Quick Trip to Cali

Okay...so I know most of you will think we are crazy, but that is why I am posting this after the fact! ;) We just got home from a road trip that took us 16 hours on the way to Santa Cruz/San Fran area and 17 on the way home! My uncles' memorial was this weekend and we really wanted to go as a family, so we piled in the family mini van with no seats to spare (made sure to steer clear of Yosemite) got up at 4am each day and made it safely to and fro without major incident! I don't think we had a single, "are we there yet?" from any of the kids. I was in shock. They did ask the allowed, "which exit are we looking for" or "what time do you think we will get there," but that is acceptable to me since I ask the same questions! ;)

The night before we left, we were blessed by a friend (her husband is a pastor at another local church). She made us a delicious enchilada dinner and also left a care bag of snacks for our roadtrip! It was such a blessing for us since I was in over my head with getting everyone ready after the week we had previously, budgeting what was left of the food budget this week and taking care of Greta, who at the time was still in a lot of pain. I KNOW it was such a God thing since she even brought over the snacks that my kids asked me for specifically, but I said we couldn't this time. Money is tight for most right now and the fact that a peer of ours blessed us that way, well, it brought many tears to my eyes! God is good!

On the way there, we tried to plan out our stops around sleep, our favorite bio diesel gas station, and most importantly, In-N-Out! The first In-N-Out we come to in CA is in Redding and we had hoped to get there for a late lunch, but it didn't quite work out, so we ate a 'linner' there instead. As you can see from the photo, our children aren't quite used to the sun yet, but we adjusted by the time we had to come back to the rain.

After that, we headed down to the Bay area to go meet up with some of our wonderful friends, The Atkins and we FINALLY got to meet their little guy. Toby was on his way to his first ever soccer practice the next morning, and boy was he super cute in his gear, but that didn't stop these super hosts from making us all blueberry pancakes and bacon! Yum!! I am so thankful for the time(though too short) that we got to spend with them and re-connect. We were bummed that we weren't there long enough to hang out more with their great friends (and our cyber friends), the Kilgores who have adopted from the same orphanage in Ghana, but hopefully we will have time this summer-can't wait to re-meet you guys!!(last time we met there were only 2 kids between us, now there are 11+ in 7 years!)

It was then bittersweet to pull into Scott's Valley, where my Uncle Scott had worked and lived for many years at Mount Hermon Bible Camp. I knew in my head that he had already passed, but it was just so surreal to be there without him. Wow. I loved that guy and I soon came to find out just how many others loved him and felt his love as I did. I am so blessed to have had him as my uncle. I miss him so much, but I felt at peace too knowing that he was well loved and taken care of until the end.

Greta and cousin Becky ..Aunt Jan and cousins Jamie & Matt
While there, we went to Santa Cruz with the other million people on their first warm day of the season. We had fun walking the beach, checking out the sea lions, and eating ice cream on the boardwalk. It was also great to see so many relatives that I don't usually get to see. I wish I had more pics of the weekend, but I ran out of batteries and forgot to use my other dad's camera. Oh well! I did get a few though of cousins, as well as some when we went on a hike down to this beautiful little river in the woods. It felt surreal and almost scary like the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park were going to bound out at any moment! Sorry...sometimes I get a little dramatic.

All in all, despite the two LONG days in the car out of four, I was so happy to go to be there for myself and my family as we said goodbye to my uncle. I am sure there is more to tell of our roadtrip stories, but for the most part, it was pretty uneventful and I liked it that way for a change!