July 2018, Oregon/California, Day 8

We woke to the gobbles of a flock of wild turkeys that had roosted nearby. A hazard of sleeping with the birds are the birds. We had to be early birds too because we were scheduled for some horseback riding and zip lining before we left. Mae and I took to the forest on horseback and Mr. Bullington, Charlotte, and Thomas got strapped in to go zip lining.

 We kissed our treehouse goodbye and took a few more turns on the rope swing. We needed to start working our way South. Our first stop was Redwood National Park. We took an amazing hike through a grove of old growth Redwoods. Thomas deemed it Parkour heaven. I have no idea what he was talking about but he took to jumping and leaping on and off enormous stumps and logs. Words, pictures, Haiku, nothing can convey the size of these trees. They are YUUUUGE! They are literally the tallest trees in THE WORLD. And if you haven't ever seen them and you are in Northern California promise me you'll go see the Redwoods. Pretty Please?

Distaste

Love

Those two little ones are trouble!

Playing "The Ground is Lava"

Splinter Slide!

Roots of a fallen tree.

That, my friends, is a friendly little Banana Slug. But, I wouldn't make pudding out of it if I were you.

We had a few minutes in the car before our next stop, so the kids do what they do by day 8.  They slip into a deep coma after 5 minutes in the car and it takes 15 minutes to rouse them. Then they are intolerably grumpy for another 15 minutes. It's like a band of overgrown toddlers with all of the napping. Our crew is worn out.  

Neck pillows and ear plugs unite! High maintenance nappers!

And, why anyone wouldn't want to wake up to the World's tallest statue of Paul Bunyan AND Babe the Blue Ox is beyond me! And guess what? Paul Bunyan TALKS to you! There is some fella sitting somewhere out of sight that interacts with the folks passing by just like the real Paul Bunyan! I mean, if Paul Bunyan was a real talking giant.   Right behind Gigantor Paul and Babe you can make your way through the Trees of Mysteries and up to a gondola ride that goes over the Redwoods, that's high!! Whee! Mr. Bullington's favorite! 

Can you see little Mae? The only Bullington child willing to be photographed.

Hey, Babe!

Sky Trail Gondola!

Squirrel!

We see you Big Foot!

We crammed the children back in the car. We needed to make our way south all the way to Stockton, California. We wanted to be as close to Yosemite National Park as possible so that we could awake early the next morning to get a prime parking spot. We'd heard that the crowds can be brutal in the park this time of year. I was super-psyched because a couple of weeks ago there was a cancellation and I'd managed to land some awesome lodging right at the base of Half Dome! After a driving awhile we must've happened upon a cell tower (cell service has eluded us for the last few days) because my phone started blowing up with emails, voicemails, all the mails really. It turns out, Yosemite is on fire and closed to visitors. Really Ferguson is on fire, but it is filling Yosemite Valley with noxious smoke. Your chance of seeing any of the views has decreased and your chances of choking to death from smoke has increased. The day we were scheduled to arrive,  officials had to evacuate 2000 visitors from the park and they didn't expect to re-open for several days. Life is what happens when you have other plans.....Mr. Bullington and I toss out a few scenarios while I continue to try and navigate him southward, and he's all, "Why am I still driving to Stockton, California?"  and I'm all, "I don't know, they have zero things that are the largest in the world".  In a act of desperation, we both realize that we just need to stop and take a breath and devise a plan. So we go to Wendy's and work it out over a Frosty. We basically have 3 nights without lodging or activities. Thanks to the man upstairs for the reminder that I am not the one in control! Point taken, JC.  We decided to seek refuge in the Bay area of San Francisco because that is our last destination. When Mr. Bullington began to try and book rooms, we quickly learned that San Fran is a busy place this week! Google is having a huge conference, there is an Iron Man race, some other race, summer tourists, et al. and hotel rooms were at a premium. So, we did what any good parents would do.  We decided on Napa/Sonoma. It will be an excellent opportunity to teach the children about.....agriculture.