Usual routine – wake up, eat breakfast, pack up, head out After a while we started to realize that we were driving through the Mohave desert The land grew more desert-like and somewhat mountainous Stopped at a rest area and marveled at the 94 degree heat Finally made it to the big city in the
Thursday – Spend the day in San Francisco Woke up and had breakfast, loaded up Filled up the gas tank Drove in morning commuter traffic Noticed orchards Crossed Golden Gate Bridge (paid the night before online) Followed 101 into town Drove down Lombard Street Found parking spot Walked Pier 39, saw Sea Lions Waited
The plan for this location was to get as close to San Francisco as possible – in order to spend the entire day there. Woke up in Bandon Oregon, ate breakfast, went swimming while dad packed up the van Walked across the street to the hotel’s private beach entrance and played at the beach one
This was one of our favorite days! Look at the pictures and you will see why. Woke up REALLY early – we had a BIG day of driving today with a few stops Packed van Left about 8:15 and drove to Doxa Church to pick up bag we forgot – took forever in traffic After we
Slept in Picked up Grandma and brought back Went downtown and parked Dad and 3 kids up in the space needle Grandma and 3 kids road monorail to the store and Mom and Dad, CJ, drove and picked them up Got food from the grocery for lunch Ate then went to Uncle Chris’s Watched them
This was the day of the main event – the whole reason we came to Seattle. Chris and Amy were celebrating their wedding with family and friends. They had already been married by the J.O.P., then had a destination wedding in Paris. The reception was at the Pink Door, where Chris is General Manager and Amy
Headed downtown to shop and drop run an errand for Uncle Chris at Nordstrom’s Went shopping a bit then ate lunch at the food court Rode the monorail over to the Seattle Center Everyone went on the Duck Tour (An hour long tour of Seattle on land and water – definitely a highlight of the week!)
Relaxed at our house for the morning Welcomed Uncle Ron and Aunt Diane to Seattle and then walked down the street to eat lunch at a local eatery Came back home then stopped at the grocery for some stuff on the way to Chris and Amy’s Had a fun cookout the rest of the night, met
It rained all day in Seattle today. However, despite its reputation, this was the only day it was rainy. We actually had great weather otherwise! Woke up Breakfast / work / hanging out at “home” Went to Panera for lunch (lucked out finding parking right in front) Went to the Seattle Children’s Museum Went to
Woke up and had a slow morning Dad worked a bit, Mom cleaned the van out, kids watched TV Headed to Seward Park where we played on the playground, took a big walk/hike and played along the shore of Lake Washington Went for pizza for lunch in Columbia City, a few blocks from our place
Above is our route, more or less, for the first leg of the trip. It’s pretty crazy to think we drove this whole way (wait till you see the way back!). 8 overnights. 10 states. 49 bathroom breaks. And we only ate at McDonald’s one time. Here are the events from this day: Woke
This day was a travel day. We had a lot of ground to cover. Originally, we had planned to go back in to Yellowstone for part of this day and arrive late at our hotel but after a nice full day before in Yellowstone, we were content to move on and enjoy a longer evening at
Got up early, packed, ate the last of our breakfast type food and left Greybull, Wyoming. Drove through Cody Drove through beautiful mountains and finally reached the East Entrance to Yellowstone. After a few minutes winding through forest recovering from forest fire, we came upon a group of people looking at something far off in
We awoke early and started packing – opting to not take showers, though the shower house was remarkably nice While we packed, EB tested out his new slingshot (he bought at Wall Drug) and the kids climbed on a large rock formation right next to our cabin. After a short play at the playground (long enough for CJ to
The day begins at the Ingalls Homestead in De Smet, South Dakota The night was COLD and there was NO heat in our bunk house so the sleep was not great Woke up to a brisk South Dakota sunrise and it was beautiful After washing up a bit and packing up, we hit the road early
