4th of July and More

Well, the AdventureFamily is back from our latest adventure, and wow was it a great one. 2600 miles on the road, 3 days at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the maiden voyage of our pop-up camper, and a chance to see Nana, Grandpa, (Great)Grandma, my Brother and Sister-in-law, 2 nephews, and Aunt and Uncle all in one fell swoop.
We spent our first night on the road on our property near Walla Walla, which added to the fun. It was both the first night in the pop-up (and we were pleased with how well it did in the big storm that blew through) as well as our first stay on the property. We set up in a sea of chest-high fescue and enjoyed the stunning views.
It was a lot of fun to see everyone, despite the fact that both AdventureGirl and AdventureDad got very sick (with different illnesses), and AdventureMom was similarly miserable by the last day. AdventureBaby was the only one to escape, but in truth I suspect the little sniffle that she brought home from daycare to be the original source of pestilence. Be that as it may, it was her big introduction to a large part of the family (most hadn't met her or last saw her as a tiny infant), so I'm glad she was happy and healthy. We took the opportunity to belatedly celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday, and then we were surprised by a bunting-festooned, horn-blowing, siren-wailing parade through the campground by all of the law-enforcement, emergency, and support personnel who work at the North Rim in celebration of the 4th. Talk about a lot of celebrating!!! We of course saw some stupendous views, as well as deer, birds (including a blue-bird nest... thank you Nana) , kaibab squirrels (gorgeous squirrels with large white tails, charcoal bodies, a rust-colored cape on their back, and big tufty white ears), and most oddly of all, a bison (I have to do some research to find out if he belonged or was an escapee from a game farm). We also saw a herd of big-horn sheep during our drive down there, so it was certainly a wildlife filled adventure.
I'm posting the pictures in a separate blog to avoid the typical cramming of words. Enjoy!