daring jumping spider
I saw it in the morning battling a wasp today. When we came home and checked it, the spider was eating the wasp. We looked it up on the Internet and we found this guy who has nice spider pictures:
Morro Bay
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- Sea Otter in Morro Bay
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- Blue Heron in Morro Bay
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- Rawk
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- Elliott
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- Morro Bay
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- Morro Bay
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- Sand Piper
We went to the coast to see a big rock and the ocean. In the bay we saw sea otters and lots of cool birds. Elliott was a little crazy. We went to a pirate store and I got a box made out of sea shells and Elliott got a pooping chicken and a pirate flag. We played on the beach.
Central Coast – Cerro Alto
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- Cerro Alto Summit view of Morro Bay
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- Cerro Alto Summit Trail
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- Cerro Alto Summit Trail
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- Cerro Alto Summit Trail
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- Cerro Alto Summit Trail
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- Stellar’s Jay Eating our Eggs
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- Climbing an Oak at Cerro Alto Campground
In the campground we saw big pieces of granite with a couple of lizards. We’ve seen 22 lizards now.
In the morning daddy and I got up very early and climbed all the way to the top of the mountain. It was 3 miles to the top. At the top it was really windy. I think if Elliott was there and he jumped, it would blow Elliott away!
We stayed in the Cerro Alto Campground for two nights. On the second morning we were attacked by Stellar’s Jays trying to get our food.
Leaving Death Valley
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- Wildrose Campground, Death Valley
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- Wildrose Campground, Death Valley
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- Wildrose Campground, Death Valley
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- Gas prices in Panamint springs
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- Lizard
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- Mount Whitney and Eastern Sierras From Owens Valley
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- Brokey
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- fixey
We stayed one last night in the Wildrose campground and then we headed toward the ocean. Driving out of Death Valley was cool because the mountains are really big. We say Mount Whitney, the biggest mountain.
We saw more lizards. Up to 20 now.
The van started buzzing funny and daddy had to take it apart. Daddy is now a certified VW mechanic.
Death Valley – Ubehebe Crater
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- Me climbing the outside of the crater
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- Ubehebe Crater
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- Trail to Little Hebe Crater
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- Volcanic Crater Monster
We went to a place where the ground exploded a long time ago. It was really deep. It had stripes in the rocks. We had to be careful not to fall in!
The ground is covered with black lava rock and ash as far as you can see. Elliott didn’t want to walk so mommy and daddy had to carry him everywhere.
Someone wrote “ET phone home” in the ash at the bottom of the crater. It was funny.
Death Valley – Animals
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- Sand Dune Beetle
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- Gopher Snake
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- Lizard
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- Lizard
Here are the animals we have seen so far:
Lots of Ravens
2 Vultures
15 Lizards (5 different kinds: one spiky, some grey, one flat, one black, some big, some small)
1 Gopher Snake (this made mommy scream
Some beetle
A Moth
Lots of butterflies (dead on our windshield)
Death Valley – Eureka Dunes
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- Entering the park
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- Our home in the sand
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- Sand Boogie
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- Rolling down the dunes
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- Eureka dunes
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- Sunrise on the Dunes
We drove into Death Valley from the town of Big Pine. We crossed over the Inyo Mountains in our bus. We weren’t sure if we could make it over the narrow dirt roads and the next gas station was 133 miles away!
This is the biggest place I’ve ever seen. Giant valleys and mountain ranges. We spent the first night camping on some sand dunes. At sunrise, Daddy and I climbed to the top of the highest one. It is 700 feet tall. We saw a lot of animal tracks in the sand. We saw 3 different kinds of lizards.
Elliott was bad and good.
Mono Lake
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- Mommy and Elliott
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- Me on my island
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- Mono Tufa
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- Elliott
When we got to Mono Lake, Elliott picked up the leg of a furry dead animal. I think it was a bunny. It was stinky and Elliott didn’t know what it was. He threw it in the lake.
Mono Lake is cool because it has spiky stone things like stalagmites. They are called Tufa.
We saw a few chipmunks and some birdies. Elliott was screaming a lot today.
The Eastern Sierra
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- Driving Near Reno
Today we went over the mountains to Reno. Then we drove another 4 hours to Mono Lake. We stopped in Minden, NV for gas and beef jerkey. Daddy drove the whole way. It was really windy. We watched Alvin and the Chipmunks again. Elliot was mostly good.
