Clouds, one of my favorite things

Another thing Ii really enjoyed on my trip home from Utah was the clouds. I stopped to take photos of some of the most fabulous clouds. Utah and Nevada have really beautiful clouds. Some of my favorite things besides clouds are hummingbirds, rainbows, butterflies and flowers.

California Trail Center, Elko, Nevada

On my way back to California this month, I stopped at a new museum that is just a few miles west of Elko, Nevada. I have made three round trips to Utah and back in the last four months! Each time, I have seen the sign for this center and thought it would be great to visit. It is brand new, and only just opened this summer of 2010. They said that the official opening will be next summer in 2011. But since they had a few exhibits already set up, it was open. I stopped because I was traveling by myself and didn't have to ask anyone else about stopping. It was a nice museum, and will be even nicer when all the exhibits are finished. It was also nice to get out and stretch my legs.

At the entrance, this California Trail sign caught my eye.

California Trail in the shape of Nevada.

There were many maps of the trails and is inspiring to think about the people who travelled these trails. Some had some real hardships, especially the Donner Party.

Another nice map of the trails.

I know this is sideways. I really need to figure out how to rotate on this blog. . . . This statue was representative of the "Seeing the Elephant" stories.

There was suspicion that the elephants that were seen might have been from a traveling circus. It was about this time that a circus would travel from city to city.

Building a wagon. I wouldn't want to do it.

An example of the little you were allowed to take with you. You mostly had tools and food supplies. Grandma's china would have to be dumped, or left behind.

An actual photograph of the inside of a wagon.

They had a great exhibit on the Pony Express. It is the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express.

There was also an exhibit on early medicine. As I look at the tools above, I am grateful for modern tools of medicine! The tools were probably not as clean back then either~~even when "sterilized".

These old forceps looked creepy. The stethoscope hasn't changed much.

A case of medicinal properties. . . . . also grateful for new medicine!

This was a very pleasant stop to make. I would recommend to anyone. I will stop the next time I drive back to Utah. Don't know when that will be, but I look forward to seeing the newer exhibits.

Elizabeth is an RN!

Another thing I was able to do in Salt Lake was to visit Primary Children's Hospital where Elizabeth is now working as a full time RN! I am so proud of her! This is what she has always wanted to do. Elizabeth works on the 3rd floor in the children's medical unit. She says it is such a fun place to work and the people there are really nice. Katie and I had lunch with her in the cafeteria on Friday and then we went up to see her work place.

I am borrowing the photo below from Elizabeth's own blog. She had just bought some new scrubs for her job and she looks so cute! She was not so keen on the scrubs that are shaped like a box. But she found these fitted ones with the brand name "Grey's Anatomy". Got to have those nurses on Grey's looking cute! Elizabeth does!

This is Elizabeth's first day!

The post on the wall just as you enter the "huge" revolving doors.

There were some really cute things for decorations inside andout.

This crazy, colorful horse is just one of them.

College Dorm in Utah

We moved Katie into her dorm at the University of Utah on August 19th! It was like "Oh my goodness~~we're here!" It is a good sized dorm room. About twice as big as the one Matthew had his first year at UCLA. Her room is on the front of the building and looks out over the grassy area of the Chapel Glen dorms. Here are a few photos I took as she was moving in.

After we got most everything moved in, we decided that the room lighting was pretty dim. Even with a desk lamp, it was dark. We went to Target and found this cute five light lamp. It made such a huge difference! The light was soft, but made the room brighter. The five light covers were varied pink colors.

The lamp up close. It is so cute!

Setting up her printer. It's wireless! I wish mine was.

I can't get my photo to rotate, but I really like the comforter Katie bought for herself.

I will miss Mr. Moo here at home on Katie's bed.

I think Katie will be most comfortable in her room for the year. She has a cute lamp, comforter, etc. The room is large, even though the closet could be bigger, and there is one bathroom for three girls. Usually there are four girls, but her next door roommate is by herself. Ally is a freshman mentor~~she is there to help freshmen in the dorms.

Have a great year Katie!

"Under the Sea" Jeep, Salt Flats, Utah

So this is the car we saw at the Salt Flats Cafe! It looked like it had been left on the bottom of the sea for ages and was "crusted" with many different and quirky items! The Jeep was quite a hit! There were many people taking photo shots just like we were.

Some of the items used were: chop sticks, glue sticks, buttons, beads, old teapot, figurines, plates, spoons, crabs, skulls, shells, and many more! Have fun looking at the pictures!

Salt Flats Cafe

So last week, on August 18th, I drove Katie back to Utah for school. I can't believe that she is already in her freshman year of college. Katie is attending the University of Utah and will be studying Art. I think she would like to teach art. Her high school art teacher, Mr. McCue, has been a fabulous mentor these past four years. He is a big part of her decision to study art in college. Katie has a passion about art, and I think she will do well.

There were a couple of fast and furious days of packing before we left! We took out the two middle seats of the van and put her bike in with all the others items around it. The trip was nice and uneventful, if you know what I mean. Elizabeth has taught us where there is some great, cheap food just east of Wendover. The Salt Flats Cafe. Take exit 4 on the Utah side and out in the middle of nowhere, you'll see a Sinclair gas station and the cafe is right there.

That day at the Salt Flats, there must have been some kind of driving event. All the cars in the parking lot were caked with salt! It looked like it was snow and there was a snowball fight in the parking lot! Except, it was about 95 degrees.

While we were there, we saw this amazing jeep. See my next post for those photos.

Scott's Apartment in China

So I finally got some photos of Scott's apartment in Wuxi! Now I can put a visual idea of things when he talks about his apartment. He said that the apartment is new and clean. Not the best of neighborhoods, as he and Sean laugh about that. They say it is okay though. When the arrived, they needed to purchase items for the apartment. They have bought a few items and will set things up more as they go along.

I got an email this morning from Scott with the subject title as "saw Maggie at church today"! Yep. He goes to a branch in Shanghai and Maggie, our niece, came over and sat down by Scott! He was very surprised! Because, even though we knew that Maggie was in China, we thought she had been in Bejing all this time~~ Last week when Scott went to the branch, Maggie had gone a small trip and wasn't there. What a small world. How fun to find family members across the globe!

The apartment is furnished by the Chinese government and had some pieces of furniture. Let's take a tour!

Here is one of the bedrooms. It came with a bed, desk, night-stand, and small dresser. Needed to buy: sheets, pillows, blankets. There was also a need to purchase towels.

Here is the kitchen. Quaint space with a bit of working room. . . . You'll notice the small frying pan on the right side of the sink. At the last minute, I gave Scott the pan and a wooden spoon to go into his suitcase. Looks like it is being used. The apartment didn't come with anything in the kitchen. Purchased: bowls, plates,silverware, dish-soap, etc. I see that they have two burners, probably a fridge on the left there, and not sure, but maybe a microwave over the stove? I'll have to ask.

This is the living space. You'll see that these guys have a sofa, TV, table and chairs, air conditioning, and there are curtains in each room.

Scott said that this is their "sun room" just off the kitchen. Provided: washing machine, which is new like everything else, and a wash sink on the side. Looks like an adventure to me!