Our next journey lead us to the 49er rv park in historic Columbia, CA. While it’s a bit nerve wracking getting through part of the town to the campsite (GPS was wrong!), once we arrived the staff helped us back into our spot. I have to say it was my easiest back up ever with their help. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to explore the historic part of Columbia. We did, however, drive an hour to visit Yosemite. 

  One thing I have learned is that this is one busy park. Long line to get into the park then it took us 30 minutes of driving around to get a parking space. It was daunting but we enjoyed the information Center. Brian and Sean enjoyed shopping (for once). They both purchased hydration backpacks. 

  We were very happy that we didn’t go on a weekend where you often wait 2 hours just to get in the park! Due to constant driving I wasn’t able to take very many pictures on my phone, thankfully my mom was able to use my cameraI.  I will upload more when I am finally home. 

We also had a day of rest. Mom and I managed to get appointments to get our hair done and  afterwards we spent some time at a local farmers market and then ate at the diamondback grill. Afterwards we headed back to the rig to do some laundry and cleaning.

Next up Redwoods!

Take care y’all 

   After visiting some “absolutely massive” sequoias (per Sean ), we headed back to the coast. We stayed several days at a quiet and peaceful KOA campground Costanoa. 

Mom and I walked 25 minutes down to the beach. It was stunning with waves pounding against rocks and tons of pelicans. We will add pictures at the end of the trip. The main downfall to this campground is the intermittent wifi. In order to get a more consistent signal you needed to get closer to the general store. 

 We spent the next several days touring San Francisco which was only an hour from the campground.     

     Our first day we drove down to the piers and walked 1.4 miles to pier 39. We ate at hard rock (Nana’s favorite – lol) and then shopped a bit on the busy pier. Occasionally we sat on benches outside the busy stores. The boys were thrilled to see Alcatraz and the golden gate Bridge.  

    
 Day two involved visiting the Burlingame museum of PEZ memorabilia. We all enjoyed stopping to get a picture with the largest PEZ dispenser and having a personalized tour of the museum (back room of the small store). 

Next we traveled back into San Francisco to visit the mosaic steps before we took a quick drive down the famous Lombard Street. 

We finally hopped onto the 2.5 hr Big Bus Tour of San Francisco  where Sean was a little smooshed until the second stop which was really the beginning of the tour. The highlight of the tour was driving over the golden gate Bridge. 

    On our last day, the boys decided to stay in the rv and I left provisions they could heat up in the microwave for dinner. Mom and I went back to San Francisco to shop Fishermans Wharf and ride the cable cars. 

Our next trip will be to see Yosemite. 

Take care y’all 

  
After receiving some lovely flowers from my mom’s best friend from childhood (not to mention some delicious homemade cookies), we drove away from sunny 70 degree weather inland to sunny 90 degree weather. 

 We stayed at a KOA in Visalia which is only an hour from the Sequoia National Park. Not longer after entering the park we passed tunnel rock that people used to drive under many years ago. 

   
   
There were several pull overs so we could take pictures on our way. I will add additional pictures later. We visited the General Sherman tree which is over 2,200 year old. Sean was very impressed with how huge it was. He reminded us that we need to stay on the path to protect their fragile root systems. 

Sean is having problems with one of his tennis shoes. I think he has outgrown them. Hopefully we will find a place that has shoes he can wear for the remainder of the trip. I have keeps that he can wear but we like tennis shoes due to all the walking we do. 

Take care y’all 

  Camp San Luis Obisipo (slo) is our next stop for two nights. Mom has a great friend who lives 15 minutes away and has offered to show us a beach area we can take Babe to see what she thinks of the beach. 

While she enjoyed the trip next to Brian (see photo above) she did NOT like the ocean!   She had no idea what to do about the strange water that kept coming towards her. We took pity on her and sat on a bench while the boys played on the near by playset. 

   
 
After playing we drove into Morro Bay and ate lunch. It’s amazing how when you ask if a restaurant has plain burgers they always say yes, but they are always different and my kids won’t eat them. 

Next we head off inland toward the sequoias. 

Take care y’all 

July 7

There is just something about Disney that is just like coming home for us. We know what to expect and are rarely surprised, and when we are it’s a good thing. Pat decided to get a tour guide for today and we met him, Aaron, at the Grand Californian Hotel. 

  We first went to California Adventures. Our first ride was in Radiator Springs. I could have sat there all day just looking at the buildings. You can see Aaron sitting behind me on the ride. He was like the energizer bunny, he kept us going all day. 

  We road space mountain to see how it was different from the FL version. We did skip the Matterhorn (pictured above). I was dragging at this point. 
  
Brian invited Aaron on the teacup ride since I was in the bathroom. He graciously accepted and he kept the kids laughing the entire time. If you decide to get a tour guide for Disneyland, he is definitely the one you want.  

We did over 24k steps according to my fitbit. Over 10k more steps than at Universal. Thankfully for our last night, our cousins came over to the rv and we picked up five guys to eat for dinner. Their kids and my kids ended up playing smash brothers on the Wii. Kat and Rachel rocked it out and played to win!  Someone has to beat Sean, Brian and I haven’t been able to!  

Carol told Brian about how they used to make late night Krispy Kreme donut runs and after taking Lee home they came back and picked him up for some just cousins sugar splurging. 

I really do have the best cousins! They both opened their homes to all of us. 

Take care y’all 

July 6th

  Today was our VIP tour at Universal Studios.  We braved LA traffic and arrived 15 minutes early. The first part of our tour was a 2 hour backlog tour on a tram.   

We went through 2 “rides” while on the tram. The first one was dinosaurs vs King Kong. Which wasn’t bad. The second one was fast and furious which just opened a week ago and I could have lived without. However, part of that could be due to hunger. 

We did finally get to stop and eat. I had asked earlier about our lunch buffet and I was told there was fries and pizza and loads of other food.  I have to say that the guides version of loads of foods and mine are different. No pizza. Both boys just ate fries and had some cookies for desert.  They won’t eat sushi, seafood, meatballs, salad, pasta salad. I did not stay on plan with my food. I ended up taking a roll and putting some deli turkey on it in addition to my salad. 

  We get to see where they were constructing Harry Potter. If you are looking for roller coasters, universal is not where you want to go. We did enjoy going on a few attractions but I don’t think we will be going back to this park. 

We made a very quick stop by the Observatory so I could get a picture of the Hollywood wood sign then we headed back to the rv with our tuckered out kids. 
  Take care y’all 

Knottsberry Farm that is. I haven’t been here in 30 years and it has definitely changed. We had the pleasure of my soul-sister cousin Sarah to guide us throughout the park. She took us to all the best rides and made sure we ate where the best burgers are. 

  
Sarah and I both love animals and reading!  I used to always carry a book with me everywhere I went. I still have some of my favorite books from my childhood stashed in my house (they are my precious ). Now I carry a kindle so I never run out of books to read. 

 The boys went on Knott’s version of the tea cups and Sarah graciously went with them. I usually go on but my head was pounding (realized later I was dehydrated).  We also took a genuine stage coach ride which I have never done before!  

  Afterwards we all met back at my cousins and had grilled burgers and some delicious pies. 

Take care y’all 

We moved an hour down the road to Anaheim. Unfortunately it took way more than an hour to get there. Fortunately it was for a good cause. 

  
Sean loves Strawberries! This is the look he gives you when you ask him if he is going to share the strawberries you just spent 40 minutes helping him pick. We stopped at Carlsbad Strawberry Company where I used to go and buy strawberries each time I visited my grandparents. Sean talked about how awesome it was the entire time and talked about how awesome it was to pick your own and then eat them. 

 Just before we got to the strawberry place, I noticed I was dragging something behind my rv. We hadn’t hooked up the jeep as we weren’t sure we could get into the parking area to pick Strawberries.( which it turns out we couldn’t ).  Turns out I was dragging my tow bar. More on this later. 

The best part of today (July 2) is that we met Pat in Anaheim. He flew out to spend 6 days with us. Brian is especially thrilled as Pat will help take him to all the airsoft stores in the area. He has Christmas and Birthday money burning a hole in his pocket. 

The second best part was visiting my other cousin, Carol, and her family. I love my cousins and all their kids. I am so glad we got together often. My sons and husband never once dragged their feet to go (which says a lot).  

  We spent most of the 3rd running around Anaheim. We had to find a rv or towing supply store to get a new tow bar. They didn’t have one in stock but sent a driver to get one from a distributor. While we waited we went to fry’s.  Picture Best Buy and MicroCenter combined in a Costco sized warehouse and you know what it’s like. It’s Nerdvana!

  
We also had lunch at a CA institution. I think so many people hyped it up to us that when we were disappointed we weren’t surprised. 

  After picking up my new tow bar, we headed to Airsoft GI then Evike looking at tons and tons of items until Brian spent all his money. Then we finally dragged him away and we spent the rest of the night relaxing while Brian organized his stash. 

 Saturday (4th) we slept in late then went out to Golf-n-Stuff. We played putt putt, drove s-l-o-w bumper cars, fast go carts (steering wasn’t very good) and raced around in bumper boats. Afterwards the kids cooled off with slushies and played a few games in their arcade. I believe this is the night our cousins visited us in our rv. 

Did I mention my cousins rock? Just saying they totally rock!

Take care y’all 

I have a cousin, Cheryl, who lives in San Diego with her husband and she generously offered to host dinner for us. It was a lovely treat after driving almost 12 hours. 

  
Brian’s favorite part of visiting my cousin is that she we watching a super sweet set of dogs that he fell in love with. He has been begging for a lap size dog ever since. 

  We had issues with scheduling campgrounds due to the 4th of July and unfortunately only had two nights at Del Mar Beach on Camp Pendleton. We loved watching the soldiers roll through the campground. They often run through the campground or next to the campground on the beach at 5:30 AM!  Luckily we all found it easy to fall back asleep. 

My Aunt Margie thoughtfully volunteered to take my mom down to Fort Rose Crans where my grandparents remains are interred. They also stopped by my mom’s favorite hotel in Coronado. Every time she visited her parents in San Diego she would visit. She had a day remembering fond memories. 

  While my mom was out, the boys and I took a walk on the beach. After getting a bit wetter than they planned, we headed to the playground. It was over an hour of playing outside which is rare for Sean.  

  After playing (the boys) and cleaning (me) we headed back to my cousins where she served smores she made in an oven. Her husband found the recipe and it was great. I managed to only have this small portion which was just enough. 

Thanks again Cousin not only for the great food and good times but also allowing Babe to come over and have a larger space to hang out in.

Take care y’all 

  Whew. You want to talk about heat! We drove through Death Valley today. Originally it was a 6 hour trip. However, driving a 40ft rv while towing our grand cherokee turned it into an 11.5 hour trip. I am so glad that we left early. I didn’t realize the amount of mountains we would drive up. 

  I also didn’t realize how hot brakes would get going downhill. We actually had to pull over while they cooled down.  I miscalculated the amount of steep grades and will try to post some pictures later that may give you an idea of how steep it is. 

  We ended our dad at Del Mar Beach on Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, VA.  We will stay here for a short time and will get to visit my cousin. 

Take care y’all