Family Travel

As expected, exercising has been a big hassle on this trip. One of the main problems was - not knowing the area well enough to run. Tomasz bought me a small pepper spray bottle, which I carry around when I go for a run to ward off wild beasts and evil men. So far, thankfully, I didn't have to use it much. So it was a great relief to be in Seattle. My sister lives in a beautiful neighborhood. The trails and roads around her house have been explored during my runs. I also have found a Yoga studio near her house and have been to yoga several times. Now that we are off to Canada in an motor-home, not sure how much work-outs I will get.

This morning Tomasz wanted me to join him on a run in the woods close to my sister's place. This run had all elements of the Mud Run that we signed up to do San Diego in October but will miss it. First of all, to get the trail in the woods, we had to get across the residential complex and get on a path. But since it was pretty early in morning, the fence gate to get on the path was locked. Tomasz, not to be deterred, wanted to jump over the 8ft fence and asked me to go first. Of course that wasn't my idea of exercising, and so I put up a bit of a fuss to climb over, but eventually got over. After me, Tomasz did it in one smooth move. I had to hear about all the fuss I made for the rest of our run.

Next, came a dip and a uphill that rivals Mt. Rainier (of course, I am exaggerating, only a bit). Then we got to the actual woods, which are called Bridle Trails State Park - and as the name implies it is used frequently by horseriders. And you can imagine what all those horses leave behind in their wake. These were the next set of obstacles I had to overcome. In addition, it had rained pretty heavy yesterday and the path was quite muddy at places (that's where it becomes the mud run). To top it off, the woods were pretty dark and one can get disoriented in the inter-connecting trails. And still Tomasz comments how beautiful and romantic it is in the forest, and all I was thinking was how to step over the next horse poop and make a mental note of which trail we just took. We succeeded in running to one end of the forest and found our way back out. And then as we headed back up and down the crazy hill, I prepared myself to do another fence jump, hoping this time would be more graceful. Luckily, the gate was now open.

After all that was said and done, I do have to agree with Tomasz that it was certainly a beautiful run and pretty unusual.

Today was haircut day and it wasn't just the boys ... Gouri practiced on Thane and then turned her shears on me. Overall things went well except for a few deep gouges around my ears. Gouri says that those are grooves designed for my glasses to fit better but I'm not sure anyone will buy that story. In any case, she made me feel better by saying I look like Steve Jobs now.

Project has begun!

Apprehensive?

Almost there

Here's finished product - not too bad!

More photos of our Seattle stay are at http://picasaweb.google.com/sdjohannsens/SeattleStay

View from our hotel on the banks of the Columbia River in Cascade Locks, Oregon

Forests, rivers, waterfalls and lakes - how different the landscape is to Southern California. We spent last ten days in Oregon and Washington States. Tomasz's family (Dad and Aunt) joined us for this part of the trip.

Another view of Columbia River

In Oregon, our hotel was right on the banks of the Columbia River with expansive views of the river from our windows. A bridge across this river that connects to the Washington State, called "Bridge of the Gods" was also visible from our window. The hightlight of this stay was hike up the Multnomah Falls and a visit to the Bonneville Dam and power station.

We spent a relaxing afternoon in Starbucks in Hood River catching up with Tomasz's Dad

Multnomah Falls

We hiked up to the top of the falls

We then drove to Packwood in Washington State which is about 15mi south of Mt. Rainier National Park. Again, one of the forks of Cowlitz river flowed right next to our backyard. It was very peaceful and idyllic to sit on the deck and read a book or BBQ. The highlight here is a visit to Mt. Rainier and taking walks along the forest roads. Mt. Rainier still had a lot of snow even at lower elevations. Most of the trails were still covered in snow making it an interesting experience to hike in the late July.

We arrived at our Cottage in Packwood with our Sienna packed to the brim - 6 passengers and all this stuff! A great Ad for the vehicle

Idyllic backyard to sit and read a book or reflect on life

Peak of Mt. Rainier

The boys had great time in the snow, Thane came up with a makeshift snow board

Life emerging even in the toughest environment

On our hike in the snow - most trails were still under snow

Hiking on a forest road near Packwood - boys in their park ranger vests

Our first flat tire!

After dropping off Tomasz's family in Portland airport we spent a day in Portland. We stayed near Portland downtown. Portland is beautiful city, especially this time of the year. We visited the famous Rose Test Gardens and spent the afternoon smelling the roses! After spending almost ten days in middle of nowhere as far as gastronomical delights are concerned, it was a thrill to see various ethnic restaurants offering exotic cuisines. We went to Ethiopian restaurant and had a wonderful meal.

Relaxing in the famous Rose Gardens of Portland

The boys seem to find an hectic activity even in the tranquil gardens

Boys in a wrestling match with Dad in the Rose Gardens

View of Mt. Hood from the Rose Gardens

Thane in front of the Tea House in the Classical Chinese Gardens in Portland

The boys enjoying the waterfalls in the Classical Chinese Gardens

Photographer Thane took this picture of his mother

We drove to Seattle yesterday to spend a few days with Gouri's sister and family. And to prepare for our next part of the trip into Canada.

We are finally off!

Our drive from San Diego was pretty uneventful - except Gouri forgot her purse in a restaurant in Sacramento where we stopped for dinner. Luckily, we went only 5 miles before we remembered and retrieved the purse. This has taught us how important it is to be extra vigilant of our wallets - esp when we travel overseas.

The drive through California Central Valley was pretty interesting to us. The boys were pretty fascinated by the California Aquaduct, which we had good views of along the road. Thanks to this water, California' is able to produce abundance of food, and us Southern Californians to have a comfortable life.

California Aquaduct, life source of California's Farming

We passed by many almond groves, tomato farms, sunflower fields, corn fields and grapes orchards. We saw many open gondola truck carrying tomatoes on I-5. Every so often, we saw bunch of tomatoes scattered on the side of the freeway. It seems like losing a few tomatoes is cheaper than transporting them in covered trucks.

We stopped at a Almond Orchard to show the boys how they grow

A ripe almond

Just north of Sacramento we turned west towards the coast to 101 and headed up to the Redwoods National Park. Interesting drive along the Avenue of Giants near the Humboldt Redwoods State park. These Redwoods are really awe-inspiring and so majestic. The boys were pretty thrilled to see many caves in these giant trees and played hide and seek. We spent the night camping in this state park.

We drove through the Avenue of Giants, where the old growth Redwoods are really giants!

Kids had a lot of fun climbing and hiding!

A fallen giant, the base of the tree is like a big room and the trunk is wide and long like a road

Our next night was also spent in a different part of the Redwoods - in the Redwoods National Park near Crescent City almost at the border with Oregon. The campground just off of Hwy 199, called Panther's Flat, was one of those unexpected finds. The campground is right along the middle fork of the Smith River, we slept to the lull of the running river.

Tomasz preparing the camp


Kids learnt to make a campfire

More photos at of this part of the trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/sdjohannsens/SD_to_Redwoods

A flurry of social activities. Saying goodbyes to friends and colleagues at work. Everyone has been so encouraging and supportive. Also, pouring us with very useful gifts - like gas cards, hotel cards, GPS, etc. Thank you all. We will certainly miss you all.

The house needs some attention still. We need to pack all out all the closets - that is actually a lot of work. Especially, clearing out 10 years worth of accumulated junk - seems never ending.
Also, planning and making lists as to what to take on the trip.

The kids are excited, they think we are going on a vacation, but don't seem to understand that this will be more than a vacation. Hope they will not miss their SD life too much.