Mar 17 - Apr 1 2008

March 17-April 1, 2008

After spending 3 days in Logan we were on the road again heading to California for a visit with Randy, Heather, Ethan, Allison and Beckie. Here are some of the highlights of that trip:

• Thursday, March 20 we spent the night in Dayton, Nevada with Rees and Kathryn Butikofer. Rees worked in Special Services with Robert and they retired at the same time. Rees went to Nevada to work for a school district there and they have enjoyed living in that area. They took us to Virginia City where we ate dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant. We enjoyed visiting with them and seeing where they live.
• Friday night we stayed in Vacaville, California.
• Saturday we stayed in Sacramento, California
• Sunday we picked up Heather, Ethan and Allison at the San Francisco Airport, then went to the Exploratorium. Very fun. Around noon we checked into the Hilton at Fisherman’s Wharf. We rode the Trolley to Chinatown, ate at a Chinese restaurant and rode the bus back to the hotel.
• Monday we walked around Fisherman’s Wharf. We found a great place to buy bath salts. They had barrels full of different smelling salts. You could purchase little bags and fill them with the scents you liked best. Ethan’s favorite was mango. We had lunch at Bubba Gump’s where we sat at a table with a fabulous view of the bay. We left there and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge (unbelievably the traffic was very light) and stayed the night at a beautiful Embassy Suites in Napa Valley. It was a beautiful drive. The kids are both such good travelers.
• Tuesday we drove down the coast on Highway 1. What a gorgeous drive. We went to Monterey where we visited the Aquarium. The Aquarium was interesting, although it was very crowded. Beckie’s friend, Christine, got us in for free, so that night we met Christine and her husband at Applebee’s next to our hotel and bought them dinner. We stayed at Embassy Suites again in Monterey.
• Wednesday we started the day with our 2nd Embassy Suites breakfast buffet in a row. Ethan loves omelets and Alli loves bagels. Unfortunately the grownups ate both and everything else they served. Then we had another lovely drive along the coast. We had heard the coast is beautiful in that part of California but until we saw it we didn’t realize how truly gorgeous it is. We stopped along the way and took a little hike into the forest and saw some beautiful redwoods. We stayed in Cambria, which is a beautiful town. The weather very cold and windy in Cambria. Heather got a room at the Cambria Pines Lodge, but the heater wasn’t working in the room and it was too cold to go without. We called for maintenance, which determined the heater couldn’t be repaired, and moved us to another room. The only room available was a $100 upgrade, but we got the deluxe room for the same price we were already paying. Always fun. The room had a gas fireplace and was lovely. We loved this place and would enjoy going back there.
• Thursday we headed for Goleta and Santa Barbara. Along the way Ethan and Allison wanted to play in the ocean, so we stopped at Pismo Beach. Robert, Heather and the kids all went down to the beach but I was still cold from yesterday and opted to stay in the truck and read my book. We stayed at a Hampton Inn in Goleta. Randy met us there and we got to have him with us for the rest of our trip. The kids were thrilled to see their dad. We went to Santa Barbara for lunch and Ethan and Allison played in the ocean for the 2nd time in one day. They got soaking wet both times of course. We went back to the hotel for a short swim, then dinner at Sizzler.
• Friday was the final day of our little trip. We drove to Solvang and had lunch there, then took another beautiful drive through the mountains to Castaic. We had a great time on this trip. Heather had planned all the hotel stays and got Randy’s discount for most of the nights. Robert and I enjoyed just going along without having to make any decisions. We liked just going where she told us when she told us. She’s quite the organizer and everything this week was just ideal. We got back to Castaic in time to take Ethan and Allison to “Horton Hears a Who” and then had a nice visit with Beckie. It was wonderful to see her.
• Saturday we all went with Ed and Dede to the Skirball Museum to see a Noah’s Ark display. Very interesting. All the animals were made out of everyday items, like empty spools of thread or cans or something like that. It was a hands-on children’s museum so of course Ethan and Allison loved it. We went back to Castaic and had dinner at Soup Plantation, Allison’s favorite restaurant.
• Sunday we went to church and spent a lovely day at home.
• Monday Beckie took the day off and we drove to Carlsbad. We shopped at the outlet mall there and had a great visit. The weather was gorgeous and the traffic not bad at all, so it was another lovely day.
• Tuesday we headed for home. We left Castaic at 6:00 AM and drove all the way to Logan. We told Cade and Andi we were taking 2 days to drive home, so it was a fun April Fool’s to surprise them. Wonder if they were as delighted as we were?