Let's just put it this way....we had a lot of fun in Oregon visiting with Joanna's family. They are great people and fun to be with. We had some great home cooked meals and relaxed as much as possible.
The journey home was long and arduous and then some, but the scenery, at least while we were still in Oregon and Northern California, was beautiful. Taking the 101 Highway south to the town of Reedsport and heading east on the 38, you get to follow the beautiful Umpqua River (Umpqua, Umpqua, dibidy do. I've got another riddle for you). The river is just on the other side of the road and it's magnificent as it cuts through the mountains along with the highway.
Just east of Reedsport is an area that is known as an Elk Reserve. It's a special place where elk roam free in their natural environment without people really getting in the way. The state has even set up small picnic areas within a small stretch of land to allow people the chance to sit and watch the elk frolic in the meadow. It was still semi early as we passed this section of the state, but that didn't mean we didn't get to see any elk. In fact, we saw dozens, but they weren't grazing. They were actually all lying down enjoying the crisp morning air.
As we finished looking at the elk, we got a close up look at a deer. Joanna (who was driving at the time) noticed something in the middle of the road and she slowed down. As she did, we realized it was a deer. No one was behind us, so we were okay to stop, but the deer stayed in the road for a minute. It definitely thought about trying to take us down, but it was a small doe, and probably wouldn't have done much damage to the SUV we were in (though we would have been without a vehicle). After a few moments, the deer went on her merry way and we were able to continue driving the Umpqua River.
Mount Shasta is the last beautiful site you get to see on Interstate 5 before you get into what most people think California looks like. Mount Shasta, itself, is a sight to behold and it only gets bigger in your window the closer you get to it. There was snow at the top of the mountain and almost half way down. It was unbelievable, though it's probably not a mountain that I'm going to ever hike or ski down or anything like that. That's a mountain that's better to look at.
Several hours later, as we were approaching Sacramento, and our eventual destination, Elk Grove, CA., Abby decided that she no longer wanted to be stuck in her car seat. Can you blame her? The drive had been about eleven hours. And yes, we would take her out for feeding and a little walking, but she would not have any of it. We made it to our hotel with a whimpering baby and took her out as quickly as possible, which made her very happy. We walked to the Mimi's Restaurant on the other side of the parking lot and had a good dinner. A quick breakfast in the morning and we were off again on the remainder of our road trip.
A neighbor of ours suggested we take Highway 99 south to the 5 rather than take I5 all the way. This was because he had experienced the difficulty of the barren, desolate land that is the I5 with kids and needing to stop. However, on Highway 99, there is a town or city just about every fifteen to thirty minutes. This allowed us to stop at places that were a little more populated and less scary.
Our fun times were over, however, as we just wanted to get home. We stopped a couple of times for food for ourselves and for Abby and made it home without any real difficulty. We wanted to take a nap, but it just wasn't possible right away as we had to get everything out of the SUV so we could take it back the next day.
Joanna was sad to say goodbye to the SUV. She really enjoyed driving it and I think that the Toyota Highlander could end up being the SUV of choice when we finally decide to get a new car.
We had a great trip with lots of fun with family and friends. It's too bad that it's over. I think we're wishing we could take another vacation already. But, for the most part, that's our big vacation for the year and so, too, the end of this blog. For now. We'll go other places, I'm sure and you'll know about it.
Until next time.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Day Five - Cheesy and Humble
Waking up in Eureka wasn't that difficult since we have a baby that likes to wake us up. We had a lot of glorious plans to venture into the close by areas in order to find locales that had been mentioned to us as points of interest.
A colleague at work told me about the Loleta Cheese Factory, and since both Joanna and I love to eat cheese, we just had to go. The very small town of Loleta lies about twenty minutes south of Eureka, but it was worth the trip. It was raining as we drove, but by the time we got there it was merely a sprinkle.
The Loleta Cheese Factory is no more than a small building that actually does house a cheese making factory that you can watch through a few windows. You can ask questions of the sales people regarding the cheese and there are about fifty samples of their cheese.
Let me tell you, I love cheese, but there were some really interesting combinations. Such as cheese and salmon (which I did not try), cheese and salami (which I did try, but was not impressed), chipoltle jack cheese (which I did not try) and even Havarti Dill (which Joanna loved).
It's a quaint store and you can even buy their products online. We managed to buy small packages of cheese because we already had crackers. It became a wonderful snack on our next day's journey up the California and Oregon coasts.
After the shot time in the cheese factory (like I said, it was small), we headed back up the 101 to our next destination - Humboldt State University. The school sits about twenty minutes north of Eureka. After exiting, we discovered the school is immediately off of the freeway. The portion that we could see was phenomenal. It turns out that they are in the process of adding new dormitories and they look very nice. As we drove around the campus, we started to realize why they needed more dorms - there were very few that we could see and most of those were at the complete north end of the campus, a good distance (and several hills) away from classrooms.
The campus offers a quick tour and with no students left to gawk at, we were able to zoom around the corners and not worry about hitting anyone or anything. Kidding.
Our tour over, we headed to our next stop - The Samoa Cookhouse. However, by the time we got there, having heard some fun things about the place, it looked like a dump. No offense to those people that have been there and enjoyed it, but for us, it didn't look like it would be a fun place to eat lunch. Therefore, we decided to move on to yet another destination on our morning adventure.
Joanna wanted to see Historic Downtown Eureka. Unfortunately, it seemed that Historic Eureka wasn't all that special after all. There were a few neat looking Victorian Houses, and a few old book stores, but that was about it. Granted, it was nice to walk around Historic Eureka because it just looked neat, but there wasn't really a whole lot to look at. But we were still hungry. And when we're hungry, we want to eat, naturally.
Our first attempt at food was a cafe that sold bagels. However, when we entered, we realized it was not going to be our cup of tea. This was in fact a bagel shop that fused the flavors of Mexican and Jewish foods. Not that I'm against either, but the options were not something that sounded anywhere close to tasty.
We needed another option, so we used an app on my phone to look for nearby restaurants. Not much luck, though, but we did see one that was labeled, Lost City Brewery. I'm a guy that likes to drink beer on occasion and local beers are that much better to try. Walking into the brewery, it seemed like a distinct difference from what downtown Eureka was just outside the door. It was a party atmosphere and it seemed like it was the only place for people to actually go.
We ordered food and, obviously, I ordered a beer. Looking over their menu, I decided on a Raspberry Brown Ale. Don't think that I don't like "real" beer, but there was something about the concept of fruit and beer mixed together, so I decided to try it. It was really good and I was pleased with my choice. Lunch was also well done and the atmosphere made the rest of our time at the brewery worthwhile.
With lunch over and Abby deciding to wake up, we headed back to our car and then the hotel. Of course, it was still early in the day and we had nothing else planned. So what does one do when that happens? Rest and relax, which is something that we don't get to do too often at home, so it was definitely worth it.
A colleague at work told me about the Loleta Cheese Factory, and since both Joanna and I love to eat cheese, we just had to go. The very small town of Loleta lies about twenty minutes south of Eureka, but it was worth the trip. It was raining as we drove, but by the time we got there it was merely a sprinkle.
The Loleta Cheese Factory is no more than a small building that actually does house a cheese making factory that you can watch through a few windows. You can ask questions of the sales people regarding the cheese and there are about fifty samples of their cheese.
Let me tell you, I love cheese, but there were some really interesting combinations. Such as cheese and salmon (which I did not try), cheese and salami (which I did try, but was not impressed), chipoltle jack cheese (which I did not try) and even Havarti Dill (which Joanna loved).
It's a quaint store and you can even buy their products online. We managed to buy small packages of cheese because we already had crackers. It became a wonderful snack on our next day's journey up the California and Oregon coasts.
After the shot time in the cheese factory (like I said, it was small), we headed back up the 101 to our next destination - Humboldt State University. The school sits about twenty minutes north of Eureka. After exiting, we discovered the school is immediately off of the freeway. The portion that we could see was phenomenal. It turns out that they are in the process of adding new dormitories and they look very nice. As we drove around the campus, we started to realize why they needed more dorms - there were very few that we could see and most of those were at the complete north end of the campus, a good distance (and several hills) away from classrooms.
The campus offers a quick tour and with no students left to gawk at, we were able to zoom around the corners and not worry about hitting anyone or anything. Kidding.
Our tour over, we headed to our next stop - The Samoa Cookhouse. However, by the time we got there, having heard some fun things about the place, it looked like a dump. No offense to those people that have been there and enjoyed it, but for us, it didn't look like it would be a fun place to eat lunch. Therefore, we decided to move on to yet another destination on our morning adventure.
Joanna wanted to see Historic Downtown Eureka. Unfortunately, it seemed that Historic Eureka wasn't all that special after all. There were a few neat looking Victorian Houses, and a few old book stores, but that was about it. Granted, it was nice to walk around Historic Eureka because it just looked neat, but there wasn't really a whole lot to look at. But we were still hungry. And when we're hungry, we want to eat, naturally.
Our first attempt at food was a cafe that sold bagels. However, when we entered, we realized it was not going to be our cup of tea. This was in fact a bagel shop that fused the flavors of Mexican and Jewish foods. Not that I'm against either, but the options were not something that sounded anywhere close to tasty.
We needed another option, so we used an app on my phone to look for nearby restaurants. Not much luck, though, but we did see one that was labeled, Lost City Brewery. I'm a guy that likes to drink beer on occasion and local beers are that much better to try. Walking into the brewery, it seemed like a distinct difference from what downtown Eureka was just outside the door. It was a party atmosphere and it seemed like it was the only place for people to actually go.
We ordered food and, obviously, I ordered a beer. Looking over their menu, I decided on a Raspberry Brown Ale. Don't think that I don't like "real" beer, but there was something about the concept of fruit and beer mixed together, so I decided to try it. It was really good and I was pleased with my choice. Lunch was also well done and the atmosphere made the rest of our time at the brewery worthwhile.
With lunch over and Abby deciding to wake up, we headed back to our car and then the hotel. Of course, it was still early in the day and we had nothing else planned. So what does one do when that happens? Rest and relax, which is something that we don't get to do too often at home, so it was definitely worth it.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Day Four Part 2 - Do You Want A Jelly Belly, Bambi?
Another portion of the drive that has been crazy is the fact that there have been a lot of deer on the side of the road. As of this writing (and we're already at our destination), we ended up seeing six deer and one elk on the side of the road. There's something about seeing a peaceful meadow and a deer or elk on the side of the road. It's tranquil and brings me a sense of calming.
It's not something that a person from Southern California sees all that often, unless they happen to venture to Northern California or Oregon. At least, if there are places in Southern California that there are deer, please let me know. If not, keep on reading.
Since I am home, I can tell you that we ended up seeing several more deer along the way and even some elk (more about them in a later post).
The drive, while scenic, was still long and eventually, we made our way to Eureka. For those of you that have never been, you're not missing much. For those of you that have, I'm sorry. Though, one thing we did find in Eureka - well, Abby really found it - was a friend.
We stayed at a Best Western in Eureka (honestly, the nicest hotel in the city) and as I was walking in to join Joanna in the lobby, I carried Abby past another car with a baby girl in it. The two little girls eyed each other and stared and smiled. I thought that was it. It turned out, they, too were staying at the Best Western.
Well, the kicker to the story is that there is a Marie Callender's on the property and we just had to have some pie. Upon entering the restaurant, who do we see? The family with the little girl that was staring at Abby. And what does she do? She starts over toward our table, much to her mother's dismay, wishing the child to "leave them alone so they can eat". She was a cute little girl that eventually was allowed to come stare at Abby further and when she was taken away, she merely escaped her mother's clutches and headed back toward us. It was comical, really, to constantly see this little girl making a beeline toward our table just to look at Abby. The little girl, whose name I never got, even blew kisses at us as she was finally dragged from the premises by armed police for disturbing the peace. Or maybe it was just her mom.
It's not something that a person from Southern California sees all that often, unless they happen to venture to Northern California or Oregon. At least, if there are places in Southern California that there are deer, please let me know. If not, keep on reading.
Since I am home, I can tell you that we ended up seeing several more deer along the way and even some elk (more about them in a later post).
The drive, while scenic, was still long and eventually, we made our way to Eureka. For those of you that have never been, you're not missing much. For those of you that have, I'm sorry. Though, one thing we did find in Eureka - well, Abby really found it - was a friend.
We stayed at a Best Western in Eureka (honestly, the nicest hotel in the city) and as I was walking in to join Joanna in the lobby, I carried Abby past another car with a baby girl in it. The two little girls eyed each other and stared and smiled. I thought that was it. It turned out, they, too were staying at the Best Western.
Well, the kicker to the story is that there is a Marie Callender's on the property and we just had to have some pie. Upon entering the restaurant, who do we see? The family with the little girl that was staring at Abby. And what does she do? She starts over toward our table, much to her mother's dismay, wishing the child to "leave them alone so they can eat". She was a cute little girl that eventually was allowed to come stare at Abby further and when she was taken away, she merely escaped her mother's clutches and headed back toward us. It was comical, really, to constantly see this little girl making a beeline toward our table just to look at Abby. The little girl, whose name I never got, even blew kisses at us as she was finally dragged from the premises by armed police for disturbing the peace. Or maybe it was just her mom.
Day Four - We're Not in Rancho Anymore, Abby
Before I get started on continuing this blog, I want to address the fact that I am several days overdue on each entry. When you have a young child, as we do, you take advantage of those times that she is sleeping. This also includes not typing, since I can be quite loud, though that is because I am typing rather quickly. Thus, I have been unable to keep the wonderful blog properly updated.
However, we have returned home now and I am free to type as fast and as loudly as possible because Abby is not sleeping three feet away from me. And now back to the regularly scheduled blog post.
**
One thing that we have noticed is that Abby likes to look out the window if she's not sleeping. And we finally figured out why. She has no clue what she's looking at - trees.
Yes, here in Northern California there are miles and miles of trees and wineries and green grass, all of which Abby doesn't get to see on a very consistent basis. So we'll look back there and Abby will be looking at the scenery. Either that or she's staring out the window and thinking, "are we there yet?"
Our SUV took us to Fairfield to where the Jelly Belly factory is located and we decided that we at least needed to stop. We also realized it was not worth the time it would take for a tour (the tour lasts 45 minutes, but there was a line of people waiting to start a tour, which would have taken another thirty to forty minutes of waiting alone). And since we had a scheduled rendesvous with Charles Schulz's memories, we tossed the tour aside and simply raided the candy store.
Once completely "jellied", we headed back onto the road for Santa Rosa, California. But before we could get there, we had to head through wine country. The scenery is spectacular and some of the homes and estates in the Napa Valley were amazing. If you have the opportunity, you should visit. Joanna and I are not avid wine drinkers, but it would be really fun to come to the Napa Valley and simply stay at one of the many hotels and resorts that we saw along the way.
As for the aforementioned Charles Schulz Museum....Santa Rosa is the town that Charles Schulz lived in during the last thirty years of his life and it was a place that he held a lot of pride for. He built an ice rink with a cafe and later, after his passing, a museum and gallery were added near that property so that everyone would be able to enjoy.
We had a lot of fun wandering through "Sparky's" little neck of the woods and seeing some of the original sketches of the Peanuts gang was really cool. I recommend taking a trip there if you have the time and enjoy the Peanuts like I do.
However, we have returned home now and I am free to type as fast and as loudly as possible because Abby is not sleeping three feet away from me. And now back to the regularly scheduled blog post.
**
One thing that we have noticed is that Abby likes to look out the window if she's not sleeping. And we finally figured out why. She has no clue what she's looking at - trees.
Yes, here in Northern California there are miles and miles of trees and wineries and green grass, all of which Abby doesn't get to see on a very consistent basis. So we'll look back there and Abby will be looking at the scenery. Either that or she's staring out the window and thinking, "are we there yet?"
Our SUV took us to Fairfield to where the Jelly Belly factory is located and we decided that we at least needed to stop. We also realized it was not worth the time it would take for a tour (the tour lasts 45 minutes, but there was a line of people waiting to start a tour, which would have taken another thirty to forty minutes of waiting alone). And since we had a scheduled rendesvous with Charles Schulz's memories, we tossed the tour aside and simply raided the candy store.
Once completely "jellied", we headed back onto the road for Santa Rosa, California. But before we could get there, we had to head through wine country. The scenery is spectacular and some of the homes and estates in the Napa Valley were amazing. If you have the opportunity, you should visit. Joanna and I are not avid wine drinkers, but it would be really fun to come to the Napa Valley and simply stay at one of the many hotels and resorts that we saw along the way.
As for the aforementioned Charles Schulz Museum....Santa Rosa is the town that Charles Schulz lived in during the last thirty years of his life and it was a place that he held a lot of pride for. He built an ice rink with a cafe and later, after his passing, a museum and gallery were added near that property so that everyone would be able to enjoy.
We had a lot of fun wandering through "Sparky's" little neck of the woods and seeing some of the original sketches of the Peanuts gang was really cool. I recommend taking a trip there if you have the time and enjoy the Peanuts like I do.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Day Three - I Am A Sap and I'm Not Afraid To Admit It
Okay, the impetus (oooh SAT word) for this roadtrip was a wedding for the sister of Joanna's former college roommate. We saw Kati and met Nate the night before (read previous post about dinner) and they seemed like a very happy couple.
Saturday was a rainy day and though it seemed to dash all hopes of getting out and adventuring around the area. Even the fact that there were several things that could be accomplished inside, we chose to stay close to the hotel and relax. And before you say that we should have found something to do, let's just say that getting Joanna to relax is not always the easiest thing to do, so staying in is a great thing. We napped. We watched television and even caught up with some of our television shows by watching the episodes online.
Later in the afternoon, we sloshed through the pouring rain to the Catholic church where the ceremony would be taking place. Most Holy Trinity Parish in Cameron Park sits atop a hill with a view of the entire valley. It was a beautiful ceremony and the priest had some nice comments to make to the couple. But the evening wasn't over yet. We still had a party to attend.
The reception was held at a country club that also overlooked the valley. Except that when we were there, the rain covered the valley and therefore we couldn't see much. The reception was just like any other reception that you've been to as far as content, though the location and the decorations made the event even that more wonderful. And Nate, being a firefighter, chose to cut the cake using a handaxe. It was such a beautiful event that when the bride and groom finished their dance, the sunlight decided to peek through. It was as if God was looking down on them and saying, "That's nice, let's bathe them in light."
But it wasn't until the standard father-daughter dance that I felt a twinge that gave me the title for this blog post.
The song chosen was My Little Girl, by Tim McGraw. If you go out and look up the lyrics, you'll find that they are very special words, not just to the bride and her father, but also to me. I stood there, looking down at Abby sleeping in her carrier and was reading the words to the song. And I just couldn't help but think about that day long in the future where I'm going to be giving Abby away at her wedding and dancing a dance with my little girl. I can admit that I was a bit teary eyed and wondered exactly what that day was like. I mean, it's not for several more years from now and yet, it's something that I have a feeling I'll think about every time I'm at a wedding and I see the father daughter dance.
Saturday was a rainy day and though it seemed to dash all hopes of getting out and adventuring around the area. Even the fact that there were several things that could be accomplished inside, we chose to stay close to the hotel and relax. And before you say that we should have found something to do, let's just say that getting Joanna to relax is not always the easiest thing to do, so staying in is a great thing. We napped. We watched television and even caught up with some of our television shows by watching the episodes online.
Later in the afternoon, we sloshed through the pouring rain to the Catholic church where the ceremony would be taking place. Most Holy Trinity Parish in Cameron Park sits atop a hill with a view of the entire valley. It was a beautiful ceremony and the priest had some nice comments to make to the couple. But the evening wasn't over yet. We still had a party to attend.
The reception was held at a country club that also overlooked the valley. Except that when we were there, the rain covered the valley and therefore we couldn't see much. The reception was just like any other reception that you've been to as far as content, though the location and the decorations made the event even that more wonderful. And Nate, being a firefighter, chose to cut the cake using a handaxe. It was such a beautiful event that when the bride and groom finished their dance, the sunlight decided to peek through. It was as if God was looking down on them and saying, "That's nice, let's bathe them in light."
But it wasn't until the standard father-daughter dance that I felt a twinge that gave me the title for this blog post.
The song chosen was My Little Girl, by Tim McGraw. If you go out and look up the lyrics, you'll find that they are very special words, not just to the bride and her father, but also to me. I stood there, looking down at Abby sleeping in her carrier and was reading the words to the song. And I just couldn't help but think about that day long in the future where I'm going to be giving Abby away at her wedding and dancing a dance with my little girl. I can admit that I was a bit teary eyed and wondered exactly what that day was like. I mean, it's not for several more years from now and yet, it's something that I have a feeling I'll think about every time I'm at a wedding and I see the father daughter dance.
Day Two - Squeezing Inn
Day two began with sleeping in until 6. And that was after getting up every 30 minutes or so to tend to Abby because she kept waking up.
After topping off the tank of our rental SUV (a Toyota highlander, of which, we are very pleased), we headed back onto the freeway through the desolate, boring landscape that is the five freeway.
A friend of Joanna's told us about a restaurant in Sacramento, called the Squeeze Inn. We Googled it (as everyone does with something they don't know because the Internet tells the truth. Right?). It turns out that Guy Fieri had been to this place and talked about it on Diners Drive Ins and Dives.
Remind me to tell you about Guy Fieri later.
We got to the Squeeze Inn and noticed that the line was outside the door. Did we want to wait? Joanna stepped in and looked around. It was packed but her assessment was that the food looked good. We took a chance and waited. And waited. And waited. Thirty minutes later, we finally got our food.
It was so worth waiting thirty minutes.
After taking what seemed like forever to eat the meal (and we even split the burger and a small order of fries), we started back on our way to our next destination. The fries we managed to keep eating until we arrived in Folsom, CA. We took a scenic trip through a neighborhood in Folsom that was filled with several large estates. Each of these homes were three stories or more with five and six car garages. And these had a lot of property. One of the homes that we saw had to have at least an acre and a half of space after the house was built on top of the land. Crazy. And the sad part, the homes and the land are worth half of what they are worth in Southern California. Then again, if you had to live in someplace where it was cold, rainy and windy all the time, that would bring home prices down.
We got lucky and contacted some friends of ours that wanted to meet for dinner and ice cream - which was convenient because the hotel's location was smack dab in the middle of a shopping center. It was fun to see our friends whom we hadn't seen in a while and catch up with them. It reminded us that we need to talk to them just a little bit more often.
After topping off the tank of our rental SUV (a Toyota highlander, of which, we are very pleased), we headed back onto the freeway through the desolate, boring landscape that is the five freeway.
A friend of Joanna's told us about a restaurant in Sacramento, called the Squeeze Inn. We Googled it (as everyone does with something they don't know because the Internet tells the truth. Right?). It turns out that Guy Fieri had been to this place and talked about it on Diners Drive Ins and Dives.
Remind me to tell you about Guy Fieri later.
We got to the Squeeze Inn and noticed that the line was outside the door. Did we want to wait? Joanna stepped in and looked around. It was packed but her assessment was that the food looked good. We took a chance and waited. And waited. And waited. Thirty minutes later, we finally got our food.
It was so worth waiting thirty minutes.
After taking what seemed like forever to eat the meal (and we even split the burger and a small order of fries), we started back on our way to our next destination. The fries we managed to keep eating until we arrived in Folsom, CA. We took a scenic trip through a neighborhood in Folsom that was filled with several large estates. Each of these homes were three stories or more with five and six car garages. And these had a lot of property. One of the homes that we saw had to have at least an acre and a half of space after the house was built on top of the land. Crazy. And the sad part, the homes and the land are worth half of what they are worth in Southern California. Then again, if you had to live in someplace where it was cold, rainy and windy all the time, that would bring home prices down.
We got lucky and contacted some friends of ours that wanted to meet for dinner and ice cream - which was convenient because the hotel's location was smack dab in the middle of a shopping center. It was fun to see our friends whom we hadn't seen in a while and catch up with them. It reminded us that we need to talk to them just a little bit more often.
Day One - We Heard Her Through the Grapevine
The great roadtrip of 2011 got underway on Thursday. We snuck out of work early enough because we wanted a head start on our journey.
For those of you that have ever been on a driving trip up the five freeway, you will know that there is not much to talk about and yet, with a baby, it seems as if there is always something to say.
As the title suggests, Abby decided that she wanted to start talking while we were going through the area of the five known as the Grapevine - that stretch of freeway that goes up and up and up into pure scenic beauty and then drops you off into the barren, desolate nothing that is central California - no offense to anyone who lives there, unless they live on Bakersfield or Fresno. Just kidding.
Anyway, the only respite on this freeway is in Coalinga - keep your minds out of the gutter. And for those frequent visitors to this blog, you will know that we have stopped there before.
Harris Ranch, where you get to pick the cow you want to have for dinner. Kidding. It would be cool, but the cows aren't actually on the property. Now, this time, we actually decided to stay the night - remember, this is the first leg of our journey.
After checking in, and Abby trying out the cowhide chair, we headed over to the restaurant to have some good food. We would have saved some, but without a fridge in the room, it wasn't worth it.
Abby didn't sleep well since she had slept quite a bit during the day, but we managed a couple of hours of sleep and prepared for the next leg of the trip.
For those of you that have ever been on a driving trip up the five freeway, you will know that there is not much to talk about and yet, with a baby, it seems as if there is always something to say.
As the title suggests, Abby decided that she wanted to start talking while we were going through the area of the five known as the Grapevine - that stretch of freeway that goes up and up and up into pure scenic beauty and then drops you off into the barren, desolate nothing that is central California - no offense to anyone who lives there, unless they live on Bakersfield or Fresno. Just kidding.
Anyway, the only respite on this freeway is in Coalinga - keep your minds out of the gutter. And for those frequent visitors to this blog, you will know that we have stopped there before.
Harris Ranch, where you get to pick the cow you want to have for dinner. Kidding. It would be cool, but the cows aren't actually on the property. Now, this time, we actually decided to stay the night - remember, this is the first leg of our journey.
After checking in, and Abby trying out the cowhide chair, we headed over to the restaurant to have some good food. We would have saved some, but without a fridge in the room, it wasn't worth it.
Abby didn't sleep well since she had slept quite a bit during the day, but we managed a couple of hours of sleep and prepared for the next leg of the trip.
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