Road Trip

To start the summer we took a road trip from San Diego to Seattle and back again. On the way up we took the 1 and 101 the entire way along the coast. Our first stop was in Los Angeles where we ate lunch at Tito's Tacos. Our second stop was in Santa Barbara. We stretched our legs and the boys played at the playground on the beach. The next stop was in San Luis Obispo. We visited gum alley. People have been sticking their gum there since the 50's. The California coast is beautiful. We camped in Big Sur that night.

The next day we stopped in Santa Cruz and went on some rides on the Boardwalk then walked down to the beach. We ate curry for dinner in San Francisco and drove across the golden gate bridge in the fog. We stayed in a 50's motor lodge in Fort Bragg.

Our third day was mostly spent in the Redwood Forest. We drove through a tree and went on a hike in the rain looking for Ewoks. We didn't find any. We spent the night in a yurt on the Oregon coast.

Our fourth day we drove up the Oregon coast ending in Olympia WA. The Oregon coast is beautiful. We made a lot of stops. The kids loved running along the beach looking for rocks and shells. We stopped at Mo's for lunch and ate the best clam chowder and homemade bread. We walked to the top of Yaquina Head lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse on the Oregon coast. We toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory, ate free samples of cheese and yummy ice cream. Before heading to Olympia we made a stop to see the house from Goonies in Astoria. Goonies never say die!

In Olympia we stayed with our friends, the Pendrods. We were able to visit many friends and family in the Seattle area; my cousin Peter and family, friend from high school Miriam and her three girls, Mike's cousin Aaron and family, and Mike's Uncle Todd and his family. Mike worked on his sculptures at the skateboard park in Kent getting ready for the grand opening. The boys played on the climbing walls and in the bowls while he worked. It rained during the opening so there wasn't much of a bike and skateboard team performance. But a band played, raffles, prizes (Andrew won skateboard bearings), hot dogs, speeches from those involved with the park, and the ribbon cutting. Mike's parents flew out for the event. In Seattle we went through the EMP (experience music project), saw the space needle, walked through Olympic sculpture park and along the Puget Sound.

On our way south to San Francisco we stopped in Portland, Oregon and ate at VooDoo Donuts. They make the yummiest donuts with the craziest concoctions on top. Donuts with Captain Crunch on top, grape pixie stick, voodoo doll donut, and the evil donut to name a few. That night we stopped by Mt. Shasta and stayed in the Railroad Park Resort. Each pacific railroad caboose was a motel room.

In the Bay area we stayed with our friends, the Fullers (from Brooklyn) and I saw another friend from high school, Sara who just had her 2nd baby. In San Francisco we went through Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, saw Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, drove down Lombard street and rode on a trolley car. The kids were definitely ready to get home by this point.