We just returned home from a two week long road trip that was originally supposed to only last 1 week. Armando's mom got some time off from babysitting Rafa and Kiko and wanted to visit her sisters for a couple months in California. We decided make a roadtrip out of it with her and drop her off at her sisters house. Our original itinerary was to drive to Fortuna to stay with Angelina's sister Berta for a few days then Palo Alto to stay with some more family for a few more days, drop Angelina off with her sister Teresa, then head back home. We extended our trip and went to many, many more places and saw lots more family than we originally had planned.
The day before we left, Armando's sister Araceli called to see if she could ride along. Then the morning we left, Araceli called to see if their other sister Eva could come also. Eva wasn't ready to leave, yet we were (with the one empty seat packed full of stuff too), so we hit the road without her. She ended up taking the bus and meeting us in Fortuna, rented a car and drove around with us for about a week before driving back home with Araceli. Before we left, we did discuss the idea of driving all the way to Las Vegas to see my sister and her baby, but we never fully made the decision to until we were in Palo Alto. Thats what added the extra week, which was totally worth it! Armando's mom and her sister Teresa had never been to Las Vegas, so they helped us make the decision by telling us they'd help with the cost of gas if we took them with us.
Here's a small list of places we either stopped to visit for a few hours or stayed for awhile: Crescent City, Fortuna, Ferndale, Arcata, Blue Lake, Trinidad, Garberville, Redwoods, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Redwood City, Hungtington Beach, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Modesto and Redding. Thats actually the short list.
We stopped in Crescent City (a little more than a half way point) on our first day driving to get out and run the kids around a playground and then eat dinner before driving the rest of the way to Fortuna where Angelina's sisters Berta and Cruz live. We stayed with Berta for 3 or 4 nights.
We went to a nice little beach close to Ferndale, a really pretty Victorian style town just north of Fortuna. Armando's sister Cruz took us there. We spent several hours combing the beach for pretty rocks, sea glass, cool sticks and pieces of wood. We brought home a nice collection of items from this beach. It was really warm and sunny too!
We spent a lot of time driving through different parts of the redwood forests that surround Fortuna and Humbolt County. We visited several 'famous' trees, hiked along trails for a few hours and we stopped along the side of the road to walk through some big trees that were less visited as well. Again, another beautiful day.
Armando's cousin Sergio, his daughter Leonela and their dog Wicket
Berta and her husband. Berta is the youngest of all of Angelina's siblings. She and her husband married when she was just 13 years old in Mexico! Their 3 boys are Sergio, Rolando and Luis, all grown-up leaving the young couple to raise chickens, travel and work.
Most people visit this tree to drive through it. Because we had a rooftop carrier, our vehicle wouldn't fit.
Other places we visited in the area were the Trinidad beaches, Arcata and Blue Lake Fish Hatchery. My sister Mary Gill has spent a lot of time in this area and she recommended several places for us to check out. My second cousin Mary Gill (coincidence maybe) lived in the area for over 20 years and she also recommended several places for us to see and things to do as well. Between the two of them, I had a full itinerary of things I wanted to do. Given the time restraints (as well as a dozen other people to plan with) we weren't able to do it all.
At Renata's Creperie in Arcata. We waited a long time to get seated. It was worth it though. Best crepes ever!
Esperanza and I had a savory
Leonela had a sweet. Eva (not pictured) had a sweet and a savory.
Cousin Mary Gill used to live in Blue Lake. We drove there to see the town and stopped at the fish hatchery. The kids had fun feeding the fish (they had a machine to buy little fish food pellets).
Thrift stores browsing in Arcata
Driving south, leaving Fortuna and the Redwoods headed for San Francisco on 101
The calm before the storm. This was just moments before Esperanza vomited everywhere! She began complaining about her stomach hurting, saying she was really hungry. We had just had breakfast but I gave her some yogurt (as you can see in the picture). Still, she kept complaining about being hungry, wanting to get out of the car. I thought she was just being whiny. Then it happened. Throw up everywhere: carseat, clothes, hair, floor, hands etc. We pulled over and got everything cleaned up as much as we could. Eva had already stocked herself up with saltines, sprite and some motion sickness chewable pills because she knows she gets car sick and I guess that helps her. I have no experience with motion sickness up until this point. Reluctantly, I asked her to share with my kids - for Ezra too (just in case). I've since decided that I need to include something for carsickness in my cars natural first aid kit. Just not sure what yet. Looking for natural remedies of course.
Eventually, we made it to San Francisco!
We spent the following day being tourists in San Francisco. It was just Ezra, Angelina, Armando and I. Eva took Esperanza with them to get a few things at the store, said they would meet up with us, but never did. We had a lot of fun with our little group, Esperanza really missed out. We saw the Fisherman's Wharf, walked along Pier 39 checking out all the little shops and the sea lions. We drove around while Ezra napped then parked along Haight street where we got out and did some grocery shopping at a small neighborhood health food store, browsed some knick-knack stores, bought a few things at the thrift stores, ate lunch and took some photos. My mom and biological dad met for the first time around the corner of Haight and Ashberry back in the 60's during some hippie protest I think. I thought it was cool to be there, knowing there was some history there that contributed to my existence.
Palo Alto is just 20 minutes from San Francisco. We stayed with Armando's cousin Victor there for a few nights. His wife is Gloria and their three kids are Little Victor - 11, Mateo - 5 and Valentina who turned 3 on one of the days we were there. Several other family members stopped by to say hi during the time we were there. I didn't catch all of their names, but did get some pictures. Esperanza really loved playing with Mateo. They were inseparable. Except when he went to school, then she latched onto Valentina.
Grandma got them matching sweaters
Day at the park
Cousin Jorge and his girls. Jorge is the brother to the two boys who traveled with us from Aguililla to Ixtapa during out Mexico road trip last summer (I still haven't finished blogging that trip). He looked just like his brothers. I don't remember his girls' names.
Back at Victors house, kids playing together
After a few days, we headed to Huntington Beach for a quick one night stop before heading to Las Vegas. We added an extra day going there first instead of Las Vegas because Armando has a friend there that we haven't seen in a long time and of course, more family. There were lots of vineyards between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The drive was really long. The kids got really tired of being in the car. We made it just in time to hit LA traffic which put us in the car a couple hours longer than we should have been. It was rough.
Armando and Troy. They opened their first business together back when they were in their early 20's and in college. The snowboard/skateboard shop. Ahh the memories of those days. Troy came by our hotel that night to visit then he and Armando went out for a couple hours.
The next morning we met up with more family. Rolando (one of Berta's sons) lives in Long Beach with his wife Amanda and their daughter Isabel who is just a couple months older than Ezra.
Then it was onward to Las Vegas to see my sister and my nephew Chance!! I was texting with her almost the whole way, excited to get there. It was another long drive though, hitting traffic again once we were in Vegas. Ezra threw up almost as soon as we got into Vegas. Alot! We were at a dead stop in traffic on the strip, with no opening in between cars to pull over. Vomit was everywhere - again! I ignored all seat belt laws and did what we had to do. Poor kid. He was car sick. We were all tired of being in the car. Here are some pictures of the drive between LA and Las Vegas
Getting close!
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