Smith Rock to Thermopolis, WY

At Smith Rock in Oregon I climbed with my family. It was very hot, but at the end of the day when we went down to the river, it was too cold to get in. On one climb I found a frog. The rock was formed by volcanoes nearby. I have a couple of specimens I collected.

This was a really cool climb at Smith Rock.

Then we went to City of Rocks in Idaho. It wasn’t as fun because there were fire ants that bit me and my sister, then it rained. But the cool thing was there were lots and lots of caves. There was one that was really stinky. It was also fun because it was nice and cool.

Climbing at City of Rocks

In Jackson, Wyoming we saw a very funny chuckwagon show. We had ribs for dinner. The show was about cowboys singing in the old west. After Jackson, we went to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone was very fun because we got to see lots and lots of bison, elk and geysers. The first day we saw some fumaroles. Fumaroles are when pools of water go down to the center of the earth and are heated to 165 degrees. They changed all different colors. Geysers were even better because geysers are when water boils then shoots out of a volcano-looking thing. All of it smells like sulfur. The geysers we saw were Old Faithful, Daisy and Riverside. At the Riverside geyser we found a bison skeleton. The bison were so big. The elk were really tall. At the campground in Yellowstone, me and Anna met these two girls and we made a fort out of the snow that was still there.

Yellowstone fumaroles

A mini volcano in Yellowstone

Our snow fort at the campground

Daisy, the geyser

A mud volcano

I kept asking my parents to go to Montana because there is something called the Dinosaur Trail there. So we went to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. We saw the largest collection of real dinosaur fossils in the United States. They also had a planetarium and an Indian exhibit. 

After Bozeman we went to Cody, WY. We went horseback riding and we also went to a rodeo. I like the horseback riding because the animals were so big and they went exactly where you wanted them to go. They’re really easy to drive too. At the rodeo, we saw all sorts of different bronco and bull riding. The cowboys kept on getting thrown off. There was this one funny clown that kept throwing a plastic bat at the bull. He never hit him.

This was my horse, Tornado.

The next day we went to a gun museum at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. They had a WWII section, a pistol section, WWI section and all different kind of war sections. They also had hunting guns. Then we drove to Thermopolis where there was the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. They had an awesome museum and we got to see a dig site. I bought a fake Allosaurus tooth that I thought was real. But it wasn’t because in itty bitty writing it said it was a replica of a tooth that was found out the dig site. So it was a rip off!

The dig site in Thermopolis

A fossilized Allosaurus scratch in the dirt

Fossilized Allosaurus footprint

I loved this museum.

Now we’re headed to South Dakota.

Grand Canyon and Zion National Park

We went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was cool, but people said the South Rim is cooler. I would agree because I thought the North Rim was a little disappointing. But it was still cool to go to the biggest canyon in America. We saw lots of lizards and some deer that were really close. When we got back to the campground we all played Pickle.

North Rim of the Grand Canyon

These mule deer were super close. They weren't afraid of us at all.

The next day we drove to Zion National Park. The first day we got there, we went swimming at the campground and played in the river by our campsite. The second day we went crack climbing. It’s really hard because there’s not a lot of hand holds. You have to get your hand really deep in the crack, then tense up a fist to pull yourself up. On the third day, we went on a climb that was more interesting. We went on a hike that looked like the moon. It was really cool because we saw frogs in little pools of water with tadpoles. I saw about thirty lizards and also some petroglyphs. Anna didn’t like the climb because you mostly had to use feet and it was windy. But I liked it because we got to go really high. But the shoes squeezed the blood out of my feet. After we got down, we had a snack and headed back to the van. It was fun jumping in the sand on the way down the high cliffs.

Our campsite at Zion was right next to this awesome river.

Dad helped me make a volcano in the sand.

The next day we went crack climbing.

Here's me trying to figure it out.

The third day's climb looked like we were on the moon.

This is me three pitches up. It was really fun.

There were frogs and tadpoles in these pools.

More petroglyphs

Ice cream.....all gone

It was fun in the National Parks. 

California Coast

When we went to California, we started at Mt. San Jacinto. We took a tram up the mountain. We hiked around and looked for lizards. But I didn’t catch any because they’re too fast.

Mt. San Jacinto in Palm Springs

There were some fun rocks to climb on and look for lizards.

When we got to the coast, we went to Hearst Castle. It was cool because it had a giant pool that was decorated with Greek artifacts. The pool was lined with Vermont marble. It had three guest houses and one main house. William Randolf Hearst built it in the 1920’s. He made lots of money publishing newspapers. He collected weird things like walls, ceilings, doors, and stuff from European churches. My favorite thing he collected was an Egyptian statue.

The pool at Hearst Castle was made with Vermont marble.

This is the front door.

After Hearst Castle we went to the beach and saw some elephant seals. They stunk. They were big and loud. But they were really cool to watch. There were only females and subadults. The males were out at sea. We had an awesome campground in the Redwoods. Me and Anna played in the hollow trees with my Pirates of the Caribbean gun and Anna’s sword.

Lots of elephant seals

This is me standing in the hollowed out Redwood tree.

Me pretending to be like Lewis and Clark

The coast was really cool because we were listening to Pirates of the Caribbean music and the water was splashing up against the rocks and disappearing. It was also cool because it was nice and sunny, so the light was good for pictures. The next day we went to the beach. We couldn’t go in the water because it was too cold. The cool thing was, me and Anna found a couple of tide pools. We saw starfish, about six crabs, a bunch of anemones and sea sponges. But when I was down trying to catch a crab, a wave knocked into me and I fell and cut a couple of my fingers. So after I got some bandages, we just played in the sand. I looked like Three-fingered Jack from Zorro.

The waves were really cool.

Looking for crabs

We found this starfish in a tidepool.

Mom says I should keep my hands out of the holes in the rock, but I just can't help it. I saw a crab in there.

Three-fingered Jack!

The next day we went to the Monterrey Aquarium. It was so cool there, because the tanks were so big. I saw a lot of fish. I saw a leopard shark, sting rays, jellyfish, sea horses, octopuses, and more. I got to touch a bat ray and a guitar fish. They look like sting rays but without the stinger.

The kelp forest

Rays

It was very fun on the California Coast. 

San Diego and Arizona

San Diego was really fun because we got to go to a lot of places, like the Zoo. I liked the Zoo because there was this giant reptile house with all sorts of snakes and lizards. I also liked the hippo trail because you got to up close to the crocodiles. We also went to Legoland. In Legoland there were lots of cool things made entirely out of legos, like entire scenes from Star Wars. There was a giant Hagrid and Indiana Jones made out of legos too. We got to go on cool rides like Pharoah’s Quest, Revenge of the Pharoah, the Dragon, a pirate ride and the water park.  We went on a cool castle jungle gym too.

Anna and me at the zoo

The crocodiles were really cool.

I took this one of the alligator.

Lego Darth Vader

Anna and I were trying to squirt my mom and grandma.

Lego Hagrid

We went to the beach with Nana, my grandma. We went swimming at the beach in the giant waves that chased me and Anna around the beach. We went on a cruise with Nana too. We saw all sorts of Navy ships, planes, helicopters and submarines. The captain of the cruise told us that the Navy trains dolphins to help seek out mines under the water.

The Pacific Ocean was really cold.

Anna, Nana and me

Me in front of the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier.

On the USS Midway

The last thing we did was Sea World. We saw sharks, fish, dolphins and whales. I got to feed and pet a dolphin. The dolphins felt a little leathery. I got to go on a couple of rides. They were called Atlantis and Shipwreck. On Shipwreck we got soaked. We went to a couple of shows like Shamu. It was fun in San Diego.

Petting the dolphin at Sea World

Shamu

Holding this alligator was awesome!

In Arizona we went to the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, and a 50,000 year old meteor crater. The Petrified Forest was in the Painted Desert. It’s basically petrified wood all scattered around in the desert. It’s illegal to take any out of the National Park. The smallest fine for stealing rock is $250. You could also go to jail. That’s why I bought some at the gift shop instead.

This croc from the Triassic was found in the area of the Petrified Forest.

Petrified Forest

The rock was really colorful from all the minerals.

We went to my mom’s friend, Susi’s. We swam the whole time. It was fun in Arizona. 

I got to ride this bike on a tightrope at the Arizona Science Center.

Never hug a cactus!