Road Trip - Newport Beach

Friday, December 6th was a relaxing day getting settled and catching up with Grandma.  Late morning, Joe stopped by for a visit.  Joe is a huge help to Grandma...friendship, fixing things around the house, driving her to doctor's appointments, etc.  It was great to finally meet him, and Ben loved being able to have a little chat with him in Spanish.  After Joe left, Grandma took us out for lunch.  We got a car wash since our car was filthy from the long drive, picked up some groceries, and took a walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon.  The temperature was in the mid 60's...not super warm, but much better than the -40 degrees F that Calgary was experiencing.  Brrrr!  We ordered pizza for dinner, and then we curled up to watch a movie (while I multi-tasked and worked on Christmas cards).   

 

Saturday morning was another slow and relaxing one.  The Christmas cards were ready to be mailed, and we had a few items on the shopping "to do" list.  It was a rainy day, so Grandma and I hopped in the car and spent the afternoon running a few errands.  It was so nice to spend time together, just the two of us.  We enjoyed a late lunch, and then made our way back home.  That evening, we had dinner reservations at Orange County Mining Company.  This restaurant sits at the top of a hill in Orange, CA and has been a Holderby tradition since I was little.  It has a beautiful view of the city and a fun atmosphere...drinking from mason jars, eating salad from ice-cold mining pans, etc.  Not to mention, the food is delicious!  We had a great time, and I think the kids will remember their Lil Miner's Sundae for quite a while.  :)

 

On Sunday morning, I took Ben for a walk to a very special place...the "apple fritter" donut shop.  This donut shop sells fritters as big as your head, and I remember taking this walk as a little girl.  We bought some fritters and donuts, stopped by Starbucks for some coffee and Wi-Fi, and then home to enjoy our treats with the rest of the family.  The kids were a little cautious about trying the fritters, but once Ben took a bite, he said, "mmmm, good!"  Great-Grandpa would be proud.  :)  Ben and Grandma played a few rounds of Old Maid, and then it was time to get ready to venture out to the beach! 

It wasn't too warm, probably about 60 degrees, but that didn't stop the "Canadians" from enjoying some play time at Newport Beach.  Wow, what a rush of emotions for me!  I have so many special memories of spending sunny summer days here on vacation with Mom, Dad, Stacie, Grandma, and Grandpa.  And now, to have my own kids running in the sand and splashing in the water...my heart was full to say the least.  Ben rolled up his pants a bit and cautiously dipped his toes in the freezing water.  Before we knew it, he was wet up to his thighs and giggling like crazy.  Nathalie preferred to hang back in the sand, and eventually snuggled up with Daddy for a nap.  Ben and I kept busy collecting shells, writing "oceano" in the sand, and just enjoying the view.  By the time we left, Ben was soaked from the waist down.  We were a bit worried that we've become too Canadian...we brought coats and hats to the beach, but no towel or change of clothes.  Ha!  So, it was back to Grandma's for a quick change, and then back in the car to drive along the coast for a bit.

Nice and dry, we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway along Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, and Dana Point.  Simply beautiful.  We stopped a few places for pictures, and marveled at the homes we saw.  The homes themselves were extravagant, but it was even more amazing to imagine waking up to that view of the ocean!  It was early evening once we reached Dana Point, so we circled back and made our way home.  Dinner with Grandma, and then early to bed.  Tomorrow would be a big day...Disneyland, HERE WE COME!!

Road Trip - Journey to California

We had plans to visit Grandma last Christmas, before it was decided that we were moving to Calgary.  Well, the move caused us to change those plans, and so we thought a road trip this December to visit her was a great idea...sort of.  A great idea because we would get to spend time with Grandma, play at Disneyland, and enjoy some warm sunshine.  We weren't sure that the 'road trip' part of this plan was a great idea with two small-ish children, but there's no way to figure that out without giving it a try, eh?  So, please enjoy these next few installments that chronicle our adventure to and from California. 

 

The plan was to leave Calgary after Ben finished school on Tuesday, December 3rd and drive 6 hours to Helena, Montana and stay the night.  Mother Nature had other ideas, as a blizzard blew in that morning, and roads south to Montana were closed by early afternoon.  Our travel patience and adaptability were already being put to the test, and we hadn't even left yet!  :)  So, we spent the next 12 hours glued to weather and road reports.  We woke up super early on Wednesday morning and got on the road before 6 a.m., hoping to make up the lost time and still arrive in Salt Lake City, Utah by evening, as planned.  The roads leaving Calgary were decent, although the temps were still quite frigid...0 degrees F.  We drove 3 hours to Lethbridge, Alberta and stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and more coffee.

 

From Lethbridge, we drove south and crossed into the good ole US of A around 10:45 a.m.  We checked in with families via texts and made sure not to mention the semi-trucks that we were seeing in the ditches.  Really though, roads were pretty good, the sun was shining, and the kids were behaving wonderfully.  A great start for what was expected to be a long day...

About 12:30, the sun disappeared and the roads got icy as we started driving through the mountains.  We stopped in Helena, Montana about 2 p.m. for a late lunch, gas, and more coffee.  We stopped at Starbucks hoping to add to our travel mug collection, but alas, Starbucks does not consider Montana to be worthy of a mug...poor Montana.  We drove by the Capitol building, and then it was "on the road again" with me in the driver's seat!

The remainder of the drive through Montana was stressful.  Roads were slick and there were lots of winding mountain paths.  Not to mention the temps were rapidly falling (-18 degrees!) and, at times, we were the only ones in sight for miles and miles.  Yikes!  Even with all that stress, we were able to enjoy Montana's truly beautiful landscapes.  We crossed into Idaho in early evening and stopped in Idaho Falls around 8 p.m. for another potty break, gas, and COFFEE.  The roads were much better at this point, and the speed had increased to 75 and then 80 mph, so we were able to make up a bit of time that we lost in the mountains.  Greg took over the driving for the last leg of the day to Salt Lake City, Utah.  After 18 long - and sometimes terrifying - hours of traveling, we made it to SLC around midnight.  Whew!

Day 2 started a little slowly with showers and breakfast at the hotel.  We stopped at Starbucks for our Utah mug and some "fuel" (aka coffee), and then we drove around SLC for a bit to see the sights.  We drove around downtown, saw the Capitol building, saw the headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and stopped by Rice Stadium on the University of Utah campus - the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.  What a gorgeous city!  I'm not sure when we'll find ourselves in Utah again, but would love to come back and explore more of the city!

We left SLC around 10 a.m. with bright sunshine, clear roads, and a chilly 3 degrees F.  We marveled at the snow-covered mountains and passed the time singing songs and chatting on the phone.  Nathalie took a little snooze, and then we made a quick stop around noon for gas and a driver-switch.  It was Greg's turn to snooze, the kids watched a movie, and I belted out some Les Miserables.  What a sight we were!

We crossed into Arizona around 3:30 p.m., and the temp was now a balmy 30 degrees!  The snow was gone, and there was a winding mountain pass which woke Greg right up!  (He's not a big fan of these winding roads.) 

We were only in Arizona for about 30 minutes before we crossed into Nevada.  We couldn't get over how pretty it was and how much we had seen these past 2 days.  Snow-covered mountains and now dry desert.  We all got a little goofy on this stretch into Las Vegas.  Lots of crazy giggles and silly games.   

 

We got our first "drive-by" view of Las Vegas around 5 p.m.  We planned to stop and stay for the night on the way back to Calgary, so it was just a relatively short stop at El Pollo Loco for dinner, and then off we went!  But, temps are still climbing...now it's 40 degrees!  Yippee!  

 

Poor Greg drove the last long stretch from Vegas to Costa Mesa from 6:30 to 11 p.m.  The first few hours were tedious...the sky was dark, the road was straight, nothing to see.  The last few hours were stressful as we entered the mountains and then the Los Angeles traffic.  But, we arrived safely in Costa Mesa at 10 p.m. local time.  The kids were asleep, so we took them straight in to bed.  We unloaded the car, and then stayed up for another hour or so catching up with Grandma.  It was so great to see her!!!  At last, our eyes would not stay open any longer, and it was bedtime for all of us.  It had been a long journey, but amazing in so many ways.  The views were spectacular, the kids did surprisingly well, and we were safely at Grandma's.  Mission accomplished!