The Mother Of All Road Trips, Day 2

Day 2 found us in Tracy, CA where my father has been spending his time of late.  He is running the Old River Ranch and is surrounded by animals, alfalfa and a whole lot of dust.  The facility itself is incredible and our kids loved exploring life as ranch hands.  From riding on the "gator" to feeding/riding the horses, to checking the chicken coop for eggs and scaling the mountains of hay, the loved every single second.  Ranch life is certainly different than our cozy life in P-town and I was happy to see them step in and lend a hand.  Spence in particular found his groove tending to the horses and was up and at em first thing every morning to help Grandpa.  I was just happy to have some time with my dad and see him interact with the kids. 

They soaked it up. 

He did too.  

We were supposed to spend our first day with Grandpa heading to San Francisco, but the terrible throat infection from the day before turned into a nasty bout of the flu and I spent my morning laying on the bathroom floor.  This is where I offered up my simplest of prayers, that I could please get better quickly so I could enjoy this trip with my family.  After a few uncomfortable hours of sleep, I'm happy to say my prayers were answered and I was off to join life on the ranch. 

It's been difficult for me to understand, this move of my Dad's to a ranch in California, but after seeing it all through his eyes, I'm understanding it a bit better.  He is in his element working the land and tending to the animals and I see the pride that he feels in all he's accomplished.  I still miss him, but I get it. 

What I loved so much about this trip is that everything felt new and fresh to our kids and they were excited about every stop.  Playing on a ranch in Northern California was no exception.  They loved every second and it was the first of many times in the weeks to come that I often found myself staring at my children as they took it all in.