Summer Vacation 2009

Hello again all! We have not posted in a LONG time. We had some issues with our external hard drive, but my wonderful husband fixed it and I can now bring you some much delayed pictures. We drove, yes drove, back to Washington at the end of June. It was a WONDERFUL trip. I much preferred driving to flying. We were on our own schedule, we saw lots of the country, and Carter does great in the car. We got to see friends, our families, and lots of the country. The only things I would have changed was maybe to spend some more time on the Olympic Peninsula and more time with our families and friends. I missed seeing my friend Megan and her mom Linda very much. We usually see them every time we come home, but were in Seattle for only about 2 hours...at least we got to say hello to Chelsea. Linda and Megan-missed you guys, see you next time!!! Rather than explain our whole trip here, I will let the pictures tell the story...

We went to the infamous Wall Drug in South Dakota. If you have ever driven through South Dakota you know there are quite a few signs to draw you in.


We were one of the first people there after driving all night!


Carter's new friend...


Our hotel room in Billings, Montana.



YEAH, we are on White Pass in Washington!!

Gotta love the Cascades.

Carter liked looking at the mountains. We don't have very many of those in Wisconsin.

Carter's best friend Daisy. (Uncle Trevor and Aunt Mistie's dog.)

Let's play Daisy!


Carter and Max had a lot of fun playing together. The cousins are only 6 months apart.

Give me that Carter!

Nana Mary keeps turning on Mickey Mouse to distract us...

Carter relaxing.

Having fun!

What the heck Nana!! Where are my crackers??


While we were at home and had the luxury of babysitters, Justin and I decided to take a day trip by ourselves. We left very early in the morning, drove up through the Olympic Peninula and around through Seattle. I used to live in Forks, WA (before it was cool because of the Twilight stuff) and wanted to show Justin around the area. We went to the rainforest, Forks, Rialto Beach, La Push, Port Angeles, crossed the sound on a ferry, had a quick dinner with Chelsea, and jetted home. It was a LONG day, but definitely worth it. 12 months worth of dates in one day!

Kalaloch Beach between Aberdeen and Forks.

I could not get enough of the mist and rain. I really do miss it...

A little blurry, but Justin in front of the big Cedar tree.

The big spruce tree before the rainforest. Justin peed behind it...nerd!

We ran through a 1.2 mile trail in the rainforest really quickly. Justin had never been there and probably could have spent all day there...but we had a tight schedule.

Justin looking at a huge tree.

The hall of moses trail.

Local wildlife...

I loved all the green.

Where our trailer used to be in Forks. My Dad planted those trees. If you look carefully, you might see the apple tree Mark almost killed with a wiffle bat at the back of the yard.

Our old house in Forks. It look exactly the same.

La Push

I do miss this kind of beach very much.

More of La Push.

Justin wanted a picture of the Malibu at the Pacific Ocean.

Rialto Beach.

Other tourists at the beach.

Justin liked this area a lot too.

Lake Crescent on the way to Port Angeles.

A ferry in Puget Sound.

Us on the ferry to meet Chelsea for a quick dinner.

Had to do the tourist thing and take a pic from Alki Beach.

Aunt Mistie's baby shower. Carter's next cousin will be here soon!

Carter had to test the tub before his cousin to make sure it worked.

Aunt Mistie and the next baby Johnson!

On our way home we drove through Boise and saw Pat and Aileen. Then we went to the Grand Tetons and stayed a couple nights with Meredith and Ty. Bucky had to work, but they still made the trip. We sight saw in the Tetons and Yellowstone. It was very pretty and we could have probably spent a couple more days there too!

BUFFALO!!!!

We saw one up close sitting in wildflowers.

On our little hike with Meredith and Ty.

The deer we saw on our hike.

My boys...

The car in Yellowstone...it has been all over!

Trevor would love to fish in Yellowstone.

The little bit we saw of Old Faithful before the boys melted.


The lodge at Old Faithful. I will admit, it would be cool to stay there.

Carter in his "have you seen my baseball" hate he borrowed from Ty.

Ty and Carter eating.

The only time they weren't throwing dirt and fighting over stuff...it was a long trip for Carter, he was ready to be home.

The Tetons.

We were surprised to see the kinds of boats they let in the park. It would be cool to see this from your boat at night.

I love this pic...

A pretty meadow.

Sunset in the Tetons.

It was just beautiful.

The Mamas together for one pic!

On our way home, we stopped and saw Tony in Colstrip, Montana. Justin and Tony went to high school together and he was our best man at our wedding. We had never been there and again, could have spent a couple days there with him. It was very relaxing and great to visit with him.

Tony is a volunteer firefighter and the first thing he did when we got there was take Carter down to the station and give him a ride in the firetruck. Carter was nervous at first, but was grinning when they got back. Thanks Tony!

Tony, Jody, and Sako

We ran into some storms in South Dakota. It was SCARY! We were sure there was going to be a tornado. We even saw storm chasers from colleges out and about. We pulled over for a little bit and got some pics. After about 30 minutes we got on the road and blasted through it.

Some DARK clouds!

It was pretty scary.

Ready to be done with this...

Overall we had a great trip. Thanks to all who hosted us along the way. I would do this again in a heartbeat. Love to all we saw and didn't get to see!!