Road Trip 2010, Day 11 | Gold Beach, OR to HOME!

We were slugs when it came to getting up and getting going this morning.  The continental breakfast was the fanciest we've seen on this trip ~ fresh belgian waffles, a refrigerator stocked with yogurts, fresh fruit cups, milk & oj, hot & cold cereals, ginormous muffins, and more!  We only had one more leg of the journey, but I don't think any of us wanted the trip to end.  Malcolm started complaining of a sore throat this morning.  And Dana woke up several times last night.  Her fever is still high, so today we rotated ibuprofen and acetaminophen.  It seemed to help, but her tummy was really upset and we had to make several emergency stops for her.

We were going to walk down to the beach (the motel was right on the shore), but we were greeted with RAIN this morning.  The first time on our vacation...a true Pacific Northwest greeting.

Doug and I wanted to do some shopping on the way home to take advantage of the tax-free outlets in Oregon.  The gal at the front desk recommended the Woodburn Company Stores ~ about a 5-1/2 hour drive.

I was excited when, shortly after we got on the road, that Doug suggested we pull over and take a family photo on the beach...I'd been anxious to take pictures, but knew it would only add time to our journey.  Hooray for me!

if we hadn't stopped, my scenic photos would have been just like this:  taken through the windshield while we drove 70mph

The Company Stores were fantastic.  We all found clothes that we needed for the fall.  Jeans for the kids.  Aubrey bought two stylish hats.  Laurel bought a tiara.  Dana got some cute leggings.  Shorts & sunglasses for Doug.  New, smaller tops for me.  And kids each got their very own first pair of VAN'S shoes for the first day of school!  Malcolm?  He was fiddling with his roll of money ($16) at the checkout of The Gap store and it dropped into what we learned is a black hole.  The cashier was very nice and tried (in vain) to fish it out, but to no avail.  He took our number and said he'd call, but short of them taking the entire front counter apart, I think he's learned a hard lesson.  :(

The kids used their Union 76 window clings to create characters to accompany them the rest of the way home. 

After all of that, we finally rolled into our driveway about 11:20pm.  Doug and I put the kids to bed and attempted to empty the van.  And then we drifted happily off to sleep.

In 11 days, we drove in 3 states, arrived safely at more than 12 destinations, triumphed over one amusement park, enjoyed at least four visits with family, relished every moment of two visits with old friends, and a drove a low-ball estimate of 2,832 miles together.  And we all lived to tell the tale ~ with smiles on our faces!

TheDillon6 | Road Trip 2010

Road Trip 2010, Day 10 | Brentwood, CA to Gold Beach, OR

Last night before we left Nonie & Poppa's, we packed all the bags, put them up in the roof carrier, and had all of today's and tomorrow's clothes packed in a bag that went in the trunk of the van.  We still didn't check out until about 10:30am.  Which meant we had to say a hasty goodbye to Nonie & Poppa who had 11am church.

We were on the road for home.  On the way down, we drove straight through, but going home we opted to take 2 days.  I think that given the sick kids, the number of potty breaks, and general sanity, this was a good choice.

I'd love to say that as a family we sang songs, played license plate bingo, and read many books (even listened to a few favorites on CD). But the reality is that the kids enjoyed their in-car-movie-theater.  It's how they stayed entertained during all legs of our road trip this year. 

Doug and I enjoyed the view.  The drive from Brentwood over and up to Hwy 101 is beautiful. I didn't realize how large some of the vineyards were, and it was so tempting to jump out and just taste a few grapes fresh from the vine!

this sign made me giggle because we'd been on ours for so long!  ;)

Nonie called us to check in after they got home from church.  She mentioned that there was a place on the side of the road on Hwy 101 with a ginormous (life-sized?) statue of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe.  We promised her we'd keep an eye out for it.  To pass the time, I was reading to Doug from the AAA book that Kathleen gave us ~ telling him more than he wanted to know about the small towns we drove through.  I discovered that there was a place called the Drive-Thru-Tree just up the road.  So as we approached it we decided to give it a whirl.  After the man took our $5, he graciously told us that the van (especially with the roof box) wouldn't make it through the tree (couldn't have told us that before he took the money, of course), but that we could nose in for the picture, back out and park, and then walk through as a family.  We still thought it was a pretty neat thing.  I decided it would be fun to have a piece of road-side property like that...a weird novelty for folks to pay to see, add a gift shop and a snack-shack, and you're sure to rake money in hand over fist.

We noticed a lot of references to Bigfoot at the Drive-Thru-Tree and when I told the clerk that I didn't realize Bigfoot came so far south, that he was a Northwest resident, she said, "I grew up in this area and didn't realize until a couple of years ago when I started watching Discovery channel that he lived anywhere else."  who knew?

This is why I love driving on the coast ~ especially in northern California and Oregon.  The huge rocks just off shore are so pretty.  I even like the fog!  Hwy 101 is a beautiful drive!

We finally arrived at The Trees of Mystery in Klamath, CA, where Paul and Babe reside.  Paul is 49' 2" tall, and Babe is 35' horn to tip. 

Doug tried to reenact a photo he took as a child where it looked like this indian was poking his bum with the big arrow, but we think we had the wrong angle.

that's Malcolm, who couldn't resist climbing up on top of Paul's boot

We arrived at The Inn of the Beachcomber in Gold Beach, Oregon at about 8:30pm...we picked the location because it was roughly the half-way point to home, and because it was right on the beach.  Once Doug ordered the pizza, the kids were all about going swimming.  Laurel and Malcolm raced a few times, there was much splashing, and the obligatory jumping between hot tub and cold pool.  After the pool "closed" at 10pm, I finally convinced them to go and eat dinner and get in jammies.  I fell asleep while everyone else watched the new "Alice in Wonderland."

Road Trip 2010, Day 9 | Brentwood, CA

When we got up this morning we knew going to the local splash park was a risk ~ it was overcast and colder than any other day so far on this vacation.  But when we gave the kids the choice of going into San Francisco or playing at the Brentwood Family Aquatic Complex, the splash park won hands down.

Malcolm and I first went and got the oil changed.  We discovered two things...in that area there aren't many "jiffy-lube" type places, and they all charge almost $20 more than at home.  Though, to their credit, they did vacuum the van floors for us.  And after 8 days on the road, that was much needed.

Doug decided to drop us off so he could wash the van (especially the windows) while we played.  The kids were having so much fun that I just sat at the edge of the pool (wherever Dana was) and read "Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites."

Aubrey still isn't feeling well, so after about 30 minutes she went to the towels, curled up in fetal position and fell asleep on the grass.

Laurel and Malcolm loved the high dive.

Dana was a FISH, I tell you.  Those swimming lessons were worth their weight in gold.  She was doing the "alligator" all over the place today!  And she was happiest when she was in the "deep end" (4 feet -- as deep as her orange bracelet would allow) jumping all by herself and then swimming back to the edge.

Doug came to bring Aubrey clothes (at her request), but while he was visiting with me she changed her mind and decided to jump off the high-dive.  yay!

The few hours we were there went by way too fast, but we lured them out of the water with a promise of a yummy tortellini dinner with Nonie & Poppa ~ and then Nannie McPhee Returns at a nearby movie theater.  Nonie & Poppa went to a wedding reception.

We went to say good night to them after the movies ~ Aubrey seemed to be feeling much better, but Dana needed a blessing because she has now spiked a fever.  The themometer we bought said she was also over 102.  It's probably a good thing we're heading home tomorrow!

Road Trip 2010, Day 8 | Oakland with Nonie & Poppa

When Doug and I got married on March 30, 1991, it was at the Oakland Temple.  The kids have seen the temple in pictures, but have never been there in person, so Nonie & Poppa suggested we visit the temple grounds and the visitors center.  We walked around the deck level, took some pictures, and then watched some video clips and looked at paintings in the visitors center.  I had fun taking my own pictures of our temple, and hope to put together a collage for our home.

Matthew 25:21   His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Then we went to the Chabot Space & Science Center which is just up the hill.  A big hill!  The kids had fun exploring the space exhibits, learning more about dry ice, and watching a couple of movies in their planetarium theaters.  Truth be told, we adults enjoyed it, too.

click PLAY to see the kids playing with dry ice gases

We had a tasty taquito & quesadilla dinner at Nonie & Poppa's home, and then turned in for the night. 

Road Trip 2010, Day 7 | Yosemite National Park (to Brentwood)

We woke up earlier than any of us really wanted to, but given the fact that Doug, Laurel and Malcolm were hiking Half-Dome today, we had no choice.

The drive from Yosemite Pines to the Yosemite Valley (where all the action is) took us a good hour.  The three hikers posed for a picture and then hit the shuttle bus to stop 16, where their adventure began.  I will let Doug post those pictures and tell you about the hike...

Aubrey, Dana and I decided to use the restroom ~ we didn't realize it was closed FOR AN HOUR for cleaning, so we sat around for quite a while.  Then we took the shuttle to get the Junior Ranger packet, ate some lunch, did a little museum exploring, completed a Junior Ranger activity (earning a Yosemite badge), and finally (FINALLY) made it to the swimming pool. 

click PLAY to listen to Dana singing a song she made up about her sister, whom she loves

By then, Aubrey was so exhausted that she got into the water, stepped out, and fell asleep on the lounge chair.  Dana had my full attention and LOVED being in the water...her brave nature made me a bit nervous, because I wasn't sure I really wanted to get full-on wet today.

those swimming lessons seem to be paying off!

When the hikers returned to us, we went to get the final Junior Ranger badges (which took WAY too long), and sought out the souvenirs we wanted, found the Yosemite Bear to pose with (which reminded us of the Yellowstone Bear from 3 years ago), and then hit the road for Brentwood to visit with Nonie & Poppa.

We were able to catch this picture ~ the signs kind of cracked us up all day.  But this one was particularly funny to me...Peds crossing, but speed kills bears.  Nice.  ;)

Those switchbacks are killers!!  I was so gun-shy after driving them that anytime the GPS showed a minor curve in the road, I would slow down wayyyy too much.  If you're going there, drive safely!

Road Trip 2010, Day 6 | Huntington Beach to Yosemite Pines

Once we were all packed up again, we bade farewell to Huntington Beach and bought some souvenirs.

After that fun was over we said so long to Aunt Kathleen, and then hit the road for Yosemite Pines.  Even though the GPS said it as about 6-1/2 hours to get there, it didn't seem to account for the wicked switch-backs...we finally rolled in about 11:15pm.  Just enough time to visit the restroom, lay ourselves down in the beds in the Yurt, and fall asleep. 

Tomorrow is a big day ~ we're going to Yosemite National Park!!