Califoregon Living

Two weeks ago, DH attended a Songwriters conference in Mt. Hermon, followed by a short business trip in Sacramento.  He was enjoying the lovely weather and suggested we do a road trip when he returned.  so, with less that 24 hours from that suggestion, he flew back and we headed out!

DH returned by plane at 8PM on Friday.  We left at 3:30AM Saturday.

DAY 1/SATURDAY

Here are the boys all set for the journey.  ‘A’ kept DH from Seattle to Centralia, maybe even farther (I fell asleep.)

One of our rest stops was a McD’s that had this cool guitar table.  Here are the guys giving it a go…

‘A’ actually had a guitar pick. HA!

Another rest stop picture…

It was late afternoon when we reached Sacramento. We checked into the Holiday Inn Express.  Everything was going wrong that day with them.  It was really bad.  But, we all persevered and made it through the night.

‘R’ found this post and wanted his picture taken next to it…

The tradition of jumping from bed to bed…

One of the unfortunate things that happened while we were there was that the carpet cleaner company had set carpets on fire.  This somehow disabled their whole computer system and they had no idea what rooms were occupied and who was in them.  We had other guests entering our room a few times, and also phone calls that hung up immediately well into the night.  We figured the front desk was trying to see if the room was occupied or not.  Not a good day for this hotel.

On the upside, we got to visit with the fire crew.  I told them we had just one night in Sacramento, what should we do?  The told us to go to Old Sacramento, when the original town was built during the Gold Rush days. 

There was actually a festival going on called "Gold Rush Days".  We arrived as it was closing down, but we did get to see some people in costumes.

This is an old fire engine…

An old "paddy wagon"…

We had dinner at a fun Mexican restaurant, overlooking the street. 

DAY 2/SUNDAY

The next morning (Sunday), we walked to the Governor’s Mansion.  After the Reagans lived in it for 15 years, it was turned into a Historic landmark and opened to the public.  Unfortunately, they are updating it so this is all I got…

Here is what should be under there…

We drove about 30 minutes to a town called Roseville to attend the Bayside church.  This is the church that Lincoln Brewster is the Worship Director for.  We knew he would not be there because he was at a big festival in South Dakota, but we wanted to attend a service anyway.

It was pretty amazing.  We had an usher show us around and help us get the kids set up.  They have three services and all three services were packed to the rim, with 10 satellite churches within 20 miles of the main church.

The main sanctuary is straight ahead, children/youth ministry and a cafe on the left, not sure what was on the right (maybe administration?).  The courtyard had a play area for the kids, a couple of nice fountain pools, and plenty of coffee and tables for relaxing.

They had a special speaker this day.  He was very inspirational and a delight to learn from.  You can read about him at Nick Vujicic/Lifewithoutlimbs.org

On the way to San Francisco, we stopped in Vallejo for Starbucks.  There were two police officers.  The boys went over to show them their new digital cameras we picked up for the trip (Fisher Price makes ones for kids, we highly recommend it!)  We had so much fun with these officers.  One of them placed his badge on ‘A’ to wear.

One of the officers gave ‘R’ his flashlight to "steal",  and the boys reenacted to chase scene.  Here is ‘A’  (the cop) chasing ‘R’ (the bad guy).

‘A’ patting ‘R’ down and reading him his rights (both boys know the Miranda rights)

The officer called dispatch and had one of the operators stand by for a "little voice" to come on.  He directed ‘A’ and ‘R’ to speak codes into his walkie talkie.  Both had a great time doing this.  Dispatch responded to the boys enthusiastically.  It was fun.  Here is the officer telling ‘A’ what to do (or is it the other way around?)

The kids got to sit in the squad car…

‘A’ is showing the Code 4 sign, which I think means, "we are on a break"…


We rolled into San Francisco as the sun was beginning to set.  I am glad DH was aware of all the tolls we would have to cross and was prepared for it.  I would have been in trouble if it was left to me.

We were SO HAPPY to see this.  This motocyclist was speeding (at least 110mph) and weaving in and out of traffic.  It totally stressed me out.  But, no sooner did we both say that we wished there was an officer around to nail this guy, that a motorcycle cop passed us.  How often does this happen?

We checked into the Westin San Francisco Airport.  We had the best view of the airport runway, but the rooms were completely soundproof.  The boys spent a good amount of time watching the planes come in.

We would have stayed at this property longer, but the hot tub was out of order AND the indoor pool was not heated.  This seriously cut the time DH and I wanted to be in the water, so we checked out after two nights to find a place that had a warmer pool.

DAY 3/MONDAY

The view from our window…

The boys really wanted to drive over the Golden Gate bridge, so we did that and then drove around Sausalito a bit…


Alcatraz…


We drove down the "crookedest street" in San Francisco.  You see this street quite a bit in movies.  It was fun to do, and a bit of a challenge in a minivan!

We walked Fisherman’s Wharf…

The boys, with Alcatraz in the background…

What’s San Francisco without a little revoultion?  We ran across a union hotel strike.  the boys were fascinated.

We had lunch at ‘The Franciscan’.  This place is incredible!  A definite highlight for us!

FOR LINDA…

After lunch, we took an electric car to Union Square and walked over to the Yerba Buena gardens…

This is a fountain/exhibit honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

You walk behind the waterfall.  Here is one of the pictures behind the falls.

The view from behind the falls.

A different fountain nearby…

DAY 4/TUESDAY

The boys taking a picture f the fountain in front of the Westin…

We drove to Newark and checked into the ‘W’ Hotel Silicon Valley.  The property had the outdoor heated pool we were looking for!  Because it was midweek, midday, we practically had the whole place to ourselves.


We drove through a neighborhood in Newark that had a small man-made lake that people could walk around.

DAY 5/WEDNESDAY

I unfortunately caught a bug and spent all day in bed.  The boys spent the whole day swimming.

DAY 6/THURSDAY

The ‘W’ has this "amenity" where you can drive an Acura for free.  They even pay for the gas!  So, we took the Acura on a day trip!  The car was decked out with a fantastic GPS system, and satellite radio.

We drove to Mt. Hermom, a Christian camp, and walked around the property and hiked their trails…

One one of the trails, there is a lovely setting nestled among the huge redwood trees, called "Meditation Chapel".  There is a bench that has a plaque honoring our own pastor’s father…

If you can see in the trees, a fabulous ropes course…the boys can’t wait until they are old enough to go on it!


We drove to Santa Cruz.  This is where we chose to scatter Grandpa Al’s ashes…

Santa Cruz has a boardwalk that runs along it.  It was all closed up and quiet.

Pelicans…

‘A’ had a blast in the waves.  He did not want it to end.  ‘R’ was happier playing in the tidepool and sand…

Read this sign closely…DEEP FRIED?!?

We then drove to meet up with my friend Mary, in Sunol, and her son ‘K’ (‘A’s age).  We hoped to play in a park, but it was so hot that my two boys wilted away immediately.  We settled for sitting outside a convenience store with a cold beverage, until it was time for us to return the car.

We dropped off the Acura and drove from Newark to Redding, stopping for dinner on the way.  We got to Redding at 11:30PM and checked into the Motel 6, (or as ‘R’ calls it  ‘6’; like  the ‘W’…)  All was well, until a HUGE fight woke DH and I up. All we knew was that there were alot of people involved and it was best we stay inside.  The boys slept through it all.

DAY 7/FRIDAY

We left Redding at 8:30AM and drove home, arriving home around 8:00PM.  We hit rush hour traffic in Portland, and Tacoma, but it wasn’t too bad.  Unfortunately, ‘A’ got sick and threw up three times in the car and two times at home.    Corn dog.  Not pretty.  He was fine the next day, though.

We had a terrific time and would do it again in a heartbeat.