Right after Cameron left us in March, we really needed a road trip. We took the opportunity to visit John's grandmother, Rita Bender, in Sacramento. She had been declining for some time and we are so glad we took the trip since she passed away two weeks after we saw her. While we didn't get any photos of our actual visit with her, we did get some of the side trips we made.
Our first stop was Tacoma where we got to meet my new cousin (first cousin once removed, actually), Max William Major. He's such a cutie and so tiny! I had forgotten how small a newborn can be.
From Tacoma we drove to Prospect, OR and stayed at the Prospect Hotel Bed and Breakfast. We were the only guests and had to stay in one of the smaller rooms behind the house since they didn't have time to heat the main house for us. We had dinner at a surprisingly good Mexican restaurant and the next morning drove to Crater Lake. It was beautiful, but cold so we didn't stay too long. We also had a long drive ahead of us since we needed to get to Sacramento that day.
We took the long back way to I5 which gave us a back side view of Mt. Shasta that we probably won't see again.
We stayed 4 days in Sacramento visiting the family there and spending as much time with Grandma Bender as we could. We stayed at another bed and breakfast downtown, Vizcaya. This was a fun place to stay. It is an old home from the Gold Rush times, surrounded by other homes of the same time that reminded me a lot of the style of the house in Lady and The Tramp. I could totally have a house like this one, except that I would probably need a maid!
We decided to take Highway 101 back home because I had never done that before and it would take us through Seaside, letting us see my family. We stayed two nights in Crescent City at the Anna Wolf House bed and breakfast. We used the one day we had there to hike through some of the redwood forests. It was really amazing and so beautiful. John said that it felt like being in a cathedral.
Our last stop was Seaside, OR. It happened to be the last time we will be there for a long time since my brother,sister, and nieces have moved back to Billings. We had a fun time playing around, having dinner, and watching a movie.
John & I took the girls to the local arcade and Bella did a great job on the motorcycle game! We also played a lot of Air Hockey and Ski-Ball (my favorite). We pooled all of our tickets and the girls came away with a good load of candy.
It was very nice to get out on the road, see places that are off the beaten path, and spend time with family whom we had not seen since before we left Los Angeles. We also highly recommend staying in Bed & Breakfasts. It's the best way to go!
