Graduation: San Diego, CA 5/24/08

Josh and Sara picked up Megan and Molly from the airport the night before and they all spent the night and Josh’s house. The morning of graduation we ran into the kids – at where else? – Windmill Farms, of course! Ned and I were getting the trays of food for the party and the kids were foraging for breakfast. Eventually, Marc & Sean (Josh’s Dad and step-mom), Nana & Popy, the sisters, Josh & Sara and Ned and I all met up at Josh’s house. Aunt Linda was hung-up in a car rental line at the airport. It was a bit like herding kittens getting to the ceremonies, but we finally managed to all sit together! We really had too much fun catching up with each other while passing kettle corn, trail mix, pretzels and other snacks around as we listened to the speeches and over 2000 names being called! (Yes, we were the family doing “the wave” and various Josh & Sara cheers in the stands.) We also kept calling Josh on his cell phone – making sure we were “keeping in touch.” Still, the moment his name was called and he walked across the stage I have to admit that my eyes swelled up and it was an emotional moment… As on cue, when we exited the arena (where it had been raining on and off most of the day), the clouds had parted, the sun was shining and it turned into a perfectly gorgeous afternoon. After lots of picture taking, we all headed back to Josh’s and fired up the barbeque for a fun party in his backyard! Sara’s family joined us and we had a really great time getting to know everyone. There were bio-parents & step-parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles and siblings. We were also celebrating my dad’s 75th birthday and Ned & my 4th anniversary – all happening on the 24th! Sara’s grandmother (a really sweet and adorable woman who we all fell in love with) was celebrating her 93rd birthday on Monday. That evening, when everyone had left, and it was just Ned & I and the kids (Josh, Megan, Molly, Sara & Sara’s sister Katie), Josh thought it would be fun to play a game of poker. For several hours Josh patiently and tactfully taught 5 women how to play Texas Hold’em. I had to admire his perseverance and good nature as the “girls” were not quite doing things in the true competitive spirit of poker. Josh was battling against things like, “I knew I had a good hand, but I didn’t want to bet against my sister” or “what do you mean I not supposed to look at your cards when you folded, I was curious.” When Ned and I finally headed back to the campsite after a very long day, we found a sweet handmade card from Molly wishing us a great trip across the US and celebrating our anniversary. I was also holding Josh’s graduation cap where he wrote me a very touching note. We are truly blessed to have such a beautiful family.

Prep Day: San Diego, 5/23/08

We did in fact have breakfast at the Village Café in Arroyo Grande with Polly and Eric at 6:00 am! It was a good thing we left early because the traffic and weather conditions for this holiday weekend were pretty intense. Traffic thru LA was really heavy and the rain was coming down in torrents. We took a round-about way to get to San Diego and it was a good choice. (Thanks for the tip, Nancy.) Other family members heading down from the Bay Area took much longer in stop and go traffic on Highway 5. We finally met up with Josh in San Diego and headed out to the “much beloved” Windmill Farms, the Josh approved grocery store for the after graduation party. We stocked up on lots of beer, party trays, etc. in preparation for the big day. Coincidentally, we ran into Sara on the shopping spree. The picture is the three of us shopping at Windmill Farms. (When’s the last time any of you have had your picture taken in a grocery store?!) As I write this, Ned and I are tucked in at the campground, nice and cozy in the Winniemobile. It is continuing to rain and we have the front seats turned around and a cup of tea brewing on the stove. We are feeling a bit smug as we are watching our fellow campers attempt to set up their tents in the rain, wearing their yellow slickers. (Don’t worry we’ve paid our dues, been there - done that). We have a nice site overlooking Lake Jennings. We’ll probably do a little reading out loud & maybe a pre-grad pedicure for the graduation festivities. Tomorrow’s the big day!

Driving down the Coast: Arroyo Grande, CA 5/22/08

We were in total vacation mode and slept in this morning. In fact, I think we were still gathered around the breakfast table, chit-chatting away at 11:15. Nice! We finally pulled out of Nancy’s around 12:30 and decided to take Highway 1 and enjoy the coast. Ned’s parents used to live in Pescadero and he thought it would be fun to take a drive through the town. What a great decision! There’s a local restaurant called Duarte’s (pronounced Doo-Arts. I’m sure my Portuguese ancestors are rolling in their grave at that pronunciation!). Ned’s family has eaten there for years and we recently saw it on the show “Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives” so we decided to stop in for lunch. (Yes, day two and we are already eating our way through the US). I had a bowl of the best ever artichoke soup, Ned had a crab-melt and we split a piece of Ollalieberry pie, a-la-mode, of course;-) We also visited the Russell Administrative Building named after Ned’s parents, Oak and Marion Russell. It was so sweet to see their picture and plaque in the lobby. After hearing all these wonderful stories about his parents and how much they gave back to the community, it brought tears to my eyes to see how much they are still honored. We also drove by their old house, an amazing place that sits high up on Bean Hollow Road surrounded by artichoke farms, with a great view of the Pacific Ocean. We continued down the coast highway cutting over to Salinas and then headed down to Arroyo Grande. We pulled in at Polly & Eric’s place around 6ish. Eric built a huge deck, about 2000 square feet, that overlooks the valley towards Lake Lopez. (Hey, Patti I’m sure we can see your brother’s place!). The above photo is taken from the back deck. It was great to catch-up with Eric and Polly. Turns out that they will also be doing a road trip, heading to Chicago, and we might be in Zion about the same time. So, if the stars align right we might hook up in Zion – imagine that?! Eric and Polly are early risers and are planning on breakfast at the Village Café at 6:00 am!!! Looks like I’ll be getting up a titch earlier manana. We plan on heading towards San Diego early anticipating the roads packed with the holiday traffic. I’ll let you know tomorrow if I managed to actually be up and functioning. p.s. Tonight is the last night with a “house shower.” Starting tomorrow it’s only campground showers. Eric and Polly were forewarned to expect me to be in the bathroom for a good hour soaking up the last of luxurious civilities.

And So It Begins, Pacifica, CA 5/21/08

I can’t think of a better way to start our road trip than staying at Nancy and Jerry’s place in Pacifica. We always have such a great time with them and their place, right on the beach, is just so relaxing. The above picture is taken from the dining room. I can spend hours and hours just “vegging out” and watching the sea & surf. Today the winds were really blustery and the surf was quite spectacular. Nancy, Ned and I poked around a local bookstore in Pacifica. (We have a Spanish-English pocket dictionary, but not a French-English one. We thought it might come in handy in Louisiana. We get a kick out of reading road signs, etc. and trying to figure out what the English translation is). We also walked around the local Coastside Farmer’s market. We came back with artichokes, lettuce & spinach grown in Half Moon Bay and some roasted chicken from a vendor at the market. Needless to say, dinner was delish! As we sit here drinking café mochas looking out at the Pacific Ocean, it’s hard to believe that in 2-3 weeks we will be camping at the Atlantic Ocean. We have been planning this trip for so long (okay, maybe one of us has become a tiny, little bit more obsessive-compulsive), that I can’t wait to start exploring. For me, the best adventures are the undiscovered and the unknown. As we embark on this southern road trip, the promises I made to myself are that I will live only in the present, taste every regional dish, listen to local music and ride our bikes every chance we get.

Stats on Oregon Trip 7/6/07 - 7/18/07

Several people have asked me for a map of our route. As luck would have it, I mapped out our trip, including mileage, as we went along. (Why oh why does this not surprise anyone?). So, above is the actual Oregon route. I also have the map of our California route too in case anyone wants that too...So, to recap, here are the stats: Total mileage: 2462 Camp grounds: Mount Lassen 7/6 & 7/7 147 miles Tingley Lake Estates - Klamath Falls 7/8 mileage: 458 (311/day) Harris Beach State Park , South Coast 7/9 mileage: 671 (213/day) Sunset Bay State Park, South Coast 7/10 mileage: 821 (150/day) Beverly Beach State Park, Central Coast 7/11 mileage: 992 (171/day) Fort Stevens State Park, North Coast - 7/12 mileage: 1123 (131/day) Viento State Park - Columbia Gorge - 7/13 mileage: 1356 (233/day) Toll Bridge CP - Hood River Valley - 7/14 mileage: 1509 (153/day) Silver Falls SP - Willamette Valley - 7/15 mileage: 1632 (123/day) Horseshoe Bend FS, N. Umpqua River - 7/16 mileage: 1866 (234/day) Emigrant Reservoir RV Park, Ashland - 7/17 mileage: 2055 (199/day) Butte Creek Forest Service - 7/18 (aborted) mileage: 2462 (407/day)

Homeward Bound - 7/18

We pulled outta Ashland midmorning (seems to be the norm for this trip) not entirely sure where we were headed. I was still flying high after the great performance of last night. We really did have great seats, especially appreciated when the rains began and we were dry! You got to hand it to the actors, they went right on without missing a beat. We headed south on 5 - quite a shock after just being on backroads for awhile. We decided to check out the town of McCloud, where my dad spent part of his childhood. The folks working in the museum were really wonderful and went out of their way to help me find clues to this bit of family history. My Big Papa (paternal grandfather) worked at the McCloud Box Factory. It's now closed, but hasn't been torn down - yet. Rumor has it that a water bottling plant might be setting up shop here. I called my dad a couple of times (yes, interrupted his golf game - oops) to ask him some questions. Unfortunately, he's a little fuzzy on the dates so it was difficult to look up some information. The cool thing is that the museum has hundreds of pictures available to go through. Really cool stuff in there, too. (Another note to myself, contact my cousin Frankie and see if he can provide some of the missing links). I was hoping to find the house my dad grew up in, but instead settled on taking pictures of the church, general store and dairy barn. It began drizzling again - and we hadn't yet eaten lunch - so we headed toward the Lassen area (backroads again - I couldn't do anymore on highway 5) and pulled off at a vista point. The rains really began now - so we put up the table and had a picnic lunch inside the WinnieMobile. It was really fun! We still hadn't a clue what our plans were, so continued driving through the Lassen National Forest. At about 4ish, we decided to pull off into a US Forest campground. We popped the top and were ready to settle in for the night. We were the only ones in the campground, but weren't really able to go out and explore due to the rain. So, we just hung out listening to the audio tape given to Ned by Patti & James. It's called the "Kite Runner". Absolutely fascinating story about a "coming of age" young Afghan boy. We lied around for a couple of hours then finally decided - what the heck - let's just head on home. I was a little sad to be going back already. I've had soooo much fun on this trip!! However, on the way back the clouds parted, the sun peeked through and we saw a great rainbow. I figured that was a pretty good omen. I've got a ton of stuff I want to research from this trip (from Fugo balloons to Oregon Christmas tree production) and I've already begun planning our next trip...The question is - shall we head for Yosemite or Vancouver?!

Ashland, OR - some pathetic campground 7/17

We woke up to drizzle and overcast skies. After hanging out for awhile we decided to go to Plan B – and wowza it was a good one! We meandered up highway 138 making stops along the way, such as Toketee Falls. Took a short hike, ½ a mile (and several hundred steps) to these really amazing falls through basalt formations. After attending our campfire talk the other night , given by a geologist, we were quite intrigued with trying to apply our newfound knowledge. (We are easily amused). We then visited Crater Lake. Even though it was still overcast and drizzling at times the lake was still startlingly blue. For kicks we decided to “luncheon” in the newly rebuilt lodge. Very well done – reminded us of Rainbow Lodge (but bigger) back home. We then headed down the scenic Rogue River byway, stopping at several more places – like the Rogue Gorge. I was so impressed with the sheer power and force of the water coming through this narrow gorge. If memory serves me correctly, something like 410,000 gallons of water each minute was pouring through the gorge. The info sign referenced that by liking it to an Olympic Pool being filled in one minute! (See picture above). We continued stopping at little places along the way until finally arriving in Ashland. On a whim, we checked out what was playing tonight – my fave! “Taming of the Shrew.” (Ned thinks that’s hilarious and quite appropriate – no comments please people). We got great seats – first row balcony! In the meantime, we needed to find a campsite for the night. As luck would have it there’s a county park close by. Well, luck in the sense that there was space available, not in the esthetics of the place. We are basically sitting in an open grass field over looking “Emigrant Lake” surrounded by big-ass RV’s. This is as far from our experience of where we stayed last night as one could get! Ah- all in the name of the bard.