My mom took us to a Chinese restaurant for lunch before our flight out of Charlotte. She had promised to take us out for lunch because Sami had won a refund on his groceries when we used her bonus card. Only we didn't realize it at the time and she had to take the receipt back later to claim the money.
Anyway, we felt bad about eating in front of Markus because he stares so intently at our food. Although he couldn't eat it properly, we figured he might enjoy chewing on a fortune cookie. He did. His fortune said he "would do well in the field of wacky inventions".
Markus was not very cooperative when we went to get his passport photos taken.
Although I was careful to let him have his morning nap, and started driving to AAA after he was awake, he fell asleep again. I spent 30 minutes waiting and gently trying to wake him up. Finally I had to take him to the bathroom, strip off all his clothes, and wipe him with a cold washcloth to wake him up.
Once he was awake, he wouldn't stay still. They put him in a car-seat type thing, but it didn't have any seatbelt, and he kept wiggling to the sides of the picture. Finally the photographer managed to take this one with his head more or less centered and his eyes open (required).
My friend Agnes went to HK for a long weekend and saw this magazine.
She laughed and said if this was really my magazine I would give McDonalds coupons for free pancakes instead of apple pies (because I ate so many McD's pancakes when I had morning sickness).
We started driving on Titus Canyon road because we noticed there was a geocache on it. What we didn't know was that Titus Canyon Road is a 27 mile long one way street leading though an incredible canyon.
My pictures really don't do the drive justice. The colors were incredible. Blues, greens reds... I really need to get a polarizing filter for my camera. While this camera does great in the Oregon rainforest, it tends to overexpose things in the sunny desert.
We should have stopped to take pictures in Red Pass, but there were already a lot of cars there so we didn't. That was the main problem with taking photos in Titus Canyon. We felt like we couldn't safely park without preventing other cars from passing.
About halfway though our drive we stopped in the ghost town of Leadfield. The sign says it all.
I wouldn't want to live here.
Sami stands in front of the mine entrance with the GPS to claim a virtual geocache find.
The old outhouse.
I dont' remember if I've seen a lizard eating plants before, but this one was. He kept nibbling on this green leaf.
We saw a butterfly here too, although it was too fas for us to get a close up.
Heading back to the car after investigating the petroglyphs and wildlife.
Entering the narrows of Titus Canyon
We passed a large group of Japanese tourists hiking through this part of the the canyon. They looked very hot and tired. I wondered how far they had to hike.
Video going though the narrows.
I apologize for bad video quality and the bird poop and glare on the windshield. It does give you an idea of our drive though.
We came out of the canyon just seconds before I stopped the video. I didn't know though, so I ruined a good shot by ending it too early.
We arrived in Las Vegas late Friday night and drove to Beatty, Nevada just north of Death Valley.
We spent the night in the Stagecoach - it had good reviews online but our room was near the laundry facilities or something. Loud machine noises kept us awake, and I accidentally set the time on the alarm clock and we woke up 2 hours earlier than we intended.
Bird in a palm tree outside the Stagecoach.
There were lots of these birds in the trees and on the Stagecoach sign. They were very noisy and made strange sounds.
Beatty has it's own "B" up on the mountain, just like the Hollywood sign.
Desert Paintbrush - Castilleja chromosa
Location of our first Nevada geocache.
Shortly after leaving the hotel we stopped at this rocky area along the roadside to search for a geocache.
Actually this rainbow was much better looking in real life. It was actually a double rainbow and we could see both ends touch the ground.
Unfortunately I'm not practiced enough to know the right settings for this weather phenomenon and my camera doesn't have a "rainbow setting". Here's another view.
Oh yeah, I'm making this post using the free wireless we have at the airport. We're on our way to Vegas tonight and we'll be in Death Valley tomorrow.
Our friend Erica drove us to the airport today. Thanks!
As she remarked on the drive here, the name Port of Portland is pretty redundant. However, the airport is nice. No lines today, and going through security was super easy. That's our plane here, right on time. Also, there is free wireless here so we can check email, surf and make little blog posts like this one.
This picture is from our trip last year. Sami really enjoyed playing with the dog, Cody. We decided to take Daddy and the dog geocaching with us. Daddy really enjoyed it. Cody didn't like walking in the woods and refused to go any further.
Anyway, if you're in Charlotte between Christmas and New Year's and want to meet up with us, post a comment, send an email or call us.
My mom took us to a Chinese restaurant for lunch before our flight out of Charlotte. She had promised to take us out for lunch because Sami had won a refund on his groceries when we used her bonus card. Only we didn't realize it at the time and she had to take the receipt back later to claim the money.
