Made a quick SmileBox for the grandparents today, with a few photos from our August camping trip to Lopez with Sieglinde, Vicki, Laly and Tori. :-)

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Wednesday, July 18: Home again at last

[Stacia] - We packed up in off-and-on drizzle this morning, which continued throughout the drive. Welcome back to the Pacific Northwest! :-) After temps in the 90's for much of our trip, we were glad for cooler, if wetter, weather.

We took a bypass freeway around Portland, on a tip from the AAA trip guide. So we crossed the Columbia River on a bridge I'd never taken before. We were all on the lookout for that "Entering Washington" sign and finally, there it was! Tynor took a quick break from his Gameboy to snap a photo for posterity.



We stopped for lunch at a rainy rest stop just north of the state border. There were covered picnic tables but it wasn't clear if they would actually keep the rain off us while we made and ate our sandwiches. So I set up shop with our backpack of bread, utensils and plates and our cooler of food on the bench outside the restrooms. Lots of comments from people coming and going: "Is that sandwich for me?" "How much for a pbj?" I told one guy $50 for a ham-and-cheese and he said it'd almost be worth it so he didn't have to make another stop. :-) He settled for the free coffee and cookies offered nearby.

By the time I got all the sandwiches made and other food parceled out, I almost wished we'd stopped one last time at McD's. But I just couldn't stomach another meal there, especially after our experience in Northern California. So at least the food was good, if time-consuming and inconvenient (life is full of trade-offs, right?)

Back in the car for the last big push: through Olympia, Tacoma, and then back up good ol' I-405 bypassing Seattle and Lake Washington and onward home. We arrived back at the ranch in the mid to late afternoon and it didn't feel at all like we'd been gone for 2 1/2 weeks. It's nearly the same amount of work to unpack after a three-day camping trip as an adventure as long as we'd been on. But the exhaustion factor kicked in shortly and I knew we'd been gone a LONG time. A worthy trip with lots of fabulous memories...but incredibly good to be back too.

Home sweet home.

Tuesday, July 17: Champoeg State Park, Oregon

[Stacia] - We traversed nearly the whole state of Oregon today, climbing through the mountain pass by Ashland and then down and on through the central corridor. This state park, Champoeg, is nearly at Portland so we'll have a relatively short trip home tomorrow. That was part of the plan!

Despite the many miles, we made good time today and arrived well before dark. Hooray! Tynor says this is the "perfect" state park - maybe because we have hookups once again? :-) He says he can tell we're back in Oregon again, too. Just a step up from the California state parks we stayed at.

We set up the popup with the canopy since it was actually a little drizzly (for the first time on this trip), and by dinnertime, we were glad to have the shelter. We started off having dinner at the picnic table but the little guys finished up eating at the folding table under shelter. Cory was a big help with the dishes!

Tynor got a fire going early on so we could have one last round of S'Mores for this trip. The fire survived the drizzle and small bouts of rain, and everyone was happy to have a final yummy treat before we called it a night.

We dragged our boots and raingear all the way down the coast and back up, and finally got to use them!

We saw these rental campers all over on our trip. I had no idea that the idea of rental campers had seized the public imagination so deeply. Most of them were this CruiseAmerica company, but there were a couple of other oddballs that we came across as well. I'm sure it's nice to just get the camper for when you need it, but I don't think I'd like being a driving advertisement for the company the whole time we were out.

Tomorrow we head for Washington and HOME!

Monday, July 16: Castle Crags State Park, Lake Shasta

[Tynor] Last night in sunny (and very hot) California. A quick stay in Oregon and we will be home at last. The site here has a really big drop off down to where the picnic table is along with a fire place. They are really nervous about bears, so they give us a bear-proof box that all of our food is supposed to go. It took a while to get it down there and back, but it saved us the trouble off having to buy new rations!

[Stacia] This campground is so different from last night! This morning we were on the edge of a blue lake, with dry, bare, brown hills all around and a few little scraggly trees at the campsites. Now we’re in rocky, mountainous bear country with Ponderosa pines and craggy peaks. We can’t see the crags the park is named for from the campsites, but we saw them off the freeway as we arrived and they’re amazing. That’s one thing that is really hard about staying just one night at each campground and having to pack up and head off straight away in the morning is that we don’t have a chance to explore and enjoy each spot. But we’ve gotten to see a lot of different campgrounds at least, so we know which ones we might like to come back to.

The campground was nearly empty so we drove around to see which site might work best. We ended up choosing the one that the park ranger recommended when we arrived since most of the other sites had tiny short car spots that we couldn’t fit the popup and car into, or really steep slopes that we couldn’t get up – or both. It was still a challenge to get the popup backed into place, since I had to back up a steep hill in the loop, then swing the popup into a narrow driveway. The van’s transmission was not very happy about it all, but eventually we managed - without driving either popup or van off the drop-off Tynor mentioned above either (!).

We spent quite awhile gathering all the food from the car and various compartments in the popup to pack them into the bear-proof cupboard down by the fireplace and table. Amazing all the places that you end up stashing food when kids can be hungry for snacks or lunch at any time on the road. If I’d known we’d need to pack up for bears, I would have made sure to have sealed Tupperwares to keep other critters out of the food while it was all in the cupboard. But for the one night, I didn’t see much mice or other nibbling on anything – or ants either (!).

This is also mosquito country and everyone got bit multiple times, despite applying Deep Woods Cutter the minute we arrived and staying inside the popup for most of the evening. This is our first round with biting critters on the trip, though, so it's hard to complain too much. It's interesting the different bugs in each location. Ants at San Onofre, flies at San Luis Reservoir (everywhere, despite the pervasive gusty winds). Niall the scientist finds it fascinating. We naturally end up bringing some of the animals with us as we head north, but fortunately not too many survive the whole day's drive, especially with our strong discouragement. Many a fly was shooed out the window on the freeway - amazing how many ended up in the car.

Our lunch stop today was in Sacramento. As I've mentinoed, one of the challenges on this trip is figuring out spots to stop and eat, if I just can't take another fast food joint. We pack lunch makings in the cooler, which we can get to by opening the tent trailer side door. But there aren't any handy rest stop available in the urban areas, nevermind in just the right place. So I have to look for another likely roadside spot where we can park (with the tent trailer, an added complication), stretch our legs, hopefully have some shade, and maybe even find a bathroom so we don't have to make yet another stop. We've gotten pretty lucky so far.

Today we were driving through Sacramento and overdue for our first break of the day, which would be lunch, running around, and bathroom break combined. I saw a sign for "Park Zoo" and took the exit, not having any idea how far the Park Zoo might be. Fortunately, it was just a mile or so from the freeway, another lovely grassy park with lots of big trees. There was also a "Play Zone" there - a small amusement park - but fortunately, only Tynor and I spotted that as we drove by and we proceeded to another part of the park to stop for our lunch. After sandwiches, we set off in search of a bathroom and found one nearby, adjacent to a public golf course. Lucky again! It's really hit and miss, finding these spots - kind of exciting and scary at the same time. The kids really need to eat, so I have to find something, somehow, and being in a totally unfamiliar place, flying by at freeway speeds, it's tough.

In addition to learning about how hard it is to find family-friendly break spots (unless you're in rest stop territory on the freeway), we've also become well acquainted with big trucks on this trip. Cars towing trailers have to travel at truck speeds (55 MPH on most roads), so I spend a lot of time barely passing a truck only to have it pass me again a little later. Or slowly passing a line of trucks, then passing them all again after we'd stopped for gas or a rest stop break. Sometimes one follows behind me, apparently deciding I've chosen the right pace for the road. I employ the cruise control most of the time, to spare my driving leg but also just to make sure my speed doesn't creep up and up.

One of the hardest parts about towing (aside from having to find double parking spots everywhere) is climbing, and even worse, descending the mountain passes. The van takes to shuddering pretty seriously if I brake hard at all going down a steep incline, so I've been taking them slow and trying to brake intermittently to hold off the shudder. I don't know if the braking system with the trailer is working correctly and that's just what you need to do with a trailer, or if it needs overhauling. Since my instinctive technique has been getting us by, I'm hoping I'm doing the right thing. But I will definitely be asking my popup forum folks (and my dad :-) about the officially correct way to drive these hills after we get back.

Did I mention that Cory, bless his heart, has napped just about every day on the road for the whole trip? Very helpful!

Sunday, July 15: San Luis Reservoir, near Gilroy

[Tynor] Hook ups! That was the name of our night at San Luis Reservoir. We enjoyed our night with the luxuries that we are supposed to have (water, electricity, AND propane). But getting there wasn’t as easy. We went to the wrong campsite, but someone that was there told us where to go. Then we found the right spot.
[Stacia] Wind! They weren’t kidding when they said tents weren’t recommended for this campground. Wow, was it windy. It was about 95 degrees and blowing with what felt like gale force when we finally arrived at the right San Luis campground with the coveted hookups. The first one we drove in to was tucked away in the hills and had hot showers but no electricity/water at the sites. This one (where I had the reservation) is right on the reservoir and has the hookups, but only drop toilets. I guess they figure people who camp here generally have RVs or 5th wheels, to survive the wind. I can understand why. The popup shook in the wind for hours last night. For once we didn’t have a party going on next door, but the wind kept waking me up as the canvas walls flapped and the whole popup shuddered. Yikes!

Fortunately after our late arrival, the boys were all so tired they went right to sleep. It was so warm when we went to bed, we didn’t want covers. But it cooled off dramatically by the wee hours of the morning and I was up unrolling sleeping bags and tucking in more blankets on kiddos so we could all stay warm.

By morning, the wind had died way down, thankfully. We could sit outside without everything immediately blowing away. It was cooler until the sun came up and then the temperature began a steep climb back to the 90’s. As Tynor and I packed up the popup, Cory happily played with the water spigot and got soaked. Any and all water felt great in those temps! Tynor and Niall joined in at the end, so everyone had a quick change of clothes before we hit the road for another day of driving.

On our way up from San Diego, we hit horrible traffic in San Clemente as I mentioned (yet another accident - they sure are prevalent in the LA area) and had only gotten to Burbank by the time we were pushing the limits for a lunch break. I finally just picked an exit where I could see signs for a big mall (yes, desperate at that point), found a gas station just off the exit and filled up the car. Then started driving in search of the mall - and within a few blocks, spotted a big park next to the road. Yippee! Shade, grass, drinking fountains, open space for running around. Felt like I hit the jackpot. :-) It was hot as blazes but not half bad under the trees. Still, after our usual deli sandwiches and some running around, it felt good to get back into the car with the air conditioning.

Later, as dinner hour arrived and we were still on the road, we stopped at McDonald’s in some little town off I-5 for dinner - a not-uncommon event on this trip. Not my favorite (especially after this trip!) but sometimes predictable food that everyone can eat and that you can find at nearly any exit is what you need to get by until the next campground. Unfortunately, this place didn’t have the “predictable” part down very well. Halfway through my cheeseburger, Tynor pointed out that it was rather pink inside. Yech! I took it back and they made me a new one – which was just as pink in the middle. And I noticed that Cory’s plain hamburger (which he’d eaten most of) was also pink. Unbelievable, since these hamburgers weren’t the quarter-pounders – just the regular tiny burgers. How much grill power does it take to cook 1/8 inch burger all the way through?? Especially when someone points out that whatever you’re using isn’t enough.

I marched back to the counter with the undercooked burgers, told them that I wasn’t interested in trying again but just wanted my money back and the information required to report them to McD’s corporate office. They were slightly concerned that I was upset but NOT that the burgers were pink, and who knows how many others that night were as well. Didn’t seem the least alarmed that they were violating the health code – repeatedly. Oh, well. I was tired and probably more freaked out that I should have been. But really, contracting E. Coli (for me or Cory) would NOT be a great way to spend the next few days on the road.

With picking the wrong campground (in the dark, with minimal signage off a busy highway mind you), and then having to backtrack, go to the right one, and drive all the way in to the sites, we didn’t even start setting up until after 9:30 p.m. At least it was warm, and everyone had already eaten, so spirits were generally good. Some of our other later-evening arrivals haven’t been quite so cheerful (Harris Beach comes to mind). But we’re getting pretty quick at setup now, so that helps too.

Saturday, July 14: Legoland, Day 2

[Tynor] Another exhausting day at Legoland. We mostly went on the same rides but some of them were new to us. The Dragon was new for mom and so was the Safari Zone. We also stopped at “The Big Store” to buy some souvenirs. Niall bought an “Exo-force” Lego creation thing-ma-bob. I got a “Royal Guard” (from Star Wars) keychain and a Bionicle. Once again, we were all tired at the end of the day.

[Stacia] - I got to ride on the infamous Dragon roller coaster with Niall – fun! I didn’t realize that the whole first part, the cars weave through a chamber with all kinds of cool Lego creations: goblets, jewels, and finally, the Dragon himself. Then you go out through a door and climb the track for the fast run portion.

We played on the enormous climber again, and had another round or two of driving school.

We also stumbled across a nursery rhyme boat ride where the boats float along a canal past various characters (e.g. Little Red Riding Hood) in kind of snapshots from the storylines. You board the boats from a slowly turning circle, so the boats keep slowly going by and you climb in. Everyone really liked it, which was surprising considering how simple it was. But it was fun to float along in the boat. We all fit into one boat, more or less. Tynor and I sat in the back on the first round and decided that was a mistake! There was no line, so we just stayed in the boat to go around again but Tynor and Cory swapped seats (surreptitiously) so we’d be a bit more balanced.

The shows were a big hit again. We went back and saw the whole fire fighting show this time. And Niall announced that he wanted to get chosen to get “locked up” in the pirate show. Wouldn’t you know it, he stood up, raised his hand, and he was one of the five kids picked!

Another area we discovered near the end of the day: the huge Duplos play area. There’s also a musical/fountains/water play are next to it that Niall especially enjoyed. The fountain has different instruments playing the same music, and as you dance in front of the sensors along the side, the instrument in front of you plays the music. So if lots of people dance, there’s lots of different music. If you’re there doing it yourself, just your instrument plays. Niall danced and played there for maybe 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, Cory was thrilled to find the Duplos play area, complete with tons of Duplos to play with – build and create, wash, stack, sort, etc. – and various big-scale versions of Duplo play pieces: police car, motorcycle, fire house, helicopter, etc. There was also a maze, and even a small Duplo-like train that went around and around a little track.

Niall and I went on the train after he finally tired of the music fountain, and I tried to entice Cory to join us but he was too busy playing in the rest of the Duplos area. Later, as I was tracking the kids in various places, I realized that Cory had been up in the “attic” of a house for a very long time. Turns out there was a slide out the other side that I didn’t know about – and he had slid down, walked over to the train ride, and gotten on all by himself! I looked over, and there he was contentedly riding on this train, without a care in the world. Talk about independent! ;-)

More ants awaited us when we got back to the campground, and we finally just raised the support leg that they were using for a highway to the popup. They were marching right across the Ajax we had put down, about two inches wide. I guess once they know there’s something they want, they will go across unpleasant stuff to get to it. So the key is PREVENTION! We’ll know better next time.

The off-duty army partiers were so enthusiastic that I drove up to the ranger station at the entrance and asked them to do something, so we could get some sleep. The initial response was “Well, what exactly do you mean by ‘cranking their music’?” Umm…I mean that I could hear it clearly in the bathroom stalls several blocks away – nevermind next door to the site! They hemmed and hawed and looked at the clock (it was 9:45, so I guess they technically still had 15 minutes to be completely obnoxious to everyone around them?), and finally said they’d send someone over if they hadn’t quieted down by 10. Eventually someone did show up and had a little chat with them, and they settled down a bit. But I’m glad to be leaving after this night. Tomorrow we pack up and head northward toward home!

Friday, July 13(!): Legoland at last!

[Tynor] Today we finally got to Legoland! On the way there, there was a car that was turned upside down! Here is a list of some rides that we went on (ratings out of 5 stars):
· The Dragon(*****)
· Coastaurus(****1/2)
· Safari Zone(***1/2)

We were very tired when we got back.

[Stacia] – At last, we arrive at Legoland! We had a *wonderful* time, all of us. Glad we’ll have two days, because this first day we kind of flitted from one thing to the next, checking things out. Good to know we can come back and enjoy our favorites again tomorrow.

Our first stop was the Volvo driving course, since I figured that would be the first to develop long lines. I didn’t realize that there was a driving course that Cory could go on too, just for 3-5 year olds.

So while Tynor and Niall drove the big course, Cory and I headed next door to the single-lap course for preschoolers. He and another boy were the only ones driving that first time (a singular experience – every other visit to the track, there were relatively long lines). Cory did just great! He figured out how to push on the “gas” pedal, and he paid attention to steering most of the time. Except when he turned to watch the other boy, when he stopped moving – whoops, almost hit the side that time! He was so serious – totally focused on the experience, steering around the track, moving forward.

There are two attendants who help the kids, and normally they are running the whole time to get traffic jams un-jammed, help kids who have hit the center or the side to get backed out and going again. This first time, Cory and the other boy practically had their own personal attendants, but they didn’t need them much, with the whole course to themselves.

When Cory finished and got his little “license” card (he was thrilled about that), we went back to the main driving course, and Niall and Tynor were just heading out in their cars. So we got to see them drive, and waved and cheered for them as they navigated the much bigger course. Their course included lanes, stop signs, and lots of different “roads” they could travel, not just a single lap course. Great fun!

Next we rode the helicopters (you can go up and down, and turn one way or the other) and then the sky-ride/pedal thing (Sky Rider?). Cory couldn’t reach the pedals so we just enjoyed the ride – quite a view from up there. Tynor and Niall, in front of us, pedaled madly the whole time (and got there just as quickly ;-). T & N also rode on a pulley-system ride (that Cory was too small for). It was fun for the boys to actually go on the rides that they'd played with in the Lego computer game.

The biggest hit of the day for Niall and Tynor was the Dragon rollercoaster. Niall has never been on a rollercoaster before and was convinced he would love it (just on general principle, I guess). I looked up at the roaring cars, swooshing and circling by, and remembered our little adventure on the Banana Split at Gilroy Gardens. He was sure he would love that too, but was a whole lot less sure five seconds after it started. But off he and Tynor went anyway, while Cory and I waited below where we could see the initial climb of the coaster and the first curves and drops. I could see them (or Tynor at least) as they zoomed by, but naturally couldn’t tell whether Mr. N was terrified or thrilled or what. But they came out of the “castle” exit, and Niall was beaming from ear to ear – he’s hooked! Still, we all forwent the chance to ride on the tall coaster that looked a whole lot scarier. Tynor would have gone on it with me, but…we couldn’t exactly leave Niall to watch Cory.

The rest of the day in a nutshell: we lunched right next to a pirate show, which Niall and Tynor went back to watch all the way through later. Quite slapstick and loads of fun, including a part where they take volunteer kids from the audience and “lock” them up in a prisoner wagon – where they have the best view in the house for the rest of the show. :-)

Later we watched a lively hoot of a fire safety and "training" song-and-dance show, starring some bumbling “volunteer firefighters." Cory was mesmerized the entire time – just loved it.

Another hit was a huge climbing area with nets, slides, tunnels, and more.

Then it was soooo hot, we headed for a big water play area and got some relief from the blazing heat. Cory didn’t want to go in the water, but I splashed some on him anyway (which he didn’t mind). I wished I'd brought my bathing suit or at least my sandals, so I could get properly soaked! But made due with getting tangentially wet by hugging my soaking kids. :-)

We finally left just a few minutes before closing. Whew, long day of fun and play but everyone held up remarkably well.

Unfortunately, we arrived back at camp to find a huge ANT INVASION! Sigh. Fortunately, I got everyone fed and Cory to sleep before I noticed the little marchers, but then Niall was up way too late as I tracked down the invaders’ route, mopped and wiped with rags, and generally cleaned up. Of course, Niall was delighted to point out fresh lines of ants I hadn’t yet spotted – didn’t bother him at all that they were crawling all over the place. Tynor was a lot less excited…shall we say… Creepy crawlies don’t thrill him.

And then as I finally got that mess basically under control, and Niall was read to and tucked in…the off-duty soldiers who had been setting up camp next door kicked their party into full gear. Can we not catch a break here??!!! I’ve never spent so many nights of camping trying to sleep with people whooping it up inches from my pillow.