In the midst of another surge in gasoline prices (we paid up to $4.79 a gallon in California!), what on earth would make us want tow this U-Haul trailer all the way across the country and back?Well, besides the opportunity to visit with friends and family, there was all that stuff we left in a storage shed in California about three-and-a-half years ago, before we moved to Guatemala. Over the last few years, the monthly storage fee just about doubled, so we figured it was time to put an end to that situation.
The ultimate destination: our storage shed up by the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mission accomplished! The stuff all fit with plenty of space to spare. Meanwhile, we had Rowan and Kina for over 5000 miles of highway (around $1600 in gas!). And how do you suppose they did? Well, Kina's never a problem - just about the best travel dog you could imagine. As for Rowan, he got hooked on DVDs: Elmo, Barney, Word-World, etc.
He also got hooked on snacks - all day long! He mostly ate healthy food, but in the photo above, he'd managed to reach one of Daddy's snacks.
And, inevitably he would nap. Sometimes with his hand down his pants. 
He generally enjoyed eating in the dozens of restaurants we patronized, and as usual, he would often try to befriend the waitresses and other customers with his cute-as-can-be antics.
And, whenever he got the chance, he explored. Perhaps we could all benefit from taking more time to explore?
For the first week, we drove the I-10 corridor from New Orleans to Los Angeles, visiting friends and family in Texas and Arizona and doing a little camping in the desert. We stopped for visits in:New Orleans
Houston
Austin
Tucson
Los Angeles
The second week, we drove up the central California coast and spent 4 days in our former home, the San Francisco Bay Area. We stopped to visit in:
Santa Barbara
Pismo Beach
San Jose
Bonny Doon
Pacifica
Oakland
San Francisco
Walnut Creek
Finally, after loading our stuff out of the storage shed, we spent the third week in Road Warrior mode, driving long days and pushing the farthest limits of toddler carseat-tolerance. After spending the first 16 nights of the trip in our friends' and family's guest rooms or the tent, we spent the final 4 nights in Motel 6's along the I-40 corridor.
We've put together a photo-log of the trip, including some of the beautiful places we visited, as well as friends and family and, of course, lots of pictures of Rowan. Click here to start at the beginning of the trip. Click here to go back to the main page.
