Day 25

We decided to do something a little different on the day of our departure this time. I picked up Grammie and Laney and we all headed to see the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. At first I was concerned that we were arriving 40 minutes early for the museum but the gate ranger informed us the tide was out so we headed to Quarry Cove to see what we could find.












We climbed around the outside of the cove looking for things hiding in the crevices where we found lots of crabs and California mussels. There weren't many actual pools on this side so we headed to the cove next.

Grammie was already investigating and poking squishy things! Ryan and Laney played with a few hermit crabs and sea snails first. I spotted this heron looking for breakfast - probably for many of the same things we were looking for!

I spotted this guy in a deeper pool because the middle looked like a jalapeno slice. A program at one of Grammie's campgrounds talked about the tidepools so she told us this guy is green because he eats all the green kelp.  The tide line for high tide was probably 40-50 feet past us and it seemed to still be going out. I was interested to watch this guy to see how he changed. When I looked at the outer part of his body with all the shell pieces attached I noticed a few more around him that must have been just a little bit higher up in the water because they were closed. See the guy at the right? I dismissed him earlier because I thought he was a rock.

Grammie told us they suck in a lot of water and close up or flip upside down to survive the 6-12 hours they might be out of the water and in the sun. She confirmed this was true when she poked one and he spit water out at her!

We wanted to play around more in the tide pools but it was time for the museum to open so we made the trek back up the trail. Much like driving the coast I get in trouble for not looking where I'm going and checking out the view. We stopped here for a rest and to watch a few surfers braving the early morning cold.

Our first stop at the museum was the movie where we learned all about the history and difficult construction of the lighthouse back in the 1870s. Most of the supplies were delivered from San Francisco on ships that often met horrible weather or ship-breaking rocks. This was exactly the reason the lighthouse was being constructed. 

The interpretive center was one of the best we'd seen. There was so much information about the history of the area, the lighthouse keepers, and the lighthouse. Laney and I are still fascinated by the life the keepers and their families led while tirelessly maintaining the lights for the safety of the ships. Some families had to plan 6 months in advance for the supplies and tools they would need. I can barely handle planning a week in advance!

There was a life-size replica of the lens in the museum that flashed the pattern for this lighthouse - 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off, 2 seconds on, 14 seconds off. I had no idea each lighthouse has a specific pattern but that completely makes sense for navigation! This fresnel lens was made in Paris and shipped over in the 250 pieces that made it up. It cost $11,000 back then - Wow!

The part of the museum my kids used to race to is now left untouched. I'm glad I took them when they were young because my tweens and teen scoffed at the idea of dress up and playing games the kids played back then. There was a dad dressing up with his kid though and I did catch Brayden using the stereoscope! Ryan did challenge me to a game of checkers but I'm guessing she wished she hadn't because I cremated her. She did really well at first so she knows she is getting better. 

All this and we hadn't even seen the lighthouse yet! All the tours were full but I wasn't as interested in climbing it as I was just seeing it. They'd torn down the lighthouse keeper's quarters back in the 80s and that's what interests us the most. And as fearless as she is, Ryan isn't too keen on climbing too high.  The lighthouse and the grounds were lovely.

We even were able to take some time and identify some of the birds in the area that we don't have at home. This rock was one of about seven that were completely covered in birds.  We saw cormorant, murre, pigeon guillemot, and of course gull. We tried to find an oyster catcher but no luck.

This lovely morning put us on the road late to Portland but after navigating some wicked downtown traffic we finally made it to a bookstore I've wanted to visit since college. The kids had been looking forward to visiting since the beginning of the trip and mean old mom only gave them about an hour to look around. That's perfectly okay though because we still ended up walking out with a bag full of books!

Our stop at the bookstore put us right on time to leave the city of Portland with the rest of the rush hour traffic. After inching along for about 45 minutes Google notified me of a quicker route. Yes please! I'm not sure if it was quicker necessarily but we were moving so it was definitely better. And it just so happened to be Oregon's historic scenic highway 30 that hugged the Columbia River Gorge. We had plans to stop all along this road the next day but we couldn't resist a waterfall called Horsetail Falls located right on the road!

We arrived at our site to a sign saying there was no water so once we were set up we headed straight to Grammie's spot to cook dinner.  We made plans for the next day and said our goodnights. Both our sites were situated next to train tracks and the interstate (Grammie's a little closer than mine) so we decided we weren't going to get much sleep this night.

Day 17

We were all up and ready to roll out of our campground before 8am. We were heading to San Jose to get my car looked at and Grammie was heading to a Camping World close by to have her refigerator fixed. I decided to detour to Santa Cruz for an hour before my appointment because I didn't want this day to be all yuck. 

The first thing we noticed after a sea of volleyball courts on the beach with what looked like a high school level tournament was a dog running in the sand watching what appeared to be her owner high up on the pier walking toward us. She was obviously thoroughly enjoying being in the water and running through the sand. The guy asked her if she wanted to do it again and she excitedly jumped up onto the pier and ran past us. We watched as he threw her in about 100 yards from the beach and she swam to the shore. We found out later she is a rescue dog and this was a part of her training. She really loves her job! If only we all could find something like that!

The fog was heavy along the coast which always makes for interesting pictures. The kids checked out what all the people fishing were catching while I kept snapping away.  It's funny to me that these two photos were taken about 30 seconds apart just on opposite sides of the pier!

We stood and watched the surfers for a few minutes catch this loooooong sets of waves. Ryan loved the idea of being up on a surfboard for 30 seconds or more instead of just 5 or 6.

We were walking toward the shops on the pier when we heard the unmistakable sound of seals. We took a left turn and headed toward the sound to find all these guys.

Two more had commandeered an upside boat next to the floating dock the rest were on.

        

And even more were basking in the sun on another floating dock. I love the look of contentment on their faces to just be facing the sun and growing warm. I think I make that face to the sun sometimes!

Next we made the drive to the car place. We were prepared for the long haul. We had snacks, drinks, lunch, a bag of charging cables, games, and my computer.  And of course the waiting room had the tv showing the Mueller testimony.  They all knew a little bit about the topic of the testimony but it led to more of a discussion about why it was happening and what it could really change. Let's just say they enjoyed Who Whats to be a Millionaire and Jeopardy that came on next much more. We don't watch tv at home so this was a special treat!

Once we were down to a few snacks the service guy came to talk to me with a good news/bad news introduction. I just knew we were going to be stranded for 3 days and have to figure out how to catch back up to our reservations. I just knew it was going to be the more expensive issue we had discussed when I'd first arrived. But it wasn't! It was just a sensor and I could keep driving without issue. I would need to get it fixed when we got home but I shouldn't have a problem for the next 35 days at least. I was so relieved I wanted to hug him!

We paid and happily piled back into my stinky car to continue our day. I'd mentioned to the kids the day before that I would probably be grumpy while we waited hours for them to check my car out. They were wonderful the whole time so we decided to grab some pizza before resupplying at Trader Joe's. Pizza is difficult to make when camping so it is definitely a coveted meal we all appreciated.  I piled mine high with veggies I hadn't had in the last 3 weeks! Delicious!

We bought our staples to get us through the next few days and were on our way to our next spot. This drive included a drive right through San Francisco at 4:30pm but I didn't care today. I was just happy to be moving north up the coast toward our spot.  We even got to unexpectedly drive across the Golden Gate Bridge!

We arrived to a beautiful campground nestled in the redwoods - something I'd been waiting for since we hit California. The trees were breathtakingly tall and smelled SO good! The kids jumped on setting up the tents while I cooked dinner and prepped things for the next day. We discussed our options for plans and the kids decided to get going early and head back into San Francisco for the day. My kids love exploring cities about as much as I love being in the woods!

We all showered - hooray for fiery hot and free showers! - and felt so much better at bedtime. My how a few unexpected sentences can change an entire day.  

Day 12

Today started surprisingly early with me flat on the hard ground at 2:45am. We've had these sleeping mats for 5+ years and they have served us so well. At first I thought maybe the plug had accidentally been left open. I usually have to add a breath of air each night to account for temperature changes or kid setup. This time it was 5-6 breaths so I knew something was wrong. I was hopeful to go right back so sleep on my cushy mat though! Within about 4.3 seconds I was flat on the ground again. I am thankful we are close to an REI! I tried hard to go back to sleep - flipping and flopping for about an hour - but by this point my brain's switch was on. I decided to get to work editing pictures and eventually watch the sunrise.

I slinked out of my tent with my computer and froze. Of course it was dark out but the sky had the city light glow that backlit a creature on our picnic table staring right back at me. It looked like a large yellow cat. I turned my headlamp on and aimed it toward the table and just as the beam reached the animal it swooped up a bit and flew off. I stood there watching as the owl silently flew within a few feet of me toward the grass and trees. I'm sure he was way less impressed at our encounter than me!

About 10 minutes into my picture editing in my camp chair I longed to be back in the warmth of the tent. It was 59 degrees and this Florida girl needed to add more layers! I slipped my still-warm sleeping bag out of the tent and climbed in. It didn't help my hands much but anyone who knows me knows they are always cold anyway!

And then there's the sunrise. Mountains or water always make it so much better!

Not too long after the sun was up over the mountain Laney got up saying she didn't feel well. She was up unusually early for her and looked pretty pale. I got her to drink some water but once she had a crumb from a cracker she got sick. I hoped she'd feel better so we could enjoy the day we had planned but only time and breakfast would tell.

Once Brayden got up he was looking pretty bored staring at the picnic table. He'd finished all the books he'd brought and I'd bought him so I grabbed another from the resupply box in the car. If he keeps going at this rate I'll need to buy some and Dave will need to pack some!

With those two awake I decided to start hash browns and eggs for breakfast. Ryan must also be growing because she ate two eggs, a big pile of hash browns, and an entire cantaloupe! They'd better go get jobs soon to buy groceries!

We cleaned up breakfast and got ready then we headed to our first stop near L.A. - the Santa Monica Pier. The drive was a quick 2 hours (blegh) but we listened to a couple podcast episodes of Smash Boom Best to pass the time. Brayden and Ryan are especially enjoying this podcast but it is teaching them debate tactics that I'm thinking I might regret! Today's episodes were pizza vs tacos, invisibility vs flying, and The Grand Canyon vs Mt Everest. I love they are learning a little history along the way.

We made it to Santa Monica and parked right near the pier - success! Our first priority was to head to the ferris wheel. We made mental note of all the ice cream options on the way though! When the kids saw the price for all of us to go on they said they would rather play the carnival games instead so that's what they did! Ryan wanted to try the game for the life-sized animals but I had to talk her out of it because there is barely room for us and all our stuff! They had a great time and ended up with a couple stuff animals.

We had a little ice cream, bought more post cards, and I made the kids visit Zoltar. They laughed at the it's puns and were confused by the wordy fortunes. Maybe they will make sense to them one day.

We took the steps down to the beach to visit the Pacific again. Brayden claimed he would go swimming here because it was way less windy and the sun was shining. That was until he put his foot in!

The kids chose next to go visit the Walk of Fame. I let them know it was an hour drive for just a few miles and they all said it was fine. One day they will appreciate this effort maybe! We found a close parking space and walked for blocks and blocks and blocks enjoying reading all the names. There were lots I know and lots I didn't but we did see The Beatles, Queen, Andy Griffith, Johnny Carson, Daniel Radcliffe, Robin Williams, John Belushi, Billy Joel, and Henry Winkler to name a few.

Our next stop was the Chinese Theater to try and find the Harry Potter cast. We found the Hunger Games cast first and many more! Brayden as excited as he seems about Hugh Jackman - he said the cement was burning hot!

Brayden spotted Randy's Donuts on the way back to the car so we stopped in to grab a couple for our walk back. This wasn't the actual location for Iron Man he says but the donuts were still delicious!

In the car I began navigation back to our campsite to find out it would now be a 3 hour drive back (sigh). Brayden laughed as the GPS kept informing us of delay after delay just when we would start moving at a good speed. It was very accurate though as we pulled in at the very minute it predicted! The mostly empty campground was completely full since it was Friday and the party had started for sure for many of them.

We grabbed our camp chairs and got BACK in the car to go to the drive-in movie. On these trips we try to always do things we can't do at home and this is definitely one of them. There were about a million more people at this movie but we enjoyed it for the most part.

We made it home past our bedtimes and were surprised to hear a mostly quiet campground. There was still a little music and a lot of campfire chatter and scream-laughing but we all fell asleep within a few minutes. I was just glad not to be driving anymore!

Day 5

My night was very cozy tucked in my sleeping bag and it was still dark when I slipped out of the tent well after 6am. I'm thinking it's because we are so close to the Mountain Time Zone? I think caught up on any lost sleep from the night before. The sun was rising behind the mountains so these were the best photos I could get.

The air was still chilly which made for a perfect quiet morning.  I noticed on my phone there was strong wifi available very close to our campsite so I headed back to grab my computer to upload the first days of the blog.  It roughly takes 45 minutes to an hour to edit pictures, write about, and upload each day so I try to break it up and upload a few days all at one time. I also try to wait until I have left a camping spot to upload to keep us safe.  This is a private blog but you never know.

Once I was finished I saw the kids with me were awake so we started breaking down our tent and packing the car. We only had a three hour drive this morning so we weren't in a rush but I'd much rather pack up when it's cool. We drove over to Grammie's spot when we were finished to enjoy some freshly baked muffins. Baked goods are something we rarely eat on the trip since it's impossible on a camp stove. I guess we need to camp with Grammie more often - we're spoiled!  The girls wanted to climb the trail behind her campsite with Lola. I'm not sure she was too impressed but they had fun at least! Brayden is hit or miss these days with kid adventure so I'm glad the girls have each other.

We got on the road shortly after breakfast and were able to enjoy the beautiful drive back out from the mountain. I have no problem with long drives especially when there is something beautiful to see along the way. The girls were busy playing games in the back seat and would look up for a brief moment when I would tell them to look out their window. Maybe one day they will appreciate the scenery. I know I didn't at their age very much.

Our drive after that was kind of a mess. We were behind truck after truck on 2-lane roads under construction and the view was mostly barren or industrial oil production. I kept seeing RV park after RV park with about 50 RVs crammed in the space of drug store parking lot. I could only guess it is temporary or seasonal housing for those working in the area. The temperatures were climbing quickly to triple digits and I couldn't imagine living there! Of course many people wouldn't choose living in a tent for 2 months either.

                                   

We decided to stop at Carlsbad Caverns National Park to enjoy the cavern and exhibits before setting up today. Lola had her first visit to a kennel as animals left in vehicles was prohibited. She wasn't thrilled with the idea for sure. I bought my annual National Park pass since we would be visiting several National Parks on this trip and we decided to visit the exhibits to learn about the area. 

The girls jumped into this picture first. I'm not sure they will ever outgrow these! We learned about all the bats and other wildlife in the area. I decided I would like a ringtail for my birthday this year. I am always able to find at least 3-5 animals I would like to add to my list.  We learned about caving next and the kids tried it themselves. Ryan definitely would actually go caving but I believe Laney and Brayden would need a little incentive. 

We watched the park movie next to learn about the history of the park then headed to the elevators down to the cavern. We'd debated walking in via the natural entrance we just weren't really sure about having enough time. The elevator spit us out steps away from the Big Room and I was speechless. It was so enormous I just couldn't get over it. No picture I took even began to show just how big this area was. We later read it is the 5th biggest in North America being the size of 14 football fields. 

We have been to many caves during our travels but have never formations like those in Carlsbad. We saw lion's tails, draperies, popcorn, cave pearls, and much more. The more we walked the more in awe we were of how this place came to be.  Ryan wanted to go visit the "Bottomless Pit" which we learned wasn't really bottomless but a very dark 140 feet deep. People originally thought it was bottomless because they would throw a stone into it and never hear it hit the bottom. They later found it it has a sandy bottom which softened the sound.

We visited a few other spots then decided to head back upstairs. In a very Disney-like fashion we were dumped into a gift shop. It was time to by our first set of post cards though so the kids looked around and found the perfect ones and helped me pick out a sticker for our roof cargo carrier.  I'm not sure I've seen Lola happier than I did when they emerged from the kennel. I'm wondering if she had decided we weren't coming back!

We pulled into our campsite with time to quickly set up, let the kids swim for 15 minutes, eat dinner and leave again. I plan our trips loosely so we can pick and choose what we want to do along the way but there was no way I was going to miss this event. We drove the 50-minutes back to the park for the bat flight program.  I was a little worried we were going to miss it with the sun dipping lower by the minute but as we walked up to the amphitheater and sat down we were treated to a talk by the park ranger including what to expect, what they repectfully requested we do, and many random bat facts. 

Mid-sentence the ranger was signaled that the flight had begun. We looked around and noticed about 50 bats circling the cave entrance then the real show began. The crowd of 500 people were completely silent as this tornado of bats streamed out of the cave to find dinner. The constant sound was like a fan turned on high. And we sat there as they just poured out of the cave twisting and swirling for more than 15 minutes. I wanted to see what it looked like as they left the area so we walked to the top of the amphitheater to see what could easily be mistaken for smoke leaving the cave. Hundreds of thousands of bats searching for their food. We stood there for at least another 5 minutes watching until it was almost too dark to see them anymore. If it weren't such a long drive I would have come back to see them return before sunrise.

There was one bad part of the flight program. In order for us to not confuse and intimidate the bats any electronic devices were not allowed to be used or even on. Knowing this we'd left all of ours in the car so I will just have to rely on my old memory to treasure these moments. Or I guess I'll just have to come back. A lot.

We said our goodnight and I tucked the girls for the night and headed to the laundry room. We didn't necessarily need to do laundry yet but having it very close to our campsite with free wifi was a luxury I would trade a little sleep for tonight. I watched our clothes spin, edited pictures, wrote about our day, and planned for the next day until after midnight.