Ted and Sue’s travel adventures continue and we are on the road again with a 10-week camping trip! We are joyfully exploring the United States and pursuing the attainment of two goals: visiting all 59 National Parks and seeing each of the 50 states. This itinerary includes getting to 13 new National Parks (which will bring our total to 43) and the remaining 8 states that Sue has not yet visited (Ted has already been to all of the states).
Our journey will take us via a route that is kind of like a diamond in shape: to Wyoming, Minnesota (at the border with Canada), South Carolina, Texas (at the border with Mexico), then home. We plan to visit 25 states during this trip.
Along the way, we stopped in Sparks, Nevada, to see a friend from college days, Gary Pope-Sears. He’s the pastor at the Sparks UMC, and we thoroughly enjoyed catching-up on life-family-stories with him and see his church.
We thoroughly enjoyed a visit to the California Trail Interpretive Center in Elko, Nevada, which focuses on the westward expansion and emigration to California. You’ve got to admire the tenacity and resourcefulness of the pioneers who left loved 
ones and security in search of a bigger life.
Our two-night visit in Salt Lake City included a 15-mile bike ride downtown. The city is beautiful and has an upbeat vibe.
The Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square grounds are impressive and deservedly a source of pride for the Latter Day Saints community. 
With all due respect to our LDS friends, we did get a chuckle out of seeing a Salt Lake City police car in front of the theater where ‘The Book of Mormon’ is performed.
We will head north on Friday to spend time with our dear friends Dave, Kathy, and Rebecca Nielsen at Alcova Lake, just west of Casper, Wyoming. While there, we are hoping to see the total eclipse of the sun on August 21. Fingers crossed that it’s a clear day!
