our trip to oregon - day 1-2

we left wednesday night, just to bakersfield to avoid any LA traffic early the next morning. our super nice neighbors came out to play with the kids while we loaded the car. they kept the kids busy for 2 hours! they are seriously a gift from God! we are seriously slow packers! once we were ready, the car was so full! every inch of floor covered, the back full, the passenger seat moved forward to make more room... it was crazy, but we figured we could play tetris in the morning to pack it a little better. clothes, camping gear, food, and 6 people need a lot more space than we thought!

we had an uneventful drive and spent the night with family. the kids enjoyed waking up to play with their cousins and walking them to school. then, we were on the road again.

our first of many potty-stops was at "the windmill". if twice makes a tradition - we have a tradition of stopping to take photos with the windmill in santa nella.

first photo - 2 years ago, on our trip to oregon.

next we headed up to cross the golden gate bridge. (totally out of the way, yes. but the boys had been asking for over a year when we might be able to cross that bridge. and they didn't understand "we'll cross that bridge when we get there." ha.ha.) anyhow. it was fun to see downtown san fransisco and to cross the bay bridge (a double-decker bridge) also.

kiki, my amazing photographer, took this photo. i am impressed - i'm his mother - but it was much better than the one i took!

of course we always have our library books. here are some fun ones for this leg of the trip.

after san fransisco, we drove up to roseville (outside sacramento) to see some friends who used to live in fullerton. karissa, a dear friend, was in our wedding and has sinced moved to some isolated island in the middle of the atlantic! (it's a military thing) but she is currently "in town" to give birth to twins!! so... i got to see her! hooray.

they let us invade their home for the night and fed us! we are so blessed to have good friends!

the kids enjoyed playing with her son and his dirt pile in the backyard - should every boy be so lucky!