August 15 - 16, 2015 Santa Fe, New Mexico
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After the rodeo we continued on the road for six weeks. These photos are of the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We have been to the south rim about five times, even in snow storms, but this was our first visit to the north rim. Far less people, and quite beautiful and cold while we were there..
Then we headed to Las Vegas for a few days of rest. However, it ended up being 112 degrees while we were there so we stayed in the trailer most of the time. Then we moved on to California and visited Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. There were nearby forrest fires and their smoke could be seen in the valleys.
The next stop was a return visit to Yosemite Nation Park, These photos are of the valley floor and Half Dome. The photos of the house is where Frank stayed with his friend, Scott, in the summer of 1969 while Scott's father was the Superintendent of Yosemite and lived in this house with his family. Sometime in the 1980's the house was turned into offices. On January 2, 1997 the valley floor flooded and this house was heavily damaged. The park is now considering tearing it down.
We then moved on to a campground in San Andreas, California. Frank wanted to visit a private phone museum there. Frank spent over six hours touring the museum. The equipment was stunting. Many were very rare items which the owner had collected over many years. We left San Andreas heading for Santa Rosa, California on Monday. Three days later one of the terrible fires in California this summer started within miles of the museum. On Wednesday evening the entire collection was destroyed as can be seen in the last three photos. A very, very sad event.
We visited in Santa Rosa with our friend Brian. He gave us a tour of the Casino Resort where he works and teaches gaming. A fun visit. Then we headed north to the Rodeo by the River slightly north of Santa Rosa. Driving there we stopped at an outcropping on a beach of the Pacific Ocean and relaxed for a few hours before heading to our campground for that evening.
September 12 - 13, 2015, Near San Francisco, California
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After another great rodeo we headed home to Colorado. Of course Frank was interested in this plaque commemorating the completion of the First Transcontinental Telephone Line along the border between Utah and California on the west side of the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was only 38 years after the first voice traveled over a wire before we had a clear telephone connection all the way across our continent. That doesn't seem like much of a deal today, but the leap of technology that allowed voice communication all the way from New York to San Francisco was the equivalent, in its day, to the technological leap the Internet has given us over the last 20 years, except it happend in a single moment, with the joining of two wires.
October 10 - 11, 2015, Las Vegas, Nevada
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At Thanksgiving we invited our friend Patrick and his Mom over for dinner. They both came and we had a very enjoyable dinner, which Tom prepared, and an afternoon of delightful and engaging chats. These photos are of the beautiful Cornucopia they brought over as a gift.
We end this card where we began. With a beautiful sunset from our deck. We hope all of you have a very blessed Christmas and the Happiest of New Year's ever!!!
