The Long Drive Home and Meeting a Blog Friend: Day 16,17,and 18

We got up bright and early on day 16 to head home. Our plan was to drive all the way down I10 from where it meets the Pacific Ocean to home. We didn't have reservations for a campground for that night...we were just going to drive until Jason couldn't drive anymore and then stop for the night.

 We kept lots of snacks and big {cherry flavored} diet sodas handy to keep us awake on the way home. 

 The boys watched a couple of movies when they started getting restless and it was too dark to do anything else.

 We drove all the way through California and Arizona and about halfway through New Mexico before we stopped for the night. We ended up staying in the parking lot of a Walmart right off the interstate. I was a little worried about that, but we went in and talked to the {older than dirt} security guard and he said he would be looking out for us all night:)

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The next morning we started the drive through Texas. We passed Exit Zero on the state line between New Mexico and Texas. Who knew there was an Exit Zero!

 We made it to San Antonio just before dark. We set up camp and then headed out to find a steak for dinner! We found this fun place that was pretty yummy and WAY cheaper than all the other fancy steak places around Texas.

 The next morning we headed to downtown San Antonio with a stop for breakfast at the home turned restaurant and museum of the Pioneer Biscuit creator. The boys had pancakes, I had an amazing waffle, and Jason had their famous biscuits with gravy...yum!

 We found our way to the River Walk and took a trip on one of the fun boat tours.

 We checked out the Alamo!

 Then I had the pleasure of meeting one my SUPER fun bloggy friends, Julie. She brought her boys along {her hubby met us there too} and we headed to a fun Mexican place for lunch. Can you tell that all 5 of those boys together would be trouble:) It was so fun to meet Julie...I hope we can get back to San Antonio again soon for another visit!

The next morning we continued our LONG drive across Texas. We made a quick stop in Houston to visit Jason's cousin and eat some pizza with them...then we drove a little further before we stopped for the night.

 We finally made it back into Mississippi on the 18th day of our roadtrip! I have never been more happy to see that Welcome to Mississippi sign:)

San Francisco, Malibu, and L.A.: Day 13, 14, and 15

After enjoying the beach at Half Moon Bay, we headed to San Francisco. The first thing we had to see was the Golden Gate Bridge...and yes, the boys pointed out that it is not golden:)

 We took a ride on the famous cable cars, and checked out quite a few other spots in San Francisco {which I apparently didn't photograph}. We drove down Lombard Street, walked around Chinatown, went to Fisherman's Wharf, and we got to visit the Exploratorium for free!

 The next day we headed down to Malibu, and the first thing the boys wanted to do when we got there was check out the beach. We camped in Malibu, but we actually drove about 3 miles down to Zuma Beach {which is apparently where they filmed Baywatch}.

 The boys had a ton of fun skimboarding and splashing around in the {warmer than Half Moon Bay} waves.

 The day we visited a ton of places in Los Angeles.

*the Hollywood sign*

 *Griffith Observatory*

They were setting up for the premiere of Rock of Ages. We didn't see any stars, but it was neat to see all the stuff set up in the middle of Hollywood Blvd.

 *Grauman's Chinese Theater*

 *The Hollywood Walk of Fame*

 *Pink's*

 *The La Brea Tar Pits*

 And we ended our day with a walk down the Santa Monica Pier. 

The boys even got to ride on that fun roller coaster that you can see in the background.

We headed back to the Airstream, ate some fish tacos, and starting getting ready for the long trip home!

Our First Visit to the Pacific Ocean: Day 12

Half Moon Bay, California was

 beautiful and cold and windy,

but that didn't

stop the boys from

having a great time

and getting soaking wet!

Jason and I stayed high and dry on the sand:)

And then we watched the sun set into the Pacific Ocean!

Yosemite National Park: Day 9, 10, and 11

We spent two full days exploring,{day 9 was technically a driving day} and that wasn't nearly enough time to see all the amazing things that there are to see at Yosemite National Park. I think we probably only saw a third of the sights! We spent most of our time in the valley riding our bikes, hiking, and exploring. 

 Silly boys! I think Jason took this picture of the boys while I was trying not to pass out climbing up the {super steep} trail!

 We climbed the Mist Trail {almost} to the top. We quickly learned why they call it the Mist Trail...the mist from the waterfall started getting us wet right after we turned the corner up those steps. 

 The climb was well worth it when we got to the top! The view of the waterfall was awesome!

 And the boys were amazed at all the rainbows:)

 We hiked to Mirror Lake and walked across the freezing water. We splashed around in the water for probably 15 minutes and my feet were numb from the cold!

 The next morning we went to check out Yosemite Falls.

 We tried to go tubing on the Merced River, but Eli was 5 pounds too light for us to rent a raft! The boys were disappointed but there was plenty of other stuff for us to see and do. We did a little more exploring and hiking around the valley. 

After lunch a storm started rolling in, so we found some inside things to do for the rest of the day.

Hoover Dam and Sequoia National Park: Day 7 and 8

Day 7 was our REALLY LONG day of driving. We had at least 13 hours to go to get from Grand Canyon National Park to Sequoia National Park...and when your towing a camper behind you, and you can pretty much go ahead and add at least an extra hour to your time. We left the Grand Canyon before the sun was up and headed toward our one {planned} detour of the day: the Hoover Dam. 

 We left Arizona, drove into Nevada and then when we crossed the dam we were back in Arizona....that majorly confused the boys:)

 This picture was taken from the top of the dam. The bridge straight ahead is the new bypass.

 This place was HUGE and there was a ton of cement! We only had a few minutes so all we had time to do was park, walk across the dam, and take a few pictures. Jason would have loved to tour the dam and power plant, but with ten more hours of driving ahead of us there just wasn't time

 Then it was off to California!

 I'm not going to lie, the worst day of our whole trip was second half of day 7...I was in tears for probably two hours. We ended up driving up the Sierra Nevadas into Sequoia National Park after sunset. For someone who is used to the flat lands of Mississippi, those mountains were terrifying...especially after dark. The road was curvy and mountainous and we had no idea were we were going and how long it was going to take to get there. When we finally got to our campsite, it was too small for the Airstream! Talk about tears! We ended up just parking in the parking lot and sleeping for a few hours until the ranger station opened the next morning. Luckily we were able to find a new site the next morning and things started looking a little better. So we set up camp and headed out to see the Sequoias.

 They were amazing.
The boys were in awe...and so was I. They found this group of three trees and called them the brother trees: Henry, Grant, and Eli:)

 The General Sherman...the largest living thing on Earth.

We climbed to the top of Moro Rock. I think there were more than 400 steps!

But the climb was worth it when we got to the top! The views were amazing!

We finished the day with a hike along the river that ran through our campsite.