Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

That was a rhyme my Grandmother Margaret used to say, nearly every time she pulled the car into the garage, funny how some memories return all these many years later.

We made it back to Maple Valley, finally, about 12:30 this morning. We arrived home to our house, intact (see the regular-stuff blog from a couple of weeks before we left) and cold cold cold. We had turned the heat off before we left - and as we pulled into the driveway, noticed the front window was fogged over - uh oh. Thankfully - we have the gas fireplace, which we promptly heated up and snuggled the girls in front of...just like old times for them.

So - some trip statistics:

We haven't yet added up all of the gas and other travel necessities (Junior Mints, Good N Plenty, Diet Pepsi, etc.) but I would say that the experience was worth every penny! Wow, what a great time we have had!

Southern and Central Oregon were beautiful this morning - the colors going over Grants Pass were amazing!

The final leg of the trip was quite amusing, as Lloyd took photos of random people driving, riding and hitchiking on I-5 through Oregon. This game would have continued into WA as well, but it got too dark to shoot those photos without a flash and a flash could really cause some problems on the drive.

Some folks were oblivious, some annoyed and some found humor in it. We were actually surprised that we never got any middle fingers! The following photos are some of the folks that we hope that we cheered up a bit anyway.

This was the sign Lloyd devised and held up for each shot.

One of our early subjects - didn't appear to be that happy to be driving his Prius (see how nicely this game tracked with our Prius game?!)

We figured we would also take some photos of some passengers, this poor guy appears to have lost something...

The eyebrows on this motorcycle driver said "WHAT THE HECK?"

Our first subject was a trucker who actually laughed out loud - or appeared to anyway.

This vision of health seems to be saying "Anybody got a light?"

Is it illegal in Oregon to be on a cell phone while driving?

Here's an Estelle Getty look-a-like who was obviously enjoying getting her photo taken.

We tried over and over to get this Obama supporter to smile, or even look at us - but her gaze was locked on the road ahead! Maybe she was watching for change?

Clearly...not amused.

Clearly amused. This lady actually gave us the thumbs up before we took her photo! Although I suspect her driver was a bit annoyed since I had to hit the brakes in front of him in order to capture one of the others...

Finally, our "PEACE" guy. This guy was so happy to have his photo taken, he actually sped up so that Lloyd could get a better shot!

So - all things considered, we drove a lot, ate a lot, played a lot, took lots and lots of photos and had a wonderful time. Our sincere thank yous to all of our friends/family members who welcomed us so warmly, and apologies to all that we were unable to see along the way.

Thanks to those of you who read along with our daily adventures and gave us encouragement to keep on posting.

Until the next big adventure...

The Final Leg

We are preparing to take off from Medford - after a wonderful stay in the local Hampton Inn. We have really had great luck at this chain of hotels and this was no different. This one even had a pool - so after the free breakfast with the girls - we hit the pool. The girls should be nice and tired out now for the beginning of our drive this morning.

Lloyd is planning on taking candid photos of other drivers on I5 - so that means Tina is driving. :)

Port-a-Potties, Peacocks and Hootels

We headed north today, though not in any hurry, along the scenic west side of the lake. Again, took the opportunity to spend some time in the places we used to really love to visit – such as Emerald Bay. There the girls took the opportunity to try a little “free” climbing. Although Lloyd and I are debating whether “free” or "solo" means without ropes. Essentially – they were bouldering, but having a great time of it. Both girls are pretty much naturals. Although there is some concern that Madeline may try “base jumping” at some point – since she got to the top then launched herself off at her dad. Good thing he has quick reflexes!

From Emerald Bay, we continued along the lakeside, stopped along the way to pick up sandwiches for a picnic (although really we were trying to use their bathroom – irritating when they won’t even let customers use them! Especially with two kids who are trying to do the whole potty training thing!) Anyway…the guy at the deli counter kindly directed us down the road about 3 miles to a port-a-potty. Can I just say how challenging it is to try and take a toddler to the bathroom in a port-a-potty? “Don’t touch, don’t move, don’t touch, don’t move” – was pretty much my mantra through two separate trips. We do everything in twos...

After that lovely experience, we headed to Squaw Valley (site of the 1960 Winter Olympics) to take a photo of the girls in the big chair!

Those that came to visit us, know that along with the Camel Races photo, the big chair at Squaw was another mandatory photo op. After that – we pointed the van for Medford, Oregon. The girls kept asking if we were going back to Uncle El's house tonight, and we’ve told them that no – we are going to a hotel tonight somewhere in Oregon. So – for the last few hours we’ve fielded questions about “is this the hootel?” The girls really have some of the funniest pronunciations.

Somewhere in northern California, randomly – we are driving on a highway and out of nowhere appeared 2 PEACOCKS!

Lloyd, our trip photographer, was too surprised to pick up the camera quickly enough and I (as the driver at that point) was trying to make sure the birds didn’t join the scores of grasshoppers on our grill.

The girls have been such incredibly good travelers this whole trip. They have watched a few DVDs when we are driving after dark. Their favorite shows these days are Monsters Inc and Madagascar. Apparently, Madeline believes that the movies are interactive. A few minutes ago, all of a sudden we hear her go “rawr”! And, as I’m not driving, and don’t have the benefit of the rearview mirror, Lloyd tells me that her claws actually came up as well.

Since we are on the major highways and approaching Oregon, OLGA is our friend again. She tells us we should arrive in Medford around 11 tonight. Too late for a swim, but Madeline will be thrilled when we finally arrive at the "hootel".

Nothing like playing tourist somewhere you used to live!

It's an interesting phenomenon, when you move from a place, you realized all of the things that you never took the time to do when you lived there. This happened to us when we first left WA to move to Nevada, and then again, when we moved from Nevada back to Washington. There are still some things in WA that we must do (Ride the Ducks, visit the EMP...) but for now, we will have to be happy with doing some of the Nevada things on this visit, as well as reliving some of the fun that we had while we were here. Playing "chick or dude", people watching and hitting some of our favorite spots.

Since arriving, we have had a wonderful time here in Lake Tahoe / Carson City. We have had a chance to drive around (gas is under $3 here!) and see what all is new, what remains unchanged and marvel at how beautiful the changing colors are around here. Yesterday we headed out to Taylor Creek for an interpretive nature walk with Uncle El & Carol, to see spawning Kokanee salmon and hoping for a bear sighting. There have reportedly been many lately. I think Lloyd and Carol are going to go back out tomorrow morning to try again if Lloyd can get his behind out of bed. HAHA

The girls have really taken to being here at Uncle Els! Madeline came running into the house yesterday afternoon, searching all over the place saying "where are my friends?!" El and Carol have been spoiling the girls rotten with attention. Last night they were kind enough to watch the girls for us for a couple of hours while Lloyd and I enjoyed an adult dinner with Bob & Kat Riser at Fire and Ice there at the base of Heavenly. Lloyd worked with Bob at Lyon County Fire, Bob is now a Captain (yea!) and Kat is a Starbucks store manager for the Dayton store, who just made Manager of the Quarter and her store also placed 1st NATIONWIDE for Customer Voice Survey! Both of which are great accomplishments! YEA KAT! :) Afterwards, we all came back to El & Carol's so that Bob and Kat could see how big the girls have grown since we moved.

We also spent some time at Station 39 in Dayton, visiting with the folks there. They were kind enough to let the girls not only sit in the brand new engine, but honk the horn as well!

Today we spent the day really touring around town, both Carson City and Virginia City. Actually - it gave the girls a great nap in the car. We woke them up once we got to VC, and asked them if they wanted to play "dress up". Note the picture at the beginning of the post. They were both happy to do so, and really did a great job of cooperating. We also had to take a photo of them at the Camel Races sign. For those of you who visited us while we were living in Dayton, you will recall that this is a "must do" when you go to Virginia City.

We also stopped at Cave Rock for some pictures, what a beautiful fall day!

Finally, we ended the day with some time at Mills Park in Carson City, with our friends Sarah and Eric. Sarah and I played soccer together while we were living here, and then ended up having our 1st (and in my case, 2nd) babies just 5 days apart. After some play time and then of course some photos ops, the kids LOVED not only running across the little footbridge together, but insisted on holding hands, we met up with husband/father Josh at Reds 395 BBQ. Another of our favorite places while we were living here. Food was just as good as ever, service was just the same Nevada-quality that we remembered. Ahhh.... And for those of you who joined us for a meal at Reds, my mint-snaging abilities have rusted. I only managed to get 5 - and then I thought I was going to have to share those with the girls. Lucky for me, I still had a bag of "Smartees" ready for the next bribe.

What a wonderful vacation we have had, and are still having. We are planning on heading north out of Lake Tahoe tomorrow morning (hopefully after Lloyd gets a photo or two of a bear eating breakfast) and taking our time driving into somewhere in Oregon. Hopefully we will have a "trooper-free" drive home!

Patrolled by Aircraft is false advertising!

So - after getting Heidi totally hooked on Facebook, we packed the car and got a decent, after-breakfast start out of Murrieta, on the road about 10:30 this morning. After the obligatory stop at the Starbucks around the corner (where the barista first asked me which store I worked in, and when my reply was "in the legal department" she wanted to know if there was a regional office in San Diego or something"), then get gas, go back to Heidi & Phil's in search of the Zune charger (didn't find it there - and if Heidi is reading this...you may want to think about locking your front door...) we managed to hit the freeway, still before 11! We took the I-15 North to Hwy 395 and then kept going north - although at first it was pretty slow going, lots of big trucks, 2 lane roads and stoplights.

Many of you may know that the Hwy 395 actually runs from Mexico to Canada - and we have now driven on I would say the majority of it - being that it runs through Spokane (Division street) and Carson City (Carson Street) and now with today's travel. I don't know just how many miles we drove today - and frankly - I'm waiting until we are home to add them all up!

So - back to our slow going on 395, at one point (after a stop at In-N-Out for an animal-style burger for Lloyd) and some other little town for lunch for the girls, Lloyd decided to try and make up some time. The road was a beautiful stretch of straight, 4 lane road, without much traffic. This was at about 2:30pm, somewhere near Broadway (I believe). We had just passed a "Patrolled By Aircraft" sign, and as a joke, opened the sunroof to spot any Hwy Patrol planes. Again, false advertising...as we looked up to see a CHP officer on the opposite shoulder - he gave us the stink-eye as we passed, then turned around to pursue us. Talk about a buzz-kill. Lloyd took a great rearview mirror photo with his camera phone. Anyway - after the kindly officer (who looked all of about 12 years old) wasted all of the time we had made up and then some, he handed us the ticket and felt obligated to send us off with a word about making sure "the little ones in the car get there safely".

Needless to say - they did. We arrived in S. Lake Tahoe a short 7 hours later. What a long day. Tomorrow, looking forward to hanging out up here near the lake and checking out some of our old favorite places. Time to sleep now.

Last Day in Paradise

It has been such fun spending time here in sunny San Diego for the last week, it's a shame to think that our big road trip is already 1/2 over. Boo Hoo.



We have made really good use of our time here though, spending it with such good friends (who were willing to put us up for the whole week!). We have gone on outings, have done lots of swimming and even had some time for some crafts.

The kids have all gotten along so well the whole time, which has been great. Caden is such a sweet little boy, he and the girls have had such a good time playing together.

This morning we took them to a pumpkin patch and farm in Temecula. Unfortuantely, the pony rides and train rides we promised the kids were not to be - since they didn't start until 3 and there was NO way we were going to try and keep the kids there and outside for 4 hours! Sooner or later, everyone gets a little bored with pumpkins.



The girls are excited at the prospect of more road trip tomorrow. Although I don't think it has dawned on them yet that Caden isn't going to be able to join them.

We plan to take the 395 Hwy north out of California, through the June Lake Loop - heard that it is beautiful this time of the year, and are looking forward to taking some great photos of the trip. We are also looking forward to spending time with Uncle El & Carol up at the lake and visiting some of our old 'haunts' from our time in Nevada. Hopefully, without OLGA we will make it. Have to say, the girls have gotten accustomed to having OLGA around. Yesterday when we headed out for Corona to meet Rich and Shannon, Megan asked "Where's OLGA?" We told her she was taking a nap.

Who's that in the white t-shirt?

The beautiful thing about vacation...you lose track of time. :) We have spent nearly a week at our friends' house here in Murrieta. What a fantastic time we have been having! Yesterday, Saturday, Lloyd's brother Kevin and his family came to visit us here at Phil & Heidi's house. We had a great time - introducing cousins that had not previously met and also meeting new nephew/nieces/friends.

An enormous thank you to the Spieglers for hosting us all for the afternoon. We spent time in the house and in the pool. The big boys spent time, first convincing Kevin that the pool was not "that" cold, and then doing synchronized dives off the wall.

Today we had a chance to visit with my law school friend Rich, and his wife Shannon, who we haven't seen in about 5 years. They are expecting their first baby (a girl) in December. So, lunch with us, they got a crash course in 3 year olds in public. Although - the girls were a little out of sorts, since they got to skip naptime yesterday. They did nap later this afternoon, followed by dinner, pooltime and then bedtime. So we are hoping tomorrow that they are back to their normal moods at least! So now - Lloyd is demonstrating to Heidi all of the various Wii Fit activities. I so wish I could get video of him doing the advanced hula hoop to share with everyone!

Day 5 continued

Today Heidi, Phil andI took the kids to the San Diego Zoo - Wild Animal Park. (Lloyd wasn't feeling well htis mroning, so opted to stay home and recuperate. A new fact - this was originally created to breed rhinos - and was not intended to be a viewing park. Lucky for us - they have turned it into more of a second zoo - which is great. It was really really hot - and in our infinite wisdom, we opted NOT to go for the strollers...so we spent quite a bit of time hauling the kids around in the heat, oh and bribing them with more stickers and ice cream...

Later on, after short naps (in the car) and then dinner, we all got into our bathing suits to hit the jacuzzi. What fun! Madeline is getting pretty brave - she was going from side to side, swimming with her face in the water. We are so proud of her!

Will try and upload some photos from the Buffett expereince, along with today's adventures, tomorrow.

Day 4 - 5 - Can we borrow your flame?

So - we arrived safely, albeit REALLY early in the morning on Wednesday, and then after a few hours of sleep and a walk to the neighborhood Starbucks, the girls had a blast playing with Caden. They were really impressed that he has his own pool, not to mention the fact that he knows how to play hide-n-seek and has LOTS of hiding places in his new house!

Today, Concert Day, was a fantastic sunny San Diego day! Just beautiful - we spent part of the day just getting stuff organized for our tailgating party. Then Heidi and I had a chance to sneak away and get pedicures. Then, once the babysitters arrived (yes, we had 2 of them come, figured that way they wouldn't be SO overwhelmed for such a long period of time) we packed the party van and headed off to Chula Vista. I'll have to upload the photos when we get back home. We had the van all decked out with Buffett/Margaritaville-esq paraphernalia, we had grass skirts for the guys and lots of beads to hand out, we brought with us a table, a humongous pan and shrimp scampi (along with bread for dipping), and even a Coleman stove. We even brought the propane tank and a lighter - we had it all. Or so we thought...when we realized that the arm that connected the tank to the stove was missing!

So after a few Finger Jell-o shots, and plenty of "you do it, no you do it" we convinced Phil to ask the folks down the way if we could borrow the flame on their campfire. Turns out - they were from Snohomish County! They very graciously allowed us to share their fire - and so we shared our shrimp and Jell-o shots.

The concert itself was fantastic - although once the sun went down, brrrrr. And now that we are parents, we weren't able to spend the entire afternoon drinking ahead of the concert - so we didn't have a good alcohol base to keep us warm! Again...brrr.... but it was so worth it!

Sleep time now - the girls will be up in a few short hours and we have plans to go to the beach to enjoy another beautiful vacation day!

Day 2 on the road

Tuesday – 3:45 pm Correction…WE’VE got an awesome sense of direction.

Since we have had some issues with our electronic gadgets (things not working, things not being uploaded, things falling and breaking) we decided to stop at a Costco along the way to get a second DVD player for the car. Funny thing – by the time you see the store when you are on the freeway – you have already MISSED the exit. We learned this yesterday with Cabela’s and now today with Costco. Not having the benefit of OLGA, we called the next best thing…dad at home on the computer. So – after a bit of a detour (looking for the next Costco down the road) and spending some time lost in the Sacramento “hood” – turns out Tina’s sense of direction has gotten a little rusty - we eventually found ourselves with a full tank of Costco gas, a new DVD player, some new Christmas dresses for the girls and a Starbucks drive-through in our sights. Back on I-5 Southbound, and still bound for Murrieta tonight.

You would think, being a trademark attorney, that a certain someone would be attuned to various logos. Note…how long has Econolodge had the logo that looks like the Q for Quiznos’?

So – rather than wasting a stop – we found “Perkos café & diner”. Definitely not on the recommended list – not only did it take them approximately 45 minutes to make up a couple of waffles (for the girls), but the nachos that we ordered came out less than hot, and shall we say…somewhat “limp”.

Then Lloyd managed to find a bathroom with TP approximately 1/10th the thickness of tracing paper. Handshake anyone?

So – it’s now several hours later… (9pm) we’ve finally escaped that Westley town (or whatever it was called) and our anticipated arrival time is 1:49am. Oh – and the girls have both started coming down with runny noses and sneezes.

8:56pm -Turns out…the laptop IS a DVD player.

We are going old school

So - OLGA got us out of WA and OR, but unfortunately, we didn't have the foresight to load the California software into her...so we will have to rely on Lloyd's awesome sense of direction...or else the maps (Thank you AAA!)

We made it to Orland last night - and were lucky enough to stay with Tina's Aunt Carolee and Uncle Paul. I am sure that they were surprised to see 2 awake little kids at 1:30 in the morning. The girls have been completely spoiled here this morning by Aunt Carolee. Going to have lunch here and hopefully see cousin Mary Alice, before taking off for San Diego.

The girls were really good yesterday in the car, hopefully day 2 will be as smooth!

You Are Going to Do WHAT?! You Must Be Crazy!

That's the response we've had many times when we have shared with people that we are planning to ROAD TRIP to San Diego this month.

But, indeed, we are hitting the road in the morning. We have lots of new (quiet) projects for the girls to keep them busy in the car; we have borrowed two DVD players (one for the girls to share and one for Lloyd); and are getting ready to pack the car...

Thought we would do a blog along the way - so that you can all enjoy our adventure.
http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-survive-a-road-trip