San Diego and Lemon Grove

The next three days were spent in Lemon Grove and San Diego. I Finally got to meet Sean's sister Bridget and brother-in-law Kevin, his nephew Liam and three nieces Jamie, Dierdre and Sloan.

The youngest girls immediately invited me to their room to show me their barbies, dolls and to brush my hair. I'm pretty sure my scalp is still recovering from little Sloan's hair styling techniques, but it was so much fun.

Some of the time we spent beach bumming with the girls and admiring all of the fancy houses on Coronado Island. We also watched the seals swim and sunbathe, caught crabs and collected sea shells at Pacific Beach.

Sloan, Dierdre, Sean, Me and Jamie at Pacific Beach

Sloan looking for crabs

Sean and Dierdre

Jamie and Sean

The Girls buried me...

I buried the Girls!

While everyone was at work and school on Monday, Sean and I went out to the Silver Strip and found more sea shells. That night Bridget took us to Old Town to check out the old buildings and little shops.

Seals basking in the sun

Cute Seal!

Pelicans over the beach

Bridget gave us the grand tour of the city, we think she was advertising the place in hopes that we would move closer, which is definitely an option. Thank you so much again for having us for the weekend, it was amazing.

The Redwoods to San Diego

By the evening of October 3rd we were both exhausted, apparently out of road tripping shape.But we pushed forward to Portland, OR to visit my friends Alisha and Lenny. We were only able to stay for a very short time, but it was really awesome to see them. Can't wait to see them again when we aren't all exhausted and sick, but that's just another excuse for a visit I suppose =)

The next day we left Oregon and headed toward the Pacific Coast. We were both completely grounded and in awe at the giant Redwoods. I was so amazed at the sheer size that I was startled by them at first.

Looking up at the Redwoods

Photo-Op!

While passing through the Redwoods we met up with Paul Bunyan and Babe. We tried to steal the ax  but it didn't work out too well.

The next day we drove down the coast making our way closer to Sean's sister and her family. We saw beautiful beaches, pelicans, seals and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. That night we sped through Los Angeles and made it to San Diego just before we both passed out.

Northern California

Golden Gate Bridge through our dirty windshield

Central California

From Goodbye to Stonehenge

On October 2nd we said goodbye to our coworkers and Yellowstone families and hit the open road, about an hour after which the tears started flowing. It's amazing how quickly bonds can be formed, sometimes without even realizing it. I think part of my heart will always be in Yellowstone, just as part of it will always need to wander.

Aspens, my favorite tree

That day we made it to the Ringing Rocks near Butte, MT. These rocks are really cool, they are high up on a mountain and when you hit them with a hammer (or in our case a tire iron) they ring like bells. The most interesting fact about them though is when they are removed from the area they no longer ring. It was fun to climb around and bang the rocks for awhile before hitting the road again.

Sean at the Ringing Rocks

Our final stop for the night was the 50,000 silver dollar bar near the western border of Montana. The bar was very interesting, there really were 50,000 silver dollars displayed all over the bar. Each dollar had the names of the people who dedicated it inscribed in the wood underneath it. There was also a free campground behind the store that we of course took advantage of, thanks to my friend Stacy for the tip on that one.

The next morning we stopped in Washington at the Man-made Stonehenge Monument. The monument is a replica of the original Stonehenge and was erected to serve as the first World War I memorial in the U.S. It was impressive and we caught it at the perfect time, as the sun was shining through it.

Stonehenge Monument

Sean being cute, as always