Day 17--Friday, April 6--Sweet home Chicago

We slept in a truck stop a couple hours past St. Louis. When we got on the road in the morning, both kids complained that their stomachs hurt, so we got out the seasickness arm bands that hit the pressure points. They usually work quite well.

Last night we had a late dinner at a mediocre place called The Feed Lot. Our waitress was a skinny, young blond. When Dug asked her what imports they had, she replied in an Oklahoma drawl, "Weeeelllllllllll, I'm not even sure what an imported beer is, but we have that henny-kind or Hinekin......... however you say it." The kids both had Kraft looking mac and cheese, so I don't think their sick bellies this morning are from the food, but who knows.

We stopped for a quick carry out breakfast which Sagie promptly threw up. At least we had a plastic ice bucket from the Rio Sands in Aptos already in her lap in case. She hit "the pukey bowl" and I balanced and lurched my way to the bathroom to dump it and wet a wash cloth for her mouth and fill a swish n spit cup. (Another moment when RV is GOOD). Funny, we made it through all the mountains and twisting bumpy roads fine and when we got to the flat, wide highways of Illinois, she let loose.

Joilet was the closest dumping station, so we stopped there to drain the tanks so we wouldn't get charged $75. It was bitterly cold and windy and we had to dig out our winter coats again. A few snowflakes were even falling. Ah, lovely spring in the Midwest. Hard to believe we were baking in the desert less than a week ago.

As we drove toward the Chicago sky line, an el train passed us on the left, and I got a bit sentimental about big, dirty Chi Town. Also, I missed the big galoot, Nakama, and Allie girl. Alia was an 8 month old pup when Dug and I took our 1st road trip. She was so distraught without me, that she literally ATE the COUCH while I was gone. She decimated the fabric and ripped the foam to shreds. Really, it was so bad, the couch had to be thrown out. My previously mentioned friend, Bill, a dog walker and good friend of Alia's was watching her. She stayed in the same apt., with the same roommate, and our Husky, Ubu, and she still flipped out. Mama's girl. Luckily, she's mellowed with age, and at nearly 13, she didn't destroy anything during the 12 year reunion tour (that we know of).

We made it to Avondale, in the early afternoon, and began the great unpacking and cleaning of the chalet. Amazingly enough, we DID find a close street parking spot at the end of our alley. The trip was great, but 3,250 miles later........it's good to be home!

Way back at the beginning, in San Francisco, our shuttle driver from Monster Park asked if we'd ever been to S.F. before. We replied that it was the kids' first time, and Dug had come in highschool, and that I'd been there, but not in 12 years. He said, "A lot has changed in 12 years. They've torn old buildings down and built new ones up. But no one has moved the hills."

During the trip we heard one of my favorite songs, "Once in a Lifetime" by The Talking Heads.
It wasn't the first song of the trip, but one of the best. It's been a reoccuring theme in my life and pops up periodically at significant times. I got so much joy out of hearing Sagie and Dugan belt it out with me in the Chalet.

Skip forward to today, Mon, April 9th, as I put the finishing words to the blog. The trip has technically been over since Fri., but this morning Dug went off to work and the kids went back to school. It was the first day of alarm clocks since March 21st, which seems like eons ago. So now it officially seems vacation has ended. You guessed it, the radio alarm woke us today to "Once in a Lifetime" to wrap up this twice in a lifetime road trip. I'll end with the lyrics.

-----------------------Once in a Lifetime-----------------------

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself-Well...How did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.
Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing undergroundInto the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?...Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me downLetting the days go by/water flowing undergroundInto the blue again/in the silent waterUnder the rocks and stones/there is water underground.Letting the days go by/let the water hold me downLetting the days go by/water flowing undergroundInto the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Time isn't holding us. Time isn't after us. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was. There's a twister comin'. Here comes a twister.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

Day 16--Thurs. April 5--Oklahoma City, MO, IL and Dr. Marten's boots

It was another tri-state drive day. We got on the road at noon and drove to within 3 hours of Chicago so we'd have a snowball's chance of street parking the 22' beast somewhere remotely close to home. Also, traffic in and out of Chicago will get bad early, being not only Fri, but Easter weekend as well.

Since we spent the day in the RV and there's not much to report out the window, I'll digress and mention the road trippin' shoes:

They're flowered, leather Dr. Marten's boots, road trippin' shoes, DMs, Doc's, das boooooots. People seem to either love them or hate them. Back in Chicago, as we were packing for the 12 year reunion tour, our friend, Roscoe stopped by. He's met the great love of his life on line and wants to say goodbye to everyone before he moves to Australia.

As I chucked the boots into a "to pack" pile and said "These boots have got to go. They're my travelin' shoes." Roscoe replied, "No they don't! Those are your baby shoes. They need to be bronzed."

I took THE BOOTS anyway and 3 people on this trip have commented on how much they like them. As Ada's father, James said, "They have just the right amount of wear on them to look hand painted." Some things are better a bit broken in, comfy and filled with memories. Maybe that can go on my tomb stone, eh? Maybe I'll be remembered for that philosophy, along with a quote I made up for achieving happiness. "Prevent perfection. Prefer a perceptive perspective."

These magical boots have been as far away as Amsterdam, where a woman stopped me on the street to say she had the same boots, but never wears them.

I bought them 12 years ago and the road trippin' shoes have been on every major trip I've taken since. I've photographed them in various climates and odd places. A journey of 1,000 miles and all that................

Looking Glass Moment: Fall 1995, I helped my good friend and neighbor, Bill, move to San Francisco. We shared driving the U-Haul with all his worldly possessions, crazy black cat and Rottweiler puppy, Tir. We saw another U-haul at a rest stop with a bunch of tigers pictured on the back with the words " eats Four Adults". Someone had scratched off the first s in seats. It made a great photo and gave us a much needed laugh!

It was a rough move. Bill's ex, a violent stalker, had just tracked him down in Chicago and begun harassing him again after years without contact, so he needed to leave town fast. The 2nd day of the trip, Bill's young puppy, Tir, contracted Parvo (despite and possibly due to having the vaccination for it). The dog refused food or water and threw up for hours all over Bill's only mattress. We thought Tir was just car sick from the high mountains and bought a forest of pine tree air fresheners, to try to make the dog puke stench bearable.

We made the trip in 3 days, and rushed Tir to a vet as soon as we pulled in to San Francisco, but the pup died later that day. It was devastating, and we sat on the beach and mourned, for chilly hours and watched the sun set over the ocean. We made memorials to Tir in the sand and cried. Then we rested that night near the Muir Woods giant redwoods.

The next day, we got to work, trying to find a place for Bill to live. It was during the great apartment hunt, that we stumbled upon a garage sale. They had a medicine cabinet sized mirror standing on the ground and I could just see my road trippin' shoes in it, since it came to knee height. As I glanced down, I saw flowered Docs walking up an sharp incline and it took me a moment to realize I was seeing 2 pairs and was indeed still standing still! I turned around in time to see someone walking past behind me. That's the only time I've ever seen anyone else with these boots on and if it weren't for that mirror on the ground, I would have missed them.

Day 15--Wed, April 4--New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma

We got an early start and made it through NM, through Texas and into Oklahoma. It's a tri-state day! Go Dug. Originally we both planned to drive, but he's more comfortable driving than sitting and I'm happy to let him. He's driven buses and big vehicles before and I haven't. Really, I don't mind learning, but would rather do the safer thing with the kids aboard.

Mr. bottomless tummy, the growing 6 year old, wanted a 2nd breakfast about an hour on the road, so we stopped at a gas station diner for a Belgian waffle the size of Dugan's head and a giant side order plate of bacon for Sage. We were talking about how the cows and sheep outnumber the people in New Mexico and Dug said "There used to be more pigs before Sagie came through!"

We drove all day till dinner time in Amarillo, TX. It was mostly a depressed and depressing town. We did find a gem in the rough in the form of Moose's 66 diner, a funky local biker bar in an old garage with overhead doors. Everyone there knew each other, but were quite welcoming to us. We met the 3rd 4 year old girl of our road trip there. The kids played around with the pool table and played I spy....thing one on a moose, a blue haired troll, a pirate, a car hanging from the ceiling, etc. Almost everyone was tattooed, pierced and wearing black leather. There was a woman customer at the bar in chaps and a fringe leather jacket with a long brown pony tail and the longest fingers I've ever seen. They were a good inch or more longer than mine and she wasn't a tall person. She was about 60 and missing at least her front 4 top teeth.

Our waitress, Brianna, introduced herself to one latecomer saying "I'm Brianna, everyone calls me Breezy. My Mama gave it to me when I was little and it stuck." The heavy, grey bearded biker started to tease her saying "They call me Breezy, because I'm so easy and I like it best when she's on her kneezies." She blushed and several of the women got on his case saying "She's Bonita's niece, leave her alone. Keep it clean there are kids here." He grumped that he thought he WAS keeping it clean.

After saying, "Y'all aren't from around here are you?" after we ordered in Chicago accents, one of the women at the next table over said we should get a Moose shirt and advertise back in Chicago. I actually wanted one of the bar's shirts, a black tee that said "Some people are simply alive because it's against the law to kill them." Unfortunately, they were a cash only place and we only had enough for our meal/tip and were out of cash.

It was a poignant and personal stop. Half way through our dinner, more bikers came in and began to pass around the obituary page of the local paper. A guy they all knew had a fatal accident on his bike. One woman expressed relief that he'd been leaving "Shooters" instead of "The Moose" that night. Another said that one of the cops said "It's you people's fault if you die, for riding bikes in the first place." That went over well.

One biker at the table next to us was one of the most friendly to us. She was a middle aged blond woman who shared a design for her 4th tattoo with her table mates. It said survivor down the side and was a woman whose body was a pink breast cancer ribbon. The design was about 5x7, but the tat was to be about 2 inches high. Despite all the bad news and recent tragedies, they seemed to be a tight, happy circle of friends. After the Moose stop, we were back on the road till 11pm, but we gained 3 states and lost 2 hours along the way.

I'm singing the praises of the inventor of the portable DVD player! We're still doing a bunch of art and travel games with the kids and limiting the movies, but there are certainly times when it's GREAT to have one on board.

We stopped an hour short of Oklahoma City and splurged on a Comfort Inn with heated indoor pool and breakfast since today was a long haul. We've only spent 2 hotel nights and one at Dug's Dad's out of 16 nights since we got the Chalet, so it was a welcome break. The kids swam, ate and played. And everyone got a hot shower or bubble bath and hair washings. Ah the luxury.

Dugan made a page of his infamous monsters as a thank you to the hotel employees. He gave it to a woman at breakfast who liked it so much she taped it to the hotel fridge so everyone could share it! The only minor tragedy is that we lost Sage's tee shirt that Dug originally brought Dugan from Germany when he was there with Dave Attell on an Insomniac shoot. It has an east german car crashing through the Berlin wall. We lost it in the hotel from atop a pile of wet towels and clothes between the pool and our room. Despite retracing our steps twice and asking everyone we could find, we had to leave without it. If it turns up, they'll mail it, so there's still a slight chance........

Now we're refreshed and ready to crank out for the final run for Chicago. Two days to go.

Day 14--Tues. April 3--Rock n trees in the Petrified Forest

Holbrook KOA was great. The kids got to climb on a huge petrified log and play in a tee pee (what's the pc word now--hogan?) on the playground. We met a new 9 yo friend, Danielle, who was studying Chicago in her Arizona school right before spring break. She regurgitated route 66 facts, knew about the Chicago fire paving the way for modern sky scrapers. And she recited the inventors of the electric light, elevator and steel hardening process as creating cities as we know them today. Someone was paying attention in class! She was so excited to meet actual kids from Chicago.

Lunch was at an Italian joint we read about in the AAA book that happened to be super close. All the cloth table cloths were covered in clear plastic with fake roses with dried glue dew drops in vases on each table. The pop was flat, but they had cold beer and good food. The kids made friends with a woman who begged us to let her baby sit, because her daughter is 30 now. Then she remarked that we probably think she's some crazed stalker, but that really she just misses kids. She told us to be sure and enjoy them while they're little, because they grow up fast. We could use a night out about now, but I don't think she wants to drive 6 hours away tonight to sit for us, and we've gotta log some major miles east. Oh well.

We spent the day in the petrified forest where the kids earned a 2nd set of Jr. Ranger badges. This time they had to complete 3 pages of a workbook and got the full blown "swearing in" ceremony. It's a great program to keep the kids engaged in the parks and learning with hands on games. They're so proud of themselves and excited about the badges (which Sagie calls her badgers). The rock formation and petrified wood colors were amazing! We even got to see early inspirations for graffiti artists via petraglyphs at newspaper rock and near the ruins within the park. (Or maybe it was an early form of the National Enquirer "The great heron ate my baby!")

The Chalet continued it's homeward voyage along rt. 40 till a dinner stop in Gallup, NM. We ate at Earl's diner, a fun little local place with Navajo jewelry vendors who came table to table to sell their handmade jewelry throughout our meal. Much of the jewelry was beautiful, but I resisted and only bought 2 barrettes for Sage and me. They're turquoise, red and orange stones inset in silver.

At night we drove till Dug couldn't stay awake anymore and pulled off at a truck stop about an hour beyond "I'll be quirky" or "Abba Cookie" around 11pm. The kids are traveling great. Not so much to see on this end of the road trip, so we're logging the big drive hours. We've seen lots of sheep and cattle which greatly outnumber the people in NM (who are only 12 per square mile). Thank you kids sticker atlas.

Day 13--Mon., April 2--Pop Pop & Ducky's B & B--Montezuma Castle--Jr. Ranger badges--40

It was great to sleep in a big, comfy bed, take hot showers, bathe the kids and do some much needed loads of laundry. "Pop Pop and Ducky" fixed us a great big breakfast of bacon, eggs, pancakes, fresh fruits and coffee. Their home has a cowboy and Indian theme throughout, so we enjoyed our time as the first overnight guests at the Wild West B & B of Scottsdale near The Boulders.

We took our time visiting and digesting our wonderful breakfast and got on the road around noon. We made a stop at Montezuma Castle and took pixs and checked out the ruins. The kids earned Jr. Ranger badges, certificates and activity books for completing 2 projects while at the ruins. It was misnamed through the ignorance of white explorers and the name stuck--much like the name "indians". At least the modern day white explorers are willing to pay to see the ruins, misnamed or not, so they'll be preserved. The kids were fascinated and we all learned a lot. We'd hoped to see Walnut Creek cliff dwellings, too, but we arrived at 5:05 and the park was CLOSED-chain locked and blocked! Oh well. Now we plan to stay at Holbrook KOA, a camp ground near the border of New Mexico, and see the petrified forest early tomorrow. We'd hoped to get beyond Gallup tonight, but all the parks seem to have the same crazy close at 5 policy and this is some of the last, best natural scenery we'll be near.

Since today was another big drive day, I'll list some of the trip kid funnies:

This has been a few weeks of rapid vocab. development with lots of new word exposure. Sometimes the words get a bit mixed.
Sage, after swimming in Aptos: "I have to take a shower to wash all the chalet off my body." (chlorine--chalet is the RV name :D)

Sage, at Pop Pop & Duckie's after eating her first half of a chocolate dipped biscotti: "Don't eat my biscoyote! I want to save it for later."

Dugan at Montezuma after learning that the original inhabitants made sandles from Yucca plants: The ranger was quizzing the kids to get their Jr. Ranger badges and he asked Dugan what the sandles were made from and Du replied, "The Ick Bush." (It was pretty close to yuck. We got a good laugh outta that one!)

Creative imaginings: We've all been a bit snotty and sneezy from pollen since arriving in S.F. On the 2nd day when everyone woke sneezing, I said, "Hey, nobody's getting sick on vacation. No sneezing allowed!" Sage replied, "We have to sneeze or the monster on the ceiling dies. He's a friendly monster and every time we sneeze it keeps him alive." How can a parent argue with that?!

Day 12--Sun., April 1--RV broke down--flying home

We fried the brakes going down the steep grade out of Sedona as the smell of burning tires filled our lungs. The RV is no longer drivable and we're going to fly out of Phoenix today and come home early.

April fools! (heh, heh)

No, really, after my awesome birthday Heartline Cafe dinner, we carried the sleeping kids back to the Moho and got GPS coordinates to a nice, close RV park in Sedona that didn't answer the phone when we called. When we got there, we discovered why. It didn't exist anymore. A state trooper pulled up to us as we sat confused and indecisive in the anti-camp and told us to head back up the winding, treacherous mountain road about 10 miles. It was after 11 when we pulled in and discovered everything was full. Dug was crabby and ready to just drive to Phoenix. I told him I was DONE with the shear cliff drop offs in the dark and to just park in one of the spots with reserved tags on and pay in the morning. They were the only empties and we found one not technically reserved till 4/2 and squatted. I said, "Fine, let someone knock in the night and move us if they have to! What are they really gonna do--tow us down the mountain?!" and talked him into staying. Nobody came and in the morning we found someone and paid and it was no big deal. Glad I won that one.

We awoke to fleece weather and the smell of campfires amid gorgeous red rock walls. There was time for a short explore before check out. This camp ground almost rivaled Big Basin. The kids scaled cliff walls into a small cave, hopped rocks in the stream and had a great time balancing on fallen logs. Dugan even spotted a well camouflaged lizard and the most enormous crows I've ever seen.

Then we drove a couple hours down to Tempe for a relaxing visit with my Aunt Jan and Uncle Dick. It was HOT in the desert, so we changed into shorts at long last and ditched the morning's warm jackets. We had a great Mexican lunch in the back yard and the kids tried their hand at picking citrus for the first time. We have 2 bulging bags of the world's best grapefruit and oranges, from our relatives' trees, for their efforts. Du, Sage and Dug all played with the remote control boat in the lake behind their home, fed the ducks and gathered giant pine cones for our growing nature collection on wheels.

Aunt Jan even made me a Swedish Kringle coffee cake in the shape of a "40"! My Mom got the recipe from her when we were kids, so we always called it "Aunt Jan Coffee Cake", but Jan originally got the recipe from Jewish neighbor friends in Arizona. Every year my Mom would wake us on our birthdays with our age coffee cake, and she still makes them in Christmas tree shapes for the holidays. I hadn't had a birthday one since my teens. Then this year my Mom made me a 40 one and drove with it 6 hours in the car from Cincinnati when they came for Dugan's b-day party on St. Patrick's day. Then Jan made me a 2nd one the day after my birthday. I feel suitably celebrated! Fun fun.

Around 7pm, we drove about a half hour north to Scottsdale to Dug's Dad's new winter home. We enjoyed the sunset over a "manicured desert golf course" with lots of giant saguaro cacti, which their backyard backs up to. Their yard has a small pond with a waterfall, big patio and tasteful rock and cactus landscaping. They lit candles and a gas fireplace to take the chill out of the night air and we wrapped up in Mexican blankets. The sky was clear and the moon and stars were stunning. We saw quail and heard tales of visits to the subdivision by bobcats, javelinas & rattlesnakes, who don't respect the boundaries of the gated community within the wider desert home they've inhabited for eons. We hoped to hear the coyotes who live near by howl at the nearly full moon, but we slept so soundly we didn't hear a thing.

Day 11--Sat, March 31--happy 40th to me--Vegas--Sedona

We had time for a quick splash in the pool and time to warm back up in the big, bubbly hot tub with our new friends Ian and Zora before we had to go leaving Las Vegas. He's starting college to study audio engineering and she cried to see us go. The kids really hit it off. I got their e-mail and promised to send pixs of Zora and my 2 on the carnival rides in The Adventure Dome.

While we were battening down the hatches, Ada and Oscar's Grandma, Charis, came by to see our laptop slide show of camping with her daughter and family in Big Basin 2 days ago. Her RV was parked close to ours and she came by with a mug of Constant Comment tea in hand. It was a cozy, small-town-neighborly moment. And she loved seeing such recent pixs of her grand kids. She has several biology degrees. We've met such fascinating people. Wish they lived closer.

The kids made me art work for my birthday and we all ran the gauntlet of slot machines in Circus Circus to get Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and coffee for breakfast from the far side of the casino. Then it was back on the road for most of the day. We added a new state to the kids' sticker atlas books passing from Nevada to Arizona via The Hoover Dam. Such excitement--homeland security act in action. It took us about an hour just to cross the dam and we got boarded by an inspector and searched for explosives.

The scenery has been great in Arizona. Such a different scene. Stopped at Kingman to buy the beast a $100 drink of mid grade and get cold drinks for the humans. Then we hit the mountains to make it to the beautiful, red rocks of Coconino before sunset. I found a great little restaurant in Sedona called Heartline, for a special b-day dinner. Food was excellent and the kids behaved great for spending the day in the RV. Dugan put his head on the table and was asleep before my birthday mousse arrived with one candle blazing. I met a couple more rams at the Heartline born the day before and after me--3/30 & 4/1! We found a breathtaking site amid trees in Oak Creek Canyon instead of a parking lot!

Day 10--Friday, March 30--Barstow truck stop to Vegas Baby

The kids were both ODed on the wonders of nature and hiking. So we decided to stop in Las Vegas for a day, to let them bask in civilization run amok. All the upper passes through the mountains are still snowed in this time of year and impassable by RV, so we had to pretty muchly go that far south anyway. We made it 3 hours from Vegas driving till midnight while the kiddos slept. Then we pulled over at a truck stop rest area near Barstow to catch some quick z's before the little monkeys jumped on our heads bright and early.

We got to Vegas right at noon-check in time. And amazingly enough, we met Charis, the Grandmother of the kids we hiked with in Big Basin yesterday. How often can you drive 11 hours in a day and meet 2 generations of someone else's family?! She was busy working check in, so we told her to stop by "the chalet" tomorrow (her day off) for a slide show of the Big Basin shots with her family. The kids hit the pool and hot tub, got day pass wristbands for unlimited rides at The Adventuredome in Circus Circus, and each won 2 stuffed animal friends popping balloons with darts. They made a new friend, 4 year old Zora, camped across from us. Her Mother was playing in a foosball tournament at the convention center, so she was having adventures with her muchly older big bro, Ian (whom Sagie adored and flirted shamelessly with!). Zora and Sagie were best buds fast and 2 of a kind. The 3 kids happily rode rides together till 10:45 (bed time is usually 8:30), then promptly fell asleep before we could make our way back to camp.

We hooked up with our old Chicago neighbor and "adopted son", JJ, whom we hadn't seen since he moved to Vegas 2 years ago. He hung out with us for a few hours while the kids rode rides and then we all grabbed a very late dinner while both kids snoozed, piled on each other's laps in the stroller.

Day 9--Thursday, March 29th--Big Basin--big drivin'

Thursday--We awoke in the lush redwood forests. I want to stay here a month! Everything smells so great. Oxygen overload. Last night we grilled turkey burgers and made s'mores around our campfire. This morning Dug made pancakes for us then we hiked over to see our new friends. It was amazing to find people so similar to us in an otherwise empty camp ground. They shared bacon with Sage, the bacon monster, and chocolate chip pancakes with Dugan who'd already eaten 12 silver dollar pancakes earlier!

We hiked a half mile trail which included trees you could literally walk into and through and the mother and father trees of big basin. The adults were in awe and the kids alternated between joy, boredom, pain, hunger, general snarkyness and exhaustion. It was fun for us to have other parents of a preschooler to chuckle with as we gently made fun of the kids moods.

At 3pm we hit the road to finally head out of California on the first major drive of our trip--11 hours to Vegas. We intended to spend the most time on the west coast and western states, but 9 days out of 17, we have only driven 200 miles and have over 35 hours of drive time to go!! The plan is to get most of the way to Vegas tonight while the kids sleep. We'll do the last few hours tomorrow and then spend the day and night in Vegas relaxing.

Sat (my 40th b-day) we'll leave early and spend the night in Sedona. April 1st/2nd we'll try to visit Pop Pop/Ducky (Dug's Dad)and Jan/ Dick (my Aunt/Uncle) in Scottsdale and Tempe, AZ. We're going to save Grand Canyon, De Chelly and Taos for when the kids are older. They were having such a great time on the beach, we didn't want to drag them away from CA, and most of the ruins, petroglyphs, etc are at least 3 miles in and Sage would never make it walking steep canyons paths at 3. Hopefully we'll have this trip paid off in another 6 years and the kids will be old enough and we won't yet be TOO old. The new plan is to head for route 40 and make a bee line for Chicago, with scenic stops along the way. We have to be back Fri. the 6th.

The kids are traveling great! We got them backpacks of road trip games, kids road atlas sticker books and art supplies from Du's recent b-day. Bathroom on board helps as much as we'd hoped. Some of the Santa Cruz to Vegas drive was beautiful with sensual,rolling hills. We road through miles of toy train looking farms in tree dotted hills and pristine, cobalt lakes. Then came the stink-air! Pew. Miles of manure orchards and fermenting fields. Made me long for the fresh, fragrant red woods. Around 11pm we passed Tehachapi, CA where Grandma Eloise was born!! If it wasn't so late and the kids weren't asleep, we would have stopped there for a photo at least.
B

Day 8--Wed., March 28th--Aptos and Big Basin at Last

Day 8--We awoke to an "expanded continental breakfast" by the fire and then got our swimsuits on and played in the hot tub for an hour before check out. Rio Sands Motel was a great little break after sleeping 6 days in the RV. One of California's nicest beaches was "100 steps away" according to the hotel literature. So we re parked out of the hotel lot and walked to the beach. It was 142 Dugan steps to the beach. There's a cracked and mostly sunken concrete ship "docked" there which is now home to lots of marine creatures. Again, the little shell, rock and feather collectors were out in force.

We made a short grocery stop, and Dug finally broke down and bought himself some black Crocs, so we all have them. Past a skate shop called SCABS. We thought about getting Scabby (Sage) a shirt, but wanted to get on the road, so we didn't stop. Maybe they have a web site.

From there, we headed for Big Basin at long last. I told the kids to look out the window at the beautiful redwoods and scenery. Dugan griped, "All I see are more mountains and trees." The roads were curvy and both kids complained about being car sick tho nobody threw up. It was only about an hour drive, but both kids were super crabby by the time we made the ascent into camp. It was well worth it, though.

We are camping in the most breathtaking grove of ancient redwoods and there's only one other family in the whole camp ground. They have a baby, Oscar, and a five year old daughter, Ada, who is having the best time playing with Du and Sage. We hope to take a short hike together tomorrow. The Dad's in grad school in Berkeley and the Mom used to teach in a French/English Montessori. They have a French friend with them, so tomorrow Du and Sage can regale them with their incomprehensible repertoire of French songs from their Montessori.
B

Day 7--Tues, March 27th--Slanty Shanty--Cole's BBQ--hot tubbin' day and night

Day 7--We awoke to clearer skies and a windy morning. The forcast rain stayed away. After cheezy eggs in the Winnebago Chalet, we hit the Mystery Spot. It's a wacky wooden optical illusion cabin built on some weird magnetic energy fields that alter compasses and levels. We had a great time till Dugan did a perfect one handed hand stand (supposedly xtra easy in the "mystery spot") and jumped up to wack his head on a 35lb. hanging weight. He was fine, but crabby and over the tour, so Dug and Du went back to the Chalet for ice.

We took off for Cole's BBQ shack for lunch--pretty tasty for the grown ups, but the kid's weren't digging it. (Dugan was still snarking out about his head bonk). The shell collectors hit the beach after that and gathered 2 quart zip locks each. We went at lowest tide and checked out all the tide pools along Paradise Point, a renowned surf spot. We saw lots of anemone and little shells and sea critters. The surfers were pretty cool to watch, too.

That night we splurged and stayed at Rio Sands hotel. It was only $20 more than the RV parks and included free breakfast, a large, outdoor hot tub the kids could actually swim in with 2 inner tubes, 2 days of hot showers, and free internet access ;). Sage was dying to swim and so we went Tuesday night and plan to swim again Wed morning between breakfast and 11am check out time.

Day 6--Mon.,March 26th--On the road again-Santa Cruz-1st ocean experience

Goodbye to Monster Park and San Francisco. We spent the morning doing laundry where the monster of monster park ate a bunch of holes in one of Dugan's socks. The RV park laundry had a claw game that incessantly played "The Baby Elephant Walk". Sage and I heard it a few hundred times before our 3 loads of laundry were done and were stuck humming it all day!

We stocked up on groceries and took a travel day. Lunch break was at Mountain Mike's Pizza next to the grocery. Pretty tasty! The plan was to go to Big Basin and hike among the redwoods, but it was raining hard today and forcast for tomorrow as well. All the roads to Big Basin are winding with sharp curves, so we decided not to try it in a foggy downpour. Even trailer camping wouldn't be much fun in the cold rain. So we decided to head for nearby Santa Cruz and save the Redwoods for a couple days. We got the last spot in the "Beach RV Park" for a $10 discount--payment in cash, and a promise to leave in the morning, because the spot's rented and they're technically full.

The clouds broke for a small window after dinner--just long enough to walk 4 blocks to the beach at dusk and give the kids their 1st sight, sound, smell and feel of the ocean. After warnings to watch the waves, the kids got good at jumping back or wading in on purpose, but Dug got blindsided by a big wave, while petting a dog, and had to walk home with wet gym shoes and soggy pants! Downpours began again minutes after we got back.

We've been picking animal cards each day. Dugan chose rabbit, which is overcoming fears. He faced and overcame his fears of walking to and from the beach in the dark, with stormy skies overhead. Sagie picked mouse which stands for scrutinizing the details.

We've had to fish Sagie out of the luggage sill and back into the spacious dbl. bed loft 2 nights in a row ("I sleep in a drawer"). She loves to go to sleep in that cozy, little spot. Tomorrow, if the storms break, we hope to play around in the tide pools and enjoy the ocean.

Day 5--Sun., March 25th--ugly dolls-Golden Gate Park-Art Bar-Organic Market

Day 5--our last full day in S.F., we again took the shuttle into town from Monster Park. From there we started out on a big explore, walking from Chinatown toward Golden Gate Park. The kids were excited to discover a store with Ugly Dolls 20% off. Dugan's been looking at them for months and was able to use his birthday money to buy 2 for himself. Of course Sagie got a little advance on her birthday money for a few ugly friends of her own. The store owner even gave Dugan a little, red Adidas bag as a birthday present. People have been so generous to the kids. A grandpa on the plane gave the kids 2 big, high end dark chocolate bars. And the woman in Trader Joes gave them balloons and 18 stickers on a roll instead of one.

Burning down the house: Within minutes of our walk, 3 hook and ladders, a heavy rescue ambulance and one pumper raced by us on Market Street, sirens blaring. They all stopped at Westfield Mall, although nothing appeared to be wrong there. It's not every day that you get to see a bunch of suited up fireman walking around a mall with axes.

"I introduce you to my falafel........"--A bit further on, we happened upon an organic outdoor market. When the first vendor handed me a bit of organic falafel covered in hummus and said "I introduce you to my falafel." I was hooked. It was the best falafel sandwich I've ever had. Pleasure to eat you. We found organic strawberries that the kids chowed down immediately, and a bag of Fuji apples. The kids played in a fountain there with a quote "We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children." Rachel Carson.

We made it to Market and Haight before those who refused to meet the organic falafel were starving and tired of walking. Lunch was at Momi Tobys Revolution Cafe/ Art Bar on Laguna. The funky garage door art was across the street. I thought it was great, but the kids hated it and said it was a bunch of ugly junky scrap metal. Dug ate a chicken salad and bitched about California cuisine being too healthy.

We stopped at a playground with a birthday party going on. The b-day girl (around 2) had a giant shoulder temp tattoo and most of the parents were tattooed, pierced and had multicolored hair. Our kids climbed and slid and hung with the freaks' offspring including a little kid named Dash in full spider man costume (including a face covering hood he couldn't see out of well).

Finally, daunted by the hills, we hopped a bus and checked out Golden Gate Park. The Botanical Gardens were beautiful, even in the cold, misty rain. (We got smart and brought our rain gear and winter coats today). The kids enjoyed the duck pond with odd black birds we affectionately nick named the "funky foot birds" because their non-webbed feet are huge and kind of resemble feathers.

Tomorrow, as Dugan said "We're gonna get loaded." and head for Big Basin to camp among the redwoods.

Day 4--Sat., March 24th--Green man--sea lions--cable cars

We took the shuttle into the city again. Within the first few blocks, we ran into an unexpected parade for Greek Independance Day. Dugan happily exclaimed, "Wow vacation AND a parade, too!"

Most original moment: Walking through the crowds at Fisherman's Wharf we came to a completely empty 5 foot invisible circle on the side walk with a bunch of people pointing video cameras. To the left was a man crouching and holding a bunch of branches--looking like green man--camouflaged. I warned Dugan seconds before the guy lunged and growled, but Du jumped anyway. I thought it was a creative way of panhandling that shakes people out of their complacency and adds some much needed humor. Dugan was mad and first denied being scared and then said he just pretended to jump. Then later he agreed that he was genuinely surprised, but not scared.

We did the blatant touristy thing today and took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf. It was crowded, cold, rainy and cheesy, but still we managed to have fun. The kids enjoyed hearing & seeing the wild sea lions, and we found a great fresh seafood restaurant, Lolly Castagnola's, on the waterfront.

It was so cold and nasty that we were going to break down and get the kids some cheap, SF jackets or sweatshirts. Once in the store, tho, Sage was inseparable from a rhinestone hearted short sleeved shirt and Dugan fell in love with a stuffed boxer dog. Oh well. We explained that they could make those choices, but not to complain if their fleeces weren't warm enough and not to beg for any other souvenirs. They were great about it. Dugan said his new puppy helped him not care about the cold rain and that he felt much warmer holding his furry friend.

On our night walk back to the cable car, we accidentally discovered a much welcome Trader Joe's and stocked up on a few bags of groceries to carry back to the home sweet moho. Wish I would have had an xtra hand to take a picture of us hanging off the cable car, holding on to the kids (Sage with Trader Joe's balloon in hand--Dugan's blew away!), 2 day packs and 4 Trader Joe's bags. We didn't even smoosh the bananas.

Day 3--Fri., March 23rd--Freak Magnet--SFMOMA--frying pan handlers--Chinatown S.F.

Day 3--Kids were thrilled to find we're staying at MONSTER PARK, being monster crazy. It's basically the 49ers parking lot, so not exactly the pristine wilderness and camping under the redwoods that we hope to do in a few days. However, it's the only RV park on the S.F. side and a good jumping off point. We took the shuttle to Chinatown and spent 10 hours wandering around having adventures. We were originally only going to stay 2 days, but there's so much to see and they have a buy 3, get 1 free day deal at MONSTER PARK.

Freak Magnet: We may be techno geeks now with our yuppy RV, laptop, GPS (thanks Tim & Dani!!!), and other gadgets, but I'm happy to report my freak magnet powers are still intact. We had a half hour in the evening before the shuttle was scheduled to take us back and ducked into Popolos in China Town for a quick beer. As we paid the bill and gathered our things, Sage made friends with a middle aged woman waiting for the bathroom and began telling her elaborate stories. As we tried to move the loaded stroller down a flight of stairs, I asked the kids to move over. The woman picked Sage up and told both kids that it's the elderly adults who have an obligation to move over for the kids, so there won't be overpopulation. Then she said, "I'll be going home to commit suicide later. Have a good night."

Creative mooching: "Panhandler" holding out 2 caphlon frying pans in the air and begging for change. Sign--Will take verbal abuse for your money.

Highlights:
Picasso special exhibit at SFMOMA and lunch in the museum cafe. (I thought Dugan would really dig it--the kids love to slide on the Daley Plaza Picasso statue and Du wants to be an artist. He made it through about 5 rooms and was over it, while Sage fell asleep.

Dug took the kids outside to a great playground behind the Yerba Buena building across the street while I checked out the rest of MOMA. The playground--complete with juggling Yerba employee and super fast slides--was a big hit. Dugan threw pennies in the fountain and wished "that he wouldn't have to see any more boring art work" ).

Excellent Mexican food with a view of the Bay Bridge, down by the Ferry Building, where we were hounded by ballsy pigeons who swooped in on everyone's food while we were still eating it.
Watching some little skate punks Ollie over a 3' concrete pillar
Our bus driver's amusing "tour" banter. He had us all cracking up and taught the kids WoW is the same forward and backward and is MoM upside down. This had Dugan trying to figure other words backwards and upside down all day.

Great place to people watch. Even the bummy dudes are colorful freaks.

Day 2--Thurs., March 22nd--2nd Cousins--Winnebago Warriors--the Moho

We arrived under sunny and 70 skies. The kids were suitably impressed with the cactus and palm trees.

Weirdest plane moment: Both kids had to pee urgently and simultaneously in the 4' square airplane commode. I had to leave the door open and shuffle them out in fast sequence. Then I sent them lurching back alone and shut the door to go myself. We hit a bunch of turbulence while I was in there alone, and I had my first dark thoughts about the mortality of my kids in a tin tube hurtling through space. I've always been a fearless flyer, but being responsible for little people changes things.

On the way back to my seat I ran the death media gamut. First, someone had a lap top open to death benefits insurance info. A few seats up, a woman was reading a book containing the words, "face death and embrace the fear....". A few seats further, a man was watching a movie on his DVD player and as I passed, a close 2 shot was up with one man holding a gun up to some one's face. It was good to get back to my seat.

We got a hotel 2 miles away with a free shuttle from the airport. It was supposedly a 3 star Travel Lodge, that had 3 burned out bulbs, a missing bathroom door lock and dire warnings about dead bolting the door and not speaking to strangers about your plans to leave your room, on the pillows. It smelled like moldy gym socks, but at least it was cheap!

We had internet access there, but I got one of those creepy "phishing" e-mails as soon as I logged on. It had a secured site (s) in the bar and appeared to be from Pay pal saying 71.50 had been withdrawn from my bank account as a full refund for ebay item 47629073. I'd read about someone in Vegas having identy theft happen by freaking out and logging in with passwords to check out a fake transaction like that. So I deleted it, emptied the "trash" and checked on pay pal the next day, when we were out of the area. No transactions. Whew!

The shuttle driver was crazed. Sagezilla and Du picked the very back seat (no belts) and both kids were swerved horizontal and bounced a good 2 feet off their seats, laughing hysterically, while I gripped one with each hand. It was better than Disney Land (which we're avoiding on principle).

Day 2 was mostly consumed with a journey to get the Moho. The boys took the toad's wild shuttle ride to SFO and then took BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit train) to San Leandro and walked to the motor home rental place. I guarded the luggage and brushed dread knots out of Sagie's curls.

The Moho is nearly new and in excellent condition. It was a pleasant surprise and a big leap up from the Stinky Bear Travel Lodge. I could get used to this!

We finally got on our way at 1pm, stopped to eat at Ed's Diner (staffed entirely by Asians) with decent grill food. They gave us a half dollar as change and I was amazed that Dugan knew what the coin was and that it was graced by JFK's face! Guess that free Montessori education's paying off. Back in the Moho, the kids sang head, shoulders, knees & toes in French duets. The kids picked fresh flowers for their "magic potions" when we took an hour, post lunch walk. Weirdest sight: Teddy Roosevelt stenciled and spray painted on a phone booth.

I got in touch with my cousin, Jean, a graphic artist and oldest daughter of my Dad's twin sister, whom we hadn't seen in close to 4 years. Her 12 year old daughter, Lizzy, and 9 year old son, Richard had lots of homework and little league respectively, but she squeezed us in for a visit. Other than backing the Moho into some low hanging tree limbs trying to park on her city street, our visit turned out to be great. They have silver spirals (my fave shape) painted all over their garage floor, cloth palm trees (from a prior party) in the basement, and a beautiful home. We went to the park where baseball practice was held and hit the playground. The kids couldn't have been happier.

We ended the evening with an excellent dinner at Alice's Chinese Restaurant, one of their neighborhood haunts and a fun, funky spot.

Day 1--Wed., March 21st--Take that California Trip...........

12 years ago Dug and I set out on a road trip with 2 days notice and one back pack each. We began as acquaintances with mutual friends and ended as soul mates. This journey begins with 9 pieces of luggage, a one way flight to San Francisco, and 2 little people who probably owe their existance to that road trip in 1995.

Chicago was rain soaked and dreary when we flew out of O'Hare on Wed, March 21. We were picked up by a cell phone chatting, Jamaican cab driver in a mini van, so we could schlep two car seats and everything for 17 day on the road to the airport. We rode out sans music, but at least the kids weren't screaming.

When Dug and I left Chicago on our original road trip 12 years ago, I was about to pop in a disc, but he said, "Lets listen to the radio till we're out of town." The FIRST song to come on was Route 66! We couldn't have planned it. Weird coinkidink. We did do a portion of 66, tho not all the way to CA, and we hit many of the same towns on the highway. Dug flew home from LA after our 2 weeks together, and I flew alone to San Fran. I was seriously thinking of moving there and had never been. My last day in town, I was walking along the ocean and stopped to watch a street performer get out of a straight jacket for tips. He had a boom box playing route 66!!!! As soon as the song ended I had to hop public trans to the airport. So it literally was the first and last song of the road trip for me.

Back then I thought it was so "cool" we had cases full of discs instead of cassette tapes. This time our tunes are MP3s from the laptop, Toshiba iPod(ish) device and satellite radio, and we've officially crossed that line to techno-geeks. We still heard Route 66, but had to contrive it a little with The Cramps "Flamejob" album.