Saturday, July 07, 2007

California Dreamin'


Some time between Henry Ford's Model A and the construction of the Lincoln Highway the American Road Trip was born.

This is the third year in a row we have hit the road.

Last year it was Yellowstone and Montana.


The year before it was along the Oregon coast to the giant redwoods in California, and over to Crater Lake before heading home.


This year we are headed to Southern California.

The trip is a little different this year. Brenda isn't going, so it will be a guys' trip.

Isaac has been on a Christian youth retreat for the past week in Florida, so it will be good timing for he and I to talk about our faith.

The initial reason for the trip was a desire on my part to see my dad before he attempts a world speed record on a motorcycle. he has had a custom bike bult that burns nitro fuel, generating 400 horsepower. We will watch him streak across the Mojave Desert, and hoping he survives.

I plan on also seeing my mom near San Diego.

Other than that our plans are pretty fluid. We might head straight home if we get homesick, or we might swing through Yosemite. Who knows? Perhaps we'll even swing as far east as the Grand Canyon, though that would lead us on through Utak and Idaho, adding about a thousand miles to the trip.

I spent my childhood in California. It was rural then. Bean fields, orange groves, the countryside filled with scrub oaks and mesquite.

Now it is all city, and I don't find it that pleasant a place.

Everything is packed and ready to go. I've had the van checked over and it seems to be in pretty good shape.

Isaac arives at Portland International Airport at 9:30 tonight. We'll tuck him into bed, and I'll move he and Jeremiah to the van about 5:00 in the morn, and off we go.

What I really look forward to is a chance to spend a lot of time, up to two weeks, with my sons, and a lot of time pulling off the road to enjoy beautiful sights, a little solitude for prayer.

I've got several posts drafted so the fonts and such are the way I like and it will make posting easier if I choose to do so.

I plan on taking a lot of pictures.

Road trips have changed over the years, and this one will be unique, I'm sure.

Talk to all of you soon!


11 comments:

jel said...

HAVE AN AWESOME TIME !:)

Unknown said...

I hope you three have a glorious time together!

Curious Servant said...

I'm off! (I've been a little off all along!)

Gigi said...

Be praying for it to be a good Father and Sons time...ENJOY!!

Amrita said...

Have a good and safe trip.

Coco said...

Have a wonderful time with your boys... : )

Blessings.

Curious Servant said...

We have arrived in Lodi, California. We made about 550 miles from home today.

I paused in a small town I lived in when I was 5 & 6. took some pictures of the house I lived in. It seemed a little melancholy somehow.

The boys did great. It was pretty warm. About a hundred degrees F.


I ran the air conditioner on the last tank of gas. I'm going to calculate the cost for it. I suspect I'm not going to like the answer.

The boys love having me all to themselvves.

The feeling of the trip is very different without Brenda along.

jel said...

sounds like y'all are doing good!

safe trip!

Jim said...

Thanks CS, for the status report. It sounds likke you are having a nice trip so far. And yes, this year in California you will be needing that AC.
I wish our newspaper would carry things like motorcycle speed run results, it looks like I will have to keep checking in here.
So best of wishes (I don't believe in wishing luck) to him if he tries and best wishes if you decide to talk with him about it first.
..

Curious Servant said...

I'll keep the updates coming. When I see my dad I'll be sure to post pics of the bike and the run.

Jeremiah has gone out for a walk.

This is a rare thing.

We have kept such a close eye on him for so long... but if he is to be more independant I need to trust him more and give him opportunities to make his own decisions.

The whole thing about the fire is the real worry I still have.

I pray he makes good choices.

He is 18 now. He needs these chances.

The alarm went off in this hotel room at 4:00 and I haven't been able to get back to sleep.

Isaac is asleep though.

He had a good time at the Life conference and has asked several times for us to listen to a Christian CD on the road.

I'm looking forward to having some conversations with him about faith.

later.

Anonymous said...

i love trips that are loosely planned