HarveyTwo has brought us back to Texas! It was a long trip, with lots of interesting detours. Phil has returned to work, which is hard for us all, but it is necessary. I am having trouble thinking of Houston as “home”, but it is familiar and warmer … I hope to have the kids write about some of their impressions next week, when “school” resumes. More pictures can be seen at SmugMug
February 10: After a long day of last-minute preparations, a last-lunch from Burgerville, and lots of rearranging, we finally pulled out of Sandy Riverfront RV Park in Troutdale, which we had called home since June 2012. We drove to Eugene, Oregon, where we spent the night.
February 11: Lunch for the road was fresh-fruit-salad-in-a-jar. We drove west to Highway 101, where we had breathtaking views of the coast. We stopped at Turtle Rock, Oregon, where we stayed for two nights in a nice RV park on the coast.
February 12: We learned about “sneakers” and “seastacks” and played horseshoes. We all got wet feet when the sneakers snuck up on us while we walked on the beach, but Molly actually fell in a wave! It was COLD, but we mustered the courage to keep walking and admiring the views. The park hosted a Mardi Gras party, which seems really ironic to us Texans. They ruined the gumbo, though, with the addition of critters we don’t eat, so the kids only got to eat dessert!
February 13: We said farewell to Oregon. Weeks of angst about crossing the California border were dismissed instantly when we crossed without even stopping. (I was worried about what they might think of our worm-bin.)
We stopped at a Ranger Station in Crescent City, where we got quick advice about how to see the most while towing a big trailer. We drove out to the beach in Crescent City for more spectacular seastacks and found the local hangout for sea lions before heading further south for the Redwood National Forest. When we got our first views of the Giant Redwoods, I was impressed. They are truly as awe-inspiring as I had hoped, and our monster truck was indeed dwarfed by the trees. The forest is wet and quiet and just “feels” ancient.
February 14: We drove to Eureka for the afternoon to meet up with an online friend of mine. The kids got to run around a great playground for 
awhile, which was definitely good for them.
Feberuary 15: We decided to go for a walk before we left. It was a LOT further than we anticipated, but it was fun – at least for the grownups. We walked to what we thought was a “beach access”, but it was only a scenic overlook. The cliff was steep, but a trail taunted us, so we investigated. When we got to the bottom of the hundreds of steps, we found a rather primitive “ladder” that seemed to have been beaten by the tides into a very unstable position. After lots of complaining that it was “not fair”, we finally convinced the kids that we had to return to the top without going all the way down to the tidal pools. (I did test out the ladder, and it was just a little too unsteady to attempt with the kids. Maybe 20 years ago, but not today.) That night, we stayed at an RV park that was at the top of a hill – a dark, twisty, narrow road led us there. If we hadn’t been so tired, it would have been a good place to explore.
February 16: We drove south through beautiful places and across the Golden Gate Bridge.
February 17: Bare feet and sandals! We arrived at Orangeland to find ripe oranges and grapefruit on the trees. What a difference from Portland, in only seven days.
February 18: Annie was responsible for finding something new to do in Los Angeles. All she wanted to do was go to Hollywood – again – which really didn’t appeal to me, but this was a long trip anyway, so we needed to do something the kids wanted to do. She found a historical ship, the Queen Mary, for us to visit. It took us about two hours to get there, due to an unfortunate accident of BOTH parents forgetting their wallets.
We did finally get to see the ship, including its gigantic engines and propellors and fascinating history as both a cruise ship and a military transport. Adjacent to the ship is a Russian submarine, that we toured, as well – Molly left her puppy Ruby by the periscope, causing another MAJOR drama for the day.
February 19: Happy Birthday to Molly!! We celebrated with a trip to Hollywood Boulevard, where she was serenaded by a girl-band recording a music video. We went to the Guinness World Record Museum, which was hokey but amusing. Part of the Boulevard was closed, preparing for the Oscar ceremony (“not fair” that we were there on the wrong day). We finished the day at a very enjoyable ramen restaurant in Los Angeles – Orochon.
February 20: We drove east through fields of windmills.
February 21: Arizona
February 22: We arrived in Las Cruces, New Mexico and were greeted by a centipede. For the next three days, Zoe was petrified to walk outside the RV, for fear of the “spiky thing.” Our RV park was down the road from the dealership where we found HarveyTwo, 10 months ago.
February 23: At last, we reached White Sands, a destination that had intrigued me since our return from Calgary, in the fall of 2011. We watched the movie in the Ranger Station and bought the obligatory sleds before driving to the dunes. Again, my breath was taken away by the splendor of nature. We climbed the hills of cold sand, under the perfect blue sky. Molly and Zoe had the most fun with the sleds, but they preferred just rolling down the hills. Annie, Phil and I each tried it, but it was anticlimactic. We took dozens of photos, which we will put online soon. We chatted with some horse-riders, who had been riding in the sands all day long. I have never seen such sweaty tired horses! As the sun set over the mountains, even Annie didn’t want to leave.
February 24: Weather kept us in Las Cruces for one more day. Windstorms were just not a thing we wanted to endure with our trailer. We spent a couple hours hunting for Geocaches instead and relaxed. If you have never heard of Geocaching, it is like a treasure hunt, following clues and GPS coordinates that are posted on a website. We found four, and we rather enjoyed ourselves.
February 25: We entered Texas! A long way, still, from Houston …
February 26: We arrived in Kerrville and visited with Aunt Linda for a little while. It was a momentous day: Happy Anniversary to my parents, and Happy Birthday to Nana!
February 27: Katy, Texas! (I’m still not sure how we crossed Texas in only two days.)
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