I am finally getting around to posting about my vacation. I have been waiting, hoping to get some of the pictures other members of my family took. I decided I had better not wait anymore, because it is already a "flashback". I mean, it's been a week!
Let me preface this entire blog with this...vacation is much better when illness is not a part of it! My stomach, back and ribs acted up the night before we left, so I really didn't get much sleep. We wanted to leave my parent's house by 8:00 a.m. (we run on Putnam time, so this means earliest 8:30). I was in pain, so I called my chiropractor, hoping to get in early so that I didn't throw things off for anyone else. Luckily, due to Putnam time, I didn't. Steve and I dropped all my stuff off at my parent's and got it loaded and headed to the chiropractor while everyone else finished up. We got to the office around 8:15 or so and was done just after everyone left the house at 8:30. Everyone met Steve and I there, since it was in the general direction we needed to go anyway and wasn't too out of the way. I said good-bye to Steve, gingerly climbed into Britta's Jeep and off we went!
I rode most of the day with Britta, with a few hours with my parents when I decided I really needed a nap. I couldn't get a nap riding with Britta because I was on kid duty - changing movies, getting books or toys, getting snacks, etc. After some rest I really started to feel better and kid duty was ok. I did find the Nevada/California state line quite interesting. The scenery became a lot more interesting very suddenly!
Monday night we stayed in a town called Grass Valley in California. It is off of I-80 about a half hour and the drive into town was absolutely breath-taking! We chose Grass Valley because it was in the general area that we needed to go anyway and Britta and John lived there for a summer for John's internship. My parent's found this fabulous place to stay which completely spoiled us. We all loved it, especially the memory foam beds and the pool. They were just what we needed after the long day of driving we just had.
Tuesday was a busy, busy day. We started by having a trip down memory lane for Britta. She wanted to show everyone where she and John lived for that summer. It was maybe 5 minutes from the hotel. Then we headed toward Yuba City and did a little bit of backtracking through Marysville to Beale Air Force Base for me. That is where Steve was born and since he wasn't able to come I wanted to go there for him. We took some pictures and Zack and Abby especially liked looking at the plane. On our way back through Marysville, we stopped at Wal-Mart, for Britta's sake. Her DVD players stopped working. It was only the 2nd day of a huge road trip with a 3 year old and a1 year old. She didn't want to go the rest of the trip without it...
After our shopping we decided it was time for lunch. We found a great park close by and stopped. It had a great pond and a bunch of ducks and geese that Abby truly enjoyed feeding. I'll tell you what though, those geese sure were pushy. You could even say they were the bullies of the bunch. When they found out that the ducks were getting food that they weren't, they charged right in and pushed the ducks out. It was very interesting to watch.
After lunch Seth pretty much ran the show. This was the day spent in his mission area and there were a lot of people he wanted to visit and some places he wanted to show us. Most of us stayed in vehicles when he went in but in Orland we were able to stop at a park so the kids could play. We ended up eating dinner pretty late and by that time the kids were ready to be done. After getting to the motel in Corning some of us went swimming, some of us went to bed and my parents and Seth went to visit more people. My stomach acted up Tuesday afternoon but swimming helped a lot.
Wednesday was the day for the Redwoods. Unfortunately for us, to get there from Corning, we had to drive up and over the mountain. This meant a lot of twisty roads, and quite a bit of car sickness, which lead to a lot of passenger swapping. I was already feeling slightly off so I got quite sick where I normally would not have. By the time we actually got to the Redwoods I could barely move, but got out of the car anyway. I wasn't about to miss the redwoods in the Avenue of the Giants.
The first place we stopped was the Immortal Tree. This massive tree has survived lightening, floods, pests and the axe. They even have year markers for each event. We spent a good amount of time at the gift shop there and I found the perfect gift for Steve, aside from the fun shot glass to add to his collection. We got back on the road and found a place for dinner in a gorgeous grove with a picnic table. It was here that I realized we did not have nearly enough time for the Redwoods. There are so many trails and other sites off the main roads that days could be spent in just the Avenue of the Redwoods. I laid down in the van for a bit before getting up to eat. I needed a chance to rest without being in a moving vehicle.
My parents chose to visit this specific section of the Redwoods because we all wanted to see a drive-through tree. We couldn't see one on the map, but the internet stated we would find one. We decided to turn around and go ask someone at the visitor's center where we could find one. They said it was off the main road but there were signs on the main road. We just didn't drive far enough. We found it and it was so much fun! I could not believe the size of these trees. The drive-through tree was large enough that Aaron could even drive his big truck through (Seth was actually driving, Aaron directed). They also had some play houses and a children's walk-through stump. Everyone had a blast, especially the kids!
The cute tree houses
Silly, silly Seth Sack - in the cute tree house
Aaron with Zack on his shoulders in the walk-through treePerspective - Aaron is about 6'8"
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