twelve days, 3000 plus miles and we have traveled our first official road trip! Destination forests, beaches and anything in between. Christmas done, tree down, kids with new toys we loaded the truck with our camping gear and set off on one heck of an adventure! A day early we departed to get in front of our first weather moment a winter storm to enter Utah and then into Colorado. We cruised out of town, dropped the pup at a friends, grabbed our first of hundreds Starbucks coffee stops and hit the road! We made it to some small town in Utah by midnight, got a cheap room while the snow began to fall and caught a nap.
Day 2: off by 7am....looking for coffee and something to fill our belly.Destination Zion National Park..We arrived in rain ....
First official national park arrival. The kids were stoked to get out and run around and it was BEAUTIFUL. Fresh falling snow began falling..the heavy, wet snow ball stuff that must be played in!
We loved this place and one day will return in the summer to truly get a better look as it was quite white and socked in!! We wandered on a trail to a water fall....
Our 3 silly kiddos full of excitement for the weather!!!
Boys waiting for snow to fall!~!! Little birds.....
Time flew and we headed on...the one thing we quickly realized about the difference between destination trips and road trips....there is always a time to visit and a time to go...sometimes we stretched this on with end as we had days not reservations. We drove a couple hours and arrived in INSANITY.....LAS VEGAS this was a shift from forests to CITY....we decided to stay at Circus Circus so the kids could experience a midway in the strip....Cedar never wanted to leave...
The family on night 2 at our hotel!!!
Plenty of games we played, many stuffed animals won and packed away in the truck. Circus acts seen, rides ridden and play for all!
DAY 3: A little more playing to be done in Vegas, some wandering on the strip to visit other hotels, and we were off again,...to Hoover Dam. WOW an amazing beautiful place again....and again we had places to go!!! We drove out of Hoover, made it to California for a night stay in hotel motivated to finally make it to the BEACH....
Sun shining, sun setting as we toured the hoover dam. We will remember the amazing views here and the crazy HUGE hot dog Orien ate!!!
Day 4: we MADE it to the 1!!!!! We were on the coast with a belly full of yummy lobster bisque and some local wine....ahhhhh it is a place to play...First stop spotting what we thought we sea lions and a couple miles farther down the road realized they were Elephant Seals..
There were hundred of the HUGE Elephant Seals..load, playful, lazy and so great to watch...this was a great New Years Eve day....ended with hot dogs around a campfire in Big Sur.
The kiddos all tucked in warm and cozy in Bug Sur ringing in the New Year!
Day 5: We awoke to the rain! Warm rain but non the less rain..we sipped champagne and ate hot dogs under our tap before we wandered into the red woods for the first time....We had the trail to our selves!!
We decided to head to Monterrey Bay for some dryer weather and aquarium visit. The drive there was my favorite on the entire trip...coastal beauty with a Rainbow for miles on end.
Cedar had a chance to take some pics of us! Truck and all ;)
In Monterrey we ate with sea otters, did some tide pooling, visited the aquarium and had our first official melt down in public!!!!! Figured that meant time to head back to a wet campsite and go to bed!
Our 3 loves cuddling in Monterrey Bay
Day 6: Leaving Big Sur after a yummy breakfast in a cute little Cabin Restaurant, smoked salmon and eggs! The family stopped along the drive to peak over cliffs and watch for whales...(non seen) and eventually take a off road to another great hike...
A hike that gave Truthy a break...on Mamas back. plenty more seal lions to be seen...and lush woods to tromp through.
Cedar and sleeping Truthy on the end of the hike. And that was that ...time to hit San Fransisco..Arrival fisherman's wharf, sushi for dinner..and long trolley ride to end the night
Day 7: San Fransisco...bus ride to a little crepe place on knob hill Jody read about and a cable car ride back to the hotel. The kids loves this city...with all the different transportation it was dreamy! We headed out hit the Golden Gate and drove into Muir Woods.
The Golden Gate...
Arrival Fairy Forest land..aka Muir Woods. A magical rain forest of some of the oldest Old Growth Red Wood Forests in the WORLD....They are truly unimaginable....We left Muir woods, headed into Sonoma for a wine tasting and great local pizza....and rested another night away before we would head into more Red woods...
Day 8: We woke and found ourselves in forests of tall, wide, green, lush, trees...and a few fun stopping points with tree houses and all
This was a One log house..super cute the story goes a man long ago wanted everyone across the country to have an idea just how huge these red woods were. He put this house with a kitchen, 2 beds and family room on a trailer and drove around showing it off!
This is one of the hundreds of BIG RED WOODS we hiked around...I believe this was the biggest in the old growth forest..The other one being over 370 feet tall had fallen years ago in the same forest...
The family tucked in a tree that had been in a fire...these smart trees have a 1 foot layer of bark that is fire proof ...After this great drive and hiking through 'The Avenue of Giants" the check engine came on the truck and there we were a bit nervous as to how the rest of the trip would go....with some luck we made it ti Eureka to find out we needed a new Transmission....with the truck gone for 3 days we rented a car, I freaked out a bit and we resorted to Arcata Cali on the beach to stay and play for a few days...
Day 9: We left Arcata and hiked down to agate beach. Finally we were on the water, digging in sand, collecting agates, and watch sea otters swim and waves rage...we had made it to the BEACH!!!
Cedar collected many crabs, agates, and found animal prints in the sand
And yes we were tourists,,,,we had to drive a car through a Red wood! Luckily we had a rental that could fit!! We had to go through 4 for the boys!
We found ourselves another beach...mind you we NEVER saw anyone else on any of these beaches...and if we did it was a surfer coming in from the waves.This was Heaven....tide pooling, rock caves and sneaky sea otter who got past us...but we found prints as we headed back to the trail.
Papa and Cedar tide pooling....
The boys in the cave with the Ocean....
We ended our beach trips with a sunset in Crescent City and a BIG dinner....
My Crab!!!!
Day 10: Truck still in the shop we headed back to Red Woods National Park to hike ....
Another insanely big tree.....
and a picnic on the beach..barefoot.....ahhhhhhhh
We were freeeeeeeee..ending with a great local brewery, a swim in the hotel pool and pizza in bed!
Day 11: The Truck ready, One more beach visited we drove...to Reno. slept woke and drove another 16 hours to finish up 12 days.
Back home, laundry in the machine, kids playing with Christmas presents that seem new, and life to re-adjust to. Memories for miles, we cant wait to our next adventure!
First official national park arrival. The kids were stoked to get out and run around and it was BEAUTIFUL. Fresh falling snow began falling..the heavy, wet snow ball stuff that must be played in!
We were freeeeeeeee..ending with a great local brewery, a swim in the hotel pool and pizza in bed!