we made it to the West Coast :)

Where to begin??? We arrived in San Francisco on Friday afternoon, just as scheduled!Jonathon is a terrific traveller, my Dad's car has been a dream to drive and we have had no serious setbacks! We saw amazing stars in Nevada at Great Basin National Park, baby badgers in Illinois at Starved Rock State Park and had to decamp at 11:40 pm our second night in Nebraska's Lake Minitare State Park because of a non-stop wind that suddenly began to blow (25-35 mph winds with gusts up to 50....) We spent the rest of the night in the car in a wide open parking lot and the next day's temps were 50 degrees lower than the 104 degrees of the previous day. Turns out that wind can just BLOW in these western states, luckily it had blown itself out by the time we reached Park City, but a guy there told us that it had just stopped that day after blowing for 5 consecutive days. These are the types of winds that would only precede a serious Tstorm in South Bend,so a bit unnerving to us since we kept expecting clouds and lightning to roll in but it stayed clear. We camped 5 of the 6 nights planned, our west Wyoming camping at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area was way too windy for tent camping so we found a nice hotel in Green River, WY which is the town where the spikes that joined the transcontinental railroad (thus ending the 5month migration west in covered wagons since the train could take you from St. Louis to San Francisco in 4 days. And we thought that the internet changed lives ---- no comparison to nearly instant communication by telegraph whose wires were laid/raised within a few years of the completion of the railroad, telegraph first then railroad.) We've only eaten in locally owned restaurants, or camped our own meals, and we've enjoyed meeting many restaurant owners including the 82 year old proprietoress of Wilton's Candy Shop (serves lunch, make their own ice creams and syrups...) in Wilton, Iowa. Her hubby George wasn't in yet, he is 94! And Maggie in Des Moines with her lovely vegan wrap restaurant and passionate sourcing from local farmers. Laramie, Wyoming has the most delicious Sunday Italian brunch I've ever had, and the first restaurant bill that ever shocked me because it was so inexpensive ----$12 per adult and $7 per child, even my 5' plus 10 year old. I am still trying to figure out how to get a few of the photos on this iPad into this blog, but can't keep trying tonight ---- we went to a trampoline place with my sister Emily and it is amazing how sore my entire body is after hiking the hills all day and throwing an hour of jumping into the mix ! Tomorrow we are off to Muir Woods for the day, thank you for checking in, there is more to come :) hugs!