Road trip... over 1600 miles of memories!

It is early Saturday morning and we are up and packing the car for the 600 mile trip to California.  It seems like we need to pack everything but the kitchen sink, guess that is what it is like to have little kids and be traveling.  Our plan for the first day is to get out of dodge before 8am and get at least 5 hours before stopping for some lunch.  Kids are up and fed and ready to go, we took the dog to the kennel the night before, car is packed and we are on our way and it is only 730am! nice!

We plan to go to Klamah CA for the first night.  Our turn off of I-5 is at Grants Pass.  After two potty stops and about 5 hours we are there.  We hit the Denny's for lunch...yuck I remember now why I do not eat there.  Finally we are entering into the Redwood forest, the trees as SO magnificent.  Just look at the size of them! wow!  I have to try to get some shots of them as we go by.  Oh and wow the beach and ocean from hwy 101 is amazing, large waves crashing into the rocks with big white spray flying off! gorgeous!   Finally we are at the Trees of mystery, and tell tail sign is the large Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe!

Image by ZanderManda via Flickr

We toured through the Trees of Mystery and rode the gondola ride up 750 feet into the top of the trees and from that vantage point there was another great view of the Pacific Ocean! wow! Even the air was so fresh from here.

Image by acaben via Flickr

All this hiking and touring works up an appetite for both Eric and I and the kids so we stop at the Forest Cafe and have some blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream, that hit the spot!! After some time at the beach on the way to our hotel, the first day of our road trip is in the bag and Sawyer is already sleeping soundly in his pack 'n play.  So far so good!  Such a good idea to do , thanks Eric!

Image via Wikipedia

The Raven wood hotel in Klamah is clean and a nice place for a stop, but to our surprise the bed is hard and lumpy. It must have gotten a little cold too because Ashlee soon came into our bed at around 3am, and not two hours later Sawyer was up and whining also.  So much for a good nites sleep.  The hotel had a continental breakfast with coffee, oh how we needed coffee.  As we were walking to the breakfast room over on the opposite side of the parking lot there are flag poles with different states and country flags on them, later I learned that they put up each state or country of their guests.  That is cool. Ashlee liked that.

We set out on the road again just before 8am.  Driving along hwy 101 along the coast and through a place called Elk Meadows, correctly named because we had Elk in the road and all over the meadow.  Bulls,

cows, and calves.  It sure was a sight to see, I have never seen that many elk up close and in the wild.

We decided to cut over on CA hwy 299 that would take us back to Redding CA.  Wow I have never been on such a long and windy road, hair pin corners everywhere. I did not think we would ever make it off of that road and 100 miles on that sure did take a long time.  Ashlee made it about halfway and all of the sudden she was screaming.  She had gotten car sick and puked all over her mermaid blanket and clothes.  She was so upset that it made her puke some more. 

Image via Wikipedia

We had to pull off the road and start cleaning up, I tried not to smell it for I was going to be sick myself.  I am glad that I had chosen to drive also, otherwise I think I would have been car sick also.  That was a grueling ride and I do not think we will be taking that road again.  When Lake Shasta appeared off to the right we were so excited! We had made it back to civilization and off of that terrible road.  Not only was it windy, but you were constantly climbing up or down a grade. Ugg!

It was also nice to see that this had been a wet year and the water level of Lake

Image via Wikipedia

Shasta was quite high.  It looked so inviting, unlike this picture of the lower water level. I wanted to stop and jump in the fresh blue water and get refreshed.  Instead we stopped in Redding for some lunch.  I was never so happy to have our TomTom.  That little GPS helped us find our way the whole trip, and also find places for lunch and restrooms.  Quite handy!
So far this trip has been the longest one that Eric and I have taken in a car.  Besides the little car sick mishaps, it was going pretty well.  I am still amazed that Eric suggested it, he is not real fond of long drives.  He says he has trouble staying awake in the car for that long.  So far we were both doing pretty well, there was even conversation.  He told me about the many trips that his family would take to Sacramento each summer.  Some of the places that they stopped at along the way.  It must have made a pretty good impression on him because he wanted to stop at those places along our trip too.  Just outside of Redding in Corning CA with the Olive Pit store.  They have every type of olive you could think of there, pickled garlic, lots of sauces and dips.  I have never seen so many olives!
It was a mere two more hours and we saw the Sacramento skyline.  I did imagine a lot more but it is what it is.  Eric told me he was a little disappointed with the sight himself.  Not four or more miles from Downtown is where his Aunt Tami lives. We had reached our destination for the next few days!  The weather had turned a little warmer for our trip.  The temperature in Sacramento was 102-106 for the three days that we were there.  We toured the downtown area known as Old Town, and we also for a Fun Center and the Sacramento Zoo along with Fairytale Land.  All in all there was a lot to do!

Image via Wikipedia

The next leg of the trip was San Francisco.  Eric and I headed to the big city on the bay alone.  The kids stayed back with Tami and Grandma and we soon learned that Aunt Lisa flew into town to help out also.  We hit the road again about 9am.  We were hoping it would be late enough to miss the traffic, but as it was the traffic on Hwy 80 was slow, it took about 45 minutes to get out of the city.  After that though the road were smooth sailing, no other back ups.  We went through a few towns like Vacaville and Oakland.  As the San Francisco skyline approached so did the toll line on the Bay bridge.  It was a weekday so the fare was $4.00.  After the line there was a stoplight to try to get you

Image via Wikipedia

back into traffic lanes for the bridge.  That is a long bride, the speed is about 35-40 mph because of how it winds around in some sharp corners all the while San Francisco skyline getting nearer and nearer, I could now see the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz over in the bay.  Wow how beautiful.  I told Eric of the one time that my mom and brother and sister traveled down hwy 101 to San Luis Obispo to visit my Uncle.  We drove over the Golden Gate bridge but I do not remember allot else about that trip. 

The temperatures were record high and the sky was so clear.  Not a cloud in sight so that sights were that much more clear.  We drove into the city, once again proud of our Tom Tom purchase.  We drove straight to the Parc 55 hotel downtown near the Union Square and Cable car turnaround.
I did not realize the size of the buildings there until we were in the misted of them.  Amazing! We valet the car and head into our suite on the 25th floor with a great view of the city.  After dropping off our bags and getting a sip of water to drink we are on our way to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39.  I have never rode in a cable car so we get our tickets and set out to ride.  The lines are atrocious, just then a black town car pulls up and says same price as the cable car, he will give us a ride to Pier 39! So we hopped in! 

The drivers voice is so raspy you can sure tell he has had a lot of cigarettes through the years.  Oh my.  He pointed out some of the sights along the way, Lombard street, the crooked street in the city. Coit Tower, the Lady Coit who loved to fight fires but could not legally be a firefighter, so she was a honorary one!  Some seafood houses and places to eat! and then Ghiradeli Chocolate Factory, the Cable car museum and we were at Fisherman's wharf. 
Eric had purchased bay cruise tickets for us on the blue and gold boats, for a tour of the bay and Alcatraz.  So we footed down to Pier 39, along the way checking out the Hooters cafe and all the vendors and shops.

We hopped on the ship for a bay cruise, it was warm so warm that the benches on the upper deck were quite warm, it was hard to sit on them without your butt feeling like it was burning.  I got some great pictures and learned alot from the announcer on the ship about the construction on the Golden Gate bridge and also Angel island and Alcatraz.  It was a great 1 hour tour.  While on the Pier 39 I got a shot of the sea lions basking in the sun, and we had a bite to eat... Chowder of course! from the Chowder House and also a shrimp Louie salad! That hit the spot!
After the tour we went to Ghiradeli Square and bought some chocolate and also saw Sara Cupcakes shop, which was on the Cupcake wars on the Food Network channel a few weeks ago.  I could not eat any cupcakes though, it was just too hot.
Then we finally rode on the cable car, it was HOT and crowded so we only stayed on long enough to see some "Painted Ladies" (the townhouses) and another shot of Lombard street and we got off at the beginning of Chinatown. 

After a few hours of shopping and touring the city my feet were hot and swollen so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at the Cityhouse grill and our Giants baseball game!  It was our anniversry gift to each other! The San Francisco trip and game night!  It is hard to imagine that Eric and I have been married for 8 years now.  I remember when I told my grandma Molly the date that we had chosen for our wedding.  She replied " that is a great date because your granpa Gerald and I were married on that day too"!  I felt so special to be following in their footsteps! I loved my grandma very much and remembering that day makes me think of her everytime! Love and miss you Grandma! :)

For dinner I had swordfish! wow it was wonderful and so were the drinks! hehe.  we set off in yet another cab to At&t field where the Giants play.  we got great seats along the home plate, and the game was ecxciting.  I have never been to a baseball game that had so much hitting.  There were 4 home runs hit by the Giants and 3 hit by the Cinncinati Reds.  Go Giants!  I tried some cinnamon roasted almonds, I do not like nuts that much but those were to die for! Yum! All in all it was a great evening in San Francisco! yeah! Love you lots Eric!
We had an uneventful trip back to Sacramento.  Stayed there another night and set off for home on Thursday evening.  We wanted to shoot for a long drive home straight through.  So we had dinner with the family and got all packed up and ready to leave around 6pm and set off on our 600 mile journey home.  This time we were going staright through on I-5 no turnoffs.  The TomTom said it would take 9.5 hours.  We stopped three times for potty breaks and gas and made it to our doorstep in 9 hours.  Eric and I were tired and ready to sleep as soon as we hit the pillow.  Everyone was tired and we slept in until 830am or 9am  the next morning!

Road trip had come to an end, after about 1600 miles of fun and about a week worth of vacation!  Thanks to Eric's Aunt Tami and Grandma Porteous for all your hospitality and help with the kids.  And thanks to Lisa too!