On day *we lost count* of our English road trip, we left York, and this became a Scottish road trip!

On to Scotland we go!!!

Our family has a great deal of Scottish ancestry, and we were excited to see a small part of Scotland. Plus, the road trip days were good for recovering my poor right heel. I had (and still have) a killer case of plantar fasciitis. These long tourist days were a problem.

We only had one goal left for England. Locate Hadrian’s Wall, and take some photos of it.

That was easier said than done. I’d asked around and learned there were good places to see the ancient wall near the historic park of Vindolanda.

Hadrian’s Wall was the wall built to mark the furthest northern boundary of the Roman Empire.

For a brief time Rome tried to go even further and built the Antonine Wall (further up in Scotland). But Hadrian’s Wall was the better built and more famous one, and Alan and I were excited to see it.

Legend goes that the Romans could not beat back the unruly Scots, so they walled them off. As a person of Scottish ancestry, there is something undeniably marvelous about being possibly the only people the Romans couldn’t conquer!!

I had to see this, and Alan readily agreed with me. After twenty-three years together, we have far more shared interests than we did in the beginning I think.

As our boys grow older, they actually find our field trips more and more interesting too. So have patience if you have children who do not share your enthusiasm for a historical vacation destination! They may come around yet.

“And what is Vindolanda?” you might ask.

Vindolanda is an ancient Roman settlement smack dab in the middle of nowhere in northern England. It is believed to be a headquarters for the Roman Army while they were building Hadrian’s Wall. The village of Vindolanda predates the wall!

Vindolanda is this huge Roman fort and current archaeological study site. The community was built and re-built nine times! Nine times!? I’m no expert, but it sounds like the local Northumbrians put a fight up to the Romans the whole time.

How is it Alan and I always end up at an archaeological site on our vacations? Ha! We love this stuff. I felt like Vindolanda and the area around it had a very mythical feel. The unearthed ghost town of stone, the beautifully deep green grass all around, the sheep and cows in the background, the overall abandoned atmosphere of the area in combination with the deep gray cloudy skies constantly threatening rain, made the whole area an enchanting portal to the past.

If I had had two healthy feet, I could have walked around there all day!

However, we did not feel like we had too long to explore. It had already rained on us a little, and the clouds assured us they had more to give. Plus, we had this mission to find Hadrian’s Wall and to get to Scotland.

We still managed to cover most everything outside and only bypassed the Roman museum. In retrospect, I cannot believe we didn’t visit the museum. We would have learned so much more of the Roman history if we had taken the time to see it.

Uncovered stone was everywhere, and I feel like if they kept digging, even more and more Roman ruins lie beneath the beautiful carpet of green grass.

They have rebuilt a replica at the Vindolanda Archaeological park of a Roman fort of the time. It reminded us much of the York City Walls and the Tower of London. The stones look much cleaner though. It still looks like new construction. The shocking thing is the builders tried to use Roman methods and test out how their replica would hold up. Oddly enough, the reconstructed fort sank into the ground over the short time that it has been up. I cannot remember the exact number, but it was something like in ten years it shrank like forty feet. My numbers are off, but it was a shocking amount!

I wanted to look up information on this for you with exact information, but I could not find anything online! I wish I’d kept a brochure, but I’ve misplaced it.

The good news is there is a book about Vindolanda’s history, and this is the link to buy it on Amazon. (*Disclaimer that I do make ad money off my Amazon links) I am ordering it too.

Of course, we all enjoyed climbing on this fort replica and reading about it.

Romans and Normans alike when they would set up a tower, or fort, or castle, would always build it in timber first. In fact, some castles never made it past the timber stage. The ones that lasted through centuries are made of stone. Doesn’t it make you think of the three little pigs? Ha! I am thankful to currently be living in a house of brick!

I mean, what community doesn’t want a pool?

Don’t you love the scenery here? It was so quiet, and nature was kind of showing off with how enchanting it all was. Even with my eagerness to see Hadrian’s Wall and make it to Scotland, it felt sad to leave it.

After Vindolanda, we thought we could follow road signs and GPS and find Hadrian’s Wall fairly easily.

No. We were wrong. Turns out, Hadrian’s Wall is not commercialized at all. This was surprising to Alan and me because we both thought of it as such a big deal!

Also, I should mention that English people have plenty of stone fences. They are everywhere, so just because you see a nice long stone barrier, that does not mean it’s an ancient Roman wall.

Everywhere we drove to try to find Hadrian’s Wall turned out to look like someone’s private property full of livestock pastures and a dead end.

We constantly felt like we were trespassing on farm land. The stereotype about the fields of sheep in the UK is right on the money. Sheep everywhere! I thought that was cool though. In America, we are more likely to have fields of cows. I rarely see sheep, but then I do not live in the country either.

In our search for the famous Hadrian’s Wall, we’d pull up to an area, and look around like, “Well? Is it here? Where is it exactly? Are we allowed to drive there?”

Plus, Alan and I were up against a few challenges in addition to feeling like we were trespassing in a foreign country:

1. Complainers in the backseat: The boys did NOT care for our Hadrian’s Wall Quest. They wanted to move on.
2. It was starting to rain.
3. My feet were shot again from the Vindolanda walk, and I did not trust them to get me through a WET, grassy field in uneven terrain.

As it turns out, if you want to see the wall for real, you must do at least a little hiking.

We finally found a spot where we were sure the wall was close by, and we were able to pull off the road in a parking area where we did not feel like we were showing up on somebody’s farm uninvited.

We ended up at the part of the wall called Walltown Crags.

I say that “we” finally found the wall, and we did.

However, it was only Alan who got out of the car, crossed the grassy fields in the rain, and took the photos.

The boys stayed in the car with me, thanks to plantar fasciitis and the rain. I was still happy though. I felt like Alan got the photos for us, and I had the satisfaction of being parked there anyway. You do what you can. It’s like when we were in York, and Alan and Caleb saw York Minster for us. I felt represented, and I got the photos, so I was happy.

It was no small jog from the car to the wall in the rain. Once Alan got out, our car was swarmed by flies!

The boys sounded the alarm from the backseat. “Ewww! Mom, look at all the flies on Dad’s side! We’ve got to move the car so when Dad gets back he doesn’t let all the flies in the car!”

Hmmm. Well, let’s give it a few minutes. This should take him a while.

It took him no time at all. He did that half mile, hilly and rocky jog in the rain like it was nothing, and boom, he was back!

I maneuvered my way over the car console and sat down in the driver’s seat without exiting the vehicle. We figured I’d move the car away from the swarm. Hopefully, it wouldn’t follow us. Dad could hop in the passenger seat, and then we could drive a few yards and switch back.

That was the only time in our whole England trip that I ever drove the car.

And of course, the swarm followed us, so it was all for nothing. Somehow, none of them got in the car though! So it was a win.

We got back on the road and headed for Stirling, Scotland.

It may seem odd that we skipped Edinburgh, but we aren’t really big city people.

I mean, we live in a big city, and all the crowds do get old. It’s nice to take a vacation to smaller places instead. I picked Stirling because of all the history with Bannockburn, Sir Robert the Bruce, and William Wallace. Also, this is where the Scottish Highlands meet the lowlands. It is in the geographical center of the country, to the south. Plus, Stirling Castle looked like an excellent castle to tour. We do love a castle.

I’ll tell you all about Stirling in my next post.

Our last outing of our England to Scotland road trip was a stop at Cafe 91 in Lockerbie, Scotland.

The food was yummy, and this was a memorable stop. For one thing, the place was an hour out from closing when we arrived, though we didn’t realize it at the time. It closes at five o’clock. I guess dinner restaurants and lunch places are two different things in the U.K. We had trouble with this.

The two waitresses were beautiful young ladies with the thickest Scottish accents I’d ever heard. In fact, Scotland solidly did not disappoint with the accents!

Also, our family fooled absolutely no one. Everyone automatically knew we were an American family. I guess our cultural camouflage wasn’t good.

Alan ordered a Scottish meat with his meal called “black pudding.” We asked them what black pudding is, and they said it’s really best to eat it first and then ask. Ha! Alan was a good sport and did just that. I tasted it too. We never did ask them about the ingredients. We could tell they wanted to go home.

Instead, I looked it up online. Black pudding is also called blood sausage, and it is made with pig’s blood, oatmeal, pig fat, and spices. Not exactly kosher, but that’s okay.

We were so excited to be in Scotland! After our early dinner in Lockerbie, we drove on to the Holiday Inn in Stirling. It was an excellent hotel with an outstanding breakfast.

I can’t wait to tell you all about Stirling Castle in the next post.

It was the best day, and the Scottish people were by far our favorite. I’m telling you the Scots are like American Southerners! They were so welcoming. We had the best time.

The post Ancient Roman Vindolanda & the Hunt for Hadrian’s Wall appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

This family vacation to the United Kingdom was extra special to me because I feel like it was a once in a lifetime kind of trip.

Our time together with our children is short. The preciousness of this time became so apparent to me once our oldest went away to college. Plus, he insisted on skipping this trip. It was impossible for him to obtain summer employment if he was constantly leaving town on all my family adventures.

He was right about that. I fully understand. When you have several children, there are not infinite resources. The kids need to make their own money and build their own work experiences.

But we still have three boys at home. One is barely a kid. He graduates this year! I feel like we need to squeeze in and enjoy all of the family adventures we can get.

Our road trip to York was a huge blessing because it brought us to York, and we loved York!

We even got there in time to walk the ancient, well preserved walls of York that night! I want to tell you all about it!! We had the best time in this city.

We woke up early that morning in our hot Stonehenge hotel.

I think it was John David’s birthday. Or was that the day before? He was such a good sport about not having a birthday party because of this trip. There was no cake even. I think he received a birthday brownie at a to-go shop instead.

The hotel did provide a small grab-and-go breakfast that morning. I’ve never enjoyed a bowl of oatmeal so much. It was oddly delicious that day.

We packed up and headed out bright and early. For our road trip, we rented a Mercedes SUV. Our three youngest boys were all crammed in the backseat. They found the most comfortable seating arrangement and stuck to it the whole trip. There were many complaints on the lack of space from our six-foot-two seventeen-year-old.

About twenty minutes up the road, I realized I did not have my phone.

What’s a road trip without a problem to solve? I am notorious about leaving things behind as well as never knowing where my phone is, so this should come as a surprise to no one.

Alan was a good sport and whipped the car around and headed back to the Stonehenge Inn.

Phone obtained, we headed out for real this time.

Before our trip, we’d talked to our friends Roger and Christine about traveling through England. They’d told us England has many rest stop areas on their interstate-like highways. These rest areas are much like the ones in the Mid-Atlantic/New England areas of the USA. They have gas stations and fast food grouped together.

These rest areas are much better than most of the USA’s interstate exits, where you have to drive through many traffic lights and fight traffic to find gas and food.

Some of these rest areas were extra nifty and built the food court right over the highway. I enjoyed that.

Another English oddity we discovered was that all of the self-serve soft drinks at every single place we ate only served diet drinks. There is an up-charge for beverages with real sugar, as the country is trying to discourage everyone from drinking sugar. As an American, it was puzzling when my choices were Pepsi Zero, Pibb Extra Zero, or Fanta Zero (or something like that).

I kept thinking, “Where are the real cokes and Sprites?”

Also, they love Starbucks in England. It was everywhere.

I never saw a Dunkin’, but Starbucks was at every rest area. In fact, at the first stop, you could buy Starbucks in three different ways in one giant parking lot. There was a free standing Starbucks. Then the gas station had a mini Starbucks inside, as well as grab-and-go iced Starbucks coffees in a refrigerator.

This was a major win in my book. I do love an iced sugar-free vanilla latte.

It became apparent that if we wanted to make it to York in time to check in, we had no time for side quests.

We only stopped for lunch. Then we did a little exit off our path to drive through Warwick. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of Warwick Castle.

Though we never made it to the castle, we did drive through a small part of the town. It was still fun to look at. Towns in England look much different than towns in America. They are ever so much more ancient.

Goodramgate Apartments in York

I knew we needed to get to York and check in to the apartment I’d reserved for us before six o’clock. Goodramgate Apartments has an office, but they close early. In fact, it seemed like everything in England closed earlier than we wanted. If you don’t eat before six, good luck eating!

These apartments are super cool. It is run like a hotel, but they are all real apartments that have been renovated to serve guests hotel-style. It was much like renting a condo or beach house.

In York, you park in a car park and then walk where you want to go, for the most part.

There is also public transportation, but we stayed so close to everything we never needed it. We were able to literally walk every where. I loved this.

All day, the boys looked forward to having air-conditioning again.

Thankfully, our car was air-conditioned. I had to break it gently to the boys that I was pretty sure our apartment would not be. The English do not seem to think they need air-conditioning. Their country is much cooler than the American south. It is more like Massachusetts. However, even Massachusetts and London alike get hot enough in the summer.

Thankfully, the boys liked having our own three-story Victorian townhouse with privacy and a full kitchen so much, they actually forgave the lack of cool air.

Goodramgate Apartments has several different types of rooms to rent. We stayed at Ebor Mews, which is one hundred fifty years old. It felt like we were getting a truly local experience. Our apartment was across the street from the gate to York City Walls. I loved it because we were in the middle of everything we wanted to see.

When we first arrived, the place was every bit as hot as the Stonehenge Inn, especially on the top floor, where the bedrooms are.

Once we pulled down all the blinds, cracked all the windows, and strategically moved all the fans, it was a little better. Outside, it was nice and cool by seven o’clock each night. We stayed in York for two nights.

This was a nice place to stay. The only people who had a hot night were Alan and me. Our window, on the third floor, did not open. We had to rely on a small standing fan.

The youngest boys slept in the living room, with the biggest window, down on the second floor. They said they actually got cold at night! There was such a good breeze going in their room.

Finding food that night in York at seven o’clock was not easy.

After the long road trip, we wanted to stay close to our town house. Most places on our street were closed or converted to bars for the evening. Drinks you could find easily, but food was another story.

Thankfully, we found this American themed restaurant, Fancy Hank’s, where we were able to order delicious food for everyone.

They even had their gluten free items marked on the menu!! I was so happy. Their kitchen is not always open that late, so don’t go expecting it to be open at seven. They had a larger party with reservations that night, so we were lucky.

I ordered the BBQ pulled pork loaded tater tots. It was delicious!!!

That was such a happy night. After we ate our Fancy Hank’s take-away food, we walked across the street to explore the York City Wall.

Our townhouse was literally connected to the Monk Bar (a huge gate on the wall). The walls of York are one of the main attractions of the city, and it was right outside our door.

We loved this. If your group includes energetic boys and parents who love history, walking walls and castles is the perfect vacation.

I think it was after nine o’clock before it got dark, and the weather was perfection. We walked until we ran out of wall and then walked back.

The boys of course had to sit on top of the walls and windows in different places. There are parts where the wall is narrow and parts where it widens to look-out points and turrets. It was everything you’d want it to be.

And it was not crowded at all! Both nights there was hardly anyone out there!! How is this possible??

I think this was our whole family’s favorite two nights in the UK. We loved it. We goofed off, ran around, climbed where we could climb, read the information, and had ourselves a jolly good time.

I wish we could do this everyday!

Touring York was right up there with the Tower of London. We loved it so much. The walls were our favorite part, so we did that both nights. These photos are all from the first night.

We did so many things in York! I will tell you all about York day two in my next post.

Just know that I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to visit York if you ever get a chance. It was a blast.

The post Once in a Lifetime Family Road Trip to York, Our Favorite English City appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

One last basketball game with friends

The movers came and boxed us up.

Day 1: I promise our children do not normally consume sodas and play video games all day. Remember this was a manly trip…which really just means that I was not there, so don’t blame me. 😉

California: Do you see the train going into the tunnel? Look closely.

hangin’ with friends

There was an Avengers thing-a-majig going on there,.

And Caleb’s turn

Next Stop: North Rim of the Grand Canyon!!

Before the trip they thought the Grand Canyon was worth skipping. Ha! They get it now.

And on the road again…

I love these window landscape shots. The Southwest is uniquely beautiful.

This one made me laugh. Bless their hearts. Buy them some sunglasses!!

Once you finish chuckling over their eye covers, check out the FOUR CORNERS behind them: You can be in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado all at the same time.

I’m thinking this is probably Colorado. I wasn’t there, and Alan’s outside building a trampoline, so I can’t ask him. Poor Alan. So glad I’m not the one with the big muscles that builds things.

Mesa Verde National Park

As I mentioned before, we learned about these Anasazi cliff-dwellers in school this year, so what a perfectly timed field trip.

When do I get to go see this because I want to too!

This part would have been my favorite!

On the road again, just can’t wait to get back on the road again….

Next Stop: Oklahoma City

It just might’ve been his best birthday ever. And no, we’ve never been Braves fans, but I thought it went along with the whole becoming Southern thing. He approved. He also loved his bat bag and baseball cards.

They went to an OKC Dodgers (minor league baseball) game. Caleb is crazy for baseball this year.

It was a double-header, so Alan even got them a hotel where they could watch the game from their hotel room. Nice!

Well, iHop is a close second. Mmmm

Oh yeah, and Alan also took them to Pops, a soda pop factory/store. (Thanks for all the ideas, Greg!) They brought back a cooler full of sodas too. I might as well go ahead and schedule their dental appointments. No, it hasn’t been a full 6 months, but there was this trip.

On to Arkansas…

By this point, Alan was speeding the trip along, so they just whipped right through Arkansas, and on to Tennessee:

We were all intrigued to see what this giant pyramid was, and it turned out to be a BASS PRO SHOPS!! Haha!

And no trip to Bammer is complete without a visit to Bryant-Denny. (That’s the University of Alabama football stadium, for all you non-southerners or non football fans.)

They had to shield their eyes from the glitter of all those national championship trophies. hehe Roll Tide!

And finally, they arrived and reunited with Mom and little brothers!

We enjoyed being together for a couple of days, all of us as a family in our new house. But our work is not done. Alan, Joshua, and Caleb are over at my parents’ house, helping them move, and Joshua and Caleb are going to stay for the rest of the week. They are super excited because the Wii died in the fire, so Grandaddy has promised to buy an x-box for their house.

Happy Summer, y’all!!

The post Cross-Country Road Trip 2016: Cali to Bama in a Pick-Up Truck appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

This beautiful lone cypress (a trademark of Carmel/Monterey area) painting was a thank you gift to Alan for being a basketball and baseball and tee-ball coach. It was painted by a grandfather of boys on those teams. This artist was at almost every single game. Thank you so much, sweet friends!!

It’s purely a man show this time, y’all. Last time it was just Alan and me. This time it’s Alan, Joshua, and Caleb.They are crossing the country mostly on I-40 riding in a full cab pick-up truck with a camper-cover. Is that what you call those things? I don’t know.  It’s a truck with a hut built on it to keep your luggage dry.

If you follow Alan on Facebook, then I have no news for you because Alan used up his text message plan and I took these pics from Facebook. Don’t you think it’s time for him to upgrade to unlimited texts?

Day 1, Friday:

Morning–hung out with friends and cleared out of old house. This military housing office was very easy to work with. Highly recommend!

Afternoon–Drove to Las Vegas

Evening–stayed at Treasure Island Resort

breakfast in Vegas with friends

Day 2, Saturday:

Morning–Hung out with the same friends they hung out with on Friday. If you’ve been to our house in California this past year, then I’m sure you met Tom and Amy and family. We love these people.

Afternoon–Drove to the Grand Canyon, North Rim (because we saw the South Rim last time)

Evening–Go to bed early because boys are desperately sleep deprived after having so much fun with their friends and 2 sleepovers prior to the trip. (See, Alan could have made them sleep in the truck, but he is kind.)

Caleb has tried over and over again to get out of this road trip. He begged to fly with me and JD, but we insisted. There is no experience like seeing the American Southwest for yourself. We wanted him to experience seeing America, appreciate the great distances, and see the Grand Canyon.

I think it’s going quite well.

Last night Alan said this in an email:

And, April, please know that we actually are having fun. I may point out a bad thing or two that’s happened but it’s mostly “really cool”, “really awesome road trip”, “thanks, Dad”, …with an occasional “No, I meant, you and Josh fly with me to Georgia and then come back and get the truck!?!” Yea, he asked for that during a lull today…BUT, it’s not much at all of the trip.

Future Plans:

Last night Alan said, “We’re staying the night in Jacob Lake, AZ and tomorrow is 4 corners, Anasazi Cliff Dwellers in Mesa Verde and then…who knows!”

I’m so excited that they get to see the Anasazi Villages!!  That one was mine and Caleb’s request!!  Remember, I’m only not there because my hip went rogue this year and won’t let me sit for long periods. I am the kind of person that would LOVE to be on a cross-country road trip. In fact, I went last time, and I blogged about it.

Have you seen the Anasazi Villages? We learned about them in the Classical Conversations curriculum this year. We even memorized this song:

“The Anasazi of the Southwestern United Stated built adobe villages on the sides of the cliffs from 500 BC to 1200 AD.”

Want to see what they look like? Here’s a short YouTube video:

When I talked to them on the phone a few minutes ago, they’d already left Four Corners. Apparently, the line was an hour and a half long, so they just took photos and left. We are not line people. I also skipped the Liberty Bell a few years ago because eh, history is interesting and all, but waiting in line? How many things are really worth that?

Meanwhile, Dan, JD, and I are relaxing at my parents’ temporary house. Tomorrow I’m going to go polish my floors.

Wait. Did I say “my floors”?? That’s right! We take occupancy tomorrow!  We don’t have furniture until at least next weekend, but I’m just pleased as punch to not have to put my stuff in storage or live homeless like I did last time we moved!!

Yep. We are happy, happy, happy!

Want to read more Road Trip posts? See this list from last time!

Cross Country Road Trip: Days 2 &3

Alabama: https://storiesofourboys.com/2014/06/20/road-trip-jd-turns-1/
Tuscaloosa:
https://storiesofourboys.com/2014/06/21/thoughts-from-the-road-trip/

Southwest:
https://storiesofourboys.com/2014/06/23/we-dont-want-to-eat-the-bread-we-just-want-to-collect-the-bread/

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San Diego Day 1: I have never been so badly in need of a vacation as I was this Spring Break.

Actually, I’ve lived in need of a vacation since June 2013. I promise I wasn’t always this tired and whiny.

There were actually lots of years where I felt relaxed and happy. I was busy, but it was a healthy level of busy.

I want to get back to that healthy level of busy, but happy again!!!  

Forget this overwhelmed, stressed, and slightly homesick version of April. I am busting out of this. I know I can do it. This vacation felt like the first step.

Actually, I take that back. When Jennings visited, that felt like the first step.

Jennings said something that reminded me that some changes have been for the better. She said, “You are so different now than back when you had two kids, just a few years ago. You’re so much calmer now.” (or something like that)

That’s true. I am calmer. Our whole act runs a little smoother, which is kind of bizarre because there are even more boys now. A lot of that is just experience. Toddlers get a lot of forgiveness, and when in public, that’s what strollers are for.

Alan has also been asking me what we could do to get that “happy, outgoing” April back.

Mostly: Finish my first year of teaching. I didn’t enjoy teaching when I tried it in the public school, and I haven’t LOVED it this time either. Yes, I DO love being with my boys all day. I adore my boys; however, I’m not so sure I will be a home school mom forever. We all have different callings in life. What’s important is that I fulfill my God-given purpose. How long that will include home-schooling, I’m just not sure yet.

I have a few goals for this last 9 weeks for getting “happy, outgoing April” back:

1. Exercise every single day. I saw pictures of myself from the rear on this vacation. It wasn’t pretty. I tend to put on inches when I’m bummed, and that’s been happening.

2. Finish lesson plans!!! If I can get this done, I will feel so much happier.

3. Alan wants me to start “entertaining friends” and “hosting” again. We’ll take a stab at being more social.

and

4. Plan summer and fall vacations, because man, are they important!!! Let’s kick this off with a San Diego trip.

OKay. I know. That’s not what you came here to read about. You wanted to see San Diego, right?

Well, Day 1 was really just a road trip. It was 10pm when we rolled into San Diego. However, I DO have Los Angeles photos, so aren’t you glad you stopped by? 😉

Day One:

Sunday

We started out by letting Daniel open one last birthday present:

Alan had this trip planned out military style.

He printed out papers, in a binder, of a detailed agenda for every single day of the trip! He even researched restaurant options and routes through LegoLand and the San Diego Zoo, to optimize our vacation experience.

Alan planned for us to stop at an Observatory in Los Angeles, from which you can see the Hollywood sign.

What we didn’t realize was that this is apparently “the place” to be at sunset, so the crowds and parking were INSANE.

Not only did I have to drive in LA, against my better judgement, but I had to drive up the hills to this observatory thing and find parking. Ugh. We did a quick driver switcher-oo for the parallel parking portion. I am so bad at parallel parking!

Oh, and as I was anxiously driving the 8 lane highway through LA, Daniel suddenly let out a “WHOOO-YEAHHHH!”

“Daniel! What in the world are you yelling for?”

Daniel grinned sheepishly, “LegoLand. Me excited ’bout LegoLand.”

Ah.

One great thing about having four children is that it forces you to get nice hotel rooms.

We stayed at a suite that could comfortably sleep six. We experimented with bunking Joshua and Daniel together, so we wouldn’t have to unfold the sofa bed. That lasted all of ten minutes.

This road trip was an amazing success. All children were well behaved, quiet, and excited. There were no traffic jams, car problems, or accidents. We even pulled into a “full service” gas station where they pumped our gas and washed our windshield for us, old school style. We never even got out of the car.

Come back tomorrow, and I’ll actually tell you about the vacation! 😉

Today I’ve been cycling mountains of laundry, uploading photos, studying the book of Luke, and WORKING OUT.

That’s right. I did 30 minutes of P90x, because “ain’t nobody” got time to exercise for 90 minutes. 😉 Meanwhile, I’m sure my arms will be killing me tomorrow.

We are bringing happy April back!

“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Genesis 4:6-7

The post Day 1 of the Trip to San Diego. Vacation renews a tired Mom. appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

We visited Carmel by the Sea this week, and I am completely in awe at the state park we found there.

This stunning state park is called Point Lobos, and if you have been, then you know. If you have not been, allow me to introduce you to my favorite state or national park in the entire U.S of A.

Carmel by the Sea may be the ritziest area that I have ever visited. I’m used to walking through streets with shops named Gap, Starbucks, and Banana Republic. This beautiful little town was designer all the way. After passing stores such as Chanel and Oscar de la Renta, I wasn’t sure I should bother to step inside the souvenir t-shirt shop.

But somehow I managed to score myself a $15 Carmel fleece jacket:

Oh, and interesting Carmel fact:  Clint Eastwood served one term as their mayor!

My favorite thing about Carmel was not the designer shopping. Let’s face it. I love pretty clothes, but I buy most of my wardrobe at Target and the NX, BX, or PX….

(NX= Navy Exchange, BX= Base Exchange, PX = Post Exchange.  For you civilian types, those are just department stores on military posts. I find their clothes to be reasonably priced, for the most part.)

The BEST part of Carmel was Point Lobos State Park.

With its breathtaking views, seal nurseries, sea lions, sunning sea mammals of many kinds, sea otters, and Bird Island, it is by far the most incredible park of any kind that I have ever been to. This place is surreal.

This was one of the best days of my summer. We saw seals galore as well as a large colony of Brandt’s cormorants. This particular species of bird lives only on the Pacific coast.

Look on the left of the hills. See those large black squares? Those are the cormorant nests. They are all perfectly spaced.

a modern day castle, by Point Lobos State Park

Seals!!!

more seals!

As we were hiking up the hills, I told Alan, “This is just so exciting for me. This is the best thing we’ve done on this whole trip.” Alan asked, “Are you serious?” Yes!!! This place is total bliss.

If you visit us in California, I will escort each of you to this park. In fact, I think Point Lobos needs to be on our regular home-school schedule.

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Psalm 8:3-9

For more photos of seals, sea lions, and sea otters, check out some of my other posts about wildlife encounters in Monterey:

Seals or Sea Lions: What is the difference?

Whale Watching in Monterey Bay

The post Beautiful Point Lobos State Park is the Easiest Place to Find Seals in the wild Near Monterey appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Of course, I have taken way, way too many pictures of California to squeeze them all into one post, especially with slow wi-fi, so I’m breaking this post into two parts. Today we will focus on the desert, mountains, and agricultural regions, and my next post will feature  the coast. I know, that next part sounds like a lot more fun, but the mountains have their own beauty, so hang with me.

When we first entered California, on I-40, which runs along the edge of Death Valley itself, we weren’t so sure this place would live up to its name. California has a reputation for great beauty and abundant food. Instead, we were just seeing miles of endless mountains and desert. And traffic. And heat.

We got stuck in a horrible traffic jam full of cars with lewd expressions written on their windows in shoe polish. Each of these cars had one slogan in common: “EDC”. After miles of being stuck between these EDC cars in stop and go traffic, we googled ‘edc’ to find out what it meant. Judging by the drawings on the car windows, we knew it wasn’t exactly a church retreat…

It turns out that edc stands for electric daisy carnival, a multi-day party for young people in Las Vegas. Well, that certainly made sense. There were lots of drug arrests and hospitalizations at the event. That probably also accounts for the questionable wardrobes that our eyes are still recovering from….

Let’s put all that behind us. We are now safely tucked far, far away from Death Valley. We have been exploring the coast of mid/north California. It is a place of great beauty and abundant wildlife.

And it’s cold.

Yes, you heard me right. Cold. Mark Twain once said, “My coldest winter was the summer I spent in San Francisco.”

With our household goods in storage until August, I’m going to have to buy each of my little boys a couple of warmer outfits for when they arrive!

It isn’t cold all day long. You have to wear layers. When the wind blows, or your sitting in the shade, you put your jacket on. Then when you step out into the sun, you have to take your jacket off. This happens over and over again.

It’s pretty glorious, really. You get to go to the beach, without drenching yourself in sweat, yet when you are standing in the sun, it’s probably around 75 degrees, and it’s quite glorious!

Pictures of that to come soon. For now, more desert, mountains, and farm land. After all, there is more to California than just beaches and national parks. 😉

This was a giant field of solar power.

“Gateway to Death Valley” Baker, California

Cool, huh?

California Inspection station

Can someone explain to me what this is for? You drive slowly through this thing, and an officer of some kind says, “Keep going” or “Have a nice day” or something, so what’s the point of this station??  My first thought was that maybe it’s to catch illegal immigrants, like the ones we saw in the past, in Arizona and Texas (on I-10), but I didn’t see any Border Patrol agents. Instead it said something about Agricultural Inspection?? This was new to me.

These trees are called Joshua trees, named by Mormons that settled the west, after the Old Testament Joshua.  Our boys learned about this tree in their Cat in the Hat I Can Name 50 Trees book, so I had to take this photo for them!! It’s Joshua’s favorite, obviously.

Windmills against an airline striped sky. 🙂

This ground is fertile in more than one way. There’s something really good down in the ground, too!  Oil? Gas? Anyone? I haven’t bothered to google it yet.

The closer we drove to the coast, the greener the land became, and the more the temperature dropped. Hurray!

Beautiful photos of the CA coast, to include sea lions, on the next post!!

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