The picture to the left illustrates a nightly scene on our cross-country drive: Caden absolutely loves his teddy bear, but when he wakes up and wants our attention, we often hear a muffled "thump" and an "uh-oh" from him as he drops Teddy on the floor and calls us to rescue his fallen bear.We've seen lots of neat things on our drive thus far, including 3,000-year-old bristlecone pines, fantastic rock formations, the beautiful campus of the University of Missouri, and the remains of a Native American city.
The first night of our trip--our last in California--was spent in 
Truckee. From there, we drove around Lake Tahoe and across Nevada on the Loneliest Road (Hwy 50) to Baker, which is a funny little town just outside the entrance to Great Basin National Park. The park is small, free, and absolutely beautiful! We took a short hike from the end of the road (which winds up Wheeler Peak to about 10,000 feet) to a bristlecone pine 
grove at treeline. Here, you can see Mommy and Caden next to a 3,200-year-old tree!
Truckee. From there, we drove around Lake Tahoe and across Nevada on the Loneliest Road (Hwy 50) to Baker, which is a funny little town just outside the entrance to Great Basin National Park. The park is small, free, and absolutely beautiful! We took a short hike from the end of the road (which winds up Wheeler Peak to about 10,000 feet) to a bristlecone pine grove at treeline. Here, you can see Mommy and Caden next to a 3,200-year-old tree!From Baker, we drove across Utah to Moab. On that stretch of road (particularly I-70 across southern Utah), Caden learned a new word: "wock" = rock, as we wound our way through fantastic rock formations. Caden put his new word to good use the following day, when we spent several hours exploring Arches National Park before returning to I-70 and continuing eastward to Louisville, Colorado, where we spent two nights with Great Grandpa Ray. Great Aunt Sheila and Great Uncle Brent were also there visiting, and Great Uncles Chuck and Kevin, Great Aunt Deb, and cousins Jared and Sean came over on Monday afternoon to meet Caden and share a wonderful meal.
With Great Grandpa Ray
Great Grandpa, Caden, and Daddy
A family gathering
From Louisville, we continued east on I-70, stopping for the night in Salina, Kansas and Columbia, Missouri. Highlights of our time in Kansas were air-conditioned rest stops and an indoor playground at a Dairy Queen. Trees and water became more plentiful in Missouri, and we had a great time wandering around Columbia, visiting some of Uncle Jerry's old haunts--he and Auntie Misty went to grad school 
at Mizzou. We liked Columbia so much that we decided to spend the next night in another midwestern college town, Bloomington, home of Indiana University. Between Columbia and Bloomington, we drove through St. Louis, then stopped a few miles east of the Mississippi River at the Cahokia Mounds Historic Site. A thousand years ago, Cahokia was a city of approximately 20,000 Native Americans. The mounds that remain--the foundations of buildings, a massive (100-foot-tall) ceremonial mound and chief's house, and burial mounds--are really impressive. There is a nice, air-conditioned museum there, where Caden especially liked pushing the buttons on the dioramas.Gallery
In the bristlecone pine grove
Landscape Arch
Lessons from Great Grandpa
Gateway Arch, St. Louis
Caden at Cahokia Mounds
