Alone with Richard Byrd

In his autobiography, Alone, Admiral Richard Byrd summarizes his thought process to lead an expedition to Antarctica through the winter.

Early in the writing, Byrd says, "no man can hope to be completely free who lingers within the reach of familiar habits and urgencies." Clearly loading an entire family in an RV with minimal plans and few reservations would be outside the familiar habits of most. It definitely removes one from the urgencies of life that would otherwise captivate you and replaces them with new and unpredictable ones.

The new urgencies are unique from the ordinary ones because this exercise forces you to share your daily routine with those closest to you and allow them to watch you in action as life unfolds before you 24X7. Have you ever done that? What is the longest period of time you have spent with those closest to you? Could you handle a week and not commit any felonies?

How about 2, 3.....? Our RV is about 36' long and 10' wide. That is 360 square feet if my math is working reasonably well. Again, math cooperating properly, that is about 50 square feet per person. (We passed by Alcatraz on this experiment and discovered that the inmates had about 45 square feet per person. The uniqueness and safety of their situation was that each person had steel bars protecting them from the others.)

Keep in mind that much of the space mentioned above is filled with refrigerators, sofas, motors, chairs, toilets and such. Quite possibly, the inmates of this journey had much less space available to them. Thankfully, they had windows into the world. The adults' windows tended to be transparent and only communicated by the instantaneous impulse of the passing scenery. The adolescenses' windows were also clear, but were communicated by electronic impulses from a variety of sources. But daylight was present constantly to offer hope of freedom and the ability escape anytime the rig came to a stop.

Byrd's description of Antarctica was captivating to me. It was nearly enough to motivate me to follow his footsteps. But keep in mind, he came very close to death. His enemy was carbon monoxide poisoning.

But long before he got to this point in his adventure, Byrd had to consider the reality of confining people in small spaces. He was perplexed by the idea of determining how many men to subject to the winter station in Antarctica. He knew that two people was definitely the wrong number because they would exhaust their ability to endure one another in a short time and be at war with one another. By adding a third person to the equation there would always be a mediator to ideally bring peace back to the community. But he finally, concluded the correct number was one due to his desire to not risk three lives.

Commenting on his thoughts, he said, "under such conditions, it doesn't take two men long to find each other out. Not deliberately. Not maliciously. But the time comes when one has nothing more to reveal to the other. And this could happen to the best of friends. In a polar camp, little things like that have the power to drive even disciplined men to the edge of insanity." Did you get that? 75 years ago, Byrd figured it out. Tight space for an extended time can end with disastrous results. Could the insanity even lead to murder???

Well, I am proud to say that my family avoided insanity!! They danced around the gateway a few times, but proudly avoided the entrance and returned to the happy place of peace!!

7 people proved to be a good number. There were enough instigators and peace makers to keep the curiosity level high and yet the need implement the Geneva Convention was not necessary.

As for myself, the urgencies of my normal days were covered by others. They were replaced by the constant urgent request of "where are we going today?" Most often, my answer was "I don't know, do you have a suggestion?" Malibu was a suggestion I took hesitantly, realizing the trip was not "all about me". My suggestion of Glacier National Park met very little interest and was consequently tossed out for another trip and another crowd.

Another interesting quote from Byrd was, "half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need." Cheryl Landry, manager of Malibu RV Resort, pointed out this idea to us back in 2006 when we cruised through their place then. We were able to renew our friendship with her and her husband, Jeff. In 2006, Cheryl pointed out the reality that most people really only need what they can stuff in an RV. We only planned on three changes of clothes on this trip to simplify things. (The girls really loved this idea.) But besides clothes, food, soap and such, there was very little else we needed. Oh yeah, there was the detail of technology.

So Byrd made a name for himself exploring an otherwise new frontier. But I suggest to you that you can make a lasting name for yourself by exploring the frontier of your family. Confining yourselves to a small space is risky. It is satirized in Chevy Chase's "Vacation" and Robin Williams' "RV", but the reality is you can survive. You will know each other a little better. You will discover things together. You will learn principles you would not otherwise see. But I believe the two critical components of this adventure are time and space. Spend as much time together as possible and shrink the space as little as possible. You will discover new territories.

Back HOME again in INDIANA!

Maybe it sounds as hokey as Jim Nabors singing it, but we made it back home in pretty quick fashion. That is if you consider we had major activities along the way.

Saturday....Oregon/Washington (Columbia River Gourge)

Sunday....Idaho (LONG, LONG hard day on the road....)

Monday....South Dakota (Little Big Horn, Mt. Rushmore and Alpine slide)

Tuesday....Minnesota (Breakfast with John, Wall Drug, Badlands and the ever famous Corn Palace)

Wednesday....Wisconsin (Day at the Dells)

Thursday....Indiana (Day at the Dells)

I felt like a long haul trucker. The wind blew most of the way across I-90, the Obama cash was busy on I-90 with hundreds of miles of construction, and there were only a few accidents along the way. Mostly, I kept the rig between the lines. I think most of the states have "no texting" rules, but my major distraction was staring at the GPS to see there were really that many miles left in the day.

Since we were going by Alcatraz, I checked out the audio book, "Get Capone". It was a 14 CD book that worked as a repellent to keep the noise to the back of the RV, that is unless you asked the kids who would say the noise was in the driver's section. (Capone got, died at 47 of syphilis and didn't live happily ever after.)

Caleb kept me entertained most of the way home due to his curiosity about the things we saw and heard along the way.

The girls enthusiasm increased as the miles towards Indiana decreased.

I have to tell you, it was great to get home. The road was awesome, but it is only as good as the interest level of your passengers and they had clearly checked out and were ready for me to put the hammer down and get back to Indy.

The trip was incredible. It was a gift to our kids and no doubt absorbed a bit of our retirement reserves. But if you think about it, if retirement does become passive and you are unable to live as you would choose, wouldn't it be better to have some memories locked away to help pass the time away? We locked many memories and will cherish this time for the remainder of our days!

Kalahari

pictures to follow

Just some pictures....interesting....

Give Caitlin a spicy burger and she is good to go!

Badlands and Caleb are good friends.

We saw Jesus in Butte.....small white object on top of mountain....

Connie and Kacie near Mt Hood.

John Horton is worth meeting.

Corn Palace and a little place the Tyner kids played today!

Kacie and Caleb at Wall Drug.

Caleb cleaning the Minnesota freeloaders off the windshield!

Coeur d'Alene to Hardin....

The morning was beautiful and the surroundings were likewise in Coeur d'Alene. Steve Case, the owner of Wolf Lodge Campground, is a remarkable man. He told me about his evolution from shoveling coal to becoming a general manager of mines overseas.

He spend time in Indonesia, Zambia and a variety of other international locations, helping develop mines. He opted to spend a portion of his retirement time running a campground and bought his very own April 16th this year. It seems like he said by the 28th, the majority of the campground was flooded. It was interesting chatting with him and trust his business will flourish!

Once the crew arose from their beauty rest, we shoved off for parts unknown. Initially, it seemed like Billings would be a reasonable destination for the evening. (I digress, but those who sleep the mornings away, force me to drive in the dark.....)

Flooding was a major reality along I-90. Most of the water we passed was outside its banks or at least flowing rapidly.

Lunch was at a random Wendy's in west Montana, but dinner could not be more fast food. We found an Outback in Bozeman and had a healthier dinner.

I-90 was under construction in many places and proved to be an adventure throughout the day. For some reason, as we were dining in Bozeman, I felt possessed to travel east of Billings for the night and Hardin was our target. I was racing against the sunlight and got most of the way there before darkness ruled. At the darkest moment, just a few miles west of Hardin, some of the craziest construction of the day, east of Billings, nearly brought me to a standstill. It was difficult to determine exactly where the road was and where the construction was....but I kept plodding forward.

We landed in Hardin around 11.30pm local time.....needless to say....we were all ready to park the rig and get some sleep!

Greater Love has no man than to drive his with on Hwy 30

So my bride says, "I would really like to drive along the scenic Columbia River Gorge."

What would you do? Keep in mind we are cruising in a 36' land yacht. My first resource said, "we had to back the bus up 10 years ago along that route, but I am sure it is better today." Hmmm...

A call to the visitor center landed to the sweetest lady you could ever expect. "No, I don't think you would want to take an RV along the route. But here is a number of a guy at the water fall, he might have some more insight."

Well, the guy at the water fall said, "Tour buses and semis come through here all of the time. There are only a couple tight sections."

Yeh, yeh, I know, we have insurance and all. But I have to tell you, it can get a little crazy driving the big rig from time to time. But, this is my wife, this was her wish and a true man never lets them see him sweat.

I can't really describe the tightness of the road. The closest thing that comes to mind to compare this stretch of road to would be me trying to squeeze into my high school letter sweater. I am sure it would work out fine, but there would definitely be some rough edges.

The beginning of the road was narrow. Then about 2 miles into it and friendly sign warned that the "road narrows ahead." Hmmm...

Not only did it narrow ahead, but it got more and more curvy as well. There was an incredible view point about 10 miles into this episode, but there were only 2 bus parking places and they were already taken, so all I had to do was wind all the way around the view point. I am pretty sure we did a tight 360 degree turn if not a 720!

Surely this was the final of the "couple tight" spots. Oh nooooo. Multnomah Falls is such a beautiful sight, it attracted hundreds of people at the exact same time we arrived. But, if you approach the falls from the west on the Historic Route 30, there is a narrow section of a pass about 200 feet long that would fit a car each way. Once the lane emptied, I made a run for it. But the cars on the other end, assumed there was room for a car and an RV.

Many body parts tensed up at this moment. I am pretty sure Connie could touch the cliff wall to our right. I was as close to it as I could get without rubbing the mirror on it. I kept inching forward hoping other cars would assume they could wait until I left the space. But, several rocket scientists thought the 20 second delay of me passing them was too much time to waste.

Once we cleared the 4th car in this section, I proceeded to the bus parking and RV restroom for a quick change of my shorts.

The water fall was incredible and the return to I-84 was a welcome moment in the trip. Oh, by the way, if you would ever like to see this incredible fall, you can actually park at the viewpoint on the interstate and walk to it without taking the scenic route.....but what kind of man are you anyway?

Mt. Ranier or is it Rainier?

We left Port Townsend in the cloud of rain and sorted our way through the Puget Sound. The drive was scenic and reasonably peaceful. An observation of Washington and Oregon is the tendency to cut the number of bathrooms in half. Most places we stopped simply had one restroom. It is probably no big deal to most, but if you are traveling with 5 women, then, go figure.

The kids were generally unimpressed by 99% of the scenery along the way. The phones, iPad, iPods and computers were the only beauty they seemed to notice along the way. It mattered not, my guess is one day they will find themselves driving the windy roads of the northwest and wondering why their children seemed to care less.

However, Caleb did have an interest in Mt. Ranier. He was convinced it was out the driver's side of the car and I told him otherwise. Don't tell him, but he was right.

We had a viewpoint for Mt. Ranier that most of us got out to take a peak. It turned out, that the small opening in the cloud at that moment was the only siting we would have that day. The amazing paradox for us was just a couple days earlier we were many miles away sailing in the Puget Sound and had a perfect view of the mountain, but with just a few miles away, all we saw was fog.

But Kelly, Caleb and I seized the moment and hike a few yards into the 20+ foot deep snow at Paradise. Who couldn't resist the opportunity to pelt their defenseless wife with a snowball?

The drive from Mt. Ranier to Mt. St. Helens was a rainy one. There was so much rain, that I asked my new friend, Angus, whether we should make the journey to the volcano or not. He said we would be limited to how close we could get approaching it from the west, plus the rain would make it highly unlikely we would see anything.

So we loaded up the family and headed to Salem. Caleb was so thankful to be out of the minivan he danced around the Kinghorn's front yard!

Porch Swing point of view

The Waterstreet Hotel room 5 has a 6' long porch swing overlooking Port Townsend Bay.

I have had about an hour and a half of uninterrupted quiet time watching the ferry, sailboats, kayaks, canoes, sea gulls, people and clouds paint the sky. It is an amazing time of the day and few seem to be experiencing it. (Few means zero, in my family, other than me.)

So here is the question. Is two hours of late night computer surfing, texting or TV watching a more valuable time or sleeping those two hours to enjoy daylight time?

My guess is you realize more of life if you sleep those two hours, but it is simply one guy's point of view. You night owls rock on!!

Dusk....Twilight...What's the difference?

Dusk was the point of frustration one day and Twilight the satisfaction of another! Who can explain teenagers? Evidently, many tourist places define closing time of their pools, parks and other amenities as "dusk". In Petaluma, the dusk brought great frustration to our crew.

Here we are in Port Townsend, WA with some of the most beautiful sights known to man and heads were pointed downwards towards electronic devices. The peer pressure from these future leaders of America, caused me to almost skip the adventure of this place. But lo and behold, Twilight brought interest alive in this coastal town.

Evidently, there is some book and movie called Twilight. And supposedly, the characters lived in a town called Forks and another named LaPush. Thanks to this great literary piece, my crew was motivated to drive 45mph through the Olympic National Forest/Park to get to these quaint communities. (I only did because I love them...that's the story we'll use.)

The drive along the 101 between Port Townsend and LaPush is incredible. Lake Crescent, some waterfalls, some wildlife and awesome views of the surrounding Olympic Mountains all accent this span.

We played the always favorite musical chairs in the minivan. (Does it ever get old when your kids argue over which seat to occupy for the next 20 miles? This is the good stuff!)

A candy store served as our landing pad in Forks. From their we discovered the all important high school, some local sculptures and the road to LaPush.

LaPush was the quiet Quileute Indian reservation. The coastline was awesome and the driftwood served as a great playground. Caitlin was offered a show by one of the local bald eagles, hopefully, she will share some pix on her Facebook.

The return trip to Port Townsend was uneventful, except for an incredible rainbow and a nice dinner and the Bayview. We kept the guests of the Waterstreet up until we were ready to crash and had a pretty incredible day!

Anacortes was a great day!

We missed the fishmonger's meeting by 5 minutes! This might not seem like a big deal to you, but for those of us who got up to see the 6:30am team meeting, it was a disappointment. The Pike Place Fish Market is a unique place and worth the stop. These men have taken an ordinary task and turned it into something extraordinary.

Caitlin woke Kelly, Kacie and me to get up for their team meeting. We made it to the market at 6:35am. Fishmonger, Ryan Rector, told us the meeting starts at 6:30am. (For you corporate type, take note, a 5 minute meeting and the team was at work!)

Upon returning to the hotel room and serving as the alarm clock for the rest of the family, we loaded the rental car and took the whole crew back to the Pike Place Market for last minute shopping needs.

Then we were on the road for the San Juan islands. Anacortes was our island of choice. It was at the visitor's center where BJ and Becky set our itinerary for the day. It started with a five minute drive to the Cap Santa Park, where Caleb discovered a 15' rock that worked perfectly as a God made slide. Somehow, his pants survived the friction.

A little island food and off to Washington Park for some action on the play set. It attracted all of the Tyner family except for our lone texter. You will have to use your own skills of deduction to determine who that was. The little spinny dude almost sent my lunch flying towards the Pacific. A mile and a half drive on the park loop netted some close up views of some extremely small deer and some great views of the islands.

We couldn't find Mount Eerie, but made it to the Deception Pass. Connie and I walked the bridge and enjoyed the view. It was one of the top 100 views of the trip. Although 100 might seem like a not so good compliment, we have had some amazing sights along the trail! As we returned to the van, Caleb had been exploring the landscape on his own, thankfully he survived the weak parenting effort.

The drive to the ferry was a bit stressful, we were concerned we would miss the 6pm sailing and be stuck in the car with the kids until 7:30pm. Don't get me wrong, we love the kids and all, but we were ready for some space. Thankfully, we arrived with time to spare and made the trip to Port Townsend.

Port Townsend is a cool little town. Within 5 minutes of shore, we found the local candy store. While making necessary purchases, I slipped out to find a room for the night. Amazingly, next door to the candy shop was a place called, Waterstreet Hotel. It is hard to explain this place, but it was the perfect find for our brood.

Who knows what tomorrow has in store, but it should be good.

Sleepless in Seattle

So we found the ideal hotel in Seattle for a couple nights....turns out the only way to get the heat off is for the maintenance guy to come into the room, drop the vent door and manually pull a valve switch to cut off the heat. Our first night in the city resembled a day in the Mojave.

However, we made it to Pike Place in time for peanut butter cookies the size of your head!! I am not sure, but I think there will be an endless supply of those babies in heaven!

We discovered some fun places in Seattle. Can you guess what our photographer is studying so intently for this shot?

Ryan and the guys at the fish market put on a show. There were flying fish like we have never seen before. The original Starbucks is a booming place, unless you check it out at 6:30am, then you can walk right in and out and even have a conversation with the Baristas.

Let's Go Sailing took us for an unbelievable sunset cruise. Captain Nick did a remarkable job taking us around the Sound. Caleb was the social butterfly. He spent little time with his family and made plenty of friends around the boat. We checked from time to time, just to make sure he was still on the boat.

Pizza to finish the night was the plan. I don't know about you, but I feel a little safer on the streets of New York around 10pm than Seattle.

Salem for Shalom!

I am the self proclaimed expert of stealing my bride's peace. On an RV trip east a few years ago, I was showering at the campsite and heard a conversation between a young boy and his dad discussing the day ahead.

The boy asked, "dad, what's the plan for today?" And the awe inspiring answer that will go with me to my grave was, "The plan for today is to keep mom from freaking out!"

It is a fact, I am a bit impulsive and not afraid of too many circumstances. Neither of those attributes would be descriptive of my bride. Consequently, it is a deep faith that keeps Connie from freaking out on a regular basis.

A co-worker's brother offered their house to us as a respite along our path in Salem, OR. This generous offer was a bit freaky to Connie. Simply walking into another person's home while they were away was way outside her comfort zone, but not me. (Hey Dave, where do you keep the beer?)

We landed in their driveway and set up camp and discovered the top secret entry passage into their home and had a peaceful landing place where the kids could spread out, watch tv, surf the net, sleep and celebrate boy wonder's birthday! We even did a few loads of laundry. The hospitality offered some peaceful relaxation to our trip and mom is not freaking out!

The next challenge was the 5 mile journey to the Hertz office. Since we had a central place to park the rig, we opted to rent a van and cruise into Seattle with it rather than the big rig.

As we were preparing to navigate the small streets of Salem with the RV, I saw a neighbor and her daughter loading their car to go somewhere. As you might guess, I asked them if that "somewhere" might include Hertz. It was rumored in the van that Caitlin said, "that is so dad."

Once we left Salem, we navigated the rig to Astoria to see the world's longest truss bridge and through the forests along the Washington 101 to see some amazing work by Weyerhauser. Initially, we became tree-huggers because of the damage we saw to the mountains by logging, but the signs pointed out that 120 mile an hour winds in 2007 destroyed hundreds of acres of trees and Weyerhauser had invested in cleaning up the damage and replanting the forest. Go capitalism!!!

Remember the earlier discussion from Vance Air Force Base? Here are the official coins from our visit there. If you don't know proper protocol for RMO, you might end up buying drinks for kids looking for a root beer fix.

Now we smell COFFEE!!!!

Adults only!

Are you one of those parents who have trained their kids that once they become adults, the door is one way, except for weekend visits? For me, age 18 is a decent adulthood check, that allows the kids a chance to go to college, visit for summers and then spread their wings and fly!!!

Is this too aggressive for you? Maybe you would like the age to be 21?

Well, here is the deal. If you are a tourist traveling west, the age is generally 12. Most activities along the way we have pursued considered anyone 11 or under children and everyone else adults!! If only our adult children could be so. Could you imagine the extra income and production involved in household duties? It would be an amazing phenomenon!

For now, we will keep paying for them to be adults and hoping!!

Out of California and into Oregon

The morning started well, everyone slept in.

We left the Willits KOA and drove to the Avenue of the Giants. There we crossed paths with narrow roads and large trees. It is an amazing experience to drive next to the big old trees.

They kind of look like croquet wickets as you try to center the rig between them. It is generally no problem, that is, unless another RV or semi is choosing the same road, opposite direction, same time. All in all, we saw plenty of Redwoods on this stretch as well as on Highway 101.

The youngest 6 on the trip took a gondola ride up the mountain in Klamath, CA while I worked out some details for our next few days. Friends from Oregon are offering some insight and facilities to help streamline our efforts.

Shortly after this stop, we ran into a few herds of elk. The beasts looked as big as horses and motivated me to get to the campsite before dusk. I really didn't want to jockey for position on the road with one of these guys!

We had a disappointing dinner at a local Mexican joint in Crescent City and then cruised into Oregon. Caleb made sure he was the first Tyner to make it into this state as he dove as far forward towards the windshield.....

My goal was to land at our beach side campsite before sunset in order to see my first west coast sunset of the trip. But I came around a mountain corner to a view that only a photographer could truly appreciate. We spent the next 30 minutes allowing Caitlin to express herself and chase a number of amazing photos. (Maybe she will add some to this post?!)

But the photo stop still allowed us time to park with some light and meet some new friends on the beach and invade their beach fire. We only bothered them for a half hour or so....peace.

Hearst....Yosemite

Wow, what a week we have experienced so far.

Once we parted ways with friends in Santa Maria, we camped at Pismo Beach, CA and journeyed north up the coast to San Simeon to see Wm Randolph Hearst's purpose. He was

a wealthy man with too much time on his hands is my best summary. Anyone who has the time to build such an incredible place probably sacrificed in other areas of life. As I walked the estate, I kept thinking how nice it was to have my crew captive in a 36'X10' box where I could get time with them.

(Don't get me wrong, all of the time in our miniature Alcatraz isn't always peaceful, but as Sister Sledge preached, "we are family".)

Dinner in Monterey and a safe haven at Prunedale set us up for a journey to Yosemite. I write this two days later and my Knuckles are still white. I don't remember the name of the town we passed through, but their primary crop was garlic. Thankfully we had plenty of time to air out the RV and move towards the park. The view to the park was incredi

ble and many of the roads int the park were still closed by snow.

We parked at a small village just inside the south entrance and rode a shuttle to the Sequoias. There was a debate about the need to see some trees, something about how boring "my parents were", but we persevered and enjoyed a remarkable view. (Internet access limits our ability to upload photos, but if you are Facebook friends with Caitlin, she might have more than I am posting!)

During the last 5 minutes of the shuttle ride back to the RV a certain fear hit me. I sensed I was about a pound lighter than I should be, if not a pound, at least the weight of a big ring of RV keys. Think about that feeling. We were in a pretty remote area, and very likely locked out of the RV. Except, again one of the nerdy aspects of dad, I was a Boy Scout, you know the deal, always prepared. I had this horrible feeling before we left Fishers we might need a spare set in one of those crazy magnetic boxes and yep, it survived all of the bumpy roads and was attached exactly where it was supposed to be. Even ripping off a tailpipe didn't know those babies loose!

From there we snaked through the park to El Capitain!! White knuckle driving would likely be the proper description in a car, I don't have the words to explain it in an RV, but I can say thanks to Dr. Joe who hooked me up with a TENS unit that was cranking electricity to my shoulders then entire afternoon!

One of my highlights of the trip is watching my oldest enjoy one of her passions.....firing photos...

On our way out of the park I thought I was in safe territory, until I say a sign on the two lane road that said, "no vehicles over 5,000 pounds". I am pretty sure my shorts weighed that much after the last 50 miles and I realized the moments ahead were going to be my admission to manhood. Heading northwest out of a little town named, Priest, it is a good idea to be a peace with your maker, for you may just have the opportunity shortly to meet him.

The view was remarkable, I used several of the turnouts to let less observant drivers through. This stretch was one of the top 10 most beautiful so far on the trip, but it costs a couple dog years to travel it!

The rest of the way into San Fran was pretty passive compared to this section....well...that is if you don't mind a gas station that the entry door is locked at 8pm and the only way to communicate with the attendant is through bullet proof glass. Normally, that would scare me, but....it was 1 mile from our campsite. A cynical smile crossed my face as we rolled into our razor wire bordered campsite and parked for the night! Ah the good life!!!

The Beach, the Castle and The Elephants

We camped at Pismo Beach, CA and drove the Pacific Coast Highway north to San Simeon where Wm. Randolph Hearst built a castle on the family's old camping ground. He literally went from a tent to a more than 90,000 square foot compound! Our tour guide's assistant was hilarious. She was the keeper of all good things of Mr. Hearst. She chased kids adults the same to make sure no one had too much fun. She literally told the kids not to touch a marble pillar by the pool and 10 minutes later we were sitting on a marble bench....if you are ever in the area, this is an amazing place. Mr. Hearst sounded like a searching soul.

After a quick lunch, compliments of the Silveira's, we were a few miles up the PCH to the Elephant Seal Beach where we got and education on these mammals. They are quite the sight. Supposedly, they can move up to 25mph on land, which is an amazing idea.

We had to back track from here since our counselors told us it would not be wise to take the PCH into Monterey from here in a 36' rig. So we road tripped through the mountains and circled back to Monterey in time for the sunset and dinner at Cannery Row.

A place to park the rig was a bit of a challenge, but we worked it out and slept like Elephant Seals!

Blast from the Past!

Our first major RV trip led us to some awesome people, Roger and Kathy Silva and Susie and Manuel Silveira. We originally met them at The Big Texan in Amarillo and tracked all the way New Mexico and Arizona where they spotted us at the Grand Canyon. Kelly and Kristen posed for this picture before boarding the train to Williams, AZ.

Our friend Roger passed away since we met, but we had the pleasure of dining with Susie and Manuel and will hopefully hook up with Kathy in San Francisco! Life is about the journey and not the destination!

Leaving Malibu, entering the Land of Ventura...

Kelly and I journeyed a canyon hike to finish our stay in Malibu. It was an incredible workout with much wildlife along the way. We returned to camp in time to shower, return the rental car and unhook the RV for the Road.

Our destination was Santa Maria for lunch with friends from a past road trip. However, I missed a detour sign and decided to do a quick U-turn near the construction zone. (This is not a good plan in a 36' RV!!) This decision led to a tailpipe laying in the road, a noisy car and a stressful morning. Needless to say, we did not get to see Kathy, Susie and Manuel for lunch!

In stead, we met Greg, Scott and Will at Ventura RV repairs. They were some great guys and did quick, quality work. Then they referred us to Keith at Kenz Mufflers in Oxnard. Keith did quick, quality work to get us back on the road to northern California.

The noise the RV was making was impressive. I think Will shot out of the repair shop so quickly to offer a humane euthanasia to the injured animal he heard for miles. When he saw the damage to the rig, he eased my stress by saying, "this is no big deal." But he also was impressed by the way the exhaust pipe had wrapped itself around the drive shaft!

We rolled out of Kenz Mufflers in time for dinner in Santa Maria with our friends, the Silveira's. They included us in the finale of their Portuguese Festa celebration. The festivity is in honor of Queen St. Isabel of Portugal who first celebrated the Holy Spirit's provision for her people and offered a free banquet celebration in honor of the Spirit.

The Silveira's, their family and friends know how to celebrate. We had an amazing dinner of tri-tip, salad, home made salsa, beans, breads, ice cream and suckers!! It is always an honor to get time with them!!

We bedded down near the Pacific and might just check out the Hearst Castle tomorrow, that is if I can keep the rubber down and keep all the pieces connected to the RV!

LA for the Day!

We spent yesterday in LA. I am convinced kids can learn more on the road than in a classroom. However, yesterday's lessons might have been some we could have left out of their schooling! One fun siting was a "scooter" gang cruising along Sunset Boulevard. I don't even know how to write the whining sound they serenaded us with as we checked out the city!

LA, Santa Monica and Venice Beach offer some intriguing observations even to the untrained eye. One interesting siting was a tub containing 2 two headed turtles as a teaser to the "Freak Show" they were peddling. It seemed a bit strange to pay to see a freak show....

The rental car business along the coast is booming, I am embarrassed to admit the stipend I shelled out to have some mobility other than the big rig. Amazingly, an Escalade was a slumming mobile in the streets of LA.

On our way back to Malibu, we drove side by side with a young girl in her Honda whose alarm was stuck and made amazing harmony along the PCH.

Las Vegas...Death Valley....Malibu?

If you could choose where to spend the night and your only choices were Las Vegas, Death Valley or Malibu, where would you choose?

Our choice was Malibu!

We left Vegas and endured the desert through Death Valley and even fought LA traffic to make it to Malibu for an incredible view before bedtime!

Everyone on board seems to be excited for the next couple days on the cliff!! Pictures to follow!

Viva Las Vegas!

The four wheelers were burning up the desert of Moab this morning! There were no casualties other than the egos from the trash talk among the drivers. All claimed to be speed demons and everyone else were slowing down progress!

After a quick shower or two....we pointed the rig to Las Vegas. 5 years ago this destination turned out to be a total flop. The 100+ degree temperature brought out the worst in everyone, but this year, we gave it another try. We landed in Sin City at sunset. After a quick hookup and dinner, we decided to explore the city. After about 1 mile of walking, the girls decided they had seen enough porn on the street and cross dressers on the billboards to head back to the RV and point it out of town in the morning....

If 'viva" means live or life, I don't think it is appropriately attached to Vegas. It seems to be one of the least lively places I have visited. It is a pseudo liveliness that it portrays rather than true Life!

Friends, Family and Fun!

We landed in Moab, UT on Tuesday.

We checked out Mel's Diner, filled the fridge and found our friends, Bob, Kim and Benjamin Warren and his friend, Jason. We loaded into an 11 passenger Humvee that went places no car should go. Our driver/tour guide, Mike, had at least as much fun as we did and seemed to enjoy watching us squirm. Everyone had a great time.

We did an amazing dinner at the Moab Brewery!!

Spent the day today exploring Arches National Park and again had dinner with the Warrens at the Moab Brewery.....their tri-tip is pretty impressive. Milk shakes at the Moab Diner and the kids swam!

Tomorrow the Warrens head to the big hole in Arizona and we are going 4 wheeling and then....who could guess?

Rocky Mountain High!

We cruised through Denver and into the Rockies!

The RV seemed to handle the steep inclines and drops just fine, the driver was another story. There were only a few white knuckle moments, but all in all it was good!

The east bound lane of I-70 was closed through Glenwood Springs Canyon and made traffic a bit congested. Then on our trip to the Glenwood Hot Springs, I went right instead of left and got thrown back on the east bound lane of I-70 and got to retrace the eight miles of construction, both ways!! But the drive through the Canyon is scenic and well worth it.

We were shooting for the Underground Italian for dinner, but the small diner was too popular for our crew. We opted for Barbecue and Caleb only ate corn on the cob. (He is on black tank duty for the next day or two.)

Finished the night at the Glenwood Hot Springs for a refreshing swim! Moab tomorrow!!!

Flown Away

Night two we were hosted byColonel Russ, Lynne, Austin and Abbey Mack at Vance Air Force Base. It is not everyday a civilian rolls into a destination to be greeted by a kind young man sporting a machine gun! As a non-military family, we were blessed by the Macks to experience the world of military life.

We had an incredible dinner of pulled pork and brisket that was only trumped by a late night visit to Braum's. When isn't ice cream a good idea??

The base hotel staff was incredible and our stay was great.

We had some great pancakes and waffles compliments of Russ and a tour of the base the netted Keith and Caleb RMOs... for those civilians of you, that means Round Metal Objects (Pictures to follow when our staff photographer is able.)

Sadly, we had to leave our great friends and journey to KANSAS. Carry on my wayward son!

Blown Away!!

We landed night one in the Springfield, MO KOA. Everyone slept like babies. Once the wake up call, Caleb, sounded the peace was over.

Boy wonder rented a camp bike and shared his love with the entire campsite!

We stopped in Mt Vernon, MO at an incredible restaurant, Red Barn, and enjoyed the life of gluttony. While in Mt. Vernon, we donated some funds and water to the Boy Scouts who were helping the Joplin tornado victims.

A quick tailgating tour (behind a Red Cross truck) of Joplin left

us blown away by the devastation in that community!

PRIZE for the WINNER!!

We are heading west with most of our time in California, Oregon and Washington, thus the COW of the Holy. We are excited not only about the sites we will see and the people we will meet, but the Holy (set apart) time we will have with our family.

Connie is excited my original plan didn't unfold as planned, 6 months in the RV with 49 states along the road. But this quick trip will cover a number of states and a number of miles.

We would love for you to journey with us along the road and enjoy our time as well. We have a prize for the person who guesses most closely the number of miles the RV accumulates on this trip!!