Back ONLINE!!! Yippy!!

After a LONG time without internet service we are back online! Lots has happened and I have recorded it in a Word doc. I'm working on updating the text w/ images and will hopefully get caught up in the next day or so. We are in Apache Junction, AZ with Paul's parents at their "winter place." It is a lovely home and we are happy to be here...more later...

San Francisco

*Tuesday, March 16*

Our day in San Francisco was terrific! We started early, the weather was gorgeous - clear skies and very warm for March - perfect for sightseeing. Keeping with our customs of traveling in Chicago, we attempted to use every form of the cities mass transit system to get around. It is inexpensive, convenient and the boys think that it is "so cool" to ride the trains and buses! So, we boarded the nearest BART (train) for a ride into downtown San Fran. about 10 miles from our RV park.

We walked up out of the subway terminal into the center of the city and headed straight for Union Square to buy our MUNI (all day transit passes.) There were tap dancers, singers, musicians all performing in the square and that is also where the trolley cars turn to head back down the steep hill toward the Pier and Ghriradelli Square.

We hopped a bus to Chinatown, browsed the open markets and ate lunch at a wonderful little BBQ and Noodle Shop. We were the only foreigners there. Everyone else was speaking Chinese or Vietnamese. The owners and patrons were so kind to us. Nicholas is getting good at using chopsticks. Trevor is working on it though, it looks a lot like poking. Zachary isn't interested - why bother when you have a perfectly good fork at your disposal?? The food was spectacluar, just as we had hoped.

After lunch, we walked down to the Torii Gate and then back to a city park for a break while I bought the kids $1.88 San Fran T-shirts that are so cool. I should have bought a dozen for that price! Old Navy has nothing on Chinatown! :) Then, we walked UP HILL to the trolley stop. (With Trevor on my back, I earned my dessert for the day. Paul too, with the backpack on his back all day. Poor guy - I'll take Trevor anyday!)


We rode the San Fran Trolley all the way across and down, down, down the hill to the Pier. There is a National Park on the Pier with tons of exhibits to view and do. We walked all the way down the pier and saw Alcatraz, The Golden Gate Bridge, the Ghirardelli sign/square, all of the ships docked in the Bay, and the HUGE hill we just descended in the trolley.

We each enjoyed an (almost) equally HUGE ice cream cone at the Ghirardelli chocolate factory’s ice cream store. (Frequent ice cream has to be one of my favorite parts about vacation! :) T, are you with me or what??) We walked the square, watched how chocolate is made and hopped a trolley up the hill to our train, and back out to our "home."

Perfect day – we were tired and satisfied. We rested our weary bodies in the pool and quickly fell asleep to the sound of crashing waves.

This experience has been such a blessing for our little family. What a special time to spend together making memories. I am taking lots of pictures to remember this adventure but, I am also taking mental snapshots of precious moments - the boys sharing and being kind to one another, a spontaneous hug from a grateful child, my dear husband giving himself generously to the family he loves; I count these “4 guys” my blessings and feel overwhelmingly grateful to my Father in Heaven for them. They are the hot fudge on my ice cream! :)

On the Go (and go, and go...)

Okay...I want everyone to put Harris Beach State Park on their, "must see" travel list! It is absolutely gorgeous! I am not sure how any place on Earth could be more perfect. The park sits right next to the ocean, nestled among huge, old trees, with a long beach to discover, big rocks and hills to climb (and an awesome playground and large capacity washing machines). I mean, come on??!! PERFECT! So, I ask myself, why did we leave?? :)

Oh right, to surprise the boys with a visit to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park...hmmm...

So, we decided to head down the coast a couple of hours into California. We had mapped out two different routes and parks depending on the tolerance level of the passengers. Surprisingly, or not so, the kids were so worn out from playing on the beach, riding bikes around the park and playing on the playground that they collapsed once we got into the car. Seizing the opportunity we decided, on a 'wild hare,' to head further South to Jellystone Park and stay a couple of days. The internet boasted a stocked fishing pond, miniature golf, mining for rocks, paddle boats, etc...so we knew there would be lots of fun ahead...

I will not go into the details of our adventure to get there (heaven knows that we won't need to document the events in this blog for us to forever remember them). I'll just say that the switchbacks up the mountain (and down and back up again) at 'much-too-late' a hour and GPS directions that overshot the entrance by 700 ft, heading us down a dirt road toward the 'bridge to nowhere' (it exists, we saw it with our flashlights) is enough of a recap! When we finally turned ourselves around and, by the grace of God, set eyes upon our friend Yogi - we were very happy campers. The park manager, Larry the Cable Guy's cousin, kindly said that we could park anywhere and 'square up' in the morning. With no cell service and frazzled nerves, I insisted that Paul send our exact coordinates to our parents by email. Who knows if they would get it but, at least somewhere in cyberspace our location would be documented...just in case. :)

In the morning, we awoke to a frozen water hook up and everything in the park was closed - "nothing here really opens 'til Memorial Day - hope that you can come back then, we have a lot of fun around here in the summer." WHAT??!! You might want to add that morsel of info to your internet site and maybe the fact that there is no cell service from 200 miles North to here!

HOWEVER...the weather warmed quickly; we all got some sun on our face, the kids met a nice retired couple who dug out a bunch of rocks from the back of their truck and let them spray them with a water bottle to see the colors change, and the playground was fun. Anyhow, the only REAL reason to go to a Jellystone Park is to stick your head through a cut-out board so that you can laugh at it later and say, "wow, wasn't that fun?"...Right?? Right?? :) Check that one off the list!

The day turned out to be wonderful. A little adversity always draws me to think on the blessings that we have. We spent a lot of time praying to our Heavenly Father for His protection and provision. And, we got to see our kids befriend a little boy at Jellystone Park who lives with very little in terms of possesions or companionship. Our Nicholas said as we pulled out, "I wish that we could stay for a while longer so that Donald could have some friends to play with." A day spent in and with our Father is always a good day.

Headed further South, through Napa Valley. Took a detour (I know, brave huh?) to the Jelly Belly Factory North of San Francisco. The kids ate jellybeans to their hearts content. And we have landed at a wonderful park in Pacifica, CA just South of San Fran. We are sitting right above the ocean, the park has a heated pool and hot tub (the kids are super happy), and the bathrooms are open - big improvement. :) We are heading into the city tomorrow for a day of sightseeing. Just riding the BART into town will be a great adventure for the boys!

Day ONE!!

Aaaahhh...it's gorgeous!! The weather could not be any better - the sun is shining, it is clear and cool - perfect! Which, is completely amazing since it was SNOWING in Reedsport last night as we pulled through! Later, Paul and I discovered that we were both thinking the same thing, "It might be a noisy night but, at least we won't have to worry about the tent collapsing in the middle of the night like our boat camping trip last summer!" Ha!

We shared a great big breakfast, the kids rode bikes, cleaned up and we headed to town/the beach. I grabbed a few maps and local suggestions from Vera at the Chamber of Comm while the kids played at the park next door. Vera also gave me some chocolates for the kids to eat from a local candy factory so, we HAD to visit there, too! The candy store was visited once by Rachael Ray - yum-oh! Lots of free samples; the kids were in heaven! They each got a HUGE jawbreaker. Paul and I have a bet to see if they keep it until it's gone or if they pitch it...my vote is on "pitch it". I'll keep you posted! What does the winner get, I wonder? Hmmmm, maybe a half-eaten jawbreaker? Too confident? ;)

After lunch and packing up to head down the coast, we drove out to Cape Arago Lighthouse and to the end of the cape at the lookout. Gorgeous! Then out to Simpson Reef to watch the sea lions bask in the sun on the rocks. The surf was pretty strong - some brave surfers were catching some waves off the reef. The lazy sea lions watched too - unimpressed.

We are on our way to Harris Beach State Park, a couple hours south of Coos Bay. The drive is unbelievable. We keep stopping to take it in. Tomorrow's plan is for a day of beach combing, biking and ?? -- life is good.

“Head’em up and move’em out!”

**Friday, March 12**

We finally set out on our 'Wild West' adventure, this afternoon. The weather has been miserable for the past few days - pouring rain all down the coast - so we delayed a while trying to save ourselves from the soggy and windy weather (at least a little bit!) :) While waiting for the weather to improve, we were also waiting for a set of mirror extensions which finally arrived at 3pm, this afternoon. That will make Paul's job a bit easier - seeing while driving is always good. We stared out the front window all day, loaded and ready, waiting for the UPS truck to pull up the driveway and deliver them! As soon as Paul snapped them on, we were off! Oh, how I wish that I could bottle the excitement! It was awesome! Isn't the beginning of a trip almost the sweetest part of the trip?? All of the dreaming, planning and anticipation wrapped up in a moment...it's the best!!

We will spend our inaugural night at Midway RV Park in Coos Bay. Looking forward to our first night in the trailer! Should be a fun one! We tested all of the luxuries on the trailer while waiting for the mirrors to arrive - I baked some brownies in the oven (great recipe, Tara), Paul checked the plumbing, heater, etc. Everything worked great! Thanks again , Scott and Tonya for the use of your trailer! We wouldn't be on this adventure w/o it! :)