Bradley Brights

We recently ventured out on a family vacation that didn't include a plane or the East Coast. We drove to California! We've been anticipating this trip for a while. James served his mission in northern California and has wanted to go back for a long time. He insisted that it was one of the prettiest places he has been to. We found out his family was planning a vacation to California this year, so we decided to combine vacations and romp around California together. The least I can say is that it was a blast! My sister Kelley was able to come out with us and that was extra special being able to share this trip with her. Below is a sort of journal of photos from our vacation.



Monday June 29, 2009 Drive through Utah, Nevada, California.


These are the Salt Flats on the other side of the Great Salt Lake. It looks like icy snowy ground, but nope, it's pure salt. Mmmm...pull out the french fries.

We stopped here to eat breakfast and explore the amazing view. Thomas was so worried about getting his pants dirty. He walked around holding his pants up like that.


After our twelve hour drive and one long narrow twisty curvy road we stopped at Redwood Resort Campground in Boulder Creek, CA and set up camp. We had the whole camp to ourselves which included a large grassy field, a ping pong table, and one very cold pool.



Tuesday June 30, 2009- Santa Cruz


After our long drive we wanted to take this day easy and just enjoy the local sites. We slept in, as much as you can while camping, had a big yummy breakfast and headed down the long twisty curvy road to Santa Cruz.



This is Natural Bridges State Beach. This is the best example of one of the natural bridges there. Apparently there use to be several, but they were destroyed in the 1989 earthquake that rattled California. All the rocks we saw were always covered with some sort of bird, this one happened to have pelicans on it.




We found a walk way that followed the coast line so we walked on it for a while. The waves were so magnificent and powerful when they crashed along the coastal cliffs.






It made me a little nervous to have my little kids around such shear cliffs. I kept a tight grip on them.


Our next stop was to the beach. It took us a while to find one with adequate parking. That's expected when visiting the beach. James is convinced that people in Santa Cruz don't work because everywhere we went it was crowded. Once at the beach we all changed into our suits and many ventured out to the ocean, but it was cold and was swarming with seaweed. I had no desire to go swimming in it. Yuck! I've now been to two California beaches and haven't been pleased with the water at either. I like the North Carolina beaches.

Since the water wasn't as clean as many would have liked, we compensated with games in the sand. The kids spent time digging and building with our sand toys. The frisbee and football were thrown around. And lots of sun bathing and book reading took place. It felt good to sit in the sand and sun!





Kelley and Hailey playing in the sand.







James and Thomas. Thomas wasn't so sure about the whole beach idea. He had a very nervous expression on his face the entire time.



Grandma and Hailey. Hailey thought it was really funny when Grandma would cover us her feet in the sand.


This is what Kelley spent her time doing. She made a sand drip castle. They look pretty cool.



Wednesday July 1, 2009- San Fransisco



"If you're going to San Fransisco, put a flower in your hair." I didn't get a picture of it but, Hailey and I both wore flowers in our hair. It was fun to experience San Fransisco. Big cities make you grateful for your small town that you get to go home to. We decided that you have to do a bike tour to get the full San Fransisco experience. We saw LOTs of people riding around in bike tour groups. It looked fun, but we still got a good idea of what San Fran is like driving around.



Our first stop was to the Maritime Museum. It was open, but because of recent renovations, they hadn't had a chance to put the displays up yet. So, we just walked around outside.

This is a picture of the city from the Municipal Pier. From here we could also see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.



Grandpa, Hailey, and seagull.




Golden Gate Bridge. Kelley, Ann, Thomas, James, Hailey.





Sisters! Ann and Kelley.



James and Ann. I think the bridge is well documented.


Kelley and Thomas being like the Chinese.



Thursday July 2, 2009- Roaring Camp Train

Thursday we took a train ride through the mountains on an authentic steam locomotive. This area is covered in Redwoods and Giant Douglas Furs. We went from seeing the majestic waves, to even more majestic trees.



This is the small covered bridge you cross before you enter the small train town of "Roaring Camp." This is where we bought our train tickets and $.25 stick candy to take with us on the train. This picture was taken after the train ride. You can see that my kids were put to sleep on the train.



There were several fun activities in town while waiting for the train. I love their expressions. Hailey is giving us a courtesy smile and Thomas wants nothing to do with this silliness. Funny kids. I'm glad they put up with us parents.

The train had both open and covered cars. We opted for the open one so that we could get a good clear view of the gigantic trees surrounding us.


If you have never seen redwoods I would highly recommend taking a trip to see them. They are the most amazing trees.

This is an example of why they are so amazing. You can see in this picture there is a dead stump surrounded by a ring of other trees. This is called a fairy ring. The middle stump is called the mother tree. When a redwood senses that is is going to die a chemical is sent down to the roots and it sends up new tree shoots. This creates a ring of trees around the mother tree. This particular fairy ring is so large and easy to spot that it has been nick named the Cathedral. You could really feel a reverence when standing here. Many people come here to get married.

That afternoon the boys went golfing and the girls hung out by the pool.

Friday July 3, 2009- Big Basin State Park and Santa Cruz Boardwalk

On Friday we traveled to Big Basin State Park. We took a guided tour around a Redwood Loop. The ranger told us about all sorts of interesting information about the redwoods. We really enjoyed learning about them. This park has several huge trees, but they are still not as big as the trees near the California/Oregon border. I can't even imagine standing next to those giants.


This isn't even one of the biggest trees in the park.



It was so cool to be right next to these trees!


You are looking up a tree trunk in this picture. There is a branch at the top that has fallen and balanced on the top of this trunk. This tree has been hollowed out all the way to the top from various fires. The really neat thing?...it was still alive and well with strong green branches at the top. One more really interesting thing about redwoods. They have the ability to withstand fire damage like this and eventually it will grow back together. Self healing power. Now, that's cool! No wonder they hang around for so long.



I like this picture. They wanted to do an action shot of them jumping off a trunk. Someone forgot to tell them to smile though. They all look scared and a little nervous.


That afternoon/evening we went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.



This was taken out on one of the piers there.

This picture illustrates my point. Thomas' pockets were both full, so are his hands, so is his mouth. Every time I told him no more candy, he would obediently give up the piece he was eating, then walk away and pull another one out of his pocket. I eventually gave up that battle.


Everyone is ready for the 3 hour drive up to Roseville! On our way we ate at In-n-Out burgers. Delicious burgers- sub-par fries. This was a must do on our trip to California. We then settled in to our hotel rooms and were repeatedly grateful that we did not have to sleep one more night in a tent. The best part about the hotel? The yummy breakfast. They had made to order omlets and waffles every morning! Mmmm...I could not get enough of that yummy goodness. I just wish my stomach could have handled a whole omlet and waffle. I would have had both every morning if I knew I wouldn't be paying for it later.

Temple grounds are always so sacred and reverent. You can't help but feel happy and peaceful in a place like this. I thought that these grounds were one of the more beautiful temple grounds I have been on.


James caught Kelley and me peaking inside the temple doors.

The rest of the afternoon was spent naping and relaxing. Finally. Time to relax. Later that night we had delicious microwave dinners that we bought the night before. I'm sure we will be blessed for keeping the sabbath day holy. :)

Monday July 6, 2009- Empire Mine State Park- Bridgeport

This has to be one of the favorite days from our vacation. I wish we could do this day again.

We started out with Empire Mine State Park. This is an old gold mine. We thought that since we were in gold country, we should visit one of the old mines. It was a simple place, but full of information. This is one of the only places in the country that never expirienced the Great Depression. They actually got wealthier. One story I really liked was about a newspaper that printed a small ad about the gold that had been found. A few weeks after that ad was printed the newpaper closed down because everyone running it went to look for gold.

Thomas in one of the old mining cars.

And this is what happens when the teens you take get board. Scott thought it would be a good idea to see how high he could run up the tree. This picture makes it look like he's doing a back flip off of it, but he never actually made it to that point. It was really fun to be with James' younger siblings. I enjoyed observing their take on life.

And the drum roll please...everyone's highest of highlights from the trip....the one thing I would love to make the long drive back for....Bridgeport.

Yes, look at the beautiful clear water. Can you believe that this little gem is tucked away in the hills of Northern California? We couldn't wait to get into that lovely water. It felt as good as it looks.

Hailey loved to play in the shallow water. I don't have a picture of it, but Thomas was a little fish with all his floatation devices on him. He was fearless swimming across the river.

Kelley jumping off a rock.

James and I jumping off. I just want you all to know that I went all by myself, we just thought it would be a cute picture if we were holding hands. Wow, that jump really was a rush.

Here is the reason it is called bridgport. This is the covered bridge that spans across the river.

Tuesday July 7, 2009- Home
And here is Hailey, excited to get back to her bed and regular schedule. I think we were all a little excited to head home. We created lots of memories and enjoyed our little time off from regular life.

And just incase you didn't get enough pictures, I've included the ones that didn't make the cut in the following smilebox. Enjoy! We surly did!

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