Day 3 – it's a hot day

First stop today is Old Sacramento and the California Railroad Museum.

Kiddos with Grandma, waiting for the train

We started the fun with a short ride on the Sacramento central railroad, down the river a bit. We splurged for the first class cabin, which put us in the last car of the trip for half of the trip... then.... the engine uncoupled and came along the siding and suddenly we were the front of the train! Which was super cool, for the train lovers among us.

Chatting on the train

waiting for the engine

Here it comes!

After the ride we hit the Museum. Which has a really nice display of trains, both real and toys.

Ok, what were we thinking coming to the Sacramento area in the middle of summer?

Its CRAZY hot!

You've got to be kidding me!  

We were brilliant enough to make popsicles the night before so the kids had a cool afternoon treat.

Day 2 – California here we come....

We breakfast'd at the hotel then hit the road... with the sunshine state in front of us, we were ready to go. Our drive was relatively uneventful.

With a stop for lunch and the book I picked up “Are We There Yet? Great car games to keep families sane”, we were hanging in there.

We arrived at our home for the week around 3:30. We arranged to rent a house for our stay in Roseville, through VRBO. And the house is better than the pictures.

The 4 bedroom house (plus bonus room) works well for our family of four plus my Mom.

And its nicer than two hotel rooms.

The rest of the day spent settling in and enjoying the space.

Views of the house

Day 1 – Oregon and a Birthday

Today was the little lady's official birthday, and she told pretty much everyone we came across :)

We started the day in Vancouver and headed south after a great birthday breakfast.

We stopped at Qdoba in Eugene for lunch. I don't think I realized how much of a college town Eugene is. And if I had, I would have still assumed that it was mid-July and probably not full of college kids. But something was going on in town – lots of kids and parents. But lunch was yummy, and we got back on the road.

Ice Cream break at K-R Drive In

Our fun for the day was still to come in Winston, OR, at Wildlife Safari.

We arrived just after 3 pm. Which unfortunately is when the Elephant Car Wash closed up for the day, so we missed that joy... sounds like a riot, right? Let the kindly elephants wash your car...... they say “guarenteed to not get your car clean”. Maybe next time.

The 600 acre park is mostly a free roaming park that you drive thru.

Speed limit is 10 mph and the full tour took us just over an hour. Then we explored the small walk-through area, rode the train and the birthday girl took a spin on a camel.

Hippos like watermelon.. who knew?

Birthday Girl and her camel

The day ended in Medford. We had dinner and hit the Harry & David outlet, before settling into the hotel. With a quick swim before bed I was ready for some sleep and quiet.

California here we come tomorrow.

Day 0.5 We once again hit the road

Heading south 

Technically we started our driving today, but personally I feel that tomorrow is the real start.

We left home and popped into Jimmy Johns for dinner on the road, then joined the traffic headed south.

One stop for gas and 4 hours later we arrived at the Grandparents house.

Stop one on the Family Driving trip 2012 - and we pick up the sweet little birthday girl, who has been with the grandparents this week.

The lighting on the last 45 minutes of our drive was really impressive. We didn't get any thunder until we got to the house, but the rain found us about 5 minutes out.

Now to sleep and get ready for Day 1 – also known as the sweet girl's birthday!  

Why? What? Again?

Yes, we are taking another driving trip this summer. Last year we headed north... more or less. This year our car is aimed south.

Clear the road, cause here we come!

Not really, we will share, I promise :)

The Happiest Place on Earth - continued

As the little lady had a cold, we made sure we got sleep each night and didn't rush into the parks at sun up.
We slept in each morning and enjoyed a quiet breakfast in the room before venturing out.

We spent most of our days on rides and meeting characters :)

On our last night, after lots of fun, rides, characters, and even some family, we stayed out a bit later and enjoyed the fireworks.

The Happiest Place on Earth... with a cold.

Sweet daughter and I headed to the land of sunshine for her spring break (I am really late in posting).
We flew in and were picked up by a great town car service, who took us right to our hotel. We used our timeshare to trade into Disney's Grand California Villas, which was a treat!
Our room wasn't quite ready so we stashed our bags and headed for Disney's California Adventure park.
Our first ride was the new Little Mermaid ride. It was such fun we did it twice!
Then headed for the Bugs Life area for a few rides before getting a text saying our room was ready. Yeah!

Our room was similar to a standard room in the hotel, but also had a mini kitchen type area, bar sink, mini fridge, microwave and a handful of dishes.
We got unpacked and then headed back out into the wind to have dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. The resturaunt is inside the Disneyland Hotel at the other end of Downtown Disney, so we enjoyed a short wait and some window shopping.

She really wanted this wheel to roll :)

We enjoyed Goofy's Kitchen and the characters quite a bit.... macaroni and cheese pizza - who knew?

After dinner we headed to bed. The little lady had been fighting a cold and sleep sounded great.