rebbermade

MY SUMMER VACATION by Calder (with a preface and additional info by his Mama)

We've just returned from a two-week road trip adventure to Santa Cruz and spots along the California coast. It was a wonderful trip and we all did well traveling together. The boy loved the beach. In fact, we went out to Otter Rock yesterday, just three days after coming home, to load up on more sea, sand, and driftwood... must be managing the withdrawl. But anyway, here's an account of our trip as told by Calder. He's adding new words to his vocabulary all the time. It's so cool to hear the language blossom.



"Cone" (Burger Barn in Dunsmuir, CA. We had dinner at Sengthong's Thai restaurant which was fabulous.)



Butterfly - it's still an action, not yet a word. (Picnic table at our tent site in the Railroad Park Resort in Dunsmuir.)



"Dig Dig" (Jeff and I were enjoying the UCSC Arboretum, but Calder just wanted to watch the giant cement pumper on the other side of the fence.)



"Dig Dig/Beach" (Trying to get in as much time with our friends and their new little one before leaving Santa Cruz.)



"Beach" (Seabright Beach, Santa Cruz. Besides the digging he could not get enough of playing in the water with Jeff. All giggles when the waves came in and an instant "More?" when they pull back to sea.)



"Bean" (Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin County. We drove up Hwy 1 from Santa Cruz, through SF, across the Golden Gate, wiggled over to Muir Beach, past Stinson beach, over to Bolinas where we dealt with and recovered from a bout of baby car sickness - that Hwy 1 is nothing but curves - and spent the night at this great state park up in the woods above the coast... beans and weenies for dinner.)



(The charming, rustic - meaning kind of dirty and not modern but still cool - Teacher's Cottage at Stillwater Cove Ranch on the Sonoma coast. The ranch used to be a boy's school.)



"Bird" (Stillwater Cove Ranch is now a working sheep ranch that also has a flock of white pigeons and plenty of peacocks.)



"Cone" (We brake for ice cream. Don't you? Frankie's in Mendocino. They had great pizza too.)



"Beach" (Below the bluff in Mendocino proper is a great beach with tons of drift wood sculptures/structures made out of it.)



"Bike" (It was great to have our bikes with us so we could ride around Santa Cruz and all the campgrounds. Here we are in the Humboldt Redwoods.)



"Eat/Kite" (Snacks before dinner, with the kite (his word for tent) in the background. The Albee Creek campground in Humboldt Redwoods State Park was great.)



(Stopped off to witness the tress in the fog at the Ladybird Johnson Grove in Redwood National Park. And to further our presidential tourism, we also spotted some Roosevelt elk in a Park meadow.)



"Nana/Beach" (In Crescent City we lucked into meeting up with an old friend and his partner who shared their home, fresh veggies from their garden and a fun time at the beach with their wonderful dog Neilah or "Nana" as Calder will say.)

"Done" (Calder was a trooper during the long drive home from Crescent City to Corvallis on the last day. We passed a small resort for sale just across the Oregon border on Hwy 199 and it's got our heads in a spin about radical life changes and dreams of environmentally conscious resort ownership. I can see it!)