Half Moon Bay

This picutre was taken from the beautiful Half Moon Bay golf court.

We strolled along the sidewalk and enjoy the breeze and scenery imagining we were the riches.

7/17/08
Today is the last day in the U.S. of our trip. We decided to go to Half Moon Bay, and on the way, we saw many orchards and farms selling their products. We even saw metal statues standing in the yards of several cottages.

First, we went to Half Moon Bay state park, where we saw a summer camp having a field trip there. It was windy and cold, and a sign said that the beach is very unsafe; as a result we didn’t like it. So we drove off to Half Moon Bay Golf, which was surrounded with mansions facing the attractive seashore. The grass in the golf course was beautifully trimmed, and the clubhouse was as fancy as the mansions beside it. We admired its beauty and watched the golfers play.

Later, we went to Pebble Beach, and climbed down to the tidal pools to examine the sea creatures. There were not many things to see, so we soon drove to Pigeon Point, where we took many pictures of the almost-broken lighthouse, admired the opal-colored ocean, and looked at the flowers. While we were looking at the ocean, we saw many birds with red feet, and we saw gigantic sea stars.
We decided to leave, and drove north. On the way, we saw a beach full of people surfing with parachute. It looked exciting and fun, but non of us is a athlete, so we did not even think about trying.

Pictures of trout in Yellowstone River

There are two to three trouts in the middle.
They are resting to gain strength to conquer the current.


There is one in the left and another in the right, also resting.

Two trouts resting right in front of the grass.

Summer Vacation to West U.S. (7/16/2008)

7/16/2008

We drove all the way to San Mateo (near San Francisco International Airport) today. As soon as we arrived at California, it became very hard to drive; the traffic was really bad, the roads are bumpy because of the construction work, and every rest area is closed. So we went to Jack in the Box and went to their restroom, and bought three lunches for only three dollars each plus tax. The meals and prices are satisfying, so I recommend you to go there. Thankfully Dad drove 80 miles per hour on our way here before entering this state, so we arrived here at 5 o’clock. This hotel, Best Western Coyote Point, is very hard to find, because many roads are one-way, others are being fixed, et cetera. Finally, we came here. Mom and Dad looked on the Internet, and found a Vietnamese restaurant.

The restaurant, Pho Little Saigon, is pretty good; it is very delicious, the meal is large, and the space is large. It is in East Third Avenue 147.

7/15/2008 Tuesday
The breakfast of this hotel, La Quinta(near Salt Lake International Airport), has meat! This is quite a luxury because there aren’t any in the other hotel we stayed.We drove to Winnemucca, Nevada today, and the weather is very cool this year in the desert.

Yellowstone Day 4

7/13/2008I was angry today, so dad bought all of us some ice cream in a visitor center of Canyon with Rocky Road flavor to cheer me up. When we were checking out, the clerk there was Taiwanese, so we chatted for a while. After the ice cream, I became cool again. In the afternoon, we went to buy some ice cream at Tower Falls, where the clerk was Chinese. He asked me which country I was from, and I said Taiwan, so he spoke Mandarin to me. I could not quite understand his accent, but we were able to communicate. On the way to the outside of the shop, Judy overheard someone speaking Taiwanese. So our family began chatting with their family. They were from Kaohsiung or Tainan County; there were there of them and one said the former while another said the latter, and the other said nothing. Then we went to Grand Canyon Yellowstone, which Dad and Judy decided to conquer Uncle Tom's Trail.

Later, we went to Artist's Points, where the view was superb

照片

There are about five elks on the grass

In the middle of picture, there is a bald tree with a bald eagle's nest right on top of it.

Insects in Yellowstone

bug


a bug

a bug

a few disgusting bugs

There is a brown butterfly on the flower in the middle of the picture

A black butterfly on the largest bush of flower

Bisons in Yellowstone

(a herd of bisons)


(close look)







(a herd of bisons)

(near)

Clouds of Yellowstone

Pictures of the lakes in Yellowstone

(Hot Lake)




(Hot Cascades)





(Firehole Lake)

Pictures of Yellowstone's thermal features

(Steady Geyser)




(Artesia Geyser)






(YOung Hopeful Geyser)






(White Dome Geyser)(near)






(White Dome Geyser) (far)







(Great Fountain Geyser)

Yellowstone Day 3

7/12/2008 Saturday
The first thing we saw in Yellowstone was the cadaver of a dead elk. The skin was not rotten, but we could not see any meat; we only saw the bones and the ripped skin. Then, soon we arrived at our first thermal feature, Firehole Spring, and its color is beautiful: clear, light blue. Judy and Mom took a not-so-good picture there; the smoke blowing to our faces was too misty. Then we followed the boardwalk and walked to Surprise Pool. It was very clean, but one can see the pool only in the pictures I took, not in those Dad took. Then we walked to Great Fountain Geyser, where we saw White Dome Geyser erupt. As a result, we hastily drove to the erupting geyser, where we discovered that eruption occur infrequently.

We drove off to a place where Hot Lake is on our left-hand side while Firehole Lake is on our right-hand side. We split up; Dad and Judy went to Firehole Lake where they saw Young Hopeful Geyser and Artesia Geyser while Mom and I marveled at Steady Geyser’s beauty. After that, we drove to Yellowstone Lake (the part in West Thumb), and on the way we saw Kepler Cascade (a waterfall. The lake looks like Crater Lake, but something different was that we saw lots of Canadian geese. We decided to eat lunch beside the lake, but unwelcoming mosquitoes went with us to eat their lunch. After lunch Judy and I climbed down the steep sand hill to the beach while Dad battled with the mosquitoes. Finally, to Dad’s relief, we decided to leave and go to Fishing Bridge, where we saw a cutthroat trout, and a cutthroat trout baby called spawn. We had a hard time to see a cutthroat trout, but spawns are easy to spot.

After the bridge, we decided to drive to the visitor center to buy gifts for our friends in Taiwan. After shopping, our bladders and my anal forced us to go to the restroom. Thankfully, the john was clean. Then we saw several Taiwanese outside the visitor center eating their delicious, tasty, and luscious lunch which they packed. How we envy them!

On our way to Lehardy’s Rapids (part of Yellowstone River), there was traffic jam because everyone was stopping to take a picture of a bison pooing. Finally, we got to the river, where there were tons of disgusting insects and tons of brave, interesting cutthroat trout swimming upstream.
Later on we drove to Mud Volcano for a ranger talk about Dragon Mouth Spring, which looks like the entrance of hell, Mud Volcano (it is not a volcano but once looked like one), Sour Lake, Black Dragon Geyser, Churning Caldron, and Sizzling Basin. Between Churning Caldron and Sizzling Basin, we saw a bison. On our way back to the hotel, we saw something called the elk antler.

Pictures of Norris Geyser Basin

(Yellow Funnel Spring)



(Green Dragon Spring)



(Puff N Stuff Geyser)



(Crater Spring)


(Echinus Geyser)


(Emerald Spring)



These are all parts of Norris Geyser Basin

Yellowstone Day 2

(Gibbon Falls)

7/11/2008 Friday
We entered Yellowstone National Park through West Entrance, and on the way we saw the bald eagle’s nest on top of a bald tree. At the first fork, we turned north, and passed Gibbon River. At 9:25 a.m. today, we went to Gibbon Falls, high 26 meters, and admired its beauty. Then, we decided to drive to Norris Geyser Basin, which Dad wanted to go yesterday but couldn’t because the rest of us wanted to go back to our hotel. On the way, we saw a bison at 9:30, and Dad explained that Buffalo is a wrong name of a bison. Artists Paintpots is between Gibbon Falls and Norris Geyser Basin, but it was closed for repair.

At Norris Geyser Basin, there was a ranger talk. The ranger, Rick Lee, explained to us that there are four kinds of thermal features, which I cannot remember any of them now. It was fun walking on the board walks and listening to the ranger talk, but part of the walk was tough for me (in fact, every trail is tough to me). Nevertheless, I conquered it and walked all the way. All the thermal features are stunningly exquisite, some are black, some are blue, and some are green, while others are orange or yellow.

After Norris Geyser Basin, we headed south and stopped briefly at the lovely Beryl Spring at 12:05. Then we drove for about 25 minutes and arrived at Firehole Falls, which was made created by lava flow. At 2 o’clock, we went to Midway Geyser Basin, and we marveled at the beauty of Grand Prismatic Spring, which its water flows into the river beside it. All of the thermal features have jewels for their names, for instance, turquoise pool, black opal spring, and even jewel geyser.

Later on we went to my favorite, Upper Geyser Basin. First, a not-so-important thermal feature caught my eye because its color is exactly like the frills beside an oyster. I told my family, and Dad laughed at the way I love food. Mom and I walked ahead of Dad and Judy, and passed through two hot springs. Both erupted after we passed them. Then, we discovered that there was a thermal feature called Mustard Spring.

We went to Old Faithful for ice cream, not for its eruption because we’ve seen it twice. I ate mint while Judy ate chocolate. Then we saw the marvelous spring in front of the General Store where we were having ice cream. After the eruption, I heard a funny conversation between an old man and an old woman: “The water came up to the trees!” said the man. “You’re kidding,” said woman calmly replied. “No, I’m not,” said the man. “Oh yes, you are!” argued the woman. However, I have to say, the man is correct.

Pictures of Mammoth Hot Spring

These pictures are taken in different parts of Mammoth Hot Spring

Yellowstone Day 1

7/10/08 Thursday
We drove four hours from the hotel to Yellowstone National Park. On the way, we went to McDonald’s for lunch, though we had a big breakfast of tortilla and bagels with cream cheese at the hotel.
To enter the park, we had to show the annual pass we bought last year (or pay lots of money) and show some ID. Dad showed his passport with Republic of China on it, which made the woman there think we were from China. What a shame! At Yellowstone National Park, we first visited the thermal features of Mammoth Hot Springs, where we visited already last year. It is hotter this year, and we saw less animals (less human, too). However, we saw an elk sitting in the shade beside the bathroom. We hiked around the hot springs, and drank lots of water because of the scorching sun. Then we decided to drive back to our new hotel, Best Western Westen, because it is already late. Part of the carpet on the floor is sticky. We don’t like this hotel, but we have to stay here for three days. Last year we stayed at a wonderful one, Hibernation Station.

Pictures of Mt. Rainier

This is Mt. Rainier from different angles

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Summer Vacation in West U.S. (Mt. Rainier)

7/8/08 Tuesday (written 7/10/08)

We went to Mt. Rainier today. On the way, there was ice in the refreshing woods. We drove up to a round building where we saw a movie about the history of this mountain. After the movie, we went to the top of the building and admired Mt. Rainier.

On the way to the hotel, we stopped at many trails with ice. I slipped on many, but thankfully I did not fall down or roll off the chunk the ice. We went to Reflection Lake, and found a layer of thin ice on the lake. It was beautiful.
Our hotel, Best Western Peppertree Auburn Inn in Auburn, Washington, tonight was large. For dinner we drove for Vietnamese noodles but couldn’t find the restaurant we want, so we went to a restaurant called Pho and Thai at Renton, Washington. The noodle there was extremely salty.

Mt. St Helens

7/7/08 Monday (written 7/10/08)

We went to Mt. St Helens in Washington State today. First, we went to the National Volcanic Monument, Johnston Ridge Observatory. There, we watched an impression movie about the mountain. After the movie, the curtains opened and showed the mountain. Then, we went to hike on a trail. Some trails were still closed, due to snow, but all our family members are not so athletic so it did not matter. Mom and I walked together, and decided to not explore farther and went back to the parking lot. On the way, I inspected the ice chunks on the side of the road.
At night, we stayed at Aladdin Motor Inn Best Western at Kelso, Washington. At the side of the hotel was a Chinese Restaurant called Yan. It was cheap, delicious, and the meal was large.

Introduction of the Characters in my Journal

Me: a superb genius and narrator of my journal

Judy: my sister

Dad: my father

Mom: my mother

Summer trip to West US Day 4 - Crater Lake NP

7/06/2008

I woke up at 5:05 and started to write the journal. Mom said that we can depart our room at 5:50 and walk ten minutes to the breakfast room. After I finished writing the journal, I watched Judy play chess on the computer and then I played Monopoly on the computer. However, I did not have much time to play the superb, splendid game because it was almost time for breakfast. Judy closed all the windows in the computer and we went to have breakfast.

At the breakfast bar, we saw many super tall and sturdy people, and then discovered that they were firefighters in national parks, called Flathead Hotshot. I had a hardboiled egg and Judy’s egg’s yolk, a tremendous bowl of frosted flakes, half a bagel, and a cup of orange juice.

After breakfast, we departed for our destiny, Crater Lake National Park. On the way there, we went to Safeway and bought cheese, ham, and franks. We entered the woods and drove up the mountain. On the way, we saw patches of snow and took many pictures. The green, refreshing woods were fabulous. Judy and I sang The Phantom of the Opera. The weather was cool and relaxing. Finally, we found a visitor center, and then drove to a place called Sinnott Memorial Overlook for a ranger talk. However, the ranger talk was at 11 o’clock and it was only 10 o’clock. We watched a short movie there about the creation of Crater Lake. This lake was a volcano, but it collapsed into what we see today. My family and I walked to another tourist site, Garfield Peak. By the way, I love Garfield comics. There, we saw the breathtaking view of the glorious, brilliant lake. My parents decided to hike all the way up the mountain, though I knew that we would not succeed; we never did. As we trudged up the trail, we admired the astonishing vision of the sapphire-colored water while Judy whined and demanded to go to Wizard Island. Then, we decided to stop and return. We drove along the rim and everyone felt tired. The weather became hot and it was already 1 p.m. So Mom made some sandwiches with ham and lettuce. Then we left the wonderful national park for our hotel.
At hotel, we watched baseball on TV. It was the match between New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Summer trip to West US Day 3 - Red Wood NP

This is a picture of a tall tree in Red Wood National Park

7/5/08 Saturday

I woke up this morning at 2:26 with a sneeze. I lay quietly in bed, but I kept on sneezing. Then Mom scolded me and I had to sleep with Dad. At 6 o’clock, we decided to go to the beach, but we discovered that breakfast is serving already, so we went to eat the meal. I ate a hard-boiled egg, frosted flakes, a carton of milk, a spoonful of peach flavored yogurt, a sip of orange juice, and a piece of toast with peanut butter. During breakfast, we watched the news, and I discovered that A-Rod seems to have an affair with Madonna, causing the latter’s divorce.

After breakfast, we wanted to go to the beach but decided to go back to our room and drive there. However, none of my parents knew the way there and they did not know the address either, so it was unable to ask小玲 to guide us there. As a result, we decided to go to Redwood National Park. The temperature in the woods was cool and relaxing, thus I hope we can help the environment and stop destroying the forests so that it would be always cool on Earth. The road in the national park was curvy and winding, but I discovered that I would not get dizzy if it is cool. However, Judy became dizzy and slept all the way from the forest to our hotel. I slept some of the way because I was too tired. During the time we were sleeping, we left California and came to Oregon. I slept on the bouncy bed of the hotel room until dinnertime. We cooked the instant noodles with the chicken bones (remember the roasted chicken?) and lettuce. I watched the Food Channel while eating dinner. It was about the competition between the Iron Chef and Challenger. The secret ingredient was blue-foot chicken. As usual, Iron Chef won because he is acquainted with the critics and knew what they like to eat.

At night, I did not bathe because I was too tired and fell asleep. However, I woke up at 10 p.m. and wondered if I have to lay on the bed awake until 6 o’clock tomorrow when breakfast is served. Thankfully, I fell asleep.

Summer trip to West US Day 2- Heading north

7/4/08 Friday

I woke up this morning at 2:46 because of jet lag. I lay quietly on the bed, but for no reason my Mom wanted me to go sleep with her. It was boring, but I had to bear it. Thankfully, breakfast is at 4:30. However, when we got to the breakfast room, I found out that the foods were not very appetizing. Nevertheless, there were some delicious bagels and cream cheese, so it was still bearable.

After breakfast we checked out and rode the shuttle to the airport to rent a car. At the airport, we chose a blue compact car. The rental company’s name is Alamo, and like last year, I told my family the story of Alamo again (this was probably the third time I told the story). Dad turned on the GPS and the voice of it was very mean. We drove on the Golden Gate Bridge with the help of the mean GPS, and I told my family why the bridge was built. The view was supposed to be satisfying and beautiful, and the weather was supposed to be cool but not cold, but there was a lot of fog and we couldn’t see a thing. My mom wanted Dad to change the accent and voice of the GPS, so he picked through the examples of voices and found one. Dad told us that the voice’s name is called 小玲. We drove to Muri Beach with the help of小玲. The beach, too, was freezing. However, when we drove away, we went to the other side of the mountain and headed north, it became very, very hot and the sun was scorching. I cooled myself with our water, but it wasn’t much help. Judy slept the whole way and did not notice the temperature at all.

We went to Safeway to buy our lunch, which was a roasted chicken, potato salad with an abundance of eggs, grapes, cherries, and four biscuits. The chicken was the best, salad second, and then grapes. I did not eat the biscuits, but my parents did and they said that the biscuits are very terrible.

We first visited Golden Gate bridge, which was completely disappeared in the mist.

We then drove along the scorching road besides the seashore (route 1?) for hours, and the head-rest of the chairs in the car was very uncomfortable, so I had a hard time falling asleep. Judy had to take medicine to prevent from vomitting.

Finally, we arrived at our hotel, Humbolt Bay Inn, Best Western. The carpet on the floor was damp and very dirty (dusty is the correct word). We ate our dinner, which was the chicken, salad, fruit, and instant noodles. Then we went to sleep.