Day 17: Home, WA, 472 miles

The goal is home today and everyone is anxious to get there. We've had a great trip, but we miss our husbands/dads and our own beds.

The Redwood visitor center opens at 9 and we need to go by there before heading out of the park (it was already closed when we arrived last night). The drive along the coast, through the rest of the Redwood forest was beautiful.

Crescent City, CA Starbucks stop.

More wonderful trees and the beautiful Smith river as we make our way out of the state of California.

"That's as pretty as anything I saw in Yellowstone."-Cindi 

The kids are getting bored in the car...

"I think your car may have sharded right there!"-Skylar 

State #11

Oregon just brings lunch and bathroom stops. We are in a hurry to get home by then and the kids are getting sleepy and grumpy.

When we pass through Eugene I can't help but snap a pick for my Ducks.

Some things Cindi and I see in Oregon while the kids are plugged in:

-We pass through the 45th parallel 

-The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile 

-Portland rush hour traffic

Back to State #1

Hauling butt to get home was all we did through southern Washington.

A quick stop in Tumwater for a snack and a bathroom, and before you know it we are home!!!

Trip favorites:

Cindi- Mesa Verde

Joani- Arches

Maddy- helicopter tour in the Grand Canyon

Gracie- swimming and shopping in Vegas

Skylar- food and internet in Vegas

Total miles driven:

Calls to AAA: 0

Beautiful National Parks visited: 11

States passed through: 11

Fun and laughs had: tons

Perfectly planned road trip: priceless

Day 16: Redwood National Park, CA, 354 miles

Our plan is to leave San Francisco early because we have a long drive ahead, but we can't go until we spend some time at the Golden Gate Bridge. Luckily, it happens to be in the direction we are headed.

In true San Fran fashion there was morning fog that made it hard to get our perfect picture. It was still neat to be there and walk over it, regardless of the wind and cold.

"Honestly, it just looks like a red Narrows Bridge"-Maddy

Before long we hit the road and start to see farm land, but not just any crops, grapes! The winery signs start popping up all along highway 101 trying to distract Cindi and I from our goal of getting to the Redwoods as quickly as possible.

We are serious about getting to camp to set up tents before dark so lunch and diesel fill-up are done at the same time at the am/pm and eating is done on the road.

Being in the Redwoods is all about the giant trees. Just before we get to the National Park we see a sign for the "drive through tree". Of course we had to pull off to find it! The Dodge Ram was way too big to fit, but we got to walk through instead.

Since we took the time to pull off we take the opportunity for a bathroom break. We have a laugh about the long lines at bathrooms we've encountered since being in California.

Today is National Ice Cream day! Since we kind of promised the kids they would get ice cream every day of the trip and that hasn't happened every single day, we thought we better make an extra effort today. Found a really great place in Eureka, CA.

We make it to the Redwoods! 

Get ready for more pics with big trees.

We eat out of the truck tonight, then Cindi and I are ready for bed early. The kids, who were hoping we would keep driving and get home tonight, are off at a ranger lead campfire talk. I'm not waiting up.

My favorite thing today: I'm so excited to be camping in the actual Redwood forest. This huge, cool, life giving tree is right next to my tent!

Day 15: San Francisco, CA, 0 driving miles

Our first order of business this morning is to wish Maddy a happy 17th birthday! She is gifted a bedazzled whistle for her senior year at PHS. She has been voted the position of drum major in the marching band, a very high honor, so this is the perfect gift.

We have a great view of Coit tower and the down town city scape from our room.

"Skylar, you need to turn down the Smart ass volume."-Joani 

We won't have any driving today, but there will be plenty of walking miles. We start out early by heading to the pier for our trip to the rock. Alcatraz is a National Park so the kids will be getting another stamp in their NP passports.

We start our visit with a special ranger talk about the escapes of Alcatraz.

We then head up the hill to the cell block.

Inmate showers

The inmates were given the essentials when they arrived. The cells look very uncomfortable.

Over time, after years if being there, their cells became more like home to them.

Maddy spends her birthday in prison

The view of the city from the rock is great!

Once we leave Alcatraz we head down along the piers toward lunch. Some want Burgers...

But I want chowder and sourdough...

After lunch there was shopping along Fisherman's wharf to be done. 

Gracie found her perfect purchase and is happy as can be now.

The bread company is amazing with sourdough of every shape. 

The birthday girl loves turtles!

Lombard street is our next destination. The  crooked street is very famous in San Francisco.

"They must have been drunk when they made this or they just had a child do it using a dot to dot page."- Skylar 

We head back to the room to chill out for a bit, but after a few minutes Cindi and I decide to head out on our own for a drink.

We hit 'Melt', a little wine and fondue place.

Then off to Maddy's birthday dinner. She loves Italian so we head to the pier and hit Tarantino's.

We are all happy with the choice.

Drink #2 cheers to a great trip!

Next we go on the hunt for a special birthday dessert. 

We end up at the Rainforest cafe for a Volcano. 

Skylar had been bugging me all day about getting a cow hat. The one we saw earlier in the day didn't even look like a cow so I refused to let him get it. On the way back to the room we see another place with ridiculous hats, only $5. 

Whatever, he's happy.

"Does that green cross mean that they sell pot at the Walgreens?"-Gracie

Favorite thing in San Fran:

Cindi- Lombard St.

Joani- sourdough bread

Maddy- the architecture 

Gracie- the shopping 

Skylar- Alcatraz