Wow, we have a lot to catch up on.  I think we will be staying close to home for a little while so we should be able to catch up with more in depth stories of our adventures. This past weekend was memorial day and we got to add 6 more to our list bringing our grand total up to 35 National Park Service Sites.

We were in Idaho visiting our family and we were so happy to have them join us on our weekend adventure.  We went to 3 monuments, 1 preserve and 2 trails:

• 30 California National Historic Trail
• 31 City of Rocks National Preserve
• 32 Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
• 33 Oregon National Historic Trail
• 34 Minidoka National Historic Site
• 35 Craters of the Moon National Monument

Again I am amazed at all that is encompassed and protected under the National Park Service.  We are so blessed that they have set aside not just the beautiful and unique, but also the shameful and ugly things from our past.  Walking through what is left of Minidoka Japanese Internment Camp was really sobering, I am very grateful that it has been preserved so that we can remember the past and not repeat the mistakes we have made.

It was so much fun this last trip to share our adventure with my family.  My sister Kristy, her husband Don, and their children went with us to these sites.  My oldest sister Misty, her husband Tim and their youngest two joined us for the Craters of the Moon.  I loved sharing those experiences with them.  To feel of their support as we are working to accomplish our goal is wonderful. And to have their help as we broke into our locked car with the keys inside it.

Southern Idaho’s landscape is amazing and unique and it was so fun to explore and learn about it’s geology. It is also crisscrossed with different cutoffs of the Oregon and California Trails and as we went to and from different family events we followed along different sections of the trails.  The California Trail goes straight though City of Rocks and we got to see where early emigrants signed their names with axle grease on the rocks there.  The Oregon trail went through Hagerman Fossil Beds as well and you could even still see the wagon ruts left behind.

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends who are supporting us on this adventure.  I would like to thank Kristy, Don, Misty, Tim and their families for coming with us.  Stephanie and Doug we missed you on this trip. Also I would like to thank Shawn Willsey a geologist at CSI in Twin Falls and good friends with Kristy and Don for taking the time to share your knowledge with us and allowing us to read your not yet, but soon to be, published writings on the geology of the parks we visited.

Stay tuned for more pictures and stories of the last 35 parks, the next few weeks we plan on catching up on our blog with stories from each of the parks. Upcoming this week we are heading to Timpanogos Cave National Monument and are going to finish visiting the trail sites for the Mormon Pioneer Historic Trail.  Thanks for all the support!