Last Day on the Road

August 10, 2010
12 hours on the road

Our last official stop of our Griswald Family Vacation was Cozy Dog in Springfield, Illinois. Our return trip followed the Old Route 66 Road, and this restaurant is a historic Route 66 stop. According to the placards, corn dogs on a stick were invented here, and they hold the patent for some sort of corn dog frying device.



We paid homage to Route 66 and to corn dogs by each ordering a fresh, hand dipped delicious, deep fried meat on a stick. The fresh cut fries were also appreciated and enjoyed by all of us.



So we are now home. The Griswald Family Vacation is complete. Our dogs have been well cared for, our garden is still alive, and we are all happy to sleep in our own beds. It’s good to go on vacation, but it’s good to come home too.

Closer to Home

August 9, 2010
12 hours on the road.


Next, off to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 12 hour drive through New Mexico, Texas and into Oklahoma was uneventful.

The Fairfield Inn is so new our GPS and MapQuest sent us to a residential area. It must be a common occurrence because when we called the hotel, the clerk knew exactly where we were. The beds were o-so cozy, and yes! hotel waffles were offered in the morning!


We ran across this rest stop in Oklahoma. I think ALL rest stops across the country should have this option. It was very clean, so of course, we voted "Yes".

The Long Road

August 8, 2010
11 hours on the road.


We packed up our minivan, and drove away from the beach at 8:30am. The drive to Gallop, New Mexico was uneventful. Lots of desert, lots of sun, lots of road.

Oh, there was one high point during our trip. To pass the time on all of our road trips, we play the License Plate Game. At one of our pit stops, Jarun spotted an Alaskan plate! We ended our trip short 4 states: Hawaii, Vermont, North Dakota, and Rhode Island. Not bad.


The hotel in Gallop was fine. It was clean, but not especially nice. Thank goodness they provided hotel waffles!





Pierre in the Mohave Desert. He thought it was a bit hot...

All Good Things Must Come To An End.

Our Last Day in California



Our last day in California was spent on the beach. The boys boogie boarded for hours while we watched from under our umbrella. We brought a picnic lunch and enjoyed our best day on the beach.



We watched the sunset from the cliff overlooking the beach.



We ended our day with dinner In & Out Burgers.

A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Surf's Up, Again!!

Surf lessons continued the next day.









The waves weren’t too big, but both boys were able to get up on their boards. Apparently, Doheny Beach is a great place to learn because of the easy waves.

That night we enjoyed a visit with my family. We went to Fidel’s in Carlsbad for a great dinner and lots of laughs. We met my cousin’s boyfriend… he is fantastic! What a lovely evening, great weather, great food, great company!

Surf's Up!

Sorry for not updating sooner. We lost internet access, so I decided to wait until we got home.

Aug 5,2010
Surf Lessons!




We found David at Gotsurflessons.com through reviews on the internet. His prices are reasonable and he offers a 2 day package that we knew the boys would love. He picked us up, provided wet suits, surf boards, and his experience. The first day, he taught them about surfing safety, good surfing manners, and some of the basics.




The boys LOVED surfing!!

That night, we went to a local mall and watched “Despicable Me”. It was a really cute movie, even if Dad did fall asleep.

Mission at San Juan Capistrano

Our rented condo is about a 15 minute drive to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. The boys wanted a break from the ocean today, so we took the short trek to the Mission.


The audio tour provided was easy to follow. Markers inside the Mission tell you what buttons to press and the phone-like hand piece explains where you are and why it is important. The boys really enjoyed this part of the tour.


The audio tour explained an earthquake destroyed this church in 1812, just 6 years after its completion. 40 people were trapped and killed within the rubble.


This bell wall was used for years to notify local residents of mealtimes, work times, births, deaths, and other important information.


We ended the day with (per Jarun’s request) a casserole dinner. I think the carbs will be good for them. Surf lessons tomorrow!!!

Boogie Boards

The boys have discovered the joy of boogie boards. We stayed at the beach for the better part of the past two days while they perfected their skills.


I think Jarun actually likes boogie boarding better than hotel waffles!


Pierre and I enjoyed watching the boys from under our beach umbrella.


We took a break at one point and sauntered over to the Dana Point Harbor. Pierre liked the boats.


Another good day.

Morning With No Plans

It’s a quiet morning.



Pierre and I are waiting for the boys to wake up. We don’t have any plans today, so sleeping in has found itself on our itinerary. We’ll go to the beach later when it warms up; it’s a little cool right now, about 68 degrees.




Dad has mad breakfast skills. Did I mention this place is a little bit of heaven?





Do you think this will wake the boys?

Pierre Goes To Hollywood

We drove into L.A. this morning to visit the L.A. Farmer’s Market. It originally was a local farmer’s market. The market became very popular and a mall grew up around it. We snacked on some really good food in the center market area, and then did a little shopping in the mall area.




Next, we took Pierre to visit his favorite star on Hollywood Boulevard.



The day ended with the boys playing in the surf. They would have stayed out all night if the weather hadn’t cooled off.




It was a good day.

Utah's National Parks

We left Utah this morning. Utah is an interesting state. Parts of the state are arid and flat, and other parts are colorful and rolling. Our favorite parts of Utah were the National Parks. Wow. Just spectacular. We visted 3 of Utah's 6 National Parks; Arches, Bryce, and Zion. Since we considered this part of our holiday "side trips", we only spent one-half day at each park, and it left us thirsting for more.

I must say, however, I think the thing that bothered us the most about Utah was the lack of internet and phone access. It just isn’t there, none, zip, nadda. So, we are posting this from our Cali condo. We’ll write more about this little piece of heaven tomorrow!



We visited Arches National Park in Moab first. According to the nice ranger who presented a nice tutorial inside the park, there are two types of stone in the park, stones from clay and stones from sand. The stones erode differently, and the result is beautiful arches in captivating colors.



Our next stop found us at Bryce Canyon. We stayed Best Western Ruby’s Inn, the oldest hotel in the area. It was really nice, and very close to the park’s entrance. Bryce Canyon is fantastic! We loved the Hoodoos and climbed up and down a 700 foot canyon wall.



Our final National Park tour found us in Zion National Park. Zion left us breathless, the walls of the canyon look painted at times, dusted at others, and glowing in other spots. We saw the famous “Patriarch” trio, learned about the water draining from the canyon walls (it takes 1000 years for water to make its journey from the top of the canyon to the spouts below), and learned about the religious history of the area.



We were fortunate to drive through Red Canyon National Forest. We don’t know the difference between National Parks and National Forests, but we will find out before the end of our trip. Billy the Kid had a hideout here in these crimson walls. Who wouldn’t love a getaway that looks like that?!

We all agreed that we would like to return to this beautiful area. We feel that we just got a small taste of what Utah’s National Parks have to offer.

Here We Go!

So, the car was packed to the brim. We left the house at about 6am, stopped for coffee and donuts for the kids (and Pierre), and hit I-80. It was a long day. We arrived in North Platte, Nebraska at 6:30pm, the boys swam in the hotel pool, we ate tamales and Thai curry that I packed for our dinner, and hit the hay. We all slept really well last night. We stayed at the North Platte Fairfield Inn. If you ever find yourself in North Platte, Nebraska (?), this is a very nice place to stay. It was uber-clean, the staff was very friendly, and the beds were oh-so-comfy. The complimentary breakfast includes make-it-yourself waffles. Jarun said that hotel waffles are his favorite part of going on vacation. (I suppose we could save a ton of money, and just stay at our local hotels to make waffles and forget the cross country plans in the future!)

Anyway, besides the hotel waffles, North Platte was uneventful.



Today, we drove through Colorado and into Utah. We visited the Rocky Mountain National Park 2 summers ago, so we decided not to spend too much time here. We did manage to find quite a few beautiful sights, Colorado never disappoints. We followed the Colorado river to our present location, Moab, Utah. We will explore Arches National Park tomorrow and then head over to Bryce Canyon.

So far, so good!

Getting Ready

We leave one week from today. The Griswald Family vacation starts in Chicago, leads us into the beautiful canyons of Utah, a meal in Las Vegas, a beach condo in Orange County and back home again. We will be traveling through 11 states, if you count our home state, Illinois.

The minivan was inspected and needed minor repairs have been completed. Our journey has been mapquested and the GPS is ready. Entertainment (in the form of a PS2 and an iPad) are ready for the offspring and my ipod is filled with fun music and comedy. Our emergency kit has been updated (although the dad of our group is wondering why it includes a fishing kit). We have a tentative calendar of activities, maps of the closest Costco stores, and enough sunscreen to create a solar eclipse.

My favorite (and only) brother and his beautiful wife will be caring for our dogs and housesitting. They are the best! We can leave knowing that our dogs will be cared for by people who really love them and my garden won't die while we are gone. I'm glad they enjoy using the pool and I hope SIL makes many frozen margaritas with the Magic Bullet!!


This year, we are vacationing with Pierre. Pierre is a lovely companion. He doesn't eat much and barely makes a peep. We picked him up at Governor's State University. I guess it's sort of an exchange program, we take him on our vacation, and if he enjoys himself, we can win some spectacular prize. We only need to document Pierre's travels and submit our pics to GSU. Easy peasy.

So, I am introducing you to Pierre, our traveling companion. HE likes my emergency kit (I think he likes fish or something).