Florence Oregon

We arrived in Florence today after a drive up the coast of California and Oregon. We stopped at a redwoods forest again to walk through the trees. It was very foggy for most of the trip but we made fairly good time.

When we got to Florence, we decided to have one more seafood dinner and ate at Mo's, a famous restaurant in Oregon. The food was good. After dinner, we drove to the ocean so that we could walk in the sand and get our feet wet. It was a little chilly but we didn't need sweatshirts. We're planning on leaving around 8:00 tomorrow so we can get back to Spokane at a decent hour. We're all looking forward to being home. We've stayed mostly at Holiday Inn Expresses on this vacation and they all have the same types of breakfast food. We're pretty tired of the same old food but we're going to have to deal with it one more day.

Here are a few pics.

And a video of the roots of a fallen redwood.

For a description from the kids, click below.

Day 15

On to the Redwoods

We left San Francisco and headed to the Redwoods today. On our way out of town, we drove down the crooked street in San Francisco and went over the Golden Gate bridge. We decided to travel up Highway 1 along the coast. After about 45 minutes of slow, very curvy roads, we decided to head inland to go up Highway 101. We made better headway and eventually got to the redwoods. It's amazing how massive those trees are and how old they are.

We went to the place where you can drive through the tree, we had to pull the mirrors in to get through and although I was a little worried, we made it. Further down the road, we stopped a couple times to walk into the forest and see the trees up close.

We arrived in Fortuna CA around 6:00 PM and the kids are in the pool as I am writing this. Tomorrow we head to Florence OR and then the next day we'll be home. I think we're all a little tired of traveling and are looking forward to a couple of home cooked meals.

Here are a few pics.

And here is the description of the day from the kids.

Day 14

San Francisco

We left Disneyland and headed to San Francisco during rush hour. Not the best thing but we needed to sleep in after last night. It took quite a while to get through Los Angeles but we weren't in a hurry.

We arrived in San Francisco around 5:00 and decided to get some dinner before walking around. Our hotel is only a few blocks from Fisherman's Wharf. We had a good seafood dinner, except for Rylee who had grilled cheese. After dinner we walked to Ghirardelli Square to check out the chocolate shop. We got a free sample. We headed back to the hotel after getting a couple of souvenirs. I'm not that impressed with this part of San Francisco. We'll see how things look tomorrow.

Here is the description from the kids.

Day 13

Last Day at Disneyland

We started our day by going to Finding Nemo. It is a really neat ride that combines underwater effects with animated effects. The wait was fairly long but we had seen that it gets even longer during the day. We decided to get this one out of the way first. After that, we rode on Buzz Lightyear, Pirates, the Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones. We also caught the Indiana Jones show. It was a show with actors and lasted about 15 minutes. It was designed for littler kids but it was nice to sit in the shade for a while.

We headed over to California Adventure to see if we could ride Toy Story but the line was way too long. This was disappointing because we all would have liked to have riddent his ride again. We headed back to the hotel to rest a little bit because we knew it was going to be a long day.

We headed back to California Adventure so the kids could ride the Grizzly River Run. It's a raft ride that spins them around and gets them wet. After this, we went to catch the parade in Disneyland. There are some amazing floats and we were in an area where they stopped a couple times to perform a little show. After the parade, I had to get in line to get our reserved seats for Fantasmic and everyone else hit a couple of rides.

The seats for Fantasmic were great and we got a dessert box with cheese, chocolates, cheesecake and a bunch of other stuff that shouldn't be eaten at 9:00 at night. We hated to leave anything but there was just too much. When we got our dessert boxes, Rylee found a little Shrek character in hers....at little gift from her Grandpa. (You'll need to ask either one for an explanation). The Fantasmic show is pretty elaborate with floats in the water, music, lights, lasers and of course Mickey Mouse. After the show, we were able to watch the fireworks from our seats.

We were able to catch a few more rides after the show. The last ride we did was the Indiana Jones ride which Rylee and Jarret thought was both their favorite. We headed back to the hotel late that night just beat. We were hot, tired, full of sugar and having had a blast the whole day. The kids were too tired to argue that night and fell asleep right away.

Here are a few pics.

And the description from the kids

Day 12

Back to Anaheim

We made it back to Anaheim on Tuesday but since the hotel charges $10 per day for internet, I'm updating everything now. We left San Diego and surprised the kids with a detour to The Grove mall near Beverly Hills. The Grove has an American Girl store and Rylee was able to look around and purchase a couple things. After that, Jarret had to get into the buying game and came away with an iPod Shuffle from the Apple store.

After that, we just drove around the Beverly Hills area looking at the houses. There are some that are really big. We came across a couple of really cool cars, Maserati's, Ferrari's and a Lotus. We also ended up on Rodeo Drive.

When we got to the hotel, we ate a little dinner, and then took a stroll down to Downtown Disney to see that area and make a couple of purchases. We then got back to the hotel to get a good rest for the next day at Disneyland.

For the description.

Day 11

Anaheim again -No posts for next couple of days since hotel charges $10 / day for Internet

Sea World San Diego

We had a great day in San Diego today although it started off a little rocky the night before. We needed to do a little laundry and I was doing some in the bathroom sink. I was almost done and trying to push the water out of the clothes by pushing them against the sink. Needless to say, they don't make sinks the way they used to. I pushed hard enough to loosen the clips that attach the sink to the countertop and the sink fell through the bottom of the countertop. I have a picture that Rylee took at the moment I was swearing under my breath. After this happened, I never saw Jill and Rylee laugh so hard. Jarret slept through the whole thing. We had to make the call to the front desk this morning before we left. It was fixed by the time we got back....but I don't know if they are going to charge me for it. At least I now know how a rock star feels when they trash a room...

We headed to Sea World and saw the Manatees, Sharks, and got soaked by Shamu. It didn't seem as hot and we were in and out of different exhibits and buildings all day. It was alot of fun.

After we were done at Sea World, we went to dinner at Croutons in La Jolla. We had a great meal. The food was excellent and we got a chance to talk to Jay Wesley, who is Rylee's teacher's son. Thank you for everything Jay, we had a really great time and really appreciate it. Whenever you bring one to Spokane, count us in as some of your first customers...

We came back to the hotel to find the sink in working order, although everyone has orders not to touch it..... We saw another sunset on the beach and walked around in the sand and surf.

Here is the description from the kids.

Day 10

Here are a couple videos.