4th of July Road Trip

Alec and I spent the 4th of July weekend relaxing at Lake Havasu, AZ with family. We decided to take the scenic route, and we were glad we did! These first six pictures were taken along the highways as we headed southeast through the Sierra Nevada mountain range from our place in Citrus Heights, CA.







(Picture below) View of the mountains from our motel in Bishop, CA


Headed into Death Valley and leaving the mountain range behind...




In Death Valley, the temperature hit 115 degrees and our lowest point was 250 feet below sea level. We stopped for icecream in one of the few places to stop, which was aptly named Furnace Creek. The mansion in one of the pictures below is a resort, but is only open in the winter because they do not have air conditioning. There is also an 18-hole golf course in Furnace Creek...sounds a little on the warm side to me!





Playing in the pool in Lake Havasu with my cousin Shannon and her cute girls and my Aunt Mary and Uncle Kirk...hit 117 degrees on Sunday. We had an early 4th of July display with thunder and lightening on Sunday night.







The trip home...we had planned to just do the I-5 route, which would have saved us about 2 hours in time, but in the end we opted for the view again. = ) The next three pictures were taken at what was once the Manzanar War Relocation camp. One of my favorite picture books (both personally and for teaching writing traits) is called "Baseball Saved Us" by Ken Mochuzuki. That book is set at Manzanar.




We had a little rain on the drive home...


The next four pics were taken at Mono Lake. We've decided we are going to have to spend some time camping there. The pictures absolutely do not do the place justice.





Last views of the Sierra Nevadas before the sun went down...