Earlier this week, the four of us piled into the van—well, technically, Hoonie was carried and then placed lovingly in his car seat, hee!—and took a drive up to the end of the world (aka as Quincy). A seventy mile drive winding through the Sierra Nevada foothills, following the Feather River up to a small, but charming (aren't they all?), community snuggled right into the mountains. The drive there took just over an hour and half so it wasn't too bad. Plus, since Hoonie was sleeping the whole time, we didn't even bother stopping along the way. A totally different story on the way down. We stopped about every ten minutes I think. But well worth it. It was incredible to see all the bridges, tunnels, trains, hydroelectric dams and just the general scenery along the way. Not to mention the actual Feather River which was absolutely gorgeous! It always strikes such awe in me to see how we can build roads to just about anywhere. And through just about anything. Some of the tunnels we went through were carved right through the granite. It was absolutely incredible. And the dams. The ability to harness power from water...it gets me wondering if perhaps we can't do something with our little dam, lol! ;) Seriously though, it was an awesome drive!
Sometimes, especially with kids and the busy-ness of our lives, I forget how nice it is to just take an afternoon off and go for a scenic drive somewhere. Or to nowhere, as it were. A drive just for the sake of going on a drive. It's been a while since we've done anything like that. And truth be told, we did have actually have a purpose in going to Quincy...but that's a topic for another post.
Of course I brought the trusty camera along and I did manage to snap a few pictures along the way. Now that I'm back home, though, I wish I had shot a lot more. Oh well, guess we'll just have to take another drive there sometime! ;) Here's a few from the day...
Keep in mind, these pictures really can't do justice to the grandeur of everything we saw on our drive. It truly was amazing. Lots of little waterfalls and rapids and swimming holes. Tons of bridges and tunnels and train tracks along the mountain. Lots of tiny little towns along the way (I think Belden town has a full-time population of 3!). Incredible dams and waterways and oh-so-impressive powerhouses. Really, I could go on and on...
But, I know most of you probably find the landscape shots a tad boring, so here are some shots of the kids that I took along the way (the last three were actually taken at Feather River Community College located in Quincy)! :)
And now for something completely frivolous...
We did a little walking along Main Street in Quincy and came across a cute little children's store. Had to go in, of course, which meant that the wallet had to come out! ;) Actually, I was fairly responsible and just bought a few items. Trust me, I wanted to buy the whole store just about! Anyhow, one of the items we bought were some cute litte shoes for Hoonie. They're from WeeSqueak and when you walk in 'em, they make an adorable little squeaking noise. Oh my goodness, Hoonie just loves 'em! Then again, that boy just loves shoes. Seriously, he really does (he'll often cry if you take off his shoes). Anyhow, it is so funny to watch him as he squeaks his way around the house. Fortunately, you can take out the little squeaker part for when you need "quieter" shoes...but really, what's the fun in that?!
Allright, I better go to bed now. It's way past my bedtime (did I mention I'm a night owl?) and I'm really trying to get all of us to church tomorrow. I don't know, though, Satan does a pretty good job of keeping us home on Saturdays! ;)
Hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend. And a somewhat early Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there...you definitely deserve it! :)
gorgeous pics, m! you live in a beautiful area!
Posted by: julie k | June 16, 2007 at 04:14 PM
The outing sounded awesome! Great photos & I'll have to go find those cute shoes online now... :).
Posted by: candice | June 16, 2007 at 04:23 PM
oh wow, mks!
these shots are amazing.
it reminded me of the book Bridges of Madison County.
love the photos of the boys.
hoonie's shoes sound really cool.
thinking of you...
Posted by: melissa deakin | June 16, 2007 at 05:52 PM
oh those pictures are so pretty. Greg says that he's driven through there. I can't wait for Curren's shoes to arrive!
Posted by: Stacy | June 17, 2007 at 10:30 AM
Quincy said he went to 'Quincy' when he was a kid =)
He too agrees on the beauty of the place... Love the photos especially Hoonie's wild hair =)
Posted by: Quimo | June 17, 2007 at 09:01 PM