Archive for August 2009

The Trip South

3. August 2009 by Matt.

Mount Shasta and on to Grandpa’s house

                The next week we headed south from Tacoma on the Five freeway back down through Oregon and  into Northern California. I tell you the minute we hit the California border the traffic increased by fifty percent. All of a sudden everyone was in a hurry and the truckers were everywhere.  I had forgotten the grade the highway takes just as you enter California. The drastic change in scenery can take your breath away. We went from trees pushed right up to the edge of the highway to vast expanses of open hills and sheer cliffs on both sides of the highway. I remember thinking  ” Was it like this when the original surveyors set the state borders or did it become like this because of the policies and procedures that each individual state has taken over the decades.” Maybe a mixture of both.  Anyway we tooled right along until we got to Shasta Mountain.

                After checking in at our hotel we spent a relaxing evening at the local pizza joint and had a great evening stroll under the stars.  The next morning after talking with Grandpa we decided to spend an extra day up at Mount Shasta. It turns out he had a fishing trip that he had paid for earlier in the year and he still wanted to go on it. So we had about a day and a half to spend around Mount Shasta. I took Andrew and the two of us drove all around the quaint little town of Mount Shasta City while Phillip and Elizabeth stayed back at the hotel and got some laundry finished up. It was a nice drive all around the town. We ended up at Lake Siskiyou.  Andrew and I walked around the lake for a bit kinda scoping it out to see if maybe it would be a good place to have a picnic.

                After about a half hour of “scoping” Andrew turns to me and announces “Yep Dad this is a good place to have a picnic. Let’s go get the others and bring them here.”  So we humped it back up to the car and set off to pick up the others. Once we got to the hotel it became obvious that Phillip was in no mood to go to the lake so we said our goodbye’s, packed the car for a picnic with fresh rotisserie chicken, grapes, cheese, crackers, and lots of soda pop, and left him to rest in the room. The picnic was very relaxing and the hike afterwards was refreshing.

                The next morning we packed the car up and headed further south to a town called Kettleman. The trip down to Kettleman was rather quiet. The kids, I guess, where exhausted so they slept most of the day away. We arrived at our hotel in the early evening giving me a chance to take advantage of the newly installed whirlpool bath in the room. I didn’t realize just how bound up my muscles where. Ah what a relief! After the long luxurious bath I’m ready for anything but instead we just spend a quiet evening eating greasy burgers and watching something on HBO. The next morning, feeling rejuvenated, we pack up and start off toward San Diego.

                Knowing that Grandpa won’t be there until the next day we take our time leisurely traveling until we hit the base of the mountains just north of the Los Angeles basin. After stopping for a cup of coffee and yet another  bathroom break (Yes I again heard  the infamous “Dad I need the bathroom.” Yes we just barely made it in time.) we head up the mountain. The trip up these particular mountains is probably the easiest journey we have had on the trip even though the summit is at least seven thousand feet. The highway is three to four lanes wide and the road is fairly straight. We manage to cruise up the mountainside and down the other at about seventy miles per hour. I was surprised to find that Los Angeles and Orange county slipped by quite quickly. I can remember times attempting to cross the Los Angeles basin could quickly turn into an all day task. Before we knew it we were entering San Diego county and Elizabeth was asking if we could have “Celebratory M&M’s”. I said yes of course. I’m a sucker for a good hand full of M&M’s.  It was just a hop, skip, and a jump to Grandpa’s house from the north end of Oceanside so before we knew it we were pulling in to his house. After completely unpacking the car, and taking Grandpa’s dogs for a walk we decided to go get some tacos at the greatest taco shop in the world. Roberto’s here we come! After eating our fill of great tacos and chimmi’s we decided to go for a drive and kinda re-live some of the places that their mom and I spent our time falling in love.

                I had a bit of a hard time around all those familiar surroundings . It seemed, everywhere I turned I remembered something Lois and I used to do long before the kids were even a gleam in our eyes. Looking back now I would have to say all in all I enjoyed the chance to take the kids around and share with them the places that Lois and I went long ago. I’m glad I got the chance to share that part of who Lois was with them. I know they don’t realize now what I gave them but they will in the future.  Yes we had been there many times as a family but it was different this time because we weren’t running around to get someplace or meet some family member or another. This time we just cruised the coast line in north county while I pointed out places that Lois and I went to and things that only she and I did. As the sun set on a restful day we settled in and waited on Grandpa’s arrival the next day. But that’s another story.  Don’t forget to visit our main site. We are constantly updating it with pictures.

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