I think this was our 10th family road trip.... all of them have been to California except for 2011 we went to Colorado instead. Having said goodbye to the mini van (aka Zoom Zoom, see previous post) we rented a Honda Odyssey from Hertz in Round Rock. Packed, ready to go, drove away a little after 6am... our first stop Albuquerque NM to hit the closest Trader Joe's! Stocked up, rested and we hit the road next day for Kernville Ca. That was a long day-- 13 hrs in the car, but worth it. We spent the day in the Sequoia National Forest checking out trees over ONE THOUSAND years old and big enough to stand in. Yes, I said stand in. Turn around. Multiple people. Serious. Kids loved it. Also hiked along the Kern River, a beautiful and breathtaking trail... most of us just dipped our feet in the melted snow... Kelsey took an actual (almost) skinny dip! Two nights there and it was time to hit the road again. Only 200 miles to HB! But that took us 5.5 hrs... thank you SoCal traffic. Ugh. Remembering things I DON'T miss there. Luckily Kelly had a glass of wine waiting for me. :) Spent a lovely two nights at their house, hanging out. Dinner at Rubio's Saturday night, fish tacos, yum! Sunday we converged at Grandpa Dave's for "car tours" and visiting. Delicious Mexican food dinner w/ the whole family... brother Mike, sis in law Karen, and kiddos, Kenzie, Amber and CJ. Moved into our favorite Travelodge right on the beach Sunday evening. Woke to sunshine, beach waves, and that wonderful ocean smell -- heaven.
Monday we enjoyed the downtown HB area-- with Mike and family. Sunshine, ocean breezes, digging a serious sand castle. Later, bonfire and hot dogs. Shut the beach down at 10pm and headed back to hotel to prepare for next big day at Universal Studios! (We had put Kelsey on the commuter train earlier in the day to visit her friend who was staying w/ grandparents in Oceanside- so it was only the 3 of us and the Szatkowski family to Universal.) Had a blast! New Transformers ride was AWESOME... we lucked out and enjoyed short lines all day-- longest one was 20 minutes. I'll take that! Shut the park down and found Tony Roma's in the Citiwalk outside Universal. Enjoyed a late but delicious dinner before heading home.
Wednesday-- we purposely had delayed our departure so I could have one last day on the beach and a day of "rest" before hitting the road. So we adjusted hotel and car rental stuff and enjoyed one last day in HB. I hit the beach early and enjoyed the sun, surf and sand. Kelsey was dropped off mid day and joined me. Tones and Nate ran a few errands (In and Out Burger was on Nate's wish list) and returned to eat lunch on the beach w/ us. By late afternoon, it was time to say goodbye to Kelly first, then Grandpa Dave. One last meal- delicious Porky's Pizza of HB - was a great way to wrap up our vacation. We hit Trader Joe's one last time (I think we had a total of 5 visits in 10 days) to stock up on snacks and necessities for the road trip home.
Left SoCal early -- was told morning traffic could be ugly so wanted to be well out of town before it hit. Pulled out of hotel at 5:45am and successfully beat any backups. 10 hours later we arrived in Deming NM for a quick overnight. Friday left early again-- all just ready to be home. Stopped in Fredicksburg Tx. for a quick shopping excursion and some Kuhl Frozen Yogurt. Fed and refreshed, we drove the last 1.5 hrs, missing Austin "traffic" (I have a whole new perspective on what TRAFFIC means) and arriving home about 7:30pm Texas time.
Of course, it was nice to be home, sleep in my own bed again. I know kids were ready to hang out with friends and probably had enough "quality family time." But I also know Kelsey may choose not to do another family vacation again, this one could be our last with all four of us. So there was a part of me who didn't want to say goodbye to this one, who wanted just one more day.
