Crater Lake, Yellowstone, Minneapolis (and more) Oh my!

After we left Lake Tahoe we were on our way to Crater Lake, Oregon. I learned about Crater Lake while I was in school at SDSU and ever since then I had wanted to see this amazing place. Crater Lake was once a volcano that erupted and then became a caldera (basically, a very large hole where a volcano once stood). After many, many years Crater Lake filled with water runoff from the snow and rain. There is no inlet or outlet to Crater Lake~amazing! It is the deepest lake in the United States at 1949 feet and just breathtaking! (not to mention it was cold up there at 8,000 feet!)

Here we are at Crater Lake...

That evening, we drove to Idaho Falls, Idaho and it was a wonderful city. We took a nice walk down by the river and then saw the falls for which the city is named for. Idaho Falls has harnessed all the energy of the falls and that supplies about 50% of their energy needs yearly! Talk about a green city...how cool!












The next day we drove to Grand Tetons National Park and marveled at the beautiful scenery.

Right next to the Grand Tetons is Yellowstone National Park. What a beautiful place! My parents took me and my sisters there when we were kids and I was really excited to get to experience the park as an adult and with Jon.

The Continental Divide runs right through Yellowstone adding to its complexity and beauty.

There's Old Faithful!

After Yellowstone, we drove as far as we could and stayed in Miles City, Montana. The next day we were due to arrive in Minneapolis, Minnesota at one of Jon's friends home whom he knows from the Navy. His name is Jarrod and he has a lovely wife whose name is Jeanna and they have two sweet children, Ryan and Sara.

Pookie and Rascal were huge hits! Pookie did her famous show 3 times while we were there; she was the talk of the cul-de-sac! Below is a picture of everyone enjoying one of her performances. Jon was also able to see another friend from the Navy as he also lives in Minneapolis and is a friend of Jarrod's. Toby and his girlfriend Brandy also enjoyed the show.

While in Minneapolis we also went to the Walker Center which houses lots of art from the 21st and 20th centuries. We had a great time there and in the picture below, Jon is in front of one the sculptures in the sculpture garden.

From Minneapolis we traveled to the upper peninsula of Michigan to Pictured Rocks. We took a boat ride out on Lake Superior (the largest lake in the U.S.) to tour the Pictured Rocks Shoreline. They were amazing and as you can see in the pictures below, we think the U.P. of Michigan forgot to turn on the heat for summer; it was cold up there.

We are now in Harrison, Michigan visiting with my parents. We are enjoying the peace and quiet of their comfy home and catching up on laundry, sleep, blogs and other stuff like that. My sister Becky and her son Dayton will be coming up on Thursday and we are looking forward to that.

I hope this finds all of you safe and having a wonderful summer.