Road Trippin'

Question: What do you call 2 parents with 4 kids in a Car on a 2200 mile road trip?

Answer: CRAZY, would be one answer, but I like to think of it as Adventuresome - which totally describes our recent vacation to the beautiful North West California Coast!

Yes, that is a tow truck and yes we were able to get rolling again after being stuck in Williams California for about 2 hours waiting for that tow truck.

We got to Fort Bragg, California and stopped at Glass Beach the next morning. Being the blonde that I am, I didn't realize that the coast was going to be so cool. We did have jackets, but Taylor, Mason and Hunter got soaked! Some nice people asked Shelby if we found any glass on the beach and when she told them we had not, they filled her hand with brightly colored bits of glass. The sand at the beach was fun...it squeaked jumped on it!

The Road was very twisty and covered with a canapy of tree branches .

Mason is sooo dang fast - we needed a leash for him.

"Mom, I thought the ocean was supposed to be warm!"

Tay can be so sweet...

On the way to the drive thru tree we spotted this sign and thought of Grandpa Deuel...we don't know if he would be comfortable up here in the Redwoods at night :)

The Redwoods are so Magnificent and Majestic...very cool to see something so old, yet so new to us. We had to go thru the Drive Thru Tree - The Chandilier Tree, we only went 3/4 of the way thru and then Mike backed out - I'm kind of protective of my car and it looked like the mirrors were starting to rub.

We wished we would have went further north and spent more time in the Redwoods, but we'll do that next year.

I love the ocean...it's so hypnotic and relaxing...wish it wasn't so dang far away!

Fort Bragg area



We went from the Redwoods to San Francisco. We stayed at the Marriott downtown which was super cool, but parking was crappy...we had to pay $50.00 a night to valet. We were on the 16th floor and had spectacular views of the city. I wish I would have gotten some pic's from our hotel room. Tay and Mason loved the baggage cart. I might need to invest in one to entertain them at home.

Street entertainers...the kids were not quite sure of them. Hunter wouldn't even pose in a picture with them.

The Sea Lions are always entertaining and we hoped a boat ride would put the two little ones to sleep, but no such luck. We were the onboard entertainment.

We still needed a leash for Mason, more than before. He had a fascination with the pigeons, everytime we let him down he was chasing birds.

I love Windmills and Light Houses

After a long fun fillled day at Fisherman's Wharf we loaded up the car and the little kids fell asleep, so we decided to go for a drive. We went into Oakland and drove up to the Temple. The grounds were so pretty and the view of the Bay city was awesome. Shelby was one of the only kids awake so she got some one on one time with dad...aren't they cute?!

We stopped at Santa Cruz to and from Monterey. It was pretty cool down by the beach. There was an amusement park with a roller coaster and other fun rides. The boardwalk went pretty far out into the water, and had some fun touristy shops.

Kite surfers


Monterey was very nice. I could have stayed a few more days. There is a lot of history to see. I particularly liked Cannery Row. The Monterey Bay Aquarium was super cool, the kids loved seeing all the fish and they especially liked the Jelly Fish exhibit.

Showing us how tough they are with the anchor

Tay loved holding the Starfish and touching the Bat Rays


We finally got a leash for Mason, he wasn't too hip on it at first, but he eventually liked the freedom.

We went to the beach in Carmel. The sand was so white. Hunter and Shelby had fun trying to boogie board - at least that's what they called it. Mason and Taylor were just as content as could be playing with the sand toys and digging and making sand castles.

Hunter doing his best Bay Watch pose

We ordered room service our last night in Monterey because we needed some milk for Taylor and Mason, so we had to get some Hot Lava Cake and ice cream. Yummy!

We had a great time in California. The kids always like the beach. I think we should rent a beach house next summer and just hang out. If you ask the kids what their favorite part of the trip they would each have something different. Shelby would say they Old Navy in San Francisco. Hunter would say the beach. Taylor liked the Aquarium. Mason liked the little bit of freedom he got when he could escape our grasp although the time we lost him in the elevator he looked pretty relieved when we finally found him.