We stopped for several cool down breaks. Too hot to accomplish anything.
Hailey and Reilly were feeling the need to burn off some energy so they ran relay races and exercised. They had watched the movie Kicking and Screaming and decided they had to have a soccer ball and needed to play. So we took the opportunity to shop and cool down in a air conditioned store and picked up a soccer ball in Medford. Briefly scouring the town for a park or field we decided to head down the highway and find a place along the way. Fifteen miles down the highway we found the Rogue River Rest Stop. We organized the van and kicked the soccer ball around.Strangely enough, we found ourselves thinking yet again that it's true what they say, everything does happen for a reason. It's not the first time on our journey that we have been overwhelmed with the feeling of there truly being a higher power. At this rest stop we were honoured with the privilege of saving a woman's life. She nearly died in my arms. We came across her and she approached me handing me an epinephrine kit and a cell phone. She had been stung by a bee and was severely allergic. She was unable to give herself the shot. We administered the shot and called an ambulance as well as her family. She lost her eye sight. I had to hold her to keep her from banging her head and talk her through it while she convulsed and spasmed. She was gasping for air and struggling to breath. Her eyes rolled and she went limp, unconscious. Realizing I may have to give her mouth to mouth her body stiffened and she came back, thank God, and began gasping once again. It felt like forever waiting for the ambulance and checking her breathing, while she slipped in and out of consciousness. Finally they arrived and took over. Then it sunk in what we had just faced. We are updating our first aid. You never know. The kids were amazing. They were calm and stayed clear. Reilly of course provided comic relief and in a brief moment of clarity could be heard singing at the top of his lungs in the tune of a marching song, "I don't know what I've been told, there's someone unconscious in the bathrooooom, I don't know what I've been told, there's a lady passed out on the flooooor!" Or something like that. Hailey peeked and asked questions later. She was afraid that something might happen to her.
We found out her name was Jackie and she had a husband and two kids and that she was going to make it. Hallelujah!
Take nothing for granted, live every moment and accept all situations even if they are the worst. Move forward to the good moments again and appreciate everything. Trivial things don't matter. It doesn't matter what your job is or your education or how much you have or don't have or whether your tall or short or skinny or not or rich or poor, if you're liked or not. It's all meaningless. Every moment we have is all we have. Do your best and live in the moment. Don't judge people, because you never really know a persons story or why they are they way you perceive them to be. Life is good and there is a God. We have been made aware of this more that once. There is never any reason to worry because everything has a place and a time. We have walked away from this trip learning and reconfirming the most important lessons we ever could have imagined to learn.
Can we go home now?
With energy and emotions still high, we drove on until two am. Replaying the previous events over and over in my mind I had come across several things we could have done differently or better. She lived and that's all that matters.
We slept in a rest stop in Vancouver Washington. We had breakfast and picked up the newly released and anxiously awaited Miley Cyrus cd hot off the shelf and on to Seattle. We did what we had to do in Seattle and stopped for lunch in Everett. We are exhausted and I wish we could cross our arms, snap our fingers and blink ourselves home.
There's no place like home!
6201 km later we have arrived. We accomplished most of what we wanted to do and then some. We are safe and healthy and very grateful. We are truely blessed. Now, let's get on with life.......
The Finale.....Oh Canada!
Sadly, we remain undiscovered. From there we went out to view the freaky people on Venice Beach. 
From here we decided to head North, forgoing San Diego until next time, so as day breaks we find ourselves 400 miles up the I-5 in San Francisco once again. Reilly and Hailey checked out a restaurant fire at Ghiardelli's 
then we spent the day riding the trolleys, one of which was the oldest one in the city at 126 years old.
we drove north through Santa Rosa (home town of Snoopy's creator Charles M. Schultz). Then a night drive over the mountains past Clear Lake and up to Redding.
We're all tired, 
half of us have blistered feet, and I have an excellent farmer's tan. Today we hit the road again, I think we're heading into Hollywood and maybe down to Venice Beach
and have dinner at my new favorite fast(ish) food restaurant, Rubio's. The grilled chipotle shrimp burrito is the best. Reilly likes the salsa bar. We got back to the hotel just before Disneyland's nightly fireworks show(which is excellent) much to our surprise we have a perfect vantage point for them right from our balcony. Today we started out in California Adventure park
and came back to the hotel for a swim and supper, soon we'll had back for the Electric Parade, then over to Disneyland.
, left at 1130pm. 
Too tired, woke up with a wicked cold. Today we switch hotels, closer to Disneyland.
and on to Monterey. Monterey, we had heard, has world class aquarium. So we paid our 80 plus dollars with high hopes, but it was quite a disappointment. Although the layout was nice, the fish on display were less than impressive. Hailey had been looking forward to seeing whales and dolphins but she had to settle for otters and a singular seal. Reilly had wanted to see their collection of sharks but they only had three that were more than 3 feet long and none of those were over 6 feet. We're really looking forward to Sea World in San Diego now. Then we went through Mr. Eastwood's former reign of Carmel-By-The-Sea and on down the coast. Along the winding headland cliff-edged roads we drove into a pullout to take a picture of an old bridge. 
It was here that I saw a man with two ducks running around and a cage on top of his worn down 1983 Chrysler station wagon(which he obviously lived in) with two rabbits and a young turkey (chick?) in it. The kids came over to see the animals and he was very upbeat and friendly despite his current situation. He had collected some nice shells on the beaches far below and gave them to the kids when they gave him 5 bucks to buy his ducks a meal. Previous to meeting him we had been having quite the discussion on what we all wanted to get out of this trip, after our encounter the kids realized if this guy could be happy that some of their complaints were a bit petty. We headed further down the coast and saw first hand the results of the freshly extinguished brush fires.
We arrived in Big Sur as it started to get dark and the Delica was getting low on diesel, after asking around we found out there was no diesel there and none down the coastal highway so we had to turn back towards Carmel. It was dark as we came upon our new friend again, he was sitting on a rock overlooking the Pacific playing guitar for his pets the black rabbit on a rock the turkey in his jacket to stay warm. We thanked him for his lesson to the kids and gave him a few bucks more, he then placed the black rabbit on his head 
and proceeded to recite a tragic poem his father had written about life at sea. So we fueled up in Monterey and navigated through the dark backroads to Salinas and down the 101. I decided to pull an all nighter at the wheel while the others slept and after a few quick stops to nap we made it as far as Santa Barbara by morning. On the advice of a local passing by, we had breakfast out on the public pier. He told us to ignore what we saw on the menu and ask for the 2 dollar breakfast that they don't advertise. Pancakes, bacon and eggs. Not a bad deal. Then we made the final 100 mile drive to Anaheim which felt more like 200. It's 9pm now and I'm sitting poolside typing this as the kids have a final swim of the day.
We started at the zoo and spent 3 hours there. Then it was off to Lombard Street to join the line up of tourists to drive down the curviest street in the world. 
I think a brake shop would be a good business to start in this town, the angles of the hills are unlike any other city I know of. Next, we had ice cream at Ben & Jerry's right on the corner of Haight and Ashbury, amongst the hippies. 
It seemed fitting that since this was the home to the Grateful Dead that my flavour ice cream was Cherry Garcia. 
As evening started to fall we knew we had to head down the highway but time for one more stop we found a cool shop called Trader Joe's. Tons of in-house brands, including their own beers! The majority of the food was organic, but the most surprising thing about the store was the prices. They were by far the best we've found, organic or not. As we left San Francisco southbound on the 280 we agreed we'll swing by here on the way back up. The next morning we had breakfast at a little-known restaurant (Scottish I think) called McDonald's. That's pretty good seeing as that's been our first Rotten Ronnie's stop of the trip. We finally found a laundromat in Santa Clara and another Trader Joe's too! After that we headed down to Gilroy - The Garlic Capitol Of The World. As you come into town through the numerous fruit stands the air smells of garlic (what a surprise). Every once in a while you pass a semi on the roads loaded with garlic bulbs.
We lunched at a barbeque restaurant, Famous Dave's. "Those were the best ribs in the world I bet," Hailey states. Our camp site is at San Luis Reservoir about 30 minutes out of town, and if you like standing under the hot air hand dryer in the public washroom, you'd like the weather. 
At Hollister, just south of here there is a motorbike rally so there been tons of bikes around. 
The sun is starting to set on our second evening here, when we see the sun again we have to make a choice. 
Either we head out to Santa Cruz on the coast or head East to the I-5 and make a run for Disneyland.
We spent the morning on the beach watching surfers and playing in the water which by the way is still freezing cold. When will it warm up? 
After cleaning up we took the kids to Fisherman's Pier. Dinner was clam chowder in a sour dough bowl, Hailey agreed it tasted better than canned clam chowder. 
We asked them what their favorite part of today was and the highlight for them was watching a single sea lion in the bay posing for all who would watch. They were so happy 
and it was totally free. That right there makes this trip so incredibly worth while. Tomorrow we go to the zoo and other stuff!
On the windy mountain route from Route 101 to Route 1 Hailey then Reilly took turns getting car sick, the microsuede apolstry cleans up quite well actually. By the time we got to Westport the van was running on fumes. As we pulled into the one gas station/liquor store/deli it was almost my turn to be sick when I was told that the nearest diesel was still another 15 miles South in Fort Bragg. At Fort Bragg we fueled up, groceried up and got some take out from Safeway and took to the deserted beach at Jug Handle State Reserve for supper. Tons of kelp on the beach and many varieties of wild flowers growing out of the cliffs.
South from there, Nicole fell in love with every little coastal village we came upon. We agreed just driving this coastline would make a great vacation. We watched the sun sink into the Pacific just past Anchor Bay then set up camp at Gualala for the night.
The beaches are incredible here and you rarely see anyone else. Onto the Dunes near Florence, amazing! As you drive through town you can see dunes in the background higher than the stores on the street. The campground at the dunes was full but we spent the full day there climbing and descending the dunes. The kids spent a couple hours in the lake there. Another hour south we were in Coos Bay for the fireworks. The lead-up to the show was filled with local(yokel) colour. About 200 people with about only a full set of teeth between them setting off fireworks in the crowd until the actual show. The real show itself was spectacular. 
