Though our Subaru wagon has seating for five that is not really the case when two of those seats are occupied by a car seat and a booster seat. So with three adults and two kids (Brian had to stay to work) and over a week's worth of gear going along we opted to rent a mini van for the week. Despite the cost, the van was a very good choice. I am certainly not saying that I am ready to give up my super-deluxe mommy wagon in exchange for a mini van but it was quite nice for the trip. The van we rented was a Chrysler Town and Country with just a little more than 400 miles on the odometer when we picked it up. The feature I liked best was the in-floor storage which freed up so much space within the main area of the van. We all had plenty of room which was a great thing since we traveled over 1000 miles over the week.
We headed out of Tahoe on the morning of June 30th and made our way north. A quick stop for lunch, another to pick up basic groceries in Yreka, and one last stop at Gram and Pop's and we were headed down the Klamath River to Happy Camp. I never could have made the entire drive on my own but having my mom in the back with the boys to divvy up snacks and toys as needed was a huge bonus.
On July 1st, our first full day back in my home town, the boys and I met up with my childhood friend, Courtney Chambers. Courtney and I go so far back that neither of us remembers a day on our lives of not knowing each other. Apparently our mothers met while pregnant with us and the rest is history. Courtney, her husband Matt, and their son Graham have been living abroad since before Graham's birth nearly three years ago. And it seemed that no matter what, Courtney and I just couldn't seem to schedule our trips home to coincide. So, for the fist time in over seven years we met face to face and introduced our boys to each other. Unfortunately, Courtney's husband Matt had not yet arrived on the West Coast and Brian was back in Tahoe so we did not complete the introductions.
Ben, Sam and Graham played quite well together and all the boys had lots of fun swimming, playing on the swingset, and eating grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I was quite surprised how close both Ben and Sam were to actually swimming since neither had had any swim lessons since the previous summer. After wearing ourselves out we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's for a nap and to prepare for our trip to the coast for the 4th of July.
We left Happy Camp on July 3rd for three days out of the heat. Our original plan back before my dad's eye surgery was to pack up their camper and our tent and camp out on the coast. Obviously we opted to go with another plan. Instead we loaded up the mini van and set up a hotel room in Crescent City as our base camp for the weekend. We still got a little of the campground experience when we visited Bill and Sylvia at their campsite for a cookout dinner. The boys loved playing with Bill and Sylvia's grandkids, Ryan and Emily. Ryan serenaded the boys with his guitar playing and Emily won over Sam's heart by making S'mores. By the end of the evening Sam was referring to Emily as his big sister.
We left our hotel early on the morning of the 4th to go to the annual Crescent City 4th of July parade. The boys were excited to use their new folding chairs from Grandma and Grandpa to watch the parade go by. The parade started off with local police cars and motorcycles coming through with their sirens blaring. I told the boys that if it was too noisy they could just cover their ears. Sam took my advice very seriously and kept his ears covered for the enitre hour and a half long parade!! We enjoyed seeing floats, marching bands and fire trucks from at least six different departments in the north coast area.
The 4th of July festivities continue all day long in Crescent City but we decided to forego the craziness and find something else to do with the day. So after lunch and a rest we loaded up and went to the local aquarium/marine center and went on their tour. We saw their harbor seals and other local species of fish and sharks. Sam was even brave enough to touch a California Horned Shark and the boys loved posing with the various displays. Later on we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant - I had a dungeness crab fettucine alfredo that was divine - then got ourselves set up to watch the fireworks. The boys loved the fireworks display over the harbor.
We were scheduled to leave the coast and head back inland on the 5th of July but first we had a couple more stops to make. First was the Point St. George Lighthouse in Crescent City. Ben and Sam have both shown lots of interest in lighthouses so we figured even if we didn't take the tour and go inside the building we would at least stop and let them get an up-close look. We lucked out that the tide was low enough for us to go out on the point in the morning and the boys liked hiking up the hill and collecting rocks along the beach on the way. From the lighthouse we headed north into Oregon to the Brookings Harbor area to meet up with my Uncle Ray and Aunt Annie. They were on the coast with their daughter (my cousin) Heather and her husband Stanley and daughter Lillian who were visiting from Montana. I hadn't seen Heather and Stan and Lilli since Lilli was an infant so it was fun to introduce the little cousins to each other. We all enjoyed a pizza lunch and ice cream cones along the harbor boardwalk. We then headed back to Happy Camp, the heat, and Grandma and Grandpa's house where we would spend one more day before going to Gram and Pop's in Yreka for a night before driving the rest of the way home to Tahoe.
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