Home!

Hi there - we are home now!
We left San Francisco on Saturday, and drove through Napa and Sonoma, wine country one of my favourite places! We of course stopped for a tasting and bought some wine as well.
From there we drove to Redding, CA.
The next morning, Todd was up early, 6:30 am and started driving while we were in bed, needless to say I cannot sleep when driving, so I got up. We made it to Vancouver, Washington that day, Sunday. We set up in a parking lot just to watch the Superbowl - Who Dat? What a great game and we had typical bad for you football food, nachos and ribs and appies. The Saints were victorious and we were happy! Dillon threatened to cheer for the Colts and we threatened to leave him behind!
We again got a fairly early start on monday and got through the Seattle Outlets shopping and went for the border. She did not even come on board and let us through with more then allowed on some things! We ate dinner at the ferry terminal and caught the 8:15pm ferry. That was also our first peek at Canadian TV and we were surprised, although we should have known, at how much Olympic coverage there is. Well it has been very busy since we arrived home. I need to sign off and I will follow up with some pictures and final thoughts on what this trip has meant and my reflections about it - I promise not to bore you...
Tabitha

Pacific Coast Highway, San Francisco

Hello there! We are officially on our way home! We are excited to arrive and anxious to see our friends and family!

We drove from L.A. along the Pacific Coast Highway, past Malibu and fianlly through the Santa Cruz Mountains (25 mph for 70 miles with many hairpin turns/corners), until we reached San Jose, then today San Fransico and the Golden Gate Bridge! Today we went to Pier 39 and shopped a bit and drove to Alamo Square where we took pictures of the famous row of homes, think Full House. The drive was absolutely breathtaking and probably the best we have seen on our trip.

We actually got to see a herd of sea elephants resting on the shore and mama's nursing their young while the males compete for dominance. See middle photo. Today we went to Pier 39 and shopped and saw the golden gate bridge and the bay bridge over to Oakland. Tomorrow is Alcatraz Island and more of the hilly city. Take care - Tabitha

Yuma, AZ, Mexico & San Diego, CA

Hello!

From the Grand Canyon, we drove to Yuma, Arizona, where Todd's aunt Simone and uncle Colin live during the winter when Edmonton is freezing! We met up with them in the evening, then made plans to meet in the morning and go to Mexico. We had a great time in Mexico, the boys learned how to barter and get a good price for what they wanted. It also helps they are low on cash with the trip nearing its end!

We had margaritas at a restaurant in Los Algomodes and the boys are enjoying their first - no alcohol of course!

Then we were off to San Diego and Sea World. We went the next day, very quiet and the boys got quite wet on the rafting ride - I went on with Dillon and was soaked! Good thing the sun was out to dry us off. The Shamu show was quite impressive and the boys went back the next two days to see it again. All the shows are great and are a must see. Day 2 in Diego was the boys dropped at Sea World and Todd and I off to downtown, Seaport Village and then to Coronado Island where we stopped at Starbucks to catch up on email and then off to the beach.

Day 3 was meant to take us to LA, however, a new radiator for the motorhome was the order for the day and while Todd stayed back, the boys and I went to Sea World for another day. Saturday proved much busier and thankfully, the RV was able to be repaired in several hours and we got on our way this morning. We are now in Los Angeles and after the boys get through school tomorrow, we will head to Universal Studios.

Take care,

Tabitha

Grand Canyon, Arizona - Day 2

I have to tell you we went back to the canyon today, just Todd and me. We decided since the boys were doing school we would head back and enjoy a low key day. We packed a lunch, some chairs, a book, dressed warmly, drove north, set up at Mather Point and ate in a room with a view! After 3 hours we packed up and went back to our RV park.

Close to a perfect day! Take care!

Grand Canyon, Arizona

The Grand Canyon was absolutely beautiful!

We drove up highway 64 and knew it was meant to be a great day!

It is one of the highlights of our trip and we couldn't have asked for a better day.

Most of the park was inaccessable due to the recent snow storms that piled the area and there was about 3-4 feet of snow today. Highway 64 east to west was closed to traffic so the drive we wanted to do was definitely out.

We visited Mather Point and Yavapai Observation Station, then took the green shuttle to Pipe Creek Vista. The picture is from Pipe Creek. We had lunch at Bright Angel Lodge and travelled through the village on the blue shuttle route.

Simply beautiful and awe inspiring to view and I for one would love to visit again one day, in the spring or fall and do one of the overnight hikes (you can take a mule ride) down to Phantom Ranch and the suspension bridge. One could spend lots of time here and not see it all.

The winter viewing distance is 130 miles, the most of any season. Summer is cool at the top but apparently very hot at the bottom when you hike.

A place to visit I highly recommend!

Take care,

Tabitha

El Paso, TX, Abuquerque, NM, & Williams, AZ

OK - Just a few odd things the last few days! After leaving El Paso, we decided to heard north on the I25 to Albuquerque, then turn west to Flagstaff, Arizona, so we could see the Grand Canyon from the south as the north is closed all winter. Now what do most of you think when you hear Arizona? Desert, hot...well me too, have a look at the picture, snowing when we crossed the border! Before that we stopped in Truth or Consequences, NM! Cool name. The pictures are from driving as it seems that is all we have been doing! We are now the only guests at the KOA in Williams, where they plowed us out a lovely spot!
It feels abit like a ski vacation!
Take care!

Houston & San Antonio, Texas

Alamo on the left & the Riverwalk on the right.

Hello!
We are in San Antonio, Texas, after spending the night in Houston. We are excited to be in the Lone Star State, have some barbeque, Tex Mex, and check out the Alamo! Texas is alot of driving, with little in between cities. We need to be sure to fill up on gas every chance we get.
The Saints beat the other team, (shows how much I pay attention), and despite being in Texas Todd enjoyed watching the game.
We are off to the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio.
Take care,
Tabitha