we went to bed.

The next day we went to Mass at the church where I was baptized. After Mass, we headed to Cannon Beach. At Cannon Beach, there is this giant rock, Haystack Rock, which is in the movie, The Goonies. Sadly, it was closed because the tide was too high. We were looking in some of the tide pools and saw a hairy hermit crab. Then, we went to the Cannon Beach Bakery, and I got a giant M&M Cookie. It was good!




The last day of our stay, we went to Ape Cave. It is a lava tube on Mt. St. Helens that was made by lava flowing through it. It was pitch dark and everyone wore headlamps. In the middle of the cave, we came across a giant, 8-foot wall that we all managed to make it up. We were all pretty excited when we came out of the cave to see sunlight again.

San Francisco

San Francisco was a short but exciting stop. We saw sea lions on pier 39 and did a geocache. And, for you muggles, a geocache is a hidden container that you find. and that was all the important stuff. Unless you count going to Mcdonald’s as important.

We stopped at Ghiardelli's to get ice cream and we ordered the Earthquake. IT WAS GOOD!
This is Castilio di Amore. My parents stopped to taste wine and we learned it was the place where they taped the 1st story in Bedtime Stories.

Waterfalls everywhere

Our trip to Yosemite National Park was amazing! The first falls we saw was Cascade Falls. In the summer it is nothing but a trickle! We saw many other falls like Bridal Vail falls and Vernal falls.When we hiked up to Bridal Vail falls there was so much mist we got soaked! The hike to Vernal Falls was up, up, up the whole way there. We also saw Yosemite falls which happens to be the second tallest falls in the world.

Question – Why is Cascade falls most active in the spring?

Question – What is the 1st tallest waterfall in the world?

I will get the answers to you soon.

The Valley of Death

In Death Valley it was so windy that on top of a hill you could lean back and the wind would catch you and my little brothers couldn’t even make it to the top. A little further from that hill we stopped at a desert. We hiked a little out and once we got to where we were going to stop the wind started blowing sand all over. The trip back was what seemed impossible but we made it. That was all for our short trip in Death Valley. I will be back soon in about 2 weeks so expect me.

A short video of the wind!

 

Vegas, Baby!

The last few days were super exciting! We spent three days in Las Vegas, one more day than planned! There was so much to do we couldn’t leave. The first day we spent at New York, New York, and my mom and I rode a roller coaster while my brothers played at the arcade. After we were finished at the New York Hotel we went to see the Blue Man Group. We were so close we had to wear ponchos! We were in the third row.

After the show we went in another casino called Treasure Island to get something from Ben & Jerry’s. Then we took our treats outside to watch the Siren Call Show outside the hotel. The show was ok but it was just singing and dancing. It was about a pirate ship that sailed into the sirens’ cove to save their shipmate but the sirens sing a song that sank the pirates’ ship. The next day we went to a buffet for breakfast and then to the pool. Late at night we went to the Stratosphere. That is a building 900 ft. high and we went on a ride that shot you up 200 ft. more! You could see all of Las Vegas! It was so high up and so cool since it was dark and the lights were all on. If you ever visit Las Vegas, the ride is called the Big Shot. The ride is the red spire on top of the building.



 

That night I slept walked out of the hotel room and woke up by the elevators! It was so scary! After about ten min. of knocking, I found the courage to go to the first floor and get an adult. I ended up getting in my hotel room Sat 2:00 in the morning! The next day was my brother’s birthday and we spent the day sat Circus Circus. It was cool because in the hotel is a place called the Adventuredome that is like a really small amusement park. They have roller coasters and regular rides. We also played some games there and I won a Bear that is white and is holding a sign that says “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada.” It was a medium prize. The day we left was Mother’s Day and we ate at IHOP.

Hiking Days

Our first stop in Utah was Arches National Park. The first hike was to the Delicate Arch.

 That hike was 1 ½ miles long there and the same distance back. When we got up there we saw very strange arrangement of breakfast platters! We saw a rock shaped like a pancake with whipped cream on top and a fried egg. After we returned to our car we drove to another rock formation called Double Arch.

 It was right next to a cave that was named perfectly, The Cove of Caves. I said it was perfectly named because inside the cave there were three caves.

The next day we had more arches fun with the Landscape Arch and the Double O Arch. The Double O Arch was especially exciting because on the way there we went across a ridge with strong wind that was forcing you over the edge! Anyone under the age of six should avoid going on it.

This is me in front of Lanscape Arch (The picture of me is right above and the one of Lanscape Arch is above the picture of me).

After that scary experience we headed to the state park of Goblin Valley. I thought this was the most exciting because there were no trails, and it was filled with things to climb.

The items in this picture are called goblins, that is why it is called Goblin Valley State Park.

We were looking for a geocache, but we never found it.

Look at this picture closely. I am sitting on the edge a rock that is right over a mini canyon.

Before we left Goblin Valley I found a small cave that is narrow in the front and gets wider. It was not a very long cave, it went about 150 ft. to the other side from the entrance.

The last of our Utah visits was to Bryce Canyon. It was a tiring hike until my dad stared giving us one Skittle for every switchback. By the end of the hike, we were exhausted but had earned quite a bit of Skittles.

 

The Grand Canyon was the last hike we did before Las Vegas or a break from hiking.

This is the animal section the picture above is a lizard and the photo below ia chipmunk eating a Hershy's kiss
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Our Grand Canyon hike wasw short but hard. The first part was down, down, down with no moving up and up was exaughsting.

Answer = The reason more water goes down in the summer is that there is a bridge and we all know in a bridge it stays because poles stick down in the water. Well that brige in the summer it looks like and ordinay bridge but in the winter gates are closed and you can tell because between poles there are lines at the bottom that are the gates.