Family. For a week my cousin let us move in, dog and all, as we celebrated the birth of Jesus and my mother. These are the people with whom I grew up doing Christmas. All of my childhood, my memories, and my traditions are wrapped up in these people. Oh, how I love them. To…
Month: April 2020
Joshua Tree National Park
Why should one visit Joshua Tree National Park? Why to see Joshua Trees of course! Reading back through my blog I realize how little I obviously knew about our National Parks. Joshua Tree admittedly wasn’t on my initial radar, but I’ve quickly learned to prepare to be amazed! Why on earth would we just see a bunch…
Las Vegas…With Kids
So we took our kids to Vegas… for the gas prices. We were headed back toward the coast and Joshua Tree National Park when the gas prices right across the Nevada border appealed to our fearless leader. Once we were fueled and only a “few miles” down the road from Vegas…why not? I had no…
Facebook UNworthy
We’ve been on the road for 210 days, driven over 13,000 miles, and traveled through 29 states. As we chase the extraordinary you may wonder what Facebook has not accurately portrayed. Well, here it is… the reality of our journey, the source of our laughter, and our moments of greatest growth. Sometimes the road is…
Death Valley Surprises
We started this next leg of the trip by appeasing mom with a visit to Manzanar. I have spent years teaching literature that emerged from this place in American history, and I was not going to drive by without paying homage. I would have liked more time to walk the grounds and take it in,…
Thankful
Given we put our last experience crossing the Sierra Nevadas into Yosemite out of our memories, we were not looking forward to heading back into this mountainous territory. Nevertheless, we were motivated by our invitation to Thanksgiving with friends in Bishop, CA. We got into Bishop late, on my birthday, and were greeted with hugs,…
Point Reyes National Seashore
With a Cubs win, we could officially leave our 2 channels and head on down the coast toward our next adventure, San Francisco. We have been officially winging it since Washington, and it has its positives and negatives. Positive: we can completely exhaust an area before we move on taking each side road adventure that…
Redwood EdVentures
As we crossed the border into California we were driven by a few things: sunshine, a place to set up camp amongst the Redwood National and State Parks, and the World Series. I was surprised by Northern California’s coast. Hwy 101’s twists and turns continued to astound as we lumbered along the ocean’s cliffs and…
Small Towns, Good People
Rain, heavy fog, mist, then breaks of sunshine and warmth. Small, blue-collar towns, rich in shipping, fishing, logging, and farming. Long, winding roads brilliant in fall colors with nothing but the occasional logging truck to rock our RV in passing. The beauty of the land, the people, and the small towns made us fall in…
Grandpa’s Washington
Washington is a remarkable state. It has it all: majestic mountains, temperate rainforests, and miles of uninhabited shoreline. It also holds my dad’s memories of his childhood. For that reason, this was the leg of the trip for which I was most excited. I had been as a child and still carry a few, fond memories….