The Mother Of All Road Trips, Day 3

Yep, it's true.

I left my heart in San Francisco.  

What is it about that city?  I love it, like really, really love it and even in the kinda cold/kinda windy/kinda foggy weather that we experience that day, I still loved it.   The streets and hills.  The flowers.  The smells and sounds and crisp ocean air. The bridge that stands tall and immovable.   It's breathtaking. 

We were given the standard Ken Soares tour (that's my dad!) which started with a drive down Lombard street.  Here's the thing: my dad had oh-so-thoughtfully rented a 12 passenger van so we could all ride together and because I get car sick if I look down for more than 10 seconds, I was the lucky driver.  I've driven down Lombard before but not in a white van that rivals a moving truck.  Brad was my co-pilot and while I might have scared him a titch, we all survived.  I think the hill leading up to Lombard is the worst part of the entire stretch of road because man!  That sucker is STEEP.   The kids loved it, craning out the windows to see every twist and turn.  I tried to keep my eyes on the road but do you see that climbing bouganvillea up there?  It was gorg.  I loved it all.  

From there we climbed the steps of Coit Tower and then made our way down to infamous Pier 39.  We ate a delicious lunch where Spence ate his first of many batches of Fish & Chips.  When in Rome, right?  We wandered around the pier, stopping to watch a magic show for a bit, riding on a double decker carousel, and then looking for some sea lions.  Sadly, it was mating season for the sea lions and we only saw three lounging around on the docks.  

Leaving Pier 39, we drove through the city, down past Ghiradelli Square and took in all the sights and sounds.  The kids were so excited to see The Golden Gate Bridge and while the weather was less than ideal, they jumped at the chance to explore the bridge.  We walked out onto it for a bit and stood in awe of the gorgeous city below.  A final stop at Golden Gate Park and the beach and I turned the big white van around and we headed back to the ranch.  

I love that city.  I loved showing my kids that city and their excitement at every new thing we saw and did.  It was only Day 3 of our trip and I felt like we made enough memories to last a lifetime. 

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.  

The Mother Of All Road Trips, Day 1

You know how when other people go on vacation and you're so excited for them, like really and truly excited for them, but not excited enough to sit through their million pictures?  

Me too.  

But I say tough!  You can clickety-click away from here right now if you want but I'm sharing these pictures because it does my heart good to look through them again.  And since this little bloggy's purpose since birth has been to document all the crazies our family gets itself into, I sharing away.  The good news is that I'm breaking down the trip by destinations and I'll put all the pictures together in a sweet little collage instead of captioning you to death about some road stop in NoOneCares, California. 

It'll be painless.  I promise.  

 See?  

Our first stop brought us to Klamath Falls, OR and our kids lived it up in the pool.  I played with our new camera on the sidelines for a bit and took approximately 247 pictures of the kids jumping into the pool.  Apparently Austin missed the memo that when the parent with the camera yells "jump!" you jump as he missed every. single. shot.  

Good thing he's cute.   

Half-way through our first day I started to feel sick (boo! hiss!) and woke up the next morning with a terrible throat infection.  I'm happy to report that the good doctors of Klamath Falls saw me first thing and prescribed me some meds to get me back on my feet.  I didn't feel my best but just knowing that the trip we had been planning and saving for was finally underway gave me everything I needed to get going.

For those of you keeping track, that gorgeous mountain above is Mt. Shasta which is indeed AFTER Klamath Falls but we'd be here forever if I didn't combine a few days.  I always remember driving by it as a kid and knowing even then that it was majestic.  Happy to say it still is. 

We didn't know it yet, here in these pictures, but the four weeks to come would be some of the very best of our lives. I thought about what it would be like for months and months leading up to it and now that's it's over, I find myself reliving it again and again.  That's the very best kind of trip, I think, the ones that stay alive in your memory and pop in to remind you of all the good things this life has to offer.  I'm so incredibly grateful for those four weeks and can't wait to do it again. 

Is This Thing Still On?

After a completely unintentional three+ month hiatus, I'm back.

Well, not quite.  I've got loads to do but for those of you remaining, just know that I've got lots to share and am dying to share it.

Till then.