The drive to northern California

All 6 of us on the road together with 2 pug dogs. Day 1 get to California. 

We crossed the Nevada border and had to make a crazy interstate stop on the freeway for a picture.

For lunch we stopped at Tommy's. It was a bit of an adventure. It was SOOO HOT in Vegas. We were afraid to leave the dogs in the van to go eat, so we had shifts of some sitting in the van and others getting some lunch. Elara clearly loved getting chili on her face.

The temperature in Nevada was 117 degrees. It was so HOT.

The next stop was another crazy freeway stop for a photo crossing into California.

We were able to enjoy our time in the hotels we stayed at. The end of day 1 we stayed in Bakersfield, California. We had plenty of games, electronic devices, and activities to pass the time, and having the dogs around was extra fun.

July 14th, Day 2 from Utah 

Bakersfield to Sequoia National Forest to San Francisco, California.

On the drive it was a very winding, and very HOT drive to Sequoia. It was going up in elevation and Connor was just not feeling so great. We learned that he really does get car sick and not just from electronic devices. We had to pull over several times to clean puke. He was so sweet and pleasant. He tried to not let it bother him. Thankfully, we had hospital grade puke bags in the car before we left Texas for this very reason. There were no convenient stores and we did not have any anti nausea medicine. Needless to say the very next day before we started another long day of twisting road driving we purchased Dramamine and jolly ranchers and gum. It helped the rest of the drive. But, about 3 pukes up the mountain and two down and I was afraid we would use all of our puke bags within a few days at that rate.

Trees before we got to Sequoia National Forest.

It is imperative to find a good puke dumping place... Or, maybe it doesn't really matter, just get the smell out of the van! That poor kid was so sweet.

The kids were always such good sports. They hardly complained at all. We got on each others nerves every once in a while, but for how long we were all trapped in the car together it was actually really enjoyable. Feet on top of dogs and all, and little brothers puking.

And we made it to Sequoia National Forest alive!

I definitely recommend visiting here! It was truly a remarkable visit, and showed some of God's greatest creations. The pictures do not do it justice! We were little specs in all the pictures as we tried to capture the shear size of the trees. We had to walk to find the big ones, but it was worth it. We had pictured a whole forest of just big trees, but quickly realized how they would be spaced out.

The stories they had about fallen trees, and the noise they made were just amazing.

Elara is always finding treasures and asking for pictures of them, so that I don't have to keep them in my car forever. However, we collected a lot of treasures on this trip. I found so many rocks, and "things" in their seat areas when we arrived in Alaska.

She wanted her biggest pine cone ever, some red bark and a leaf of some sort. The red bark was truly remarkable though and I wish we could have kept some.

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The Sequoia National Forest was definitely worth the detour on our trip. 

We didn't have a lot of time to stay and see things, so we did a lot of get out and walk, and hop back in the car to get to the next destination. Our next stop was my Mom and Dad's old mission in Oakland, California and driving through San Francisco, California to get to our hotel. Connor of course got sick on the winding hills down, but once we got on straight roads he handled it so much better.

Oakland California Temple!

It was so very brief, but I am so grateful to see the area my parents served their mission for 2 years. 

As typical of big city San Francisco there were no public restrooms and we all had to pee SO bad. We found one for the little kids at a pizza restaurant and they were grumpy about it. Derek had to hold it all the way to the hotel. We waved to my cousin Cruz the whole way through San Francisco. It was so beautiful and green and the bay was amazing. We really didn't have time to stop to see more, and with everything shut down because of covid we just decided to get through the cities.

Thankfully, as you can tell the car sickness didn't keep Connor down, and he was as happy as could be when he wasn't puking.

The next day started a little rough for Connor again. We had to get the puke bags out again because driving along the California 101 was very winding. He again was so tough. It was at this point we knew we needed to get him medicine.

Our next stop would be the coastal California Redwood National Forest.

Redwood National Forest

My whole life I wanted to feel like I was in a Star Wars movie and going here made me feel like I was visiting the planet Endor. It was SO awesome! The weather was so much cooler than at Sequoia. The trees were ginormous, but they weren't red like the Sequoia's. I'm so glad we made both stops to see the differences in the trees. Both were majestic and worth every second. I'd love to camp here someday.

Following in our hike through the Redwoods we were able to drive North along the coast and make it to a small city in Northern California. We were able to drive to a tide pool at the northern part of the Redwood National Park. 

The ocean is definitely a happy place for our family. We were able to hike to "Endert's Beach", a small tide pool. The views and the hike were just beautiful.

Before the wave hits, and AFTER the wave hits.

Derek can't help, but be a kid again sometimes, and has to climb around and be ridiculous. I love that he will play and explore with the kids.

We loved being able to get out of the van and have a breath of fresh air. We definitely had a hard time getting back in the car to head to the hotel. But, we did and thankfully it wasn't that far away! We passed Paul Bunion and his Blue Ox on the way too.

We needed a good rest because the next day would take us to Oregon and for a much needed couple of days rest, and the ability to do some laundry!