Day 30

We were up early again today to hike but today we had a special visitor! I was excited to see my cousin Chris that I hadn't seen in about 6 years and the kids were excited to see his two dogs! He is known in our family as Little Chris since he is 10 years younger than my brother, Big Chris - both Chris Bloombergs. He told the kids it was his rapper name which of course they thought was hilarious.

The kids all thought the dogs were adorable and the dogs definitely enjoyed the attention. I was too busy petting and getting licked to even get a picture!

The dogs were secured in the cars since they aren't allowed on most trails here and we were off. It's strange to me to be able to leave them in a car in the summer but it was only 65 degrees and they were parked in the shade too. I could get used to this weather!

The trail to Marymere Falls was only about a mile so Chris and I were able to catch up while the kids listened intently. They are always wanting to hear stories of family or of when Big Chris and I were younger.

Before we knew it we were standing at the falls! The trail was busy with it being so short and easy, but the falls were lovely.

At one of the overlooks we were excited to spot a Dipper bird. The only reason we noticed him was because he appeared to be dancing on a rock near the river. This bird can actually dive underwater for food. We'd learned about this guy in the park's movie and got to watch him dip in and out of the water first hand. 

Once we made it back to the car we decided to hike an area we knew dogs to join us. A few years back a dam was removed which ended up washing out a road so it is closed to vehicle traffic. Lucky for us it now allows dogs!

There were many signs warning limited parking and ability for turnaround so Grammie decided to go back to her campground and ride with us. Lola wasn't thrilled with having to compete with two other dogs!

Our first trail was to Madison Falls just one-tenth of a mile long. Little Chris's dogs Biscuit and Walter were thrilled to be out on the trail wanting to smell and climb everything! Lola was a bit more cautious trying to figure out who these additions to our group were.

Next we decided on a trail that looked to be about 3-4 miles and were hoping we could break the rules and little and let the dogs off leash. There were rangers at the falls trail but once we were out of their eyesight we took leashes off and the dogs figured out how to get along. Walter and Biscuit were curious about Lola but they basically showed her they didn't care and were more interested in running and exploring so she joined in. The kids enjoyed leading the way with Walter and Biscuit!

This hike was pretty steep in places so I knew this would be it for Grammie. We decided on an early dinner at her campground. Little Chris decided to head on to Cape Flattery that we'd visited the day before so we said our goodbyes and were hopeful they could join us again soon.

The kids had been looking forward to spending some afternoon time at Grammie's campground since our first day. It was equipped with corn hole, volleyball/badmitton, basketball, horseshoes, and ladderball. Ryan and Brayden were set on having an Olympic competition. And if you know them, you know competition can be the worst thing or the best thing. Much of this trip I've been saying to them, "It's not the Olympics, it's just a game!" during our family game nights. Well, now it's the Olympics.

Laney wasn't interested so I sent her with the camera to document the games. I prepped dinner instead and had a chance to use the wifi and go through my mass of email messages.

Once Laney returned and didn't complain of any fights I returned to the Olympics with the camera. On the way I just had to stop for some photos of the garden in the campground. Not only where there all these beautiful flowers but a large fruit and vegetable garden that anyone could grab whatever they wanted! There was everything from raspberries and strawberries to peppers, tomatoes and squash. Many of the flowers nestled in with these plants I'd never seen before.

The kids returned hungry so we had a feast of the juiciest peaches on the planet, broccoli cheese soup, salad, and grilled cheese on Seattle sourdough. We were stuffed! The kids were anxious to play volleyball so we talked Laney into joining us. We were terrible but we added the ability to hit it after a bounce and did much better. Grammie spotted Ryan on the ground most of the time!

The kids claim they have a separate dessert stomach so I gave them the fixings for s'mores. They tried to negotiate for cupcakes too but their logic was all off.

I brought all the kids back with me tonight because Grammie would be taking a trip to Victoria Island in the morning. She had an early ferry so we would be spending the day without her. We all smooshed into the big tent bundled up in our sleeping bags and quilts to enjoy another cold night.

Day 15

We were up early to begin the first of our coastal drives north. We were going to try to meet up with Chris and kids at several spot to enjoy together. We were packed up and on the road by 8:30am - a record for this trip! My teenagers are really wanting to sleep in these days and I'm not sure how they do it with all the morning light and sounds in the woods!

Our first stop was Pismo Beach. We took some time to watch the surfers and walk through the quaint city to shop a little. The beach was beautiful and wonderfully chilly after our hot days on the road. The Bloomberg kids were aiming for surf shops so we poked in and out of all the shops with them.

Another 30 minutes down the road was Morro Beach. We enjoyed walking through the town and settled on Giovanni's Fish Market for lunch. We were obviously all enjoying this lovely weather as we posed in front of Morro Rock!

Our lunch was fresh, and delicious! We made a plan to try to meet back up for the rest of the drive up to Monterey. The traffic was getting heavy though but we were hopeful!  We bought a few more postcards before hopping back on the road.

Our next stop was Elephant Seal Beach. These guys were absolutely enormous! We loved watching and laughing as they vocalized, fought, and slinked up and down the beach. We were fascinated by how they moved and how content they were to lie in the sun.

According to the signage all these seals were molting males and juveniles. I'm sure some of what we were witnessing was some challenging behavior among the males but it looked mostly tame and playful.

Another behavior we thought was fun to watch was the sand-flipping.  Every few minutes some of the seals would flip sand on themselves with one of their flippers. They were becoming more and more buried as we were standing there. We learned researchers weren't sure what exactly they were doing either! They guess it might cool the seals or provide sunscreen. Some of the seals could flip sand all the way across to their neighbor!

The girls slowly got tired of me saying, "WOW! Look at that you guys!" around just about every turn. There was quite a bit of fog but the views were still spectacular. There were lots of coastal and inland trails of the highway that I will definitely have to return to one day.

We made a point to stop at the Bixby Bridge overlook.  I've always loved bridges - especially driving over them - so I enjoyed this spot for sure.  It stands 260 feet over a canyon and was built for a mere $200,000 in 1932. It's impressive for sure!

After about another hour on the road I was started to get tired so Grammie and I made the executive decision to postpone the famous 17-mile drive and head to our campground. It was another hour drive and we were so glad we did! The last 11 miles of the drive to Fremont Peak were harrowing turns up the mountain that I would have probably chickened out of in the dark.  

The other interesting thing I noticed was the temperature. Whenever we have climbed a mountain I pay special attention to the temperature to watch it drop. On this mountain the temperature only climbed as we climbed. By the time we got to the campground it was 10 degrees warmer than at the bottom. Very strange! As long as we had cool nights we're fine!

Once we found our spot I was amazed at the view we had from our little spot. I usually don't wish time away but I instantly couldn't wait for sunset!

As I cooked dinner I kept sneaking peeks up at the view. Grammie stayed with us until the sun dipped below the clouds then headed back to her site.  We ate dinner watching the colors change and talking about all the views of the day and smiling as all the people drove up to the viewing spot to see our view. That was when we realized we were staying in a park with an officer that had quite a bit of time on his hands! While I understand there are rules in the parks, this guy was relentless!  He came and talked to a couple watching the sunset telling them they either needed to pay the $6 day use fee or leave within 15 minutes. They said they would leave in a few minutes and he went down the road and hid waiting for their time to be up. Sure enough he came back in 15 minutes and told them they needed to leave. The couple seemed familiar with the process and said they were packing up.  I guess I should appreciate that he is patrolling and keeping my view from being packed with people?!

After a visit with Grammie the girls and I retired to our tent to play a few games before bed. I still couldn't get over the beautiful view out our tent windows. I filled up my water bottle for the morning and couldn't resist snapping one more picture!

Day 14

This day was to be a long day of driving but a little more fun than we'd been used to. I'd saved some Apple Nut Bread from the Julian Pie Company for a quick in-the-car breakfast so once we'd packed up we were on the road again. Our first stop today was Lake Arrowhead and Uncle Coe and Helga Bloomberg. We hadn't seen them since the Bloomberg reunion in Illinois a few years ago so the kids were excited.

The drive up was absolutely gorgeous. The last time I'd been up to Lake Arrowhead was more than 30 years ago and my head must have been in a book. Around every twist and turn was a newer, higher view of the mountains and city that I had to peek at.


I dragged the kids out of the car at the vista point at the top for the best view. They even let me stay and enjoy it for a few minutes!

We finally reached the condo and we welcomed with open arms and tight squeezes. The kids were quiet as we talked about our trip, caught up with all that had happened the last couple years, and what we are planning next. We were talking about the rest of our day as Helga asked us to stay for lunch. We were going to get on back down the mountain and to our next stop but she insisted. We were treated to a wonderful spread of all kinds of salads and bread with the lovely view of the lake. The kids finally spoke when she asked if they would like ice cream after lunch.

After much guilt about not staying a night or a week from Helga we got back on the road headed toward Hollywood. We did stop at an REI on the way but the sleep mats they had were way out of my price range so I ordered what I wanted from Amazon in the parking lot.  The list of things Dave will be bringing when he meets us is growing!







The kids had spotted the Hollywood sign when we were checking out the Walk of Stars but they wanted to see it a little more up close. I'd noted the Griffith Observatory was the best place so we (and thousands of other people!) headed that way. We didn't have time to check out the observatory but it was absolutely beautiful. We parked briefly while Laney and Brayden snapped pictures of the sign.








The traffic was a little easier heading toward our next campground for the most part. We were meeting back up with Grammie in the Los Padres National Forest. She'd been there for a few days so she already knew the lay of the land. My brother Chris and his two kids were also in town for a West Coast drive up the California coast so we met them back down in Santa Barbara for dinner. The recommended restaurant had quite a wait so we settled on another one with a lovely view. We enjoyed some seafood we don't usually get while camping and made plans for our drive up the coast the next day.


















The sunset was beautiful over Santa Barbara as we said our good nights and headed back to our campground. Brayden left us to stay with Grammie so we had a crazy girls night! We figured out how to play the travel dice version of Cataan and then fell asleep. I could get used to these cool nights!

Day 34

As we were all sitting around the table the night before we were talking about what New York food we'd had. The subject of bagels came up, practically Brayden's favorite food, and everyone was shocked we hadn't tried any New York bagels yet. Well, Joann made sure of that one too. When we were all up and ready for the day we came down to a spread of delicious bagels and fruit. Dave was not thrilled she's gotten me a garlic one, but I sure was!

Our first stop this day was Thomas Edison's laboratory and home. I am so fortunate enough to have little inventor's in my home (currently inventing daily in my car) so I thought this would be the perfect stop for them.

The house tour tickets were timed so we had about 20 minutes to watch part of a movie about him then we had to head over to the house about 5 minutes away. Apparently, he'd bought this house after it was forclosed on in 1877 for just $125,000. It has 29 rooms with 8 bedrooms.  And of course we were not allowed to take pictures so we settled for one outside.

The tour guide was very informative and especially good with questions all the kids on the tour could come up with. Once we were finished, we walked around a little bit around the beautiful grounds and found Mr & Mrs Edison's burial sites. Dave and Brayden walked down to the carriage house, which later Edison turned into a garage, to look at his antique car collection while the girls and I drove the wrong way down the short road to go get them - oops!

Once we were finished we went back to the laboratory to explore and you guessed it - work on junior ranger badge activities! I believe this was Edison's third lab location and it was huge. There were multiple buildings to explore, but we only had time for the main laboratory with our 2 hours.

My favorite room of the lab was definitely the 3-story library full of books from top to bottom. We'd learned before of his belief of research being the foundation of a new idea and this was no more evident that in this room.

The best part of the lab was Edison's roll-top desk. When he died his son closed and locked the desk and it remained that way until what would be his 100th birthday. There were cubbies labeled for many of his ideas and inventions and my favorite one was simply labeled "new things". Edison spent so many hours in this very room his wife added a bed to the library because of his tendency to fall asleep on his workbench.

There were rooms and rooms of all kinds of manufacturing equipment and testing facilities. There were rooms containing tons of bottles for chemistry experiments. There were drafting and engineering rooms for product design and refinement. This was one amazing facility!









    

The girls were excited to see a small dress up area - Laney as a young lady and Ryan as an inventor! Next there was a neat room set up with many versions of the phonograph. We took a few minutes to use the QR codes to listen to three of them. The looks on the kids faces were priceless at the old music that played, especially the "Yes, We Have No Bananas" hit song!

The last room we walked through was an awesome display of many of the actual inventions in cases. There were some that made sense, Christmas lights, and some that I had no idea about - electric pen and concrete houses? His cement company actually supplied the builders of Yankee Stadium.

Our last stop was the gift shop and junior ranger questions. This ranger quizzed the kids pretty hard as compared to others but since they were working as a team they passed with flying colors.

We hopped back into the car to head to another family meet up with Dave's aunts, uncles, and cousins. Dave's Aunt Donna, who the kids affectionately and accidentally call "Aunt Dottie", was hosting all the family while we were in town, most I'd never met. Dave hadn't been to New Jersey in about 30 years, so he hadn't seen many of them either. The kids took awhile to warm up but once they got in the pool they had a blast.

It was fun to hear so many stories I hadn't before about the generation of kids that are Dave's age. It sounded like they'd had so much fun growing up with the Clarke family. And there was definitely no shortage of food! The kids feasted until all their bellies were popping out and then feasted more once they saw dessert.  The chocolate chip cookies were the best!

We all had a wonderful time and headed home full and smiling. We spent the rest of the evening doing laundry and on the couch preparing for the trip to D.C. as the kids watched a movie. Even though Dave's time with us there would be short, we were trying to fit in the things we all most wanted to do with him.

Day 33

Although it only lasted about 20 minutes, this was the night with the hardest rain yet. There was a huge storm about 20 miles south of us and thank our lucky stars we were getting just the outside edge.  All the little people slept right through it too!

The kids were all up early and ready to help pack up because it was Dave's arrival day! I'd told them the day before that we would pack up, shower, and go find breakfast first thing so I had some great help with all the excitement. The dirt had basically turned to mud with the rain each night so we were all pretty gross by the time we were finished.

Once we were all clean we found a little, overpriced diner to grab breakfast and chat about the plans for the next few days. I was checking on Dave's flight while we were eating so I was able to give updates. As if it would make him get here faster the kids ate the fastest I've seen in months!
We had about a 90 minute drive to the airport so it was the perfect time to finish our current audiobook. This has been a wonderful book for the kids to learn About autism and asberger's as I don't believe they have really encountered much less become friends with anyone with either.

Once we navigated the parking, air train, and terminal we made it to Dave's gate with a few minutes to spare. The kids just about couldn't stand the anticipation as they hopefully watched all these strangers walk by.

He finally walked out and was bombarded with hugs from the kids! It was great to be all back together even if it was only for a few days. We drove back to Joann's house where would be staying for two days catching up and telling stories. I don't think the kids were quite for more than 3.5 seconds as they had so much to share!

Once we found Joann's house we took a few minutes to visit and tour our digs before we unloaded the car a little bit. The kids would all be spread out in one room which they loved. I believe we were all looking forward to a few days of comfort with beds and air conditioning.

Since Joann's backyard backs up to Dave's uncle's backyard, once we started playing volleyball outside we started being greeted by relatives trickling out the back door.

Before too long the adults were sitting around a table snacking and the kids were playing in the backyard like they'd never left. It did help that Natalie and Samantha showed our kids how to play Pokemon Go. We are that family that has yet to jump into that phenomenon!

On our ride from the airport, Dave and I had figured out it had been close to 30 years since he'd been to New Jersey! We'd been fortunate enough to see relatives from here for Kelly's wedding and different meet ups in Las Vegas over the years though. It was great to have some time to hear all kinds of stories of the family.

At one point as Samantha was showing us some of her gymnastics feats she' mastered, Dave just happened to mention that he could do them too. And she called his bluff. I have to say he did do an impressive six cartwheels!

Hearing we hadn't had authentic New York-style pizza yet, Joann disappeared for awhile and walked back out with 3 giant pizzas for us to eat. I'm not sure I've ever seen a pizza stacked so high with vegetables! The kids were definitely impressed with their delicious cheese pizza as well.

Once we were all yawning we headed into the house. The kids jumped on Dave for awhile, glad to have him back around. We were all looking forward to exploring together the next few days.

Day 37

In years past we usually had a break from sleeping in the tent every 10 or 12 days.  For me it's been 36 days straight and I think my body is actually used to it now.  I've been sleeping as solid as I do at home the last week or so.  Perhaps it's because we've been so busy but it really is refreshing to wake up in the morning after a solid night's sleep on the road.  It also means I'm not up at sunrise to start getting things ready, writing, or cooking so we're setting off a little later than usual.

As I was just starting to sit down and write, Brayden popped out of the tent fully-dressed with his sleeping bag already rolled up.  I asked him if he might be sick as this has NEVER happened but I think he just might be ready to leave and pick up Dave!

We decided to make some hot chocolate, bagels, and yogurt for breakfast and he got to work.  This was his first time actually lighting the stove so he has a lot shorter hair on his forehead now!  Ryan and I decided to add a few veggies to our bagels - so delicious!

After packing up like a very efficient team, we said goodbye to Sleeping Bear and got on the road to Grand Rapids.  Ryan decided to update our countdown post-it note display!

Our original plan was to head to Kalamazoo to stay with my friend Lydia and her family then I would head back up to Grand Rapids when Dave's flight arrived.  But since we would be going back to Grand Rapids the next day to a museum, Dave got us a hotel.  The kids didn't know it though so once we pulled into the Hampton they were extremely confused!  No, they don't live in a hotel.  No, they aren't staying here.  No, we aren't in Kalamazoo. Surprise!  We get beds tonight!

The kids were ecstatic and as soon as they could get changed we were swimming in the pool.  They met some other kids so they played pool volleyball for awhile.  This version if you knocked it into the hot tub you got an extra point so the boys were hitting the beach ball just about as hard as they could! We headed back up to the room and everyone settled in for a nap since Dave would be flying in so late.  The two hours flew by as I wrote and read through my 439 emails.

Checking around for things to do, I'd found a family night discount at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum so after a quick dinner at Moe's we headed that way.  This museum was probably a little young for Brayden but he still had a bunch of fun.  Their set up was very open and unique and they had a lot of new things the kids had never seen before in all our museum visits.

Ryan looks like a natural at yet another career - construction worker!  Complete with a little butt hanging out!

The grocery store is always a hit!

This bank had a working atm and teller drive through window!

 Can't beat a restaurant with a wood-fired oven for pizza!

Brayden was a bit too big for this climbing wall!

Our family veterinarian is busy bathing dogs.  This guy was just diagnosed with a broken tail and leg so I'm not too sure he was ready for this bath!

I need to make one of these at home.  Brayden could spend hours spinning stuff on this table!

We closed the place down!  We headed back to the hotel to read another chapter of Ryan's Harry Potter book.  I checked Dave's flight and saw that it was actually early so we scrambled to the car to make sure to get there to greet him.  Just as we'd left Ryan noticed she couldn't find the sign she'd made for him so we had to go back and run back up to the room.  We found an owl drawing she'd done for him but that was it so it would just have to do.  Once we got in the car after wasting 10 minutes of course it was found with much celebration.

Luckily the airport was only 5 minutes away so we made it there quickly and parked.  We speed walked inside and checked the arrival board to see where he'd be walking through.  Just as we looked down the long hallway to meet him he was right there in front of us!  Ryan jumped up in his arms and Laney and Brayden flanked the sides while lots of Dads smiled at the reunion.

The kids talked his ears off for the next 20 minutes until we got back to the room.  The kids got on their pajamas but I knew they'd never go to sleep so I suggested we go to the pool since it was still open another 30 minutes.  Dave and I shared one of his Canadian beers as the kids jumped and canonballed until they were finally tired.

Everyone collapsed in bed and immediately started snoring, happy that we were all back together again.

Quote of the Day - "How many more hours until we pick up dad?" said by all three kids about 37 times each.