• Hilary and I disagree on hitchhikers. I want to pick them up to spice up the trip, Hilary wants to leave them stranded on the side of the road. I have not won this battle yet.
• RV parks are awful. They are loud, tightly packed, unattractive and $50 more expensive than state/national parks. The only benefit is wifi and electricity, but the wifi never works and electricity is overrated. Drive the 20mi or so to a real campsite.
• 10:30 is some sort of magical time. If you are in any park before this time you will have it all to yourself. You may not see another car or person. Then at 10:30 every parking lot is nearly full and there are people everywhere. It is so reliable you could set your watch to it.
• We would have lost our minds by now if we did not have iPads for the long drives.
• Monument Valley is the best app on the market. The game is beautiful, keeps the kids occupied for hours, good for a wide range of ages and stimulated creativity and problem solving.
• There are tons of people biking on the road with saddlebags filled with gear. You can see them going up huge climbs at 2MPH in their lowest gear while cars and trucks fly by them 2 feet away. If I ever start a cult I am recruiting these folks first. They are certifiable.
• I don’t know why people grow beards. It is uncomfortable for everyone involved. I am probably less a man for it, but this will be the last time I go a month without shaving.

Kellan is rounding his performance into form. He put on quite a variety show in Big Sur. A mix of Broadway musical and Disney film genres, it starts out upbeat and finishes on a more somber note as he appears to be praying to God to go home. I like how he he borrowed from his personal tribulations to really make it come to life.

We woke up the next day and had a rare lazy morning around camp. We then convinced the kids to go on a short “walk” to a waterfall. We knew it was actually a 2mi long hike. We did not appreciate that it was straight uphill.

We spent the next hour encouraging, coaxing, bribing and finally carrying Kellan to the waterfall. Greta made it on her own…barely. After wiping away the tears and finishing a cookie, we all agreed it was a really fun hike.

Perhaps feeling a bit guilty, we gave the kids what they have been waiting 25 days for – a chance to splash in the freezing cold Pacific Ocean! Kellan went ass over head at one point and came up soaking wet but with a big smile on his face.

We reached the California Coast not a moment too soon. 103 degrees gave way to 70 degrees the second we passed over the San Simeon foothills and could smell the ocean air.

This officially marks the beginning of the homestretch for us. Every mile we travel is taking us closer to Seattle. Which is a good thing because the kids are definitely hitting their limit. Greta broke down before bedtime because she missed home and our cat. Apparently 3 weeks is the sweet spot for 7 year olds. But she rallied the next day and we had a wonderful day geocaching and tidepooling along the beach in the morning.

After lunch we toured Hearst Castle. Who knew this would be the highlight of the trip for Kellan. He marveled at all of the rooms and declared, “I want to live in the library with all the pots [3,000 year old ancient Greek pottery] by myself.” When the guide informed him that was a lot of space for such a little guy he clarified that other people could live in the house, they just can’t go into his room.

It is 108 degrees in Vegas today so a good time to get out of town. We stayed at the MG so the kids could enjoy the pool. Little did we know that the Canelo/Lara fight was scheduled for Saturday so it ended up being a bit crazier than usual.

On Saturday I took off my wedding ring to put on sunscreen and put the ring in my pocket. I forgot to put it back on and jumped into the pool. The next thing I know it is gone and being tossed around by a fast moving current somewhere in the 8,000 foot long lazy river.

I looked frantically for it, but it was pointless. Greta started looking for it by swimming around the river. I tried to tell her it was ok and to give up and just enjoy her day. True to form she did not give up and continued circling the river scanning the floor for the ring. An hour later she found it on her 3rd loop around! Her desire to make others around her happy is something that can’t be taught.

On our way to Cambria now and looking forward to the Sounders game tonight!

The Grand Canyon is the Rose Bowl of national parks and is one of the only natural seven wonders of the world that Americans generally see (I’ll give you a dollar if you can name four of the other six without the help of the Internet).

To our kids, it was just a big hole in the ground. I suppose I should be pleased it was the only place so far that they have been underwhelmed. We literally showed up to watch the sunset and Greta was ready to go five minutes later. But thankfully they serve brownie sundaes so we got to stay a while longer.

One thing that has really stuck out on this trip is how quiet the crowds are. We have been marveling since we left that it feels we are the only ones in the parks sometimes. The campground was “full” but there were many vacant spots. Sometimes when we drive we don’t see a car for 20 minutes. No clue why, but the odd feeling is recurring so I thought I would mention it.

This stop also produced the most memorable moment for me so far. I convinced Greta to wake up at 4:45 and we walked out to a rock cliff on the edge of the canyon (right next to campsites 11-21 by the way). We were the only ones out there and we sat quietly and watched the canyon light up. I don’t know if she will remember it but I certainly will.

Vimeo finally got me on copyright infringement so no audio on this one. I originally had “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles, so I suppose you can play it in your mind when you watch.