"Well, I'm back."

Eventually it happens.  We return home, we do the laundry.  The house start to run smoothly.  We stop eating cereal and bologna for dinner.  We arrived home Tuesday night, picked up Scout and Biff on Wednesday.  Did groceries and laundry.  And laundry.

 The house smelled like home and it was good and our pillows were comfy.  Thursday we did laundry.  And put away miscellanea.  Today, Friday, was Lydia's eighth birthday.  We had tuna casserole, ice cream cake and the kids played like there's no tomorrow.  Tomorrow they will play like there's no the next day.

We drank wine with friends, laughed and prayed.  Now everything is as it should be.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.  Sharing at the Clan Donaldson.

Day Twenty-three...see you soon

A few details from yesterday's journey through Radiator Springs country will deny any previously published comments about the boringness of the I-5.  Firstly, with every passing hour, the landscape got greener, regardless of elevation.  The valleys were primarily agricultural areas, we passed such produce as unidentified nut trees, acres of tomatoes, olive trees, expansive fields of sunflowers reaching the height of bloom, garlic fields, apricot orchards and hay, tall or laying cut or baled, and some hillside wineries.  

We hit the highest elevation on the I-5 at 4,310 feet.  We passed truckloads of tomatoes.  They just cart them from field to factory in open bin-like trucks. We wondered if they ever got spilled.  Then we got to see several hundred tomatoes on the side of the road and wondered no further.  

Along with the flora and fauna and the temperature, changing at the various latitudes, so does the road kill.  Porcupines, badgers, skunks and other assorted small mammalia litter the by-ways, representing diverse eco systems of the North American west coast.  We were fortunate that no Big Horn Sheep decided to cross the highway in our travels.  

It's 2:49 pm, and we have travelled 400 miles today, with about two hours to go.  Sparky is making great time, motivation is high.  

Day Twenty-two, the big push

We made it across the Oregon border today, wow!  We're staying in a pretty little town called Roseburg that we will not see anything of. Today was eventful, to say the least.  Travelling temperatures averaged 110 degrees all day.  We listened to an audio dramatization of Romeo and Juliet by Jim Weiss that was excellent AND the entire unedited Prince Caspian read by the very talented Lynn Redgrave.

I love Doctor Cornelius.  

During our travels, the boys have been collecting liscence plates from every state to see how many we could collect.  They got every single state (including Alaska and Hawaii, not once, not twice but THREE times, what the heck?) but three:  Arkansas, North Dakota and West Virgina.  I find that remarkable.  

We covered a whopping 489 miles, almost 787 kilometers today, and well, I must say, our kids are rock stars.  Did we have to bait them with burgers and ice creams at crucial points?  Well, we didn't have to.  But they got them anyway.  'Cause Sparky and me are rock stars too.  

But I do need to say this.  There are not many lunch options in Willows, CA.  

Will share some photos tomorrow when I'm not so tired.  

Day Twenty-one, all directions

Ups and downs.  We've traveled a pretty long way today.  Here is a photo of Lydia and I 340 miles ago.  

It has been inland through mountain and flatlands, hitting heights of more than 4000 feet and lows of 52 feet above sea level.  We hit 101 degrees and dove to 93 degrees at one point.  Brrr.

Peaks, valleys and oil rigs. 

Lydia, who is becoming the resident expert on our GPS system in the van, says today, "Dad!  You're off your highlighted route!  But don't worry, it's easy to get back on, just follow the yellow line!"

We are staying in Patterson, CA tonight, a literal middle of nowhere, boring as snot kinda town, the only two businesses that made it into the AAA guide were the Best Western (where we're staying) and the El Rosal Mexican restaurant (steps away from the hotel, where we ate). Nothing particularly noteworthy about the hotel, apart from that it had beds. Dude.  The Mexican restaurant, however, was worth the one minute walk for sure.  Yum.

And the sunset. WOW.  

I apologize for the monosyllabic commentary.  When I get tired my language skills become less descriptive.  

Day Twenty...northward bound

Disneyland is behind us.  I gave two talks at the SCCHE conference today and we are packing up and coming home.  It was great, I met Maureen Whittman and Cathy Duffy.  We trying to get somewhere north of where we are.  And that is all we know. I know you all miss Abel's silliness, so here's something to look forward to.  

Day Sixteen and a few more

You won't be hearing from me too much, 'cause our evenings our mostly all used up with fun here in Disneyland.  Some proof:

Day Fourteen, Hollywood, Day Fifteen, a chance meeting

Yesterday we did a Hollywood/Beverly Hills tours and hit a few highlights of the rich and famous, both living and dead.  A few notable homes and businesses we gawked at were:

Johnny Depp

Nancy Reagan

Katy Perry

Ringo Starr

The Improv

House of Blues

Rosemary Clooney

Lucille Ball

Elvis Presley

Below is a picture of a famous person's home, living or dead, I'm not sure which. 

The Dolby Theatre where the Academy Awards are held.  Meaningless to our children because they've never seen the Academy Awards.  Photo op and the infamous Hollywood hillside sign.

We saw one of the handful of Frank Lloyd Wright homes here in California, the Storer House.

The Graumann Chinese theatre was an interesting place, where there are the hand and foot prints of famous persons.  

The boy's got treated to a Bugatti (a French car designed by an Italian guy) sighting, as well as a Tesla, which is a luxury electric car and very special.  I tried, but I just can't care, but I'll include a photo of said Bugatti here for your edification.

As you can see here, it is very black and very yellow.

Today was a treat!  Friends of our, John and Katherine from Seattle just so happened to be visiting their daughter who lives a half hour or so away from where we're staying and we were planning a down day, so we hung out and had breakfast and hung out some more and talked about important things.  It was  so cool!