Hello California

We were driving in California for a long time before we felt like we were in familiar territory. Some of yesterdays pictures were probably taken in California, but not our neck of the woods so they don't count. When we crossed the state line, I felt hopeful, I felt relieved, and I was beginning to believe that we would make it home. I told Sarah at one point, "I feel like a huge burden is off my shoulders just being in the state. If something happened now, I could call Dale and he could come and rescue us in a matter of hours." Speaking of that hunka-hunka-burnin-love, I could manage this thing on my own if I had to, but having him next to me makes me feel so much better.

You can't appreciate how beautiful Santa Barbara county is until you drive through and smell the ocean air and see the flowers in living color. Sarah snapped this from her window on the highway. These are flourishing on their own in the median! It's just spectacular.

Our little ray of sunshine took valuable vacation days to drive across the country with six children and a mommy prone to carsickness. I heard one of her co-workers say, "Oh yeah, you're going on vacation this weekend aren't you." Her hesitation was followed by, "I don't think I'd really call it a vacation, but I will be gone." She's a brave lass, she is! I couldn't be more grateful for her. Djou are de baesst!!!

AAAaaaaaahhhh. The ocean. Breathe it in, baby, breathe it in!

I love the part of the day when the fog rolls in. Unless of course we have basketball practice and I have to drive blindly in the dark. Then I don't like it at all.

Highway 1 follows the coastline all the way through California. It's a rough drive, real curvy and hilly, but it is breath-taking. If you have the chance to make the trip, take it. Put it on your "100 Things to Do Before I Die" list. Or do it this year and stop off on 101 to see us on the way!!!

Do you see what I'm saying? This marvel of creation is just growing wild out here everywhere you turn. It is so, so beautiful.

And of course the mountains... they are a wonder all their own. When we are driving I look out into the mountains and they look like giant sleeping dinosaurs. You can't tell in this picture, but if you pan out from here you could see what I'm talking about. You'll just have to use your imagination this time.

This cup saved us from serious disaster on more occasions than I care to recall. Thank you, Coca-Cola for honoring Nurses Week. Job well done. The carpet in the truck is still relatively in tact.

We saw a sign right before this one that said, "Airport", "UCSB", and then a picture of a plane. When I saw it I mentioned that that was the exit we needed to take. Sarah said, "Ok. UCSB. What do you think that stands for?" My brain was so fried I couldn't come up with anything witty so I said, "Plane." We laughed and laughed about that. Please understand. We had been in a vehicle with six children for three days. We drove over thirty hours. We answered over forty thousand questions. At one point we were on the side of the road where Sarah held the towel for the unlucky victim, and I assisted with clean-up, poop on one hand, vomit in the other. It seemed really, really funny.

But when this gal laughs, everybody laughs. You just can't help it.