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!

Day Thirteen, miles and miles

Leaving Arroyo Grande this morning, we headed off to the Santa Barbara mission 100 miles south.  We are in beautiful wine country again, mountain vineyards everywhere.  The mission was amazing, Santa Barbara is s major holiday area, and the mission is immaculately kept.

We hit the In-N-Out Burger in Santa Barbara (we're hooked, Harrison), and headed south to destination L.A.  Well, Pasadena.  L.A. is too expensive.  

A Day on the Road

A day on the road looks something like this:

I wake up, like clockwork, between 6 and 6:30 every morning feeling well rested.  I do not know why.  I do some writing and checking of emails.  I search out a hot spot to get coffee.  My family wakes up and gets moving usually between about 7:30 and 8 am, showering, packing of bags, pillow fighting, playing sardines, breakfast (we always look for the breakfast included places), and then we move out in one semi-fluid motion to address the day.

We get in the car, find awesome coffee, see spectacular things, visit spectacular places.  We usually stop three or four times to see or do. We pray for our intentions for the day.   We either have lunch in the car or stop somewhere with a picnic table or grass and eat out of doors.  So far on this trip, we have had about two hours of cloudy weather.  That was this morning.

Every three or four days, I make my family eat up all the weird leftovers for dinner, which can include canned mandarin oranges, yogurt, sliced meat, tortillas, grapes, carrots and celery, corn chips, avocado mashed with aiola mayonnaise, sour cream and onion chips, Life cereal and leftover Chinese food heated up on a paper plate.  It's fun!

We roll into our next hotel usually between about 4 and 7 pm,  then we have a long swim.  Ever few days, Albert and I go for a grocery date, where we pick up supplies for the bellies.  Then we watch Chopped or Thor or Castle or Jeopardy for an hour or so and then go to bed.    Albert and I plot out the next day or two's events, have a beer or a glass of wine, write blogs, check emails, distances, book our next night's hotel, read about the towns we'll pass through and the local history here.

We all pass out and sleep like rocks.