A Road Trip from the Southwest to the Northwest

(you better have a drink and a snack-this will be a long post!)

Day one

As the RV pulled up in front of our house at 10:08 this morning the anticipation of what to come mounted. The kids squealed with delight as they saw there grandparents emerge from the “train.” The kids eagerly boarded our home on wheels as we packed the last few items for our ten day adventure. I anticipated a very long, tiring, and hopefully adventurous drive.  I packed a bag full of books, music, dvd’s, crayons, games, flashcards, stickers just for “drive time. I had another bin of toys for down time. I have to admit, I was not looking forward to the next couple of days, but I was hoping I was prepared enough for any situation and would be able to occupy my toddlers time well enough.

As the hours passed, I indeed used every trick in my hat and every goodie in my bag. We did it all, and they enjoyed there time and seemed to be having fun. I was too… I was able to just sit and give my children 100% of my attention. Play with them, read to them, laugh with them, cuddle them, just spend my hours with them. I loved it!

We drove as far as we could the first day, and ended up staying the night in Lone Pine, CA. 

Day 2.

I woke up to the anxious sound of “mommy?!?!” around 5:20am. Alexis seemed a little nervous of her new surrounds. Once I reassured her we were all there and safe, recovered her, she slept until 7:20am. At that time we got up and started to get ready for the day. Once the kids were dressed, Justin and Babu took them to the playground and to the continental breakfast (coffee and mini muffins).

In this picture, Alexis was sitting with Babu drinking coffee together. After each sip they would both say “ahhh.” Just recently Jeremiah was retelling this story. (and just now, as he saw the picture he said it again:)

 

We headed on our way to Yosemite National Park. This took a lot longer than we anticipated. We spent most of the day driving.

Mid morning, we stopped to let the kids experience snow for the second time. (first time, they were only 9mo old)

    

So this is snow, huh?

Oh look!

Over there..Jeremiah

Right there?!?!

“Oh, Shark in da wa wa!”

Every time Jeremiah saw any water, he would yell out that there were sharks in the water. At times he would even get scared and wouldn’t go near.

Alexis followed Babu with her hands in her pocket just like him.

A snowball fight in JUNE!

Back in the car… I had the kids “journal” about the snow. 

Our Father’s Day Lunch Stop 

Babu would put the kids on all the big rocks. Then they would jump to him. After a while, he decided to get on the big rock.

  

The kids tried to help him down.

They couldn’t reach him, so they gave up and walked away. Next thing I heard, was Alexis yelling and clapping “Yay! Babu get a down, mommy!!”

When we got back to the RV, Alexis could not stop talking about this incident… she has talked about it everyday since. Here is her story..

“Babu a rock, a big one, no reach babu. Yay! (clapping) Babu down”

Finally…. Yosemite Park!

We drove through the park and saw some waterfalls off to the side of the road. We did stop at the Bridalvail Waterfall, and walked up to where it hit the ground. We got WET! Jeremiah was not impressed nor did he like the loud noise. He had his ears covered and was crying to go bye bye. Alexis, was enjoying herself. She walked up holding my hand and then just watched the massive amount of water crash to the ground next to us and splash us. After our little hike, we loaded back into the RV and headed out of the park. Around 5:30 we stopped at a campground to stay the night located in Bridgeport CA. As the guys were setting up camp and Bibi was making dinner, I took the kids on a nature hike. We saw a turtle, butterflies, bunnies, two deer and a crow – all statues

Day Three

Another early morning… kids were up and eagerly ready to run at 7:45am. Soooo…we got up. Bibi had already made some waffles, the kids gobbled up 3 a piece! Then we were on the road again, on our way to Lake Tahoe. Mid-day we arrived in Carson City, and our long awaited monument was in sight… the Super Wal-Mart! I was in desperate need of a egg crate bed topper. I had spent two nights in agony on the bed made of bricks. Okay, it wasn’t really bricks but close enough. I have slept on floors that were better on my back than this top bunk in the motor home. Maybe I am just to accustomed to my memory foam mattress.

- Funny tidbit – Jeremiah got a mini magna-doodle that has dinosaurs on it, so he has been talking about “soya” a lot!

Around 3:30pm Alexis, Jeremiah, Justin & I, and my parents visited Lake Tahoe, this was the first visit here, by all of us.

The kids loved there I Lake Tahoe monkeys

We spent the night at the Sandy Beach Resort campground at Lake Tahoe.

Day Four

okay, so the picture below cracked me up… these people had obviously been here awhile, and planned on staying even longer. Let me take you on a tour…On the right is a tent, that looked to be a bedroom,straight ahead, behind the dining room table, is the kitchen tent, it includes a 19” TV, camp stove, sink, counter tops, and a mini refrigerator. The dining room table and umbrella had a lovely candle setting and table cloth. The tent to the left, I am uncertain of, but I think it is the family room,it was furnished with another TV and a dog door! Now what you can’t see-on one of the trees was a clock and thermometer, potted plants and wind socks aligning the makeshift fence that enclosed this living quarters. Now you may be thinking, I am one nosey chick, taking pictures of some families house. well, I got this picture from the comfort of the RV as we were parked by the dumping station. Yes, these people set up there home basically on top of the sewage tank!

This morning we drove from California to Nevada back to California only to return to Nevada and drove on to Oregon and into Idaho. (no, we didn’t get lost, going around the lake, took you this route) We arrived at our dear friends and Idaho Grandparents: Roy and Mary’s house around 10pm.

Not much other than driving happened today on our drive. One funny thing was that Jeremiah was sleep talking… well, fighting with his sister. He sat up screaming “ my monkey, my monkey, mine, mine, give me, my monkey” He was reaching out his hand and screaming hysterically almost throwing a fit because someone took his monkey. I tried waking him up to give it to him, but he was too out of it.

Day Five

Woke up in a real bed this morning.. wonderful! Then we were fed like royalty.. biscuits and gravy, home grown peaches, strawberries, grapes, orange juice, milk, and coffee.  Later in the afternoon, Justin, the kids and I  went on a little drive in the golf cart, we got to see lots of animals.

This picture made me laugh, because as I was standing there taking pictures of the horses, a little baby popped up out of the grass in front of me. He then neighed at his family who had left him. Then, he quickly ran back to his mommy!

None of the adult goats seemed to care that we stopped to look at them, but these two little babies were very curious and ran over to us, coming to the fence to talk to my little babies.  

Day 6

On our way to the campground, we drove next to Snake River.

Finally made it to the S.I.S.C.A. Campground… time to rest and relax for a few days!

 

     When it was time to leave, Alexis got very sad. As we were walking away from our group of friends, I told her we were going to go home now. She stopped dead in her tracks, looked back and said “no mommy” her bottom lip then started to quiver as she held back the tears. It was so sweet to see her this way, and yet so sad.

We drove for about 5 hours on Sunday night, then Monday we ended up driving all the way home. We got home around 3:30 in the morning. It was a wonderful trip, but I was ready to be home!