Universal Studios

U- Unique place to see
N- Neat place to visit
I- Increasing number of people
V- Very fun
E- Eat with different characters
R- Rides are fun
S- Scary Haunted House
A- Awesome shows
L- Laughing at King Kong

S- Studios are very cool
T- Tasty food
U-Uncanny decorations
D- Different characters
I- Interesting dances
O- Objects that scared me
S- Scary decorations

San Francisco

Riding the BART

We've been in the San Francisco area this week.  The girls were especially interested in the whole mass transit thing.  Going from Pacifica to Fisherman's Wharf, we used a combination of BART train (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and MUNI (San Francisco Municipal Transit) which included buses, cable cars, and trolleys.

 



Katy really enjoyed being able to use her transit card and get anywhere she wanted to go.  She'd make a great city dweller.  She loves museums, restaurants, and shopping.



At Aquarium of the Bay



We learned even more about Pacific Ocean Sea Life at Aquarium of the Bay (http://www.aquariumofthebay.org/).  The sea creatures of the cool Pacific waters look different than those of the warm Caribbean Sea we're used to enjoying.  Though it's beautiful here, I'm definitely a warm weather girl and just can't get that relaxed, laid back feeling like in the Caribbean.





China Town



 

We strolled along the streets of China Town and did a little souvenir shopping.

 

On Friday morning, we took a cruise of San Francisco Bay that went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz.  The weather was pretty cool, in the 50s and of course very windy.  The views from the bay were spectacular and we were glad we'd braved the weather and ridden on the top deck.

 


 


Golden Gate Bridge in the background.







Sea Lions at Pier 39



At Pier 39 we enjoyed some excellent sourdough bread at Boudin San Francisco Sourdough.  They make a great product and form it into such entertaining shapes.



Today we're doing some catch up around the house, getting ready to move again in the morning.  Tomorrow we're headed to Los Angeles for the week. It's hard to believe we've been on the road for over 4 months now.  It's still going well.  Everyone's getting along good, which is sometimes surprising in such cramped quarters.  I have noticed that some of us (mainly Hannah and I) are loosing steam lately.  We tend to be the home bodies of the family anyway, so I think we're just missing our personal space and down time.  But tomorrow we'll be ready to go again.  The girls have REALLY been looking forward to going to LA.  I'm sure we'll be quite busy this week trying to fit in everything they want to do.





Oh yes, Sophie is having a big day today, she has a play date.  Sophie met a sweet little 7 month old Maltese shih tzu mix, Winnie,  at the RV resort this week, and we're watching her while her people are out for the evening.  They've been having lots of fun playing.











Sequoia National Park

On Friday, September 24th we visited Sequoia National Park (http://www.nps.gov/seki).  We invited Uncle Jack to go along, but he decided it would be too long of a day for him. It took a little over an hour to travel from Kingsburg to the park, and the girls really enjoyed the mountain roads with all their twists and turns. As you can see, Sophie went too.  She really seems to enjoy all the traveling and is just devastated when she has to stay behind at camp.





Hannah climbing back up after hiking down to this pretty spot on the King River.

 

Hannah and I went on a couple of short hikes in the park.  Katy hasn't been able to hike much lately.  Her right knee has been bothering her a lot.  She slipped and fell on some concrete back in May, just before school was out.  When it first happened, we iced it and she took Advil.  It improved after a few days, so we went on as usual.  Lately it's been bothering her more and more, to the point that we had it checked by an orthopedic physician in Carson City, Nevada.  After examining her and getting Xrays, he determined that the cartilage under her knee cap is still irritated from her fall back in May, and that she continues to strain it by keeping her knee bent during our long trips on the road.  So, Katy is keeping her leg elevated when we're in the truck and trying to avoid steep inclines and stairs as much as possible.  The doctor told Katy it could take a few more months for the injury to completely heal, but to be careful with it and patient and that all should be fine.

 The Sequoia Groves at Sequoia National Park are amazing.  I so wish I could take a photo that shows just how magnificent these trees truly are.  Here's Mickey and the girls trying to give you an idea of just how big the base of this tree is.  Notice how small our Jeep is in the background.

Below is a picture of Hannah and I at the base of the General Sherman Tree.  It's the largest tree by volume on earth.



The rest of the weekend was spent just relaxing and getting ready to move again.  Those little things like laundry and cleaning, they follow you no matter where you go.  Mickey and Uncle Jack went to the casino on Sunday.  When asked how they did, they just said they had made a deposit with the Indians and had had to eat hot dogs for lunch.

We shared a nice breakfast with Uncle Jack before leaving Kingsburg Monday morning.  We're now in Pacifica, California, a little south of San Francisco.  The RV resort where we're staying this week is on a cliff over looking the Pacific Ocean.  It's definitely one of the best views we're had.  The park has a pool and hot tub, so that pleases the girls.  They spent a couple of hours there last night.

When class is done today, we're going in to the city.  It will be an experience for us.  We're catching the train just down from where we're staying and using public transportation to get around San Francisco.  It will probably be a late night, so I'll post pictures from San Francisco later.  

San Joaquin Valley




We're having a good time in the San Joaquin Valley.  We got to Kingsburg on Monday, September 20th and stopped right away to see Uncle Jack. He's living in a nice retirement complex where he has his own apartment.  The complex has a dining room where he has breakfast and lunch, then dinner is on his own. He's doing well and is a pistol as always.

Katy, Hannah, Uncle Jack, and Mickey at Uncle Jack's place.



Right now we're staying in the RV area at the retirement community Uncle Jack lived in before moving into the apartments.  We have a pretty park with roses and a horse shoe pit right out our door, and lots of manicured grass which Sophie loves.



Uncle Jack, Mickey, Bennie

We met Uncle Jack's dear friend Bennie Gonsalves, his wife Delores, and three of their seven children, Barbara, Brandon, and Terry.  What a nice family.  He's certainly been blessed to have such great friends.  Uncle Jack and Bennie have know each other for about 50 years.  

Bennie gave us a tour of his dairy and of his fabulous family museum.  He's really put together an impressive place.  How nice to be able to display such precious family memories and to share them with others.  We really were amazed.





Bennie, Hannah, Katy, and Mickey at the museum.

Katy and Hannah in the milking barn.

Along with dairies, this area of California produces nuts, fruits, and tons of grapes for both table use and for raisins.  Having never seen how raisins are dried, we were surprised to see them laying out on paper in the fields to sun dry. Back home the fire ants would have a field day this that. 

 The grapes are hand picked and placed on paper trays on the ground to sun dry.  At the right time, the papers are rolled into packages and left on the ground a few more days before going to the plant for processing.  We also visited and Sun Maid Raisin plant and had the most wonderful chocolate cherry raisins, Yum.



We'll be here in the Kingsburg area through the weekend.  We plan to visit Sequoia National Park tomorrow or Saturday, then Mickey and Uncle Jack are going to the casino.  The weather has been so nice, warm but not hot during the day and cool in the evening.  For us it's like Summer has barely arrived, except it's already Fall.

We thinking about you all back home.  Love and miss you.  We'll post again soon.





Yosemite National Park

We spent most of last week in the Carson City/Reno, Nevada area.  We home schooled during the day, then just relaxed in the afternoons at the pool.  Katy had a check up with a local orthodontist.  She had a loose bracket that needed attention.  Dr. O'Gara and his team in Reno were terrific.  We were in and out in a flash.  Thanks to Dr. Collins in Waco for directing us to great orthodontists along the way.  Now if we could just get Katy's bite straight so that these braces could come off.  Wear your bands Katy !!!!



Yosemite National Park with El Capitan in the background.



On Saturday, September 18th, we traveled back into California to Groveland.  Groveland is a little West of Yosemite National Park.  We stayed in Groveland on Saturday and Sunday nights.

On Sunday we went to Yosemite National Park ( http://www.nps.gov/yose/ ).  The scenery was just beautiful.  The landforms in Yosemite are granite with some of the peaks soaring as high as 3600 feet above the valley floor.  Yosemite is also known for its giant waterfalls and Sequoia groves.

Activists John Muir and Ansel Adams were instrumental in the preservation of Yosemite.  I particularly enjoyed the Ansel Adams gallery, having been a fan of his photography since I was a child.  It still amazes me how he captured more true images in black and white than most have even come close to in color.

Yosemite National Park

“Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.”   - John Muir



Yosemite Valley

Northern California, then Nevada

Redwood Forest in Klamath, California

Well, it's time to do some catching up again.  We're in Carson City, Nevada now and will be staying until Saturday morning.  The plan is to travel to San Francisco on Saturday.  More about that later......first let me tell you what we've been doing for the last week.

On Tuesday, September 7th we traveled from Eugene, Oregon to Klamath, California.  Klamath is in northern California just south of Crescent City.  It's such a beautiful place.  There are mountains and HUGE redwoods and it's all just down the road from the beach.  What could be better? 

Pictures and words just can't do justice to how magnificent these trees are.  Just the idea of standing under something that's been here since the Ice Age is incredible.  Just look at this picture.  The girls look so small and I couldn't even get the bottom of the trees or the canopy in the shot.  We were all impressed.  (Mickey and I more so than the girls. They thought the redwoods were cool, but got tired of looking at them pretty quickly.  While Mickey and I could have spent days just driving and looking at trees.) 

Mickey said the redwood were some of the most awesome things he'd ever seen.   Many were 200 - 300 foot tall and 60 - 80 feet around.

                                         Here's us driving through a redwood near Klamath, California.



Exploring the tide pools near Crescent City, California.

We spent two evenings exploring the tide pools at the beach near Crescent City.  The weather was cool, in the 50s, and it was pretty foggy as you can see in the picture above.  We saw lots of small crab, one big crab, and tons of sea anemones.  The girls liked exploring the beach so much on the first evening, that's all they wanted to do the next day.  But, they stayed focused and we had school all day, then we hit the beach again.

Look closely and you can see a large crab and several small ones.

Here's a sea anemone.  They look like plants, but they're really meat-eating animals.





Here's a sea anemone eating a crab leg. 

We also visited the Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City.  It's one of the few remaining manned, operational lighthouses in existence.   Battery Point Lighthouse is manned by volunteers who live there for a month at a time, taking care of the lighthouse and giving tours.

We stayed in the Klamath / Crescent City area for four days before moving on to Reno, Nevada on Saturday, September 11th.  We took the girls to dinner at Circus Circus before setting up camp.





Cruising Lake Tahoe

On Sunday evening we took a sightseeing cruise aboard  the Woodwind II, a catamaran on Lake Tahoe.  Sailing at 6200 feet in the High Sierra Mountains,  we were on the "Largest-Highest Sailboat" in the word!  The sunset on the lake was beautiful.  We arrived back in dock at dark and just in time to see the International Space Station pass over head. 



On our way to California

We'll be leaving Oregon in the morning, headed south to California and the Redwood National Park area.  The plan is to stay there for 4 days before moving on.  Our rate of travel has slowed down considerably since school started.  But, it's been really nice to not be in such a hurry. 

We've had a nice time in Eugene, and have been here for nearly two weeks.  It's been good to spend time with Ron and Nancy again.  I think they are staying here a while longer.  Maybe we'll meet up with them again when we're in Arizona. 

The girls and I have been spending our days doing school work from early in the morning until around 2pm.  Getting an early start is working out well and leaves us plenty of free time in the afternoons.  We had school today (Labor Day) and will be taking our Labor Day Holiday tomorrow when we move on to California.  Mickey has been trying to occupy himself while we're in class. 

In my spare time, I've rediscovered an old hobby I haven't made time for in a lot of years, crotchet.  So far I've made a winter hat and scarf set for Hannah and a blanket for Katy. 

We want everyone back home to know that we miss them and think about them often.   David, Judy, and family, we're praying for you. 

Adding states to our travel map

On Wednesday, August 25th we traveled the short distance from McMinnville, OR to Eugene.  Here in Eugene, we met up with Ron and Nancy again at Premier RV Resort (http://premierrvresorts.com/PRVR/(S(0dv3oka2p3zwdb55lskelvzz))/Pages/p0130LocationDetails.aspx).  The facilities here are great and the girls really enjoy having a pool available.  Mickey and I enjoy having a nice laundry and relaxing in the hot tub.  (Notice I said Mickey enjoys having a nice laundry, he's been helping with the laundry and doing a really good job.  It sure helps now that we've started school.)

Owl at Cascades Raptor Center

On Thursday, Mickey and the girls, along with Ron and Nancy went to the Cascades Raptor Center in Eugene (http://www.eraptors.org/).   They learned about the rescue, rehab, and release efforts at the center.  The girls took lots of pictures and came home to tell me how much they enjoyed learning about birds of prey and how the center helps them.

Eugene Celebration Parade

On Saturday we went to downtown Eugene for the annual Eugene Celebration.  We caught the end of a fabulous parade.  Had we realized what we were missing, we surely would have gotten there sooner.   The event emphasized community and sustainability.  Along with the parade, there were arts and crafts, a farmers market, and performers (singing, dancing, juggling, hacky sack).  The whole event was really earthy and funky.  It's so interesting attending local celebrations and tapping into the personality of new places.

Hitting the books!

We started school Friday with an orientation day to familiarize the girls with their new routine and ease us back into school.  Today was our first full day of school.  Our schedule looks something like this:

Breakfast at 7:00
Social Studies  7:30 - 8:30
English/Literature 8:45 - 9:45
Math 10:00 - 11:00
PE and Lunch, then
Science 1:00 - 2:00

We can be flexible when needed, but we'll follow this schedule for now. It's very early, but things are going well and the girls enjoy starting early in the day so we can have more free time in the afternoons.

While we're homeschooling, Mickey runs errands and scouts are interesting places for us to visit.  He's also in charge of science experiments and outdoor activities (ie: hunting and fishing).

Sorry it's been a few days since I've posted.  Hopefully when the girls start schooling later this week, I'll be able to get back on a daily routine.

We've been having a really good time in sunny Washington and now Oregon.  It's so nice to be out of the rain and finally feel like it's summer time.

On Thursday, August 19th, Mickey spent the day doing some minor repairs on the rig while the girls and I went in to Seattle to visit the EMP and Space Needle. The Experience Music Project /Science Fiction Museum (http://www.empsfm.org/) and Space Needle are located in Seattle Center, which made for a lot of fun without a lot a traffic.  The girls enjoyed the interactive stations at the EMP and even liked learning about "old timey" musicians such as Jimi Hendrix and the Supremes.  The picture to the left is of the girls in front of a sculpture in the lobby of the EMP.  The sculpture is made entirely of musical instruments and is over 2 stories tall.  I've posted the close-up picture below because we thought it was such a great wallpaper pic for music lovers.

View from top of Space Needle

View from the ground.



On Friday, we toured the Boeing facility in Everett, Washington (http://www.boeing.com/commercial/tours/index.html).  What a place!  The plant building itself is the largest building (by volume) in the world.  We were able to see aircraft in different stages of production.  We saw the new 787 Dreamliner, which should be in service sometime next year.  Our tour guild told us the demand for the 787 Dreamliner is so great, that if you ordered one today, it would be 7 years before it would be delivered.  A new passenger feature is the window.  It's larger than the average passenger window and has no pull-down shade.  The passenger controls the amount of light coming through the window electronically.   The facility was really impressive.  Wish I had pictures to post, but they have a no photo/video policy.  You can't even take a purse or cell phone on the tour.

On Saturday, we moved further south to Castle Rock, Washington. We met a really nice couple at camp, Les and Sally Barker.  We so enjoyed our visit with them and shared smores over the camp fire Saturday night.  They have such a cute little dog, Buddy.  Though he and Sophie didn't really hit it off.
Thanks so much to them for the travel suggestions and websites.

On Sunday we went to Mount St. Helens (http://www.mountsthelens.com/).  It's been 30 years since the volcano erupted.   Sure doesn't seem like that long ago.  There are several visitor centers along Washington 504.  We stopped at three different sites and were pleased to find really good ranger talks at each stop.  We learned about the three different types of volcanoes ( shield, cinder cone, and composite).  Mount St. Helens is a composite volcano.  We also learned about wildlife living in the crater as well as the formation of the youngest glacier in existence forming inside the crater.  Unfortunately, it was really cloudy the day we visited, and the picture below is the best one we were able to take.  You can barely see the edge of the crater below the clouds.

Mount St. Helens

Along Washington 504 we also stopped at the Forest Learning Center (http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/Sustainability/MountStHelens).  It's a center sponsored by Weyerhaeuser where you can learn about the timber industry and it's efforts to protect the environment and help maintain this sustainable resource.

After dinner Sunday evening, Mickey and I were enjoying the movie Can Can, with Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine.  I just love the old movies and their music.  The girls were watching with us, at least at first.  A few minutes into the movie, Katy went to her bed to read.  A few minutes after that, Hannah looks at me and says "Oh, I get it now.  This is an old people's High School Musical."  Needless to say, she didn't last long after that.  Apparently listening to Justin Bieber is much more entertaining.

Yesterday, we moved a little further south to McMinnville, Oregon.  We're staying at a really nice park, Olde Stone Village (http://www.oldestonevillagenw.com/rvpage.html).  The park has nice, wide,  paved sites, a heated pool, tennis and basketball courts, and is beautifully landscaped.  Again, I wish we could stay more than just a couple of days, but we have lots to see and do, so move on we must (tomorrow).

Today we had a great visit with my cousin George.  We hadn't seen each other in several years, so it was really nice to catch up.

Inside the "Spruce Goose"

George went with us to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum here in McMinnville (http://www.sprucegoose.org/).  It's where Howard Hughes' " Spruce Goose" is on display.  Us girls aren't that into air planes, but it is a really interesting place.  The "Spruce Goose" is HUGE!  And the girls, as always, enjoyed the interactive stations.




Tomorrow we're headed to Eugene, Oregon.  We'll be meeting up with Ron and Nancy there.  We also have our last shipment of books waiting on us in Eugene, so school will be starting by the end of the week.  The plan is to spend at least a week, maybe 10 days in Eugene.  We need time to get acquainted with our new schedule (school til early afternoon, then sight seeing after). 

To our family and friends back home, we're thinking about and miss you all. 

Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington

We're now staying in Everett, a suburb of Seattle, Washington.  The weather has been beautiful, in the 70s and 80s with bright sunshine.  We were so ready for this after weeks of clouds and rain.

Yesterday afternoon we visited the historic Pikes Place Market in Seattle(http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/visitor_info/market_history).   There are over 9 acres of fresh produce, flowers, sea food, and shops.  The picture above if from one of the sea food markets.  The workers help customers select just the right fish.  Then, they toss the fish to other workers behind the counter who catch them in butcher paper and wrap them.  If you look closely, you can see the fish flying through the air just under the big sign.

We enjoyed tasty berry smoothies, saw all kinds of great locally grown fruits and vegetables, and even tasted chocolate pasta.  And the flowers, they were so beautiful.  Isles and isles of fresh flowers. 

We plan to stay here a couple more days before heading south to see Mount St. Helen's, then on to Oregon.  The final shipment of books is waiting for us when we arrive in Eugene, so school will be starting for us soon.  The girls are both ready.

Burlington, Washington

We arrived in Washington State Sunday afternoon, making much better time than expected.  We did drive 12-14 hours straight for 3 days in a row, but it was worth it to get back to the USA. 

We're staying in Burlington, which is north west of Seattle, at the Burlington KOA Kampground.  The girls are happy, the camp has a pool, basketball court, and mini golf.  There is also a great fresh produce market in town with all types of locally grown fruits and vegetables.  The cherries are especially good.

After spending Sunday evening resting up from our long drive, we were ready to explore again today.  We visited the SeaBear processing facility in Anacortes (http://www.seabear.com/?siteID=fuV90DddGlY-qEdvOtCUgUJ78D591ppW8w) and sampled some wonderful smoked salmon.  Katy and I loved it.  We bought enough to last a while and they ship.  Mickey and Hannah, well they weren't as impressed, but then they don't like seafood. 

  We spent the afternoon at Whidbey Island and took a boat tour of the Deception Pass area (http://www.deceptionpasstours.com/).  The tour included a history of the area and wildlife viewing.  We saw Harbor Seals, Blue Heron, Bald Eagles, and Porpoise.

Above is a photo we took on the boat tour.  If you look carefully, you can see a Harbor Seal sunning itself on a rock and a Blue Heron to the left.

Back at camp this evening, the girls and I played a couple of rounds of Mini Golf while Mickey made pasta with sausage and peppers. The weather was so pleasant that we were able to cook and eat outside tonight.  It's so nice to be back in the sunshine.  Finally feels like summer.

We'll be staying here at least one more day before heading to Seattle. President Obama will be in Seattle on Tuesday, so we're waiting for all that to be over before going into the city.