Road Trippin'

 We just completed an EPIC 3,000 mile, 65 hour in the car road trip through Oregon and California. I've been planning this trip for the last 5 years, and we finally felt the kids were old enough to make it a reality. It was such an amazing trip and worth every minute. 

• Day 1- We left on a Friday Morning pretty early. We drove past the Bonneville Salt Flats, which was a 1st for the boys. As we were driving through Nevada, we stopped at a rest stop that was covered in crickets. They were EVERYWHERE. The bathroom was full of them. It was NUTS! We had lunch at an awesome diner, The Griddle,  in Winnemucca.  Day 1 was a 13 hour drive but we made it to Klamath where we stayed at an awesome little inn called the Aspen Inn.

• The next morning we packed up and headed to Cater Lake. As we neared the top, it started to get really cold and snowy, and once we hit the very top, the clouds were too thick that we could only see glimpses of the lake. BUT we were there!!!We stopped at Rouge River Gorge, which was super cool then had lunch on the river below Klamath lake. We drove down to the Trees of Mystery in Cali. They had a bunch of huge trees with tree bridges connecting them way up in the air. Quaid was for sure not a fan, but the rest of us enjoyed it. We also rode their gondola up to the top of the mountain and saw the view from the top. After that we went the Crescent City for dinner. We looked on Yelp and it recommended a restaurant that ended up being a karaoke bar. We sat next to a super weird dude named "Johnny B Good". We got a weird vibe from Crescent City, but we headed North up to Brookings for the night, stopping to hang out at the beach for a while on the way.   

 

• Day 3 we had a permit for Fern Canyon in the Redwoods Forest. It was so awesome to hike through, a highlight for sure. They used the canyon for some scenes in Jurassic Park. After the hike we had a picnic and then hung out at Gold Bluffs beach and played in the COLD water. After that, we did a couple of super fun hikes through the Redwoods at Big Tree and Circle trail on the Newton Scenic Drive. The boys loved climbing around in the trees and didn't want to leave.  We found the Klamath drive-through tree and had dinner at an awesome Pizza place by the house we were staying in. We loved that house. It had a big comfy couch, great beds, and a big table to play games at. 

 

• The next day we hung around Brookings. We went up the coast and saw Arch Rock, Natural Bridges, and the Indian Sands Trail. The van had some issues starting so we went to the auto store to buy some jumper cables to have on hand. Then we went to Goodwill to check things out. After lunch we went to Harris Beach to see the tide pools and play in the sand. It was pretty windy that afternoon, but we still had a good time checking out starfish, digging holes, and throwing rocks. 
  

• The next day made our way down to San Fran. We stopped at Founders Grove where we saw more trees and Fallen Dyerville. The Redwoods are so awesome. It was so peaceful in those forests. We got down in San Fran in the afternoon and stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge. We then made our way over to Lombard Street and then down to Pier 39 for a yummy clam chowder dinner and shopping. The sour dough bread was great but no one was overly impressed with the pier, except for the seals which we loved. We checked into our hotel and did some shopping before calling it a night. Overall, we didn't care for San Fran, which was good because it put us a bit ahead of schedule.

• The next morning, Juneteenth, we had breakfast in our hotel before heading out. We had lunch at the most amazing Mexican place in Mariposa. We were near Yosemite, but couldn't get in yet because it was a reservation day, so we played at a park in town for a bit then headed to the Yosemite Lodge to check in. Cass and the little boys went swimming and had a great dinner at the lodge while the older boys and I went into Yosemite for the evening to hike Sentinel Dome and Glacier Point. It was Incredible. I've waited my whole life to see Yosemite and I was not disappointed. The scale and grandeur are unsurpassed. We had a great time on the hike and could see so many awesome rocks and waterfalls from our 360 degree view from the top. On the way down we stopped at Tunnel View and headed back to the lodge for the night.

• The next morning we got an early start, packed up and headed into Yosemite valley. We stopped at the swinging bridge and walked through the valley. We went down by the river and also checked out the chapel. The park started to get a little more crowded but we walked over to Yosemite Falls and then drove over to watch climbers take on El Capitan. They were little dots that we could only see with binoculars. We hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls and then checked out the Tunnel View.  I can't over state how much I love Yosemite. We then hit the road for Vasilia (or as Cass says it: Viscalini). We grabbed Chinese food on our way into town which was awesome. Nothing could prepare us for what was next...We drove to the house we'd be staying in for the next couple nights. It was in the middle of orchards. There wasn't another house for 2 miles in any direction. It was awesome and a sketchy feeling at the same time. but we pulled up and the house was connected to a reception center. It has the coolest back yard ever with an amazing pool that we had to ourselves. We swam the rest of the night. We were in Heaven!
  

• It was hard to pull the boys away from the pool and the house, but we had 2 parks to see the next day. So we got up early and headed towards Kings Canyon. We had heard mixed reviews of the park, but got to the entrance (shared with Sequoia) and it looked pretty cool. We went to the General Grant Tree, which is also called the Nations Christmas Tree and then visited the visitors center where we were told we HAD to go down into the canyon. Boy were they wrong! It was a long drive down, but we got to the bottom and saw Grizzly falls, and the Roaring River Falls and then Hiked Zumwalt Meadow. Overall, it was less than impressive, but in fairness to the park, we didn't hike down to Muir Rock. Fortunately, we then went into Sequoia which more than redeemed the morning. We hit all the high points: General Sherman Tree (huge awesome, 10/10), hiked Moro Rock (again, Huge and awesome 10/10) Just the older 2 and I did that one, but it was super cool and felt like the safer, granite version of Angels Landing. We found the Parker Group of trees near Tunnel Log and enjoyed those as well. We then high tailed it back home as fast as we could go so we could enjoy the pool, backyard, and sunset 1 more time. It really was an amazing back yard!
  

• The next morning we took our time leaving but had to hit the road. We stopped in Vegas for lunch at Island Flavor. Formerly, our favorite stop in Vegas, but never again. Food was ok, service was bad, water was NASTY. We hit the Nike outlet and then went to St. George to stay with the Bringhurst's for the night before heading home.

WOW! Now that's a lot of action in 10 days! We crammed so much into that trip. Maximized our time. Created some awesome memories. Are the Hansen's road trippers now???? Time will tell...