Abby, Mom, and the Grandparents Dyer went on a road trip to California. She was an amazing traveler - as long as Mom stayed in the front seat and Grandma in the back.
She's learning her pincer grasp of food, so now she "feeds" herself.
Grandpa introduced Abby to the Sonoran Desert.
Mom & Abby at the Hoover Dam.
Due to several unexpected road closures, traffic jams, and road construction, we ended up staying the night in Beatty, NV. Turns out Beatty is the gateway to Death Valley National Park (no surprise to Mom or Grandpa)...
...so we took a "short-cut" through Death Valley.
Because the "short-cut" would tack another hour-and-a-half of driving time onto our day, we let Abby exercise whenever we could. She enjoyed playing on the concrete in Death Valley, finding rocks in the cracks.
She also enjoyed playing in the desert with the rocks there, and Mom thought she must be a budding geologist...
...and then she tried to eat the rocks. Still could be a geologist. :)
We had to stop for a photo shop with a Joshua tree. Mom's favorite!!!
We drove through some gorgeous country. The east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains are visible on the left of this picture.
At another stop, Abby poses in front of Mt. Whitney - the tallest point in the contiguous U.S.
As we descended to our destination - Auburn, CA - Abby had a chance to see her first fog at a much needed stop. Mom had the unfortunate honor of driving in it while Abby had a meltdown in the backseat.
Abby enjoyed stopping in Nevada at a BLM rock art area to stretch her legs and play on some concrete.
We all appreciated the chance to stretch our legs.
Abby did a little rock climbing....
...with a little help from Grandpa.
She even took her turn behind the wheel.
Just outside Ely, NV, we took a three-mile detour on some interesting BLM roads to go to Garnet Hill, a BLM rockhounding site. Yay!
It was a little chilly, but Abby spent some time getting dirty and looking for garnets.
It was a great site. In the ten minutes we could spend there, we found some nice specimens.
The next day, we had a little impromptu stop outside of Scipio, UT.
It was wonderful to get back to familiar vistas. Abby did a little "assisted" rock climbing again.
She loved the feel of the slick rock on her bare feet!
We just happened to end up in Moab for the night, happened to stay right across the road from the Moab Brewery, and happened to have a few beers and dinner there. Cheers to a long trip almost over!
