Day 26 (August 2nd): The Last Leg - Medford to Vacaville to Home

Hello Everyone,

Today was the last day of the LilliepadUSA 2008 Family Roadtrip -- a little bit of a sad day for all of us. I personally will miss the daily adventures and writing about it afterward, and I think Jill and the kids will miss .

I would like to start this post with a shout out to the Marriott Corporation for their customer service approach to their Marriott Rewards members. We arrived in Medford last night very late (around midnight) and were planning to stay at the Courtyard Marriott by the airport. Well when we arrived, they only had a room with a king and a sofa bed, even though we had confirmed a room with two queens and a sofa bed. They felt horrible and tried to get us a room at a sister property in town (the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott) or their new property, the Springhill Suites. Springhill had a room for us, and on our way out the gentlemen (Cliff and Donald) at the Courtyard Marriott offered us water and apples and even stuff from the store. We took the water and the apples, declined the store, and off we went to the Springhill. When we arrived at the Springhill Suites, they told us the room would be taken care of by the Courtyard Marriott! I was surprised but also very pleased -- Marriott just reminded me why I try and stay at a Marriott wherever I go. Bill Marriott would be proud!

We had a leisurely morning at the hotel with breakfast and a swim. We left the hotel about noon and headed for Vacaville, California, where Jill's family would be waiting for us with a big family dinner. As we headed southward, we increasingly noticed the haze getting thicker and thicker. The California fires were impacting southern Oregon; in fact, when we were horseback riding in Buffalo Valley our wrangler told us that the haze around the Grand Tetons was caused by the California fires. Not sure if that was true or not, but I can tell you that they were wreaking havoc on southern Oregon! You can see the haze on the horizon behind the "Oregon Thanks You" sign in his photo we took:



As we entered California we actually missed taking the picture of the Welcome to California sign but I managed to scrape one up anyway:



We had come full circle and were now truly headed for home.

It was a fairly uneventful ride from here on out. Interstate 5 is fast but not extremely interesting, except when you hit the town of Weed, California and get your first glimpse of Mount Shasta. Mount Shasta is normally a beautiful, 14,179-foot stratovolcano that stands out in the sky above Weed, but today the haze from the fires was so thick you could barely discern it from the sky. The picture below is probably the best one out of several we tried to take while driving by it:



Check out the link provided on Mount Shasta -- it really is an interesting mountain and definitely worth a visit and even potentially a climb to the top.

After going by Mount Shasta we went through Dunsmuir and then by Shasta Lake. WOW! Shasta Lake is extremely low this year, probably 25-30 feet lower than last year according to some locals. And it is not just Shasta -- other lakes and reservoirs in Northern California have been affected. Global warming driving this climate change or just low rainfall and water exports to Southern California?

We drove through the ovens called Redding and Red Bluff (temperatures around 98 degrees Fahrenheit), where I saw a big, beautiful American flag flying in the breeze -- I had to take a picture of it for Uncle Matt:



A quick shout out to Uncle Matt, aka Matt Gallagher, Jill's brother, and Technical Sergeant, US Air Force Reserves who served in the desert recently for 10 months. Matt got deployed with a special military civil engineering team called Prime BEEF, to serve in both Iraq and Afghanistan (and several places in between). We are very happy to report that Uncle Matt is back home with his wife, Jane, and their two small children, Jared and Heidi, living in Vacaville, California. Being the patriot that he is, Matt reenlisted for two years when he got back from the desert. We love and respect you, Uncle Matt. Salute!

We continued to pound down I-5 and soon we saw the signs we had waited to see:



I-80 West to San Francisco...we were truly headed for home!

After seeing this sign we were just a short distance to Matt and Jane's house where we were going to have a family feast. Jill's mom, Lynn, is an **excellent** cook and when she told us she had prepared her famous ribs and that Jill's dad, Ken, was barbecuing them, we slightly exceeded the speed limit to get there as fast as we could!

When we arrived, it was like we had been gone for a year. Jill's parents, Matt and Jane and the kids, all came running out of the house to greet us with hugs and kisses. Let me tell you, after almost 30 days on the road where everyone you meet is a stranger, it was very nice to be greeted that way and welcomed home so warmly.

We had a great night, eating really good food with family. Jill's sister Gayle also came to the dinner with her friend Ernie and his three children. It was family reunion time!

Below are just a couple of snapshots Jill and I took of the evening:

Kids eating dinner with Big Nonno


Natalie and Ernie's kids playing a board game


Heidi presenting us with a home-made shell wind chimes from the beaches of Capitola


Jake presenting the flag we carried throughout our entire trip to Uncle Matt


Nick and Heidi just goofing around


Needless to say it was an excellent night. We ended up staying at the table outside (it was so pleasant) and talking until 10:30 pm, at which point I stood up, cried "Uncle!" and said we had to go home or we would be spending the night in Vacaville. Vacaville is about 90 miles from home, so we needed to get going in order to make it home at a semi-reasonable time. Another midnight run.

So off we drove into the night again, our bellies full, our hearts happy and with a jar of mom's home made pesto that we love so much. Into the night for the last 90 minutes of the great road trip of 2008. A trip for the ages.

Peace to you all,

Brian

Day 25 (August 1st): Eugene, The Andersons, and the University of Oregon

Hello Everyone,

It was a nice day in Eugene today.

We arrived at the hotel fairly late again last night (surprise, surprise) and slept in a bit but not too late as the kids really wanted waffles for breakfast and the kitchen closed at 9:30 am! So we were up and eating waffles at 9:25, and soon were ready for the day.

The kids decided to go swimming after breakfast while we waited for Clint and the girls to come over. For those of our friends who don't know, Clint Anderson married Kathy Grasso, Jill's cousin, and they have two adorable girls, Katelin and Kasey. Below is a picture of the Anderson family:



Clint and the girls arrived and swam with the Lillie kids until about noon, and then came in the room for lunch.



We quickly ate lunch, checked out, and headed over to the University of Oregon campus. Although we are BIG Stanford fans, we are also PAC-10 fans, and we were looking forward to visiting the Duck campus. Plus, with Nick only 5 years out from college, it's fun to check out the different campuses so he can get a feel for the different schools.

We started out by visiting the football stadium...all I can say is WOW. The first thing that you see when you drive up is the massive yellow "O" on a green background. Check it out below:



The second thing you notice is how much parking there is and how there are duck footprints everywhere. I took a picture of a couple of them -- they were pretty funny:



Clint said that the town is INSANE over Duck football, and on game day in the fall you can hear the stadium from a couple of miles away. He said when the Ducks win, the people are incredibly high, happy and upbeat. But when the Ducks lose, it is like someone took their birthday away!

The football field was open and we had the good fortune of going down onto the field inside the stadium. It was beast! The seats were really close to the field and went pretty high up, creating an imposing field for their opponents. Of course the kids all started running around on the artificial turf, racing and tackling each other. It was fun and gave the kids a chance to burn off a little energy. Take a look at some of the pics I took in the stadium:




After being on the field today, I can only imagine how it feels to go into Eugene to play the Ducks in that stadium, with their fans. Good luck, Stanford and Cal!

After the visit to the football field, Clint took us to the famous Hayward Field, where track legends such as Bill Hayward, Bill Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine made history. Eugene is known as "the track capital of the world," and the 2008 Olympic trials were recently held at Hayward Field. We spent a decent amount of time there, reading the information at the field, walking the track and climbing the stadium stairs. Of course I took several pictures while walking around -- I hope you enjoy them:





At this point we decided to actually visit the academic part of the school (!), and we walked over to the center of campus. It is a lovely campus, with mostly brick buildings and lush, green trees and foliage. The grounds people have also done a very nice job planting flowers around the campus, and there was no trash or litter anywhere. I took several pictures as we walked through the campus -- below are just a few of them:




Nick and I had a nice walk alone through the campus as the others went to get the cars. We talked about college and how to choose the right one for him -- it was a wonderful talk, and one he wants to spend more time on with me. I am happy he wants to talk to me about it -- it warms my heart. All-in-all, I was pretty impressed with the Oregon campus. It is a nice place with friendly people and as Nick said, "I could go here." Well said, Nick.

After our visit to the U of O, we headed back to the hotel for a quick swim and then it was off to dinner at Kathy and Clint's house. We still had not seen Kathy (she was at work all day) and we were really looking forward to seeing her. On our way to their house we picked up fixins' for dinner at Trader Joe's and snapped a couple of shots as this is where Clint works -- take a look:



By the time we arrived at the house, Kathy was home from work (she is an occupational therapist in Springfield). It was great to see Kathy, and we all prepared dinner together while most of the kids played in the yard. I say most because Natalie was making earrings for Kathy and Katelin (Katelin was helping). It was really cute to see both families play and work together so well:



We ate our meal together in the backyard, with the 6 kids at the big table and the 4 adults at the little table, a complete table reversal! ;-) It was fun to catch up with Kathy and Clint and to watch the kids interact with one another. In fact when it was time to go Casey said, "I am going to miss you guys." Ohh, so sweet! It was a very nice family night.

After our hugs and kisses goodbye and promises to stay in closer contact, we headed off with Clint as our guide (he led the way in the Anderson van). Unfortunately, I had forgotten my Verizon wireless modem at the hotel so we needed to take a small detour before heading out of town. Clint led us back to the hotel (Eugene can be a bit tricky to navigate, especially at night) but only after a quick loop around the block...I had forgotten my wallet and Jill's laptop at the house! Man, I am losing it -- fortunately in one more day we'll be home!

We have arrived safely at the Springhill Suites by Marriott in Medford -- thanks for your prayers!!!

Peace,

Brian

Day 24 (31st): The Drive to Eugene

Hello Everyone,

Here we are at 10:30 pm, still driving to Eugene and I am blogging real-time in the car. We ended up staying until almost 3 pm in Spokane, with the kids swimming all day at the hotel and me trying to catch up on all of the overdue blog posts. We are now 20 minutes out from the Marriott Residence Inn in Eugene, Oregon so I will be brief.

Blogging at night in the car...


Traveling through eastern Washington is not too interesting as it is dry and arid throughout the region. Here are a couple of views from this part of the trip:



Pretty dull stuff. Although I will say that the cell phone coverage in Washington is excellent compared to some of the other states we've been in, especially South Dakota and Wyoming. Nick and I couldn't believe that we had 4-5 bars throughout from AT&T -- perhaps one of their executives lives in the area! ;-)

On our journey today we passed through the Yakima Indian Reservation. I was impressed with all of the produce they grow for sale, but also a little saddened by what looked to be some pretty tough living conditions. I will say that there were more American flags flown on that reservation than I had seen before, and there seemed to be a quiet dignity in the "Yakima Nation" signs I saw peppered throughout the reservation. Although I am not a gambler, I can see why Indian Gaming is allowed as a means for this community of people to create revenue.



After we passed through the reservation we hit the Columbia River Gorge and it is...MAGNIFICENT!! I told Jill tht it was always my favorite part of the drive home from Bozeman to Eureka, and I spent many a night parked in the gorge sleeping in my Volkswagen bug, thinking the wind was going to tip me over! Anyway, the gorge was as amazing as I remember it, with its wide expanses and whitecaps, trestle bridges that cross it with portions that can be raised for ships that cruise the river delivering goods, and railroad tracks and trains on either side of the river.

The Columbia River is the border between Washington and Oregon. This sign was posted on one of the many trestle bridges across the river:



Here are a few shots of the gorge, including one of a raised trestle bridge:





Pretty, huh? It was a beautiful time to travel through the gorge.

We followed I-84 through the gorge until we got to The Dalles dam where we stopped to fill up with gas. This leads to an interesting sidebar discussion: WHY can't you pump your own gas in Oregon? The guy at the station said it was started by an Oregonian governor years back as "something nice to do for the people" and it has never been rescinded. Is that funny or what? According to the guy at the pump there is only on other state that has this rule and tht is New Jersey (figures). Comments are welcomed on this scintillating topic.

Anyway The Dalles dam was spectacular -- the water was rushing out of the gates so fast it was creating Lunch Counter-like rapids in the river. It was an awesome and a massive structure -- American ingenuity at its best!

After the gorge it became a race against time to get to Eugene. We turned south on I-205 to the I-5 and soon we were pulling into our hotel parking lot. The kids immediately fell asleep (as soon as their faces hit their pillows) and Jill are now quietly sipping a cup of decaf in our room. Life is good -- thank you, Lord!

Goodnight,

Brian