dreaming of traveling

This summer, we took a short and very fun vacation to Redding, CA and Legoland, CA (pics coming soon). But, I'm dreaming of traveling further. I'm dreaming of international travel.

My husband and I have finally applied and received our passports. Any travel we've done (inside of the USA, Canada, Bahamas and Mexico) only required our birth certificated. Now we need to apply for each of the kids to get theirs so that we are ready to go!!

I've been dreaming of Italy and entered a contest to win a free week at Al Gelso Bianco sponsored by Ciao Bambino. Her wonderful review and contest can be found here.

My Italian dreams began when my cousin announced that he and his family were moving to Naples, Italy for 2-3 years. I'm a lot jealous of their adventure. I've been following their adventures and quick weekend trips since they arrived there in August. The kids are attending school that is teaching them in Italian and English. They run off to Rome or Florence to spend a few days. The romance of day to day life in Italy. Ahhh!! I'm dreaming again. 

Marc and I have been discussing going over there since we have a free place to stay and I've put in some airfare watches to alert me when round trip tickets drop. I'm more than OK with pulling my kids out of school for 2-3 weeks so that we can experience this adventure and better yet, in the off season. I'm sure we will miss out on some of the tourist experience and the heat of summer, but Spring or Fall look just as wonderful over there. Really, even if it was snowing, I'm in heaven because I'm in Italy. We've been planning on spending a weekend in Naples visiting, 5 days in Rome, the weekend in Naples and then off to Venice for 5 days. A slow road trip through Florence and Pisa (a little of Tuscany?) and then back to Rome to fly home. Ideally, I would love to spend a month there. And I know that would even be too short. But, we might have to scale back to 2 weeks. Which is still wonderful because it's Italy!!

So, fingers crossed that our name is drawn to win a free week and an amazing farmhouse to explore Florence from.

Hotel Review - Redding, CA

I have never done a review before, but we just finished our vacation and had to tell you about this hotel. I paid for my trip and did not tell the hotel that I would be writing about them after I stayed there. Is this enough of a disclaimer?

Marc and I took the family on vacation to California. We started our vacation in Redding, CA to attend my Dad's wedding reception (to the most lovely lady). We usually stay with my Dad, but chose to stay in a hotel this time.

My brother and his family (5), plus my stepsister and her daughters (3) were staying at Dad's and Betts (2), we thought we could use an extra cold hotel room with our own bathroom.

To begin, my brother (different brother) was going to book a room at the Super 8 down the street from my Dad's. I went on Priceline to see the cost and reviews. It was $75/night and the first (most recent) review said "sticky floors". I don't know about you, but I'm not staying where there are sticky floors. I wasn't planning on getting a hotel (I was going to use Bett's sister's trailer outside their house), but I called my brother and we did some research online. I decided I would like our own room to spread out and shower and agreed to bid on a hotel.

I've tried bidding once before and it turned out great. I looked at all the 2 star and 3 star hotels in Redding. Since I wasn't planning on getting a hotel to start, I decided to stick with the 2 star hotels. They ranged from $129-169 a night. The Ramada Limited was on sale for $62. I was pretty guaranteed that this would be the winning hotel because of my low bid. I looked at the pictures.

I could live with this room for 3 nights. So, I bid $60 and *surprise* *surprise* I won a room at the Ramada Limited. This hotel is at the other end of town from my Dad's, but even with traffic, it only takes 10 minutes to take the freeway to his house. My brother and his friend both bid on the same hotel, same price and won too.


So, I'm into details, can you tell. And I tell you every step, next time I'll try and just review.


We arrived at the hotel at 4pm. The lobby is nice and desk clerk, not so much. I ask for a room with 2 beds and she informs me that it will be an extra $20 a night plus tax. I tell her a King room is just fine (we can put the kids on an air mattress). She tells me about breakfast and that the lobby is the only way in and out (safety). I thank her and leave.


When we get back again, Marc goes up to the room with 2 kids and tries to take the elevator. The people that get off the elevator say "good luck. we were just stuck in there for 5 minutes". We decide to take the stairs for our entire stay. I was aware there was an elevator problem from the reviews on Priceline, but I would have thought it would have been fixed in the last 30 days. Nope!!


My brother texts me to say he is in a room 2 down from me. I knock on his door and he's not there. I text him to see where he is and he replies "stuck in the elevator". I'm laughing and go to the elevator to press up and down before I go to the front desk. I can hear he and his friend yelling. The elevator opens and they are not happy. We laugh now and everyone takes the stairs.


Breakfast smelled great, but we went to Betts each morning for breakfast, so I never sampled it. It was free and included, so that was good. When you are a family of 6 traveling, saving costs help. Marc usually goes down and grabs food for everyone and then brings it to the room for us to eat as we get ready. I am hyper aware that I have 6 people in a room (my kids are still little), so I clean as we go and make the room nice before I leave. All trash is where it belongs and everything is put away. We try to keep it clean and easy for the housekeeper.


The bathroom was very 2 star. The sink was in the main area and the toilet/shower where in the bathroom. I like this (at times) because I can get ready while everyone else takes their showers. They had moved the shower rod out and replaced it with a bowed rod. I like this, but they didn't patch the holes and there was mold growing there (no where else, just there). I'm assuming it's because there was no fan in the bathroom.


The room looked like this:

not terribly different than the photo, but a lot plainer than we expected. There was enough room for the air mattress (which we rolled up and put in a bag every morning). 

Overall, it was ok for $60, but the elevator is definitely a problem. The mold in the bathroom didn't make me feel well. And the staff could have been a lot more friendly. Not put out if you asked a question. Breakfast looked great. If you were driving through and needed a quick place to stay, it was clean and safe. But I would not stay here again. 

2 out of 5 stars.

As a local from Redding, I would recommend to never stay at one of the 1 star hotels. Most of them are fairly seedy (drugs, women). The 2 stars (apart from the Ramada Limited) are fairly decent and in more populated areas (near the mall and restaurants).






 

Lake Chelan, WA

Marc, the kids and I drove over to Lake Chelan, WA on April 9th (a Saturday). I have been there once, when we first moved here, and Marc had never been. It was a sunny day, so we hopped in the car and made the drive. We drove out I-90, turning off at Cle Elum and driving through Wenatchee (I thought it was faster). It was 214 miles and about 4 hours. By the time we got to Wenatchee, it was time for lunch. We stopped at an Applebee's and ordered food. Another quick stop for some Starbucks (I'm an addict) and we were on our way.

Because it's not summer, Lake Chelan was very quiet. It was a little colder than I would have hoped for, but it was beautiful. There was snow on the mountains and a great view of the Lake from this park in front of the Best Western. I would love to come back out and stay the night here, some day. The kids were thrilled to play at the park and even more excited to put their feet in the oh-so-cold water. 

We finished up at the park and drove through the town of Chelan and to the end of the road in Manson. We had some pizza for dinner. We drove back into Chelan and got some soft serve ice cream. These things were huge. And Miss R learned all about centrifugal force (she spun around and her ice cream went splat!). Luckily, mom is nice and after a few licks, I gave her mine. We left town driving down the other side of Lake Entiat (Hwy 97) into Wenatchee and then followed Hwy 2 home via Leavenworth (which was 184 miles). We got home around 10 pm, exhausted but happy. It was a fun day with the family.

 

Me and Miss R playing on the swings (I spared you the photo of me swinging)

Marc teaching Miss R how to skip rocks in the water

Mr N thinks tossing the rock is the same as skipping it

Miss M was being my little mermaid of the sea (and tempting the little ones to climb the rocks out to the end)

Miss M and Marc had to put their feet in the snow melt water

So, every one else did it too (except me, are you crazy. It's snow melt water). - Mr. C

Miss R, who claimed it wasn't so bad

Mr. N trying to get back to the rocks quickly

 

The view from the park at the beginning of the dock. I can't wait to see the difference this summer.

iHappy

Howdy...or Hola! Did you have a great weekend? I wouldn't say mine was the best, but it made me happy. Actually, all of summer vacation has made me very happy (granted we are only 7 days into our summer vacation).

School got out June 21st (a Monday and it was a half day). I took the kids to Build-A-Bear (as it is our tradition). I used all my coupons and discounts and saved $42!! My Dad and Betts were with us and got to experience the BAB magic. They treated us to lunch before at Ruby's diner. Can't beat such a great deal!! Thank you Dad!!

Afterwards, my Dad dropped me off at my friends house (how old do I sound there) and took the younger two home. My friend has kids the same age as my older two, so they stayed with me to play. I called Marc and had him stop by after work. This friend was hosting our annual "last day of school margarita party". Good times and yummy drinks were had by all. Marc got to know the husbands and we all went out to dinner Thursday night. We called it an early night Monday to go home and have dinner with my Dad, Betts and my brothers family.

Tuesday, we (the kids, my Dad, Betts and I) went to Whidbey Island and ran around (very close to having a heart attack) at Fort Casey (a World War I base). I have photos and will post and blog about this "travel" soon.

Wednesday, we (see above) went to downtown Seattle (again I will blog soon) where we had a great time until I took Dad and Betts to the airport to fly home (so sad).

Thursday, the kids and I went to Saint Edwards State Park where we met up with some friends for lunch, a hike and playing on the playground. Despite the overcast start to summer, we have been out and having a great time. We followed up our playdate with a real date out with friends.

Friday is already a blur. Marc came home early (always a great treat) then I picked up my sister-in-law, Jamie and we went to Blue C Sushi for dinner. Go me.. I'm out and about and having a great summer. After we went to see "Sex and the City 2". I'm not sure what all the bad reviews were about, but I really enjoyed it. Sure, it was cheesy, but I really enjoyed some of the campy dialogue.

Have I written too much yet. Here comes the iHappy part of my actual weekend. We cleaned! Woo Hoo! Sounds dull and boring, but we will be out of town for 4 out of the next 5 weekends and it had to be done. Marc mowed the lawn and uncovered the flagstone walkway we put it. We are making plans to improve the front with meadow grasses and stones. It's so tiny, there is no point to have grass (and it doesn't grow very well anyway). Sunday, we watched a movie and then motivated the kids to clean their rooms and the main play area (threats of "whatever is left on the floor, goes in this trash bag" works really well). Mr C got his room clean enough for us to move the furniture like he's been asking. It finally looks like his room and not the room that we send all the leftover furniture too. I was so happy to get the house picked up and the laundry done (for one day). It made my weekend.

To top it off. I wanted to go for a walk, but Marc wanted to go to the new high school and use the facilities. We ended up at the high school and played for 90 minutes. Much better and longer than my walk. We were teaching the kids to play tennis and then headed over to the track so that I could walk laps while the rest played soccer and kicked goals.

That's my iHappy weekend (with a long quick update of our summer break). What's your iHappy moment? (And I will have to find the beautiful meme for iHappy and set up the linking, next time).

Smiles!!

South Africa has enticed me

Have you been watching the World Cup? I have never watched so much soccer (futbol) in my life. I love the game. I started my kids playing when they were 3 years old. That's 7 years as a soccer Mom (recently we have played Fall and Spring Soccer).

Sunday, we watched the Germany vs. Australia game. I gotta admit, I was rooting for Australia. Especially after the terrible calls and finally the red card. I wanted them to come back and win. In the end, Germany blew them out of the water, but it has been the game I've enjoyed the most.

So, the games are being held in South Africa. There are a few shots of the local area, but mostly it's just the stadiums. The host country is looking very enticing to me though. I have fantasies of buying an around the world ticket and doing some traveling with the kids in a few years. I've been doing my research and reading blogs about families that are currently traveling or planning to travel around the world. I have never considered Africa to be a place I wanted to stop. It's mostly fear of the unknown, the unfamiliar. I don't want to do the typical tourist stop of Africa and take a safari. I'm terrified of the snakes and they climb the trees. I am interested in the villages and the local life. I am educated enough that there are differences with each country and they are all changing constantly. I know that there is more to the continent and the people than the bad things to media portrays.

That being said, the World Cup and this blog post by Life is what you make it has enticed me to consider adding Africa to my list of must sees. I want to see Victoria Falls, I want to see South Africa, I want to visit Egypt (I often forget it's part of Africa) and I really want to spend a weekend here in the Castle in Clarens. I'll have to wait 7 more years to take the kids, but maybe it will just be the husband and I and our own little adventure out in the world.

Whirlwind trip to California for my Dad's wedding (part 1)

Long story short, my Mom died in June 2004 from Inflammatory Breast Cancer. This was a shock to all of us and the healing process is long, but we all want to be happy and find that person that makes us happy. After 9 months, my Dad started to look at dating (sorry Dad, I'm spilling your life). He met a woman from Lebanon (the country, not a city is a US state). She came here and met us all and seemed not quite like the right fit, but if she made my Dad happy, I will support him. The deadlines for getting married came and went and he decided to end this relationship. In hindsight, I think she was the perfect relationship because she helped him feel alive and loved and not so alone. He went "fishing" again for someone to have some fun with and date. A few fun times and a few dates later, he found Betts.

Betts lives in the same town as my Dad. She was hesitating on looking and giving up on finding a good man, until she met my Dad. I can brag here because he really is a good man. He's corny...so is she (aren't we all), he's outdoorsy, he's thoughtful, he's generous. There first date was at her house (silly woman), it was basically a blind date, but she invited him over for breakfast.  The sparks flew!! 

There first date was in July. He proposed in November. They were married in March. I can brag here, a little, that she is great. She is such a good fit for him. She fits in with our family like she's always been a part of it. My only request was that we meet her before the wedding. My Dad and Betts made some arrangements and flew up to Seattle to meet us. She is outgoing and fun and lively. She and my Dad babysat my kids one night (definitely a keeper...lol). She came upstairs in her robe and sat to talk with us. She was comfortable and relaxed and wonderful.

 (Dad, me, Miss M, Miss R, Betts, Mr C, Mr N)

So, here comes the whirlwind weekend of weddings in the month of March.

Thurs, Mar 19:
The kids had a 1/2 day of school. We left the house at noon and drove 600 miles to California to stay the night at Dad and Betts house (arrived at 11:30 PM). We stopped for dinner, coffee and gas, otherwise it was straight through. The last hour is always the worst because the kids won't fall asleep and they are ready to get out of the car. There's a little whining going on, but overall...the drive was great.


Fri, Mar 20:
We wake up to fresh baked scones, coffee and fruit (thank you Betts) and let the kids run around outside while Marc and I get ready. We leave at 10am realizing we are on a tight schedule to get this day done. We drive 3 hours South to check into our hotel in Sacramento. Marc and I get dressed as fast as possible for a wedding we were going to that night and then take the kids to my brothers for the afternoon. We drop the kids off at 2pm and leave by 2:30pm. When we agreed to go to this wedding (in Pleasanton, CA) I didn't realize it was 2 hours away from Sacramento. So the kids had a wonderful time with my 2 brothers and sister-in-law going bowling and pizza and video games. Marc and I drove 2 hours away. The wedding was for Marc's sister's best friend. She's an awesome person and it was a free night out. How could we say No! The wedding was at 5pm. The reception was at 6:30pm. Dinner was at 7:30pm. We left at 9pm (before the party even started) because we had to drive 2 hours back to Sacramento. We pick the kids up at 11:30pm and go back to pass out at our hotel. 


2 days - 988+ miles = 18-1/2 hours of driving. So far, this is not a vacation.


Fri, Mar 20:
Today is our relaxing day because we only have to drive 10 miles to my Dad's wedding and it's not until 2pm.


We wake up and get everyone bathed (there are 6 of us). We go for some lunch at a local teriyaki place that we miss living in Washington. It was pricey, but yummy. We head back to the hotel and get ready. Everyone is freshly scrubbed, hair brushed and dressed up by 1pm. We are doing great. Now, you would think...uh oh....here's comes the disaster. But, there was none. Unless you count my Dad calling because he brought two left shoes for his suit and wanted to borrow Marc's shoes for the wedding. Marc was more than happy to give up his dress shoes for his adidas. I still had to wear my heels. It just wasn't right.


Next blog will be the actually wedding to spare your eyes (and the fact that I need to run up the hill to get the kids from the bus).

Quick trip to California

Hello my lovilies. It's Thursday in the states, but it's Flog Your Blog Friday by Brenda at Mummy-TimeMummy Time (the best blog) a few hours and a day away in the land down under (why isn't it over? Who made North mean up?)

Anyway, join us in our quest to find wonderful new bloggers to follow and follow us.



Anysun, about California. We are making a whirlwind drive and visit to California. We left home (Seattle, WA) at noon on Thursday. By "we" I mean my lovely, glad he's home and I'll stop sniveling now, husband, me and the 4 kids. We've packed our bags (1 for tonight, 1 with our wedding attire, and 1 with our regular clothes for the day to day). And now we are in Oregon. It takes us 12 hours to get to Redding, CA. We are hoping to make it in 11 hours today. Then we leave Redding Friday morning to my brothers in Sacramento. And then (remember Dude, Where's my Car? With Ashton Kutcher... And then? No and then! And then? No and then! I love that part).

Back to my crazy quick trip. Marc and I are going to a wedding Friday night in Pleasanton and then (lol) back to Sacramento. Saturday we are all attending my Dads wedding. So happy I may cry (and I never cry. Marc says I'm a robot. Thanks honey). Sunday morning we are having breakfast with our bestest friends and then heading home. It's 15 hours from Sac so we will be getting a hotel on the way home. ETA is Monday. My own bed and hopefully we will bring back some of the 70-80 degree weather. I love the sun and warmth.

Finally, speaking of hotels and traveling with 4 kids. The Hyatt Place sleeps 6 and are very nice with 2 beds and a sectional with a pull out bed. They are near business parks and only $71 a night this weekend. BUT I went to Priceline and found there were only 2 - 3 star girls in that area and placed a bid of $50 a night. I won my bid and it's at Hyatt Place! I'm most pleased to get my preferred hotel for even less.

Til tomorrow - traveling Heather signing off.

where, oh where, art thou?

For I have been missing. I've worked so hard to make new friends in this blogging experiment of my life. I LOVE reading your blogs. I HATE being a single Mom. And I think it's because I KNOW I'm not single. Marc has had to travel 3 of the last 5 weeks and it's a little old to me. I find myself sitting here wondering if I'll even care that he's home. I'm so used to doing my daily routine and being with the kids. It's hard to find time to miss him. It's probably because we haven't talked in about 6 days and my son cried himself to sleep tonight saying how much he missed him. (he's our emotional one).

I LOVE that Marc has a job he enjoys and makes enough money for me to stay home. And I know that this is the first time he has had to travel, so much, with this job. It's hard to keep it in perspective when my own life with kids and volunteering seems to be spinning faster than I can hang on.

I have taken some time to take them to the park and I was blessed enough to have my neighbor spend all afternoon with the kids and I and then turn around and invite us all to dinner so that I didn't have to cook. She rocks!

But, now, Marc's flight should be landing in 10 minutes and the taxi or shuttle will bring him home. I find that I am getting butterflies in my stomach and am excited to see him again. We have one more day of work and life before we leave for California to attends my Dad's wedding on Saturday. We will get to spend 24/7 together for 5 days. Will it be too much after being apart for 24/7 for 6 days? I will tell you soon.

Now, back to (hopefully) my regularly scheduled posts (I would like to do daily updates, but our life is so normal) and I have finally finished "The Book Thief". A great book that took it's time ripening and then finished with such enthusiasm. I'm hesitant to move on to "The Glass Castle" which is due in less than a week and just move onto "The Help". Many decisions, and many hours of travel ahead of me. I'll take them all and hope for some alone time with my books to dive into my favorite cheap escape from reality.

Did you miss me?

I'm still getting the hang of this and realizing I should upload my photos from my iPhone for each day and then go back in and edit. Instead, you get this long, but sweet update of my photos and my trip.

My Dad is getting married (Mar 20th) to a wonderful woman we call Betts. My Mom died 5-1/2 years ago. Betts is wonderful and a perfect match for my Dad. So, with this marriage, there is a merging of 2 homes. My Dad is moving into her house and clearing out his. He has already moved once since my Mom died. Most of the old house was cleaned out, condensed and repackaged into his new, smaller house. Now, he is repacking, condensing and downsizing his holdings to move into Betts house. The reason I ramble is coming. My Mom painted these large paintings when she was younger that my Dad has hanging on his walls. One goes to my brother, Scott and the other goes in my house. They are large and I can never fit them in my car while I am visiting with the kids. So, I took the seats out of the minivan and drove to California to get them. I could of had him ship them, but then I wouldn't have been able to take my mini vacation and spend time with my family.

My short adventure began Friday morning. I left Seattle at 9am, I arrived in Redding at 6:30pm. Yes, it takes 9-1/2 hours (without kids) for me to drive 600 miles. I made a stop in Kalama for coffee, food, gas and bathroom. I didn't stop again until 1/2 way through Oregon (the longest state in the US when you are driving).

My biggest worry was driving over the highest pass with snow bearing down on the region. My goal is to get over the pass before dark when the road starts to freeze. I barely made it, but it was a great time to go over with some beautiful white mountain views.




22/365
Of my favorite sights along I-5, these are my favorite. The Siskiyou pass means I've made it through the worst of the snow areas without needing to put on chains. The "Welcome to California" sign means I'm almost there and I've made it through the longest state. (I realize it's not the longest, but it's 308 miles long. At 60mph, it should only take 5 hours. I've never made it out in under 5-1/2 and usually it takes 7hrs. I swear there is a time warp somewhere in the state).

Finally, this picture....this picture...is home. I know I am home when I see Mt. Shasta. This beautiful mountain was my compass for 18 years. I knew which way was North when I spotted. I knew I was near my hometown and my safe place while in college. I know it's where I can relax and pretend life has stopped. I am home and I am on vacation!! My camera on my phone doesn't do it justice, but I smile everytime I see this mountain.

So, I made it to my Dad's house and it is empty. It's pretty strange, but he's only lived here 2 years, so I didn't attach my sentimentality to it. We went to dinner Friday night and everyone arrived at Betts house, at the same time. Betts worked a dinner for membership for Turtle Bay (great place to visit in Redding), my brother, Bryan and my sister-in-law, Robin arrived from Sacramento and my Dad and I pulled up to the house at the same time. 

23/365

Saturday was moving day. I'm very proud to say, I didn't take everything I could from his house. Marc was a little worried. I placed 2 bookshelves in the van (can never have enough bookshelves), my Moms paintings and 2 boxes of books, photo albums, food blender and a few knick knacks. Some of the stuff is going to my brothers, Scott's, house. My van looked rather empty. But, it's enough. I realize a home is made of memories, a house is full of stuff. We loaded up our cars and went back to Betts house. 

This is where the vacation fun started. I unboxed the Wii Fit Plus and showed my Dad how to play. My Dad, my brother, Bryan and I took turns playing the different games. We had tears in our eyes creating each others characters for the Wii (only because we were exaggerating any body part we could). We had dinner and searched for cruises to go on this year. Of course, there are a million other little things that happen, but for your eyes, I am trying to limit the length.

Sunday morning Betts made breakfast (again). It was delicious and I was not looking forward to the drive home. I finally dragged myself to the car and headed for the freeway. I was hoping to avoid the freezing temperatures and snow on the way home. The benefit of driving North is that the worst of the mountains and weather is at the beginning of the trip, instead of the end. I made it over Shasta Lake and it started to snow. Not a lot of snow, but enough to make me nervous. I stuck it out and after the town of Weed, CA, the snow stopped. 

Before Weed, there was 2 feet of snow on the sides of the freeway, after Weed, there was nothing. No snow at all. It was REALLY windy though. Sitting in my car at the rest stop, I could feel the wind moving my car and bouncing it. Walking at the rest stop was just as strange. It was almost difficult to walk into the wind because it was blowing so hard.

I made it out of Weed and up the mountains to Siskiyou Summit. The snow was barely falling, but the clouds were thick. The trucks were stopping at the top, but I kept pushing on. Once over the summit, the clouds cleared, the road was freshly covered in gravel and I made it down the summit without speeding or slipping. 



The rest of my drive was fairly uneventful. I had to stop a few extra times. My back and legs were not happy to be driving again for so long. This was a good test as to whether or not a can push myself to drive the kids cross country in a week. I'm thinking we might need 2 weeks so that we can have a day of driving, followed by a day of play. To pass the time in the car alone, I listened to music and then movies. I brought some of my favorite movies to put in the DVD player. They were movies I've seen enough times that I can picture them so that I can listen to the dialogue and not watch the movie. Luckily, the DVD player is installed behind my head or I would have been tempted to look. Movies like "Mamma Mia and Under the Tuscun Sun" are fine to listen to. "Sliding Doors", not so much. There is too much going on that I wanted to peek and see where the movie was. I realized that movies have a lot of music over scenes that are great to watch, but very hard to visualize. It did make the time go much quicker though.

24/365

My travel time ended up being 10-1/2 hours. I got home at 9:30pm. The kids were happy to see me and I was happy to see them. I missed my bed and family. I love taking a mini vacation though to remind me how wonderful ALL my family is.

365 days, 365 photos

It's a new year. 2010. We have been busy as usual. This past year, we traveled to Redding, CA several times. In March, June and August. While in California during our August trip, we took the kids to Burney Falls, the Subway caves, Humboldt National Redwood Forest, and into Fremont for ribs at Emil Villa's. We took a few local trips including visiting Forks, WA twice to stay at the Oceanside Resort in La Push (great cabins on the beach). We went to the Olympic Rain Forest and then made a side detour on the way home to the Makah Nation and the NorthWest most point at Cape Flattery. We went camping for the first time at Lake Easton and stayed in a cabin at Hyak (near Snoqualmie Pass).

I realized we take our kids many places as well as visit many local sights and parks. I've decided to challenge myself by posting a photo for every day of 2010. Highlighting both the mundane and extraordianary things that we do. We are busy making travel plans for the upcoming year. My cousin lives on the other side of the country and we will see them before they move again. 

The current plan is to meet somewhere in the middle. I prefer to meet them somewhere warm. After a NorthWest winter, I want to see and feel the warmth of the sun. My current plan includes driving to California for my Dads wedding in March, then heading over to Santa Cruz. We will show the kids the California coast, a few sights in Los Angeles, a trip over to the Grand Canyon and a few days in Albuquerque (where we will meet up with my cousin and his family). We will then take 3 days to drive back home to Seattle. We are planning on taking 2 weeks. My other big trip will only be realized if my cousin isn't moving until end of summer. I would like to drive the kids cross country. Taking 1 week each way and spending 5-7 days with the family.

Our other possible plans include camping on the Oregon coast and a few trips over to Eastern Washington. We've lived here almost 7 years and have never been to the other half of this state. Maybe we'll be so global as to finally get our passports and head up to Canada. It takes as long to get to Calgary as it does to get to Redding. Here's to plenty of travels in 2010 and many photos.