Whirlwind Vacation

In between work, end of the school year and summer camp we fit in a vacation.

N flew up to Calgary with my mom.  My dad's two year assignment in Calgary is over and its time for him to come home.  My mom and N helped him pack and load up his truck for the long drive home.

Fortunately, they made it out of there the morning of the 'great flood' of 2013.  Yes, they literally drove out of town as the warnings hit.

They got lucky.  Their original route took them over Highway 1 from Calgary to Vancouver.  They would spend the night there and do the Suspension Bridge before heading to Washington.  Then to Oregon to visit friends and then Eureka, CA to meet us.

Their trip was altered when the rain hit.  They ended up heading directly south to Montana and then across to Spokane, WA.  That meant no Capilano Suspension Bridge for Mr. N.  He's pretty upset but I promised we'd take him there some day.

They did get a few days in Banff before the rain hit.  He got to go on a river rafting trip.

We met them in Eureka then to continue the journey.  We drove up the 5 to save time and made it there in less than 2 days.  If you're thinking about a coastal drive, do it.  The northern part of the state is gorgeous.  I guess the southern part is too if you like desert and palm trees.  Blech.  Give me redwoods and rainy days.

Anyway, just a few shots from the trip:

 Driving through the redwoods.  We did Trees of Mystery and The Redwoods.

Moonstone Beach, CA.

Trees of Mystery and Paul Bunyan.  There is a guy in there that talks to you.  Freaks all the kids out.  Its kind of funny.

We did this Sky Ride through the trees.  Pretty awesome.  It drops you off at the top of the mountain at a platform where you over look the forest.

We stayed in Eureka that night and got up early to start the trip home.  After a hearty breakfast at the Somoa Cookhouse (a personal fave of mine).

A view of Arcata from Samoa Island.  I love the clouds hanging there.

My little tree hugger.

My protege.  He has my old iPhone 3 to play with.

Our car going through one of the drive through trees.  I don't know why something like this gets me all excited but it does.

We stopped in Santa Rosa for the night and let N skate at Snoopy's Rink.  Thats where my grandfather played hockey for many years in the Senior Tournament.  Its funny how the place hasn't changed.

The next morning we were up early again and driving into San Francisco.  Foggy San Fran.

Still a cool shot.

I waited around for a while because it looked like the fog might lift and then it would thicken up.  So we just drove over the bridge.

Apparently the seals are down south for mating at the moment.  Only 3 lonely seals stayed behind.

Of course we did the trolley.  So did the rest of the tourists in the city.  Man, what a long wait.

I got to be a hanger-on for the first part of the trip!

Lombard St.  There really is no easy way to get a decent shot of this unless you walk.  But then you have to find a place to park, walk to it etc.

From San Francisco, we drove down to Santa Cruz and stayed in the tiny town of Ben Lomond.  We were just around the corner from the Roaring Camp Railroad.  Didn't I tell you this was a train trip?

This train goes from the Santa Cruz mountains to the Boardwalk.  I almost wish we'd stayed longer but we were all sunned out from San Fran and the train.  Too much sun gave me a headache and a nasty burn even with sun screen.

We'll be back!!