San Francisco!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we were able to go into San Francisco to see the sights.  On Saturday we drove in, and stopped first at the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was a beautiful day, and we had wonderful views.  It also meant that everyone else was out!  We lucked out and found someone pulling out of a parking spot that no one else was waiting for.   Great picture, huh?

We had a map that had a 49 mile rout on it, which we followed to some extent.  Unfortunately I wasn't thinking about routing, and had the stops mixed up a bit.  We wound up trying to go to many of the spots in reverse order, which would have been fine, except that there are a lot a one way streets that we were trying to go the wrong way on!  Oh well, we had a nice drive around anyway.

On Sunday we walked to the Larkspur Ferry, about a mile from the campground, and took it in to the city.  it was a great ride, and took about an hour to get there.   It was nice inside, but we were only able to get a table for 4.  Ryan really didn't want his picture taken!

We walked from the Ferry building down to  Pier 39, where all the touristy shops are, to do a bit of shopping.   We also looked at the sea lions, and had some lunch.  It was another beautiful day.

On the walk back from the ferry, the kids had fun waving to the cars.  They even got a few beeps from the drivers.

On Monday I traveled up to Guerneville, about 60 miles northwest of where we were staying, to do some onsite training at two of our properties, West Sonoma Inn, and Applewood Inn.  While I was there Mario had some alone time with the kids, and they played a great game of Monopoly.

Over the following weekend we took a break from the RV and stayed at the Hyatt in Santa Clara.  It was great to not have to go anywhere with all the rain we've been having.  We really lucked out in that it hasn't affected us too much.  The one crimp it did put in our plans is that we had planned to stay this week at New Brighton State Beach, near Santa Cruz.  They had had quite a bit of rain, and there were a lot of trees that had come down, so the campground was closed.  We moved on to another small town, Watsonville, and are now staying at Pinto Lake Park, which is a town park.  It's a pretty park with a lake, playground, and a ball field.  Next weekend we're going to visit Monterey.

The Redwoods

On November 17th we made our way to California's Redwood forest.  On our last cross country trip in 2008 we went to Sequoia National Park, which is home to the largest tree by mass, the General Sherman Tree.  It was enormous, 45 feet across at the base and still growing.  It adds about another large tree in width every year.  The Redwoods are home to the tallest trees, some reaching over 300 feet. We stayed in the park, and had a fabulous campsite with some old growth trees in it. 

 Driving through the groves makes you feel really small!  We had some great photo opportunities, and Ryan found a great use for the panoramic photo option on his new Ipod!  This was Stout Grove, named for an explorer by the name of Stout, but the trees seemed pretty stout to me too!

We found another great spot for photo ops...

I love this one, I think it's going to be our album cover!

Apparently this is where they filmed Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - this was the Ewoks' home.





All the kids had a great time climbing and exploring.  Ryan really liked this action shot
       
 

Our time in the Redwoods was short-lived, though, not long after this photo the rain started and didn't stop for three days.  We wound up leaving the park early to try to escape the rain.  We found ourselves arriving in San Francisco a few days early, but at least we escaped the rain!

Seattle then Portland (again!)

On November 10th we left Lakebay to go to Seattle.  Mario, Ryan, and Michael stopped at the American Automobile Museum and had a great time looking at all the cars.

Genny, Jason, and I went to the King Tut exhibit.  It was really cool to see all the things they found with him. Apparently since he died so young, he wasn't very well known in his time, which is why thieves didn't rob his tomb as much as the other Pharaohs.  We spent about an hour and a half going through it...well worth the price of admission!

On Sunday, we robbed our own piggy bank and got tickets to the Seahawks game.  It was a bit chilly, but we bundled ourselves up, and enjoyed the game.

It was a good game (the Seahawks beat the Jets 28-7 - sorry Josh), and we were plenty warm.  We wound up parking across the street from the stadium, and getting there and back was relatively painless.

On Monday we left the Seattle area for Portland, Oregon.  Tuesday was Michael's birthday and he had asked to go out to an Italian restaurant.  We decided to back to Portland to go to this little Italian place that Mario and I had tried (and loved!) when we were in Portland in October.  It's called Abella Italian Kitchen in Wilsonville, and if you're ever in the area, we highly recommend it.  Mario and I even went back there for dinner on Friday!  You can find them online at www.abellaitaliankitchen.com.

We left Portland on Saturday, the 17th to go to the Redwoods.  It was rainy, but still beautiful.   I'll post about that tomorrow, with lots more pictures!  Sorry for the lack of them today!

Lakebay

On Monday, November 5th we boarded the plane to head back to reality, ie northwest Washington.  I think we all wanted to to stay a bit longer, except for Mario who was feeling a bit warm since the humidity had picked up.  

Karl, Robert, and Mario

While in Lakebay, I had the opportunity to have lunch with a college friend of mine, Becky.  It was really great to see her.  On Wednesday, Mario's brother Karl joined us.  We took advantage of the cool nights to have a few bonfires, which of course led to some photo opportunities.

We also had dinner with Mario's nieces, Sam and Keri, Sam's two boys, and her husband.  It was great to see them all grown up!!

Sam, Brandon, Sean, and Devon

Genny and Sean

Jason and Sean

On Saturday we left Lakebay for Seattle, Mario, Ryan, and Michael heading to the Car Museum, and Genny, Jason and I to the Pacific Science Museum for the King Tut Exhibit.  More on those tomorrow...

On to Kona

On Wednesday the 31st, we said goodbye to Mom at the airport in Kauai, and got on a flight to Kona, on the Big Island.  We had a short layover in Honolulu, but the trip was a short one.  

 We were at the condo by 4pm and had some time to relax and stock the fridge before dinner.  We stayed in  a 2 bedroom oceanfront condo with a loft at the Outrigger Kanaloa at Kona resort.  It was wonderful, and I would definitely go back.  Below is the view from our lanai (balcony), which is where Mario, Michael, and I worked for the week.

On Thursday Genny and I went on a snorkeling trip.  It left from a bay that was just a short walk away.  We had a great time, saw lots of fish, and even a couple of schools of dolphins!  The catamaran had two 15' slides that you could go down and drop about 25' into the water.  Genny really liked that, but we were both a bit too uneasy to jump off the platform that was about 40' from the water.  There were a bunch of other kids there, who obviously didn't understand how scary it was!!  They kept doing back flips off the platform...crazy kids!

We went to a Luau on Friday evening at a hotel that was close by.  They roasted a pig underground, and we got to watch the ceremony of them unearthing it.  Very cool.    

 After dinner was the show, and I guess the amount they must have to rehearse the hula dancing is plenty to keep their abs in great shape! I wonder if there's a hula class in Pennsylvania??

On Saturday we took a drive around the island.  It was an all day trip, covering more than 200 miles.  We started with a trip to one of the many Kona coffee factories.  Then continued south to a black sand beach.  

Our next stop was to the top of Kilauea volcano!  It was really cool to see the steam pouring out.  Apparently at night it glows red, a reflection of the magma that was too far down for us to see.  While in Volcanoes National Park we also got to walk through a lava tube.  This is where the lava flows when it's coming down the mountain.  As the outside begins to cool, the hot lave still inside continues to flow out, leaving just the shell.  It was a bit eerie walking through it!Then on to the Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm, now owned by Hershey.  They had a Do It Yourself walk around tour to see the process of claiming, cleaning, and packaging the nuts.  Apparently the shells are so hard, they used to drive over them to break them open!  This is where we found the Macadamia Kisses!  Only available in Hawaii...too bad, I'm almost out!

 On Sunday, our last day, we took a little time to do a little more boogie boarding.  This was White Sands Beach, a great little spot with the bluest water, and some great surf.   Michael, Genny, and I had a lot of fun.  Unfortunately now our Hawaii trip had come to an end.  It was really sad leaving, I think we all would have loved a few more weeks (!).  I think I may a found a spot worth moving to. 

Hawaii - Kauai!!

We left for Kauai on October 24th, a nonstop flight from Seattle.  

 Mom had also flown in for the week, and we met her at the airport on Kauai.  We spent a week in Princeville, on the north side of the island, in a three bedroom townhouse.  The location was great, we were just a short drive to Anini Beach to the east, and Hanalei Bay to the west.  Anini is good for snorkeling and is a very calm beach, Hanalei Bay has waves for novice boogie boarders and surfers.   I did some snorkeling wih Genny and Jason at Anini, and were saw sea turles!

At Anini Beach

While we were playing in the ocean at Anini, Mario and Micheal went on a hiking trip down the Napali Coast on the Kalalau Trail.  A rather grueling 11 mile trek (each way) to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  Check it out at : http://www.kalalautrail.com/

 The tsunami warnings came at about 8pm on the Saturday night that they were up on the trail.  With no cell reception, and no park services at the end, I spent an anxious few hours hoping they got word to get to higher ground.  The wave was meant to hit at 10:28pm, but there didn't really seem to be much.  At around 10:45 the news was reporting about a one foot change in sea level.  I stayed up till almost midnight, but still no significant change, I figured the worst case would be that their tents got wet.  It was great to hear Mario's call that afternoon around 2:30 telling me they were ready to be picked up.

On Monday and Tuesday we went to Hanalei Bay, a quaint little town with a beautiful beach.  The kids and I really enjoyed the boogie boarding and body surfing.

Hanalei Bay

A very nice gentleman there with his two boys (ages 8 &10), asked if Michael would like to try surfing.  He must have let Michael take 7 or 8 runs, giving him tips on what to do and when.  Finally on the 5th or 6th time, Michael was able to get to his feet.  I think he's found a new hobby!  Too bad we don't live in Hawaii, yet  :-)

Going back in time- Portland Oct 10th

So I'm plagiarizing a bit from Mario's Office of the Week, but I want to get caught up, and also keep a record of where we've been.  If you've already seen some of these, sorry, I'm going to try to put some new photos in too. 

We spent the week of October 10th just south of Portland, Oregon.  While we were there I found a great mall with  a Tesla dealership.  Tesla's are all electric cars, very sleek, but rather expensive.  Michael tells me the 2014 will be all wheel drive, so I think that might be my next car!. Oh, and it can seat 7 people (two in the back!!)

  
The inside of the Tesla features an IPad-ish touchscreen display instead of thore old-fashioned buttons!

A very excited Ryan gets an iPod 5.   A contract (written by him) was worked out where it is contingent upon a minimum 88% grade point and an Eagle project (and yes there is a timeline). 

Lunch at the food truck block in Portland (yum).

On the 16th we went up to Kent, WA (outside of Seattle) to spend a few days before going to Mario's brother's house.   On Saturday we spent the day in downtown at REI (where we spent WAY too much!), and at Pikes Place Market.

Vancouver

On Thursday, I took Genny, Jason, and Michael into Vancouver to visit the science museum there. It was a fabulous place, full of hands on activities. We got there around 1:30 to find out that they closed at 4. They enjoyed every minute, and I was threatening to leave them overnight, because I couldn't get them to go! Mario and Ryan were running around the city visiting hotels, so we took the "Skytrain" - the local rapid transit that was an easy way to get from where we were staying to where we wanted to go.

They had so much fun at the museum, that when we went back into Vancouver for the day on Saturday, it was our first stop. We spent another 2 hours there, and I think we probably could have stayed a few more, but we wanted to see more of the city and get some lunch.

We took the "Seabus" - the continuation of the train across the harbor, to Lonsdale Quay, in North Vancouver. They had a nice market there, with a food court for lunch. After the trip back across the bay, we made a stop at the Spy Store (nope, didn't find any spies there!), we headed back to the RV.

 

Today is Sunday, and we are now back in the US for the remainder of our trip. It seems a bit bizarre; we've logged over 8,000 miles out of the expected 14,000, in only three of our ten months! So I guess now we get to slow down the pace.