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Planning
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Hoping to beat the heat during our travels, we scheduled a trip to California right after Josiah finished his school year. There were some preparations as usual, perhaps the biggest being our purchase of a new digital camera (Fuji Finepix 2800) and 128 MB SmartMedia to replace the now-erratic Fuji 2600, and numerous copies of Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life to give as gifts.
Heading South
Just like the previous year, we left Thursday afternoon and stayed overnight in Bend. This year we visited the High Desert Museum. The boys got all the owl action one could see in the daytime and some other birds of prey including a golden eagle (Andrew found a tame black cat walking through the exhibit). We also saw some porcupines and otters, but the mustang exhibit was still under construction. The boys loved the hand-operated pump by the old log house.
| The rest of the day was a drive through southern Oregon and northern California (Mt Shasta was visible, unlike last year when it was hazy) to Redding. On Saturday we went to Turtle Bay Exploration Park (free thanks to our science museums pass). For a change, we were among the early visitors, getting to see the butterflies as they were just beginning to stir, playing in the "lumberjack" area and seeing another golden eagle on display with her trainer. We crossed a bridge to an indoor display which had some large fish but wasn't much compared to some of the big ocean aquariums we have seen. Andrew particularly liked driving the farm truck with a video of rural life in the rear window. In the Bay Area
We were welcomed to the Bay Area with stop and go traffic all the way from Vacaville to Berkeley, where we were to stay with friends. Sunday morning we went to our old church, Berkeley Covenant Church where Gilbert's sister's family now attend. The twin girls are now old enough to have some interaction with Andrew and Josiah. We were also joined by his father, brother, and sister-in-law.
| Monday we went to San Francisco and had supper with Winnie's family. Tuesday was a driving day; we drove down the coast (relaxing but sleep-inducing to the kids) where the boys were not inclined to go play in the cold sand, although Andrew did get out to run around the (closed) lighthouse at Pigeon Point. We stopped for lunch at Mt. Hermon Conference Center, where Gilbert and Winnie had first met, then to the hot sand at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We had some more slow traffic before getting to visit our friends near Monterey for supper. Wednesday we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where Andrew got fish-and-mammaled out shortly after lunch (not to mention scolded for wandering into another area when we weren't looking). Josiah explored all the galleries and also helped choose our memento, a small stuffed emperor penguin which we later named Penny. Thursday, we took a trip to the Oakland Coliseum for the boys' first big-league baseball experience, a 9-2 A's win against Texas (Miguel Tejada went 5 for 5 with an HR; Alex Rodriguez struck out twice and left the game after being hit by a throw when he tried to tag a runner before catching the ball). Andrew liked the stairs but asked to go home around the 2nd inning. Josiah read a lot of Captain Underpants. Friday featured a visit to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Andrew loved the "marble thing" where balls would roll around a large funnel-like surface, and also liked dancing around in a room where shadows came out in psychedelic colors. Josiah did more reading of what the exhibits illustrated and seemed to like the powerful magnets. For lunch we visited the nearby Mel's Drive In. One change from the 50's image it tries to project is that most of the staff was Chinese or Mexican. A power outage turned off the lights and brought out city cops to move traffic along Lombard St. because the traffic lights were not functioning. Saturday was a quiet local day and Sunday we went to Gilbert's old church in San Rafael, Marin Community Christian Church. After a lunch with Winnie's cousin and their two young kids, we drove back to Redding for the evening. Gilbert almost felt he was back home in Washington upon finding a Winco supermarket. However, it would be a full day's drive before we reached Kennewick again after dark. |