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I'm doing my 3rd Movember campaign, and have set up my MOspace page here

Things are looking fairly healthy at this point, and my annual MO-show is in full-swing. Perhaps I'll get a picture together and offer it here, but have recently been keeping a fairly low online-profile, so not really doing such things. Could say a low-MO PROfile ? Hmmm...anyhoo - I picked up a donation on-campus today for my campaign, so that makes it all worthwhile of course, as we're all doing it for such a great cause: prostate cancer awareness.

I've got an IP address on the Telus ADSL network. It was pretty easy to get, seeing as how I'm a Telus residential ADSL customer. Just booted up the DSL modem, and voila. There is my IP address, and I've got connectivity to the Net. If I want, I can even take my IP address, and resolve it into a hostname. Super easy, as long as you use a convenient tool on the command-line, or even a tool on the web.

Recently though, there has been a problem in taking that Telus hostname, and resolving it back to the IP address. The Telus DNS servers do not seem to be correctly resolving the forward-lookup, to translate their hostname into the IP address.

This is quite an important lookup to perform, and many agents on the Net will do such a lookup to confirm that your host is presenting consistent DNS information. For example, I experience a lengthy delay in trying to send outbound email messages through my ISP. When I go to send an outbound SMTP message, the remote sendmail daemon performs both forward and reverse DNS lookups, cannot get the forward lookup resolved, and I have to endure a lengthy timeout before the remote SMTP daemon lets the message go through.

Things have been broken for over a week, and I'm not the only one who has noticed. I raised a Tier 1 support issue via Telus Support Chat, but that was tricky trying to actually explain the problem. I don't think I was talking to a support bot, but they basically couldn't help me with "my" DNS problem. Well, no surprise there, really. I asked for a Tier 2 escalation, but things are still not resolving right.

Telus, your DNS used to work, but something has changed - what did you do ?

With sunshine and a bit of a Pacific north-west chill in the air, we headed out from Tumwater at about 830 this morning, with our last round of road-trip coffees.

Exit 104 off the I-5 takes you onto Route 101 northbound, for the drive up the Hood Canal, to Sequim and Port Angeles. I usually find this segment of the drive a little tedious, as the road is windy, and it takes longer than usual to cover the 93 miles. However, there was lots to see on this leg of the trip, and we played a fun game of "Spot the Barn". The barn-spotting was fun for kids and adults alike, although Charlotte raised a few exceptions on the adults finding the barns before she could even have a chance. So, the big kids then tried to NOT spot the barns, so Charlotte could spot the barns on her own. I guess we ended up playing "Not Spot the Barn".....anyhoo, something to do for a few miles.

Found a nice rest stop this morning at Dosewallips State Park, just off the 101 north of Brinnon, WA. Will have to keep that one in mind for this leg next time. As it turned out, we didn't need to stop at Hoodsport Coffee for a 2nd cuppa.

Pulled into town shortly after 11 AM. We had to be at the Coho dock at 1145 AM, so didn't quite have enough time to go play at the Port Angeles Dream Playground. Bummer. We ended up down at the beach near the dock doing some exploring, so that was OK. The play-structure down there wasn't quite what Charlotte had in mind, so she let me know.

The Coho trip over was spent largely on the outer decks, in some nice sunshine. We met a few other travelers, and the trip just flew by. We cleared the Customs shack without incident, and surprised the officer that a group as large as ours wasn't bringing back much of anything from the US.

Upon arriving home, we were amazed at how lush and green everything was. Seems as though the garden exploded with life while we were away. Charlotte's veggie garden did really well, with a bumper crop of salad greens ready to devour.

So - that wraps up Cali road-trip 2011......with about 160 KMs on the road today, that makes about 5000 KMs for the trip. For next time, I wanted to make a quick note of the stop-overs we made:

South: Victoria, BC -> Vancouver, WA -> Yreka, CA -> Gilroy, CA -> Pismo Beach, CA (via Monterey)

North: Pismo Beach, CA -> Tracy, CA (via Monterey) -> Rogue River, OR -> Tumwater, WA -> Victoria, BC

The leg from Tracy -> Rogue River is over 600 KMs, and requires planning for rest stops, playgrounds, and plenty of activities for kids in the car....

We hit Rogue Express Coffee, located in a caboose, first thing this morning. Their friendly staff managed to serve us up 6 drinks (using 3 personal mugs!) in record-time. This is always a great stop. Take the Rogue River exit off he I-5 to find it just off Depot Street.

I really enjoyed the drive this morning. A little mountainous, and curvy on the freeway. Not ideal for cruise-control. Very scenic in this part of Southern Oregon....one of the best parts of the trip, I say.

Stopped at the Lane County Rest Area for a break, and to let the kids play with their new stunt-flyers. I bought them these styrofoam planes (safe and soft!) to put together and play with, and that was a gas....

No stops in Roseburg or Rice Hill on this leg...

We bombed through Oregon pretty quickly, and had to stop on the bridge going over the Columbia River from Portland, OR over into Vancouver WA. The lift-bridge was up to let a ship pass, so we did a few minutes of idle time on the I-5. That gave us a chance to plan for a stop in downtown Vancouver at Esther Short Park, a location that we got familiar with during the Conference on the way down. The kids blew off the playground, and kicked off their shoes in favour of the water park by the clock-tower. Very cool creek-like setup that they have made down there...

After a driver swap, Lance drove the final leg from Vancouver up to Tumwater, our stop for the night. We usually overnight in Tumwater, at exit 102, the cut-off to the 101 up Hood Canal to get to the Coho dock in Port Angeles.

We've never really explored Tumwater too much, but tonight Charlotte and I got out for an adventure after dinner. We ended up down at Tumwater Falls Park, exploring the falls, the hatchery, and the park down around the playground. The playground was packed with kids, getting their beans out after dinner. Great wooden-built adventure playground. Lots of climbing apparatus. Cool if your kid is a climber. We also flipped the stunt-flaps on our flyer and had a few good tosses with that unit - glad we didn't lose it in any trees, or in the river - it flies WAY farther than I planned.

Lots of cool info-graphics in the park, relating the local history....so we read those together to learn a bit more about the surrounding area.

Man it was hot in Tracy. Apparently it was 93 F in town yesterday. We shoved off this morning with another full flat of water in the van, and a round of coffees. We've got to do our 300 miles (at least), so it was nice to start around 830 AM this morning.

I drove the first leg of the trip, and I think I had the cruise-control on for most of the way north, through Stockton, and Sacramento, and then onto Redding. We stopped somewhere in the rice-growing area again, and the kids had a run-around in the rest area. This one had trees, so the kids did some tree-climbing.

It was pretty hot out today, so we had the A/C on most of the drive. Too bad we didn't pack some jazz CDs. We've enjoyed "Hey Diddle Diddle" once or twice, and W does a nice couple of versions of his own, so that provides some entertainment.

We did a gas stop south of Redding, CA, and got our bearings for the afternoon portion of the trip. We decided to stop in Redding, and take the kids to Caldwell Park to play. There is so much to see and do in this part of the state that it's too bad we don't make it a destination of its own. Perhaps on a future trip. We've got our travel guides highlighted with the various things to do like the Turtle Bay Exploration Park.

We did a driver-change, and Lance drove the final leg north to another of our preferred stops, in Rogue River, Oregon.

The fun parts of the evening: getting a couple of legendary pizzas from Abby's, swimming in the hotel pool, enjoying the local scenery, and appreciating the peace and quiet of this beautiful area.

The disappointing part of the evening: watching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC. It was just a bummer that I don't want to go on about here.

We didn't get the directions to the hotel, just the address. I don't have the data-roaming enabled on the mobile, so couldn't get the map from the 'net. We decided to go old-school and ask for directions once we got to town.

I drove down Eleventh St. for a bit, and pulled over in this plaza to ask for pointers. I had unwittingly discovered 1 of 2 Indian Spice joints in town, and this store featured a cooler full of Indian sweets.

I love Indian sweets. Don't have them often, and don't know much about them, other than they are a TREAT.

Distracted by the opportunity to load up on sweets, I asked the clerk for directions to Clover Street. Hmmm, those sweets were tempting. I'd have to ask the clerk to pick them out of the bulk display, and figure out some way NOT to load the kids with sweets right before the end of the day. I took the safe road, and left the store with only the directions to the hotel, further west. At least we were on the right track.

Turns out Clover Street is in chunks across town, and we ended up on the wrong chunk. One of the back-seat drivers had spotted a service station just a block away, so I pulled in there to ask for further directions, and we got there with a quick jaunt back on the freeway.

After the kids took a dip in the pool, dinner, bath, story and bed time, I went out for a night-drive in search of those sweets. Getting back to the location on Eleventh St., at 843 PM, I found that they had closed at 8 PM. Doh. Shoulda grabbed those sweets earlier!, and smuggled them back into the car.

I toured the rest of Eleventh, Tracy Blvd, and Grant Line road all the way to the freeway. After doing a U-turn by Mountain Mikes Pizza, I saw a small sign on the boulevard announcing that "Indian Spices" were in this plaza! I musta peeled a bit of Pirelli rubber onto the pavement as I made a hard right turn into the plaza, parking near the Indian Spice joint that was still OPEN! Gazzaaa! On going into the shop, I asked the clerk if they sold Indian Sweets, and he pointed out both the end-display right in front of me, and then another cooler-FULL near the back of the store. GaaZING-gaZAA!

They had over a dozen varieties of sweets in bulk pre-packs, and even had combo-packs with several differrent types of sweets all in 1 box. OH YAH. I walked out with 1 box, but then that little voice inside me begged me to return for more, so I went back in to buy another box. This was an epic stop. And the night wasn't done!

I noted there was an Indian restaurant at the end of the plaza and went down to check it out - buffet. Hmmm.....should I go in for an Indian buffet meal at 9 PM, right before bed ?! Hmmm, am I shopping while I am hungry?! Mountain Mikes Pizza was also still open, offering a full-menu of pizzas and domestic beers. Naw.

I decided to get back in the van and head back to the hotel. On the way, I thought I 'd better find the local Starbucks, so tracked it down in the block right across from the hotel. That would be the first stop in the morning. Another find was located right NEXT door to the coffee shop - Milano Pizza, with a neon sign reading "Pizza By The Slice". I went in and asked the clerk if it was too late to get a slice - he says "No, we make each one fresh, and we get lots of students coming in late." Awesome. I ordered up a slice of the Combination, and was soon delivered a massive slice - this would equal a small-size personal pizza in some joints. It was just what I needed, and while chowing on the slice, I blogged this entry, wiping some oil from these keys....

Glad I went offline to find our way....

Left shell Beach at 9:54 AM, from the Steaming Bean. Our last round of drinks here for a while, always sad to say "So long" to the gang at the shop. They really enjoyed the kids, which is great. and the kids really enjoyed the pile of toys in the kiddie-corner by the front-window. By far, the most kid-friendly coffee-shop I've ever bean too. (Couldn't resist the pun!)

Today Wolfe accidently spilled a bit of his drink and got really upset. The staff had a wipe-up cloth close by, so Daddy cleaned up that spill lickety-quick. Too bad Wolfe got shushed by some old fart trying to enjoy his morning coffee in silence. *sigh*

We headed north on route 101 for Monterey, CA, to stop and play at the Dennis the Menace Park. We were all working on 16 oz. coffees, which usually means a stop near Gonzales for a 'rest'. I was holding mine, and was a little surprised that everyone else held theirs....

The play-time at Dennis the Menace park was good, but with some bouts of upset here and there. Wolfe was really really enjoying the full-size steam-locomotive they have on site, but it was a little crazy in there with all these other kiddies in various states of pretend-play about their train trips. As soon as we got in there, we had some kids yelling at us to get off the train, some kids yelling at us the train was going to explode, and Wolfe just ignored them and decided the train was a boat, and he was gonna float it out of the station. I know he doesnt' do well in crowds, so steered him outta there and onto the various other play-structures in the park. *whew*

I only lost Charlotte once, but found her again quickly. She's going thru a bit of a get-away-from-Daddy phase. Makes me worry when I lose sight of her....

Back on the road around 2 PM to head up onto Hwy 1 north on the coast, then over to Route 156 East to cut over to the I-5. We could drive up through the Bay Area, but Lance usually recommends that we steer clear of all that traffic. Indeed, there is a portion of that route where there are 7 lanes going each way, so it is a high-volume zone.

Route 156 is a rather painless drive up over the mountains, past the San Luis Resevoir, to get to the I-5. The resevoir is almost full, given the heavy rains the region has had this past winter/spring.

We bombed past our usual stop at Patterson, and the kids were sill up, but rapidly losing composure. This leg Charlotte was doing a bit of finger-knitting, and fighting off Wolfe, who wanted her yarn. Wolfe would take to the occasional bout of screaming, which really adds some spirit and volume to the trip.

Anyhoo - I had bolted the 1-800 number for Best Western into my phone, so got Lance to do the deed with their reservations line. We ended up in the Best Western in Tracy, CA, on Clover Road near Tracy Blvd., just off the freeway that heads out to San Fran. We got to the location in a round-about sort of way, which I'll have to relate in the next post....as it became an adventure of its own....

Monday dawned foggy. But only at the beach. Once we cleared the hills on the 101 northbound, the sun came out. Hot day today. In San Luis Obispo for most of the morning. The kids wanted to go play 1 more time at the Children's Museum. Sunny Mondays are great days to go - there really weren't that busy. In fact, me and Wolfe had the JellyBean Junction (Train Room) all to ourselves! ALL ABOARD! They actually did almost 3 hours in there, which was quite a long-time for them.

Returned to Shell Beach, and I ended up taking the kids down to Dinosaur Caves Park, and this time we ended up IN THE CAVES!

One thing led to another in there...and we ended up below the cliffs.....will have to fill in the rest later, as I have to leave Swacks WiFi zone here...great wings and WiFi at Swacks!

A mostly-sunny Sunday. The kids are always full-of-beans first thing in the morning, so we usually start with a stop at the Dinosaur Caves. There are cement dinosuars to climb on, and we'll have to find the caves later....

Not too far to the south is the Oceano Beach Dunes Recreation area. Not only call you drive your car, van, or RV on the beach, but you can also take your dune-buggy out onto the sand-dunes to burn around.

We parked in the day-use area, and went out onto the beach to play in the sand. There's no shortage of sand on this beach. I've still got a picture or 2 on my iPhone, but you need a panorama-feature to really get a shot of the whole scene - its like 20 miles of sand. And waves that stretch forever. Not too much swell this morning, so just wee little breakers kissing the shore of the beach.

Me and Wolfe took charge of the plastic shovels while Charlotte scampered around in the water for a bit with Mommy. Then we traded kids, and Charlotte decided to go on a dune-hike to the north, in search of fresh-water. It's a couple of miles north to Pismo Pier, and luckily she found a creek coming off a lagoon or something before we got there. Meanwhile, back near the lifeguard shack, there were other goings-on; Wolfe was getting buried in a deep sand-hole, and there was a traffic incident on the beach! yes! Some beach-motorist in a small SUV had strayed NORTH of the vehicles-only area, capturing the attention of the lifeguard in his dune-buggy. The lifeguard/beach traffic cop wasted NO time in getting into that buggy, turning on the 2 blinking mini-lights, and tearing after this clown. Turns out the motorist was a little hard to pull over on the beach, but he eventually was schooled as to where to drive his ride...south of the lifeguard tower.

After returning to Shell Beach, Charlotte and I did some more bike-riding, and observe several teams moving stuff out of a couple of local homes. The Cal Poly graduation ceremonies have been going on the last few days, and I found out that our neighbour has just graduated with her Architecture degree. Looks like she is moving home right away. Another neighbour was also packing up....so, busy times on the street. Charlotte rode really well, with only 1 minor wipe-out. She gets right back on that bike though....

Stayed pretty local today. The kids went down to Dinosaur Caves Park in the morning, before I left the house. I caught up with them after making a coffee, and then loaded all into the van for a short trip down to Oceano. Justine wanted to see the lagoon, near the RV Park and the dunes.

The lagoon area was protected from development in the 1920s, and is now home to many insects, birds, and lagoon-loving plants. We went for a bit of a walk on the circle-trail, and then Wolfe collided with nap-time.

Returned to Shell Beach for the afternoon, where me and Charlotte did more bike-riding. She is getting really good at keeping her balance when riding slow. I'm now trying to get her to work on starting on her own....

We did some I Spy on the Mac after that, and even Daddy was stymied by one of the levels. We needed to find the screw on the dining-room table in the Spooky Mansion Deluxe, and ARGH!! I spent so long peering around the screen, and couldn't find it. Although I wouldn't recommend "cheating" on the level, I did resort to asking Google for help, and randomly clicking around the screen to uncover the object. It was clearly hidden by a master-illustrator.

I got out to surf at the very end of the day, after a brief shopping trip on the strip in Pismo. I already had my wetsuit half-on, but that's no biggee : I figgered that wearing one's wetsuit on a shopping trip in a surf-town was A-OK. I bought a couple of goodies for the kids before heading down the strip with my board to ride some waves.

Pretty typical conditions for the end of day, south of the Pier. Very windy, and heavily blown out. Oh well. The good news is that the wetsuit patch held nicely!

I spy surf at end of day, south of pier, also went shopping with half-suit on. Cal-Poly graduation festivities are happening around here.

The last few days have been starting out foggy on the coast, so we have to wait for a bit for the sun to burn through. This morning (Friday) we headed out under foggy skies to Laguna Lake, just north of Shell Beach. Stopped at Steaming Bean for coffees, as I didn't make a pot of auto-drip at the house. Justine has been doing special-espressos the last few days as a holiday treat. I picked her up a 16 oz. drink called Denise's Milky Way, a couple shots of espresso with milk chocolate, caramel, and steamed milk. YUM.

Arrived at the park, where they have a pretty great playground, that I have reviewed before. Kids had a good play-session, while the fog burned off. Not as many ducks, swans, and other cross-breeds as we saw last time here. We also kept our eyes peeled for the coyotes in the scrub across from the parking lot, but we didn't see them either. This may not be their summer home ?

We returned for Shell Beach for lunch, and Wolfe had a massive 2-hour nap in the van, after which he was fully-refreshed and ready to take charge of the afternoon. We just hung around the house for the rest of the afternoon, preparing for this evenings gigantic lasagna chow-down.

Uncle John and Pamela brought 2 big pans of home-made lasagna with them to the beach-house for this weekend, and we enjoyed that for dinner tonight. There was some discussion about whether it was "too cheesy", but we chowed heavily nonetheless. I enjoyed so many pieces that I got a little tired after the meal (no, this was not an "incident").

I made efforts to rally and make up my mind as to what to do after dinner. Among the options; bath/story/bedtime with the kids, watch Canucks Game 5 vs. Boston, or go surfing. Hmmm, a tough set of options indeed. I like to do story-time, and help to get the kids wound down for bed. Watching Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup final were not memorable TV events for me, other than I will always remember being down here watching the games on VERSUS and seeing the Canucks struggle to find some offense. I wasn't quite sure I was ready for more of the same in Game 5. The surf was calling, so I headed up to Silver Shoals and found 11 guys out crowding the peak. It only breaks in one place, so I decided it was too packed to join in. I stopped at Spyglass and checked it out - only 3 guys, but the waves were farther apart, and I wasn't quite ready to compete with the reef, as I was feeling a little bagged. Being on the waves when tired is not smart for me. Went back to the house and watched the game with John - by the end of the 2nd period it was still 0-0, so the Canucks were back in it. The 3rd period was great, and Lapierre found the back of the net, so this was a much better showing than in Games 3 and 4.....

Made an AM trip to tide pools at the end of the street. Charlotte was in her element down at the beach, finding lots of treasures, and really enjoying the scene. Wolfe, not so much. He's not really a beach-lover. He's more into the forest, or mountains. Or coffee-shops. We ended up taking him off the beach to the Steaming Bean, while Charlotte continued her low-tide treasure-hunt.

Wolfe wasn't feeling too well last night, and seemed to be a bit off his game today as well. He had some trouble making up his mind as to what he wanted to do today. A mid-day nap didn't sort things out either. The kids ended up staying inside most of the rest of the day, and taking it easy. Charlotte and I did some scrap-booking, and "I Spy" on the computer. Wolfe made a couple of trips out in the car, and that was about it.

I headed down to Pismo to surf on the south side of the pier. Pulling the wetsuit on when it is a little damp is always a little tougher, and I had a wetsuit wipe-out of sorts when I was suiting up. I pulled up on the chest to fit the upper body properly when I tore a massive whole in the crotch. DOH! At first I thought, well, that isn't so bad - with a gaping whole in the crotch, I can still achieve a full range of motion, so I might as well go out and surf. But, I'd certainly freeze more than just my butt off out there, so decided that my suit was toast, and that I'd call it a day. This wetsuit I picked up in 1992, is the HotLine Freeze Fighter, tuned for arctic swell conditions, with 6/5/4 mm thickness specs.

Luckily, there was still time for 1 more adventure, so I decided to visit a few local surf shops and see about what to do next. Hit Esteem right off the pier, and they had repair-cement, but no patch kits. They also had lots of new and used suits, but none to my specifications : I want 6 mm thick in the body, with a hoodie attached. Lots of those up in Canada for sure - down here they mostly have 4 mm thick and no hoodies. Oh well. Next stop: Pancho's. Great visit. Colin hooked me up with a can of industrial strength Neoprene Cement, and an Iron-Mend neoprene patch kit. Gazaa! They had a wetssuit sale going on, and actually had a 6/5/4 O'Neill in there, with hoodie, in my size for $349 (new). Good stuff. New suit not really in the budget, so I bought the repair supplies, and headed back to Shell Beach. Stopped at Shell Beach Surf Shop (my favourite surf shop down here) to see Stu, and he showed me the suits he had - very nice (Patagonia-nice!) but not quite what I was looking for.

So, after the kids got to bed, I spent the evening in the well-ventilated garage applying the patch, and the cement. If this patch works out, then I'll add wetsuit repair to my resume. If it doesn't, then I'll likely call Baja Bob in town, and see if he can do the repair....

Hit the 101 southbound at around 9 AM this morning under cloudy skies, for our trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo. It is about 95 miles down the road, so about 90 minutes in the car, accounting for stops. Our stop this time was the classic "Daddy I've got to go pee" stop, as we've heard before. We found a deluxe pit-stop on the north end of Santa Maria for Charlotte. Wolfe napped on the way, so was in great shape to burn off some steam at the Zoo.

We know the layout pretty well at this point, so can target our favourite animals to visit. Too bad the monitor lizard was out for maintenance. Looked like a couple of the turtles were mating, the elephants were feeding, and the gibbons were swinging around on their ropes. The lions were sleeping of course, because they do that 20 hours per day.

Charlotte played for quite some time in the kids' play area, on the turf sliding hill. Meanwhile, Wolfe checked out the silverback gorillas, fed the giraffes, and caught up with the condors. I took Charlotte over to feed the giraffes, and got all the specs on Mommy Audrey (3 years old) and her baby, 5 months old and 400 lbs. Growing like a weed. There are 2 more giraffes in there, and they chow through about 1/2 case of romaine lettuce a day, among other eats.

We also did the train ride, with Poppi taking Charlotte up into the front seat, and Wolfe and I rode in the back seat. Of course he got really upset when the train left the station, and he saw Mommy waving bu-bye from the platform. Oh dear, what a start. Luckily his clouds cleared as we began to clickety-clack around that track.

The kids were fairly done after almost 3 hours in there, and it was time to head home. Good thing there was time for 1 more adventure! I took the helm of the van, and headed off into Santa Barbara seeking a coffee shop, along Milpas Street. I know where the Daily Grind is, just to the north, up the freeway, and off at the Mission St. exit. But, I figgered I would track us down alternates. Wasn't too far along Milpas St. before I found a Winchell's, and I was tempted by that all-American option. I heard that State St. had a number of coffee shops, but didn't know where that was. I meandered through various side streets north of the freeway, and encountered many interesting sights, including 2 buildings with cow-sculptures on top of them. Neat! Lots of great old buildings to check out. Stumbled onto State St. before too long, and did the drive. This is like the main cruise in old-town, and is mostly a pedestrian shopping village. There are 2 lanes for traffic, but they've removed all the curbside parking - just as well, because the street has a nice vibe with all the extra-wide sidewalks, and all the people walking about. Found a Starbuck's, and parked off the drive just behind the classic Santa Barbara Hotel.

Back on the 101 northbound, the kids fell asleep - so tuckered out. Maybe we're jamming in too many fun activities here ? Anyhoo, just one stop, in Los Alamos for gas at the Chevron.....the sun was now out, and it was hot. Got back to Shell Beach, and it was sunny and hot out. No time left to surf, so will try for that tomorrow...

I was aiming for a trip north on the 101 to San Simeon to see the elephant seals, but the kids wanted to take another run at the Children's Museum, so we headed into San Luis Obispo instead. Not so crowded today, and the kids had lots of fun in there. Since our last visit, someone had re-orged the layout on the train-table, and left some nice loops and cut-overs in place. Good times.

After leaving the SLOCM, we walked through downtown SLO, and stopped for snacks at the Cowboy Cookie outlet. Next stop was Mitchell Park for a lengthy play-session with a number of other kids there. Charlotte took a great deal of interest in an older fellow with a metal-detector. We got to talking, and looking for treasure is among his many interests.

Got back to Shell Beach in the PM, with enough time for Daddy to head out for some high-tide waves. I checked Spyglass, and there were 5 guys out. There wasn't a lot of swell in the forecast, so I was surprised to see it going off - sort of. I've seen a really sweet right-hand peel down here, and ridden it before. Today, it looked like it wasn't quite high enough, or coming in at the right direction to make the same break. There's also some submerged rocks down there I wasn't quite sure I could navigate around, so headed down to Pismo for a 1-hour session. At one point I was the only one out, and things were a little end-of-dayish. You know, too windy, and a little blown-out. Rode it anyway, as there's really no such thing as a bad day on the waves.

At this point in my surfing experience, I'm surfing the California Central-Coast more than anywhere back home. (The short session out on Cox Bay this past April was the first time I've ridden near home in quite a few years). I find it helps to head out on the same breaks in a variety of different wind, tide, and swell conditions so that you can get the feel of the break in different contexts. The learning never ends.

On the way up the stairs back to the van, I was thinking about how nice it is to be able to get out on the waves on a regular basis. To get out regularly in Victoria, I'd have to change sports, and take up wind-surfing, or kite-boarding. Maybe I should look into that. The alternative of course, would be to stay with surfing, and move out of town. Haven't really been looking for IT work on the Central Coast though....moving to America would be another thing....

Couldn't get a dialup connection on Monday night, as the modem dialer erred out with "the remote computer did not respond". Bummer. But them's the risks. Will catch up now, and back-date some content....

Am getting more familiar with the tides down here during this season. Looks like low-tides are in the morning, and high-tides in the afternoon. That means our tide-pool excursions to the local beach need to be in the morning, not in the afternoon, like in the Fall. Ah.

Just after low-tide this morning, I was down at Pismo Pier, going in for another few wave-rides. I must have mentioned somewhere here before that the riding is all in the timing. Today's session was no exception. Like this first one that I felt I timed right, and got up in time to take the drop on, it just died underneath me and I sank. Oh well, that wasn't my ride. Then this next one, which I didn't really want, but it wanted me, so away I went - too bad I couldn't get up a little faster to make that one a little more notable. Lots of chances out here. And then my ride came in. Managed to turn into it at the right time, and ride it to the right all the way in. Working on turns a bit, and this new board seems to turn pretty easy for me. Nice I'm getting my surf forecasts here on magicseaweed, if you want to follow along.

Took the kids back down to Dinosuar Caves Park, where Charlotte and I did some more practice on her bike-riding. She's making really good progress, and today I noted she was able to keep her balance at a slower speed, and while riding through the mid-puddles left behind by this weekend's rain. We had the park to ourself for a while, under sunny, hot skies. Some more kids soon showed up, and we all ended up in a big old sand-pile dig up. Yup. A bit of a shovel-scuffle to kick things off, but 1 of the Moms broke out her secret laundry-hamper full of plastic sand toys, so that made enough for everyone to have their own digging implement - *whew* ! So we all got to work on digging, shaping, piling, smashing, sifting, and smoothing our various sand piles. Good times.

At 5 PM, Game 3 started, so I tuned in to that. Not a pretty sight, with Canucks going down 8-1. They lead the series 2-1.

Finished off the day with some WiFi and wings down at Swacks.

Sunday dawned with rain, so no AM trips to the playground for us. The weather guy on KSBY said that they haven't seen June rains like this in 60 years. We decided to load the snack-pack and head south to Santa Barabara, and vist the the Natural History Museum.

Rained most of the way down the 101, with only 1 stop for gas, in Buellton. Was tempted by the (apparently) world-famous pea soup at Andersen's and the gas-station coffee at the Shell outlet, but didn't bite on either. The Shell station had a mini-mart that was mega-stocked with packaged snacks. For some reason, the shelves were parrticularly well stocked and nicely front-faced with every kind of packaged snack you could imagine; chips, gum, candy bars, pepperonis, doughnuts, cookies, you name it. Because I'm a Canadian traveling with no US cash, and don't debit at the pump, I have to enter each station to get them to authoirze my Visa card for the pumps. At least this way I have a chance to check out all these mini-marts - and confirm that the usual trappings are available in great quantity.

Anyhoo - a great visit to the Natural History Museum, although we missed the outdoor exhibits, including the special Butterfly Exhibit, due to the downpour. Among the exhibits we saw inside were:

• Marine Life: with huge giant-squid replica
• Chumash Life: very neat exhibit on the life of the local First-Nations peoples
• Plants and Insects: creepy-crawlies, and hands-on stuff for kids
• Geology and Paleontology: evolution of the earth, rocks, and big-history stuff
• Mammals: the local resident animals
• Birds: great stuffed bird exhibit, with neat selection of birds nests, filled with replica eggs. At least I think those were replica eggs.
• Astronomy Center: very cool exhibit, with interactive solar-system model, interactive 3D star map for the local galaxy, and neat infrared sensor screen

We've definitely got more to see the next time we come back. I'd like to check out the Observatory, and the Dino Dig.

On the way out of town, we drove through some minor streams pooling down some of the side streets, and stopped at the Daily Grind Espresso and Juice Bar for coffees and smootihes for the road. Tip for travelers: they only take cash, so come prepared. I was dry, but Lance had some US paper currency on hand *whew*. Don't think they take Canadian down here, which is too bad, given the the current exchange rate.

The drive back up the 101 was good - kids were napping, and the rain was intermittent. By the time we got to Grover Beach, the sun was out, and our spirits were lifting. Grabbed supplies from Von's, where Lance got to use his Safeway card. Their data analysts are probably going ga-ga over the fact that we bought russet baking potatoes in BULK instead of buying their pre-packaged 4-pack of baker-potatoes. And we heavily skewed the online consumer profile with a purchase of pre-sliced Muenster cheese. Ho Ho!

The forecast holds sun for the next few days, so hopefully we be back outside again....

.

Weather conditions are a major blah. Very cloudy out there, with heavy rain all day. Hmm, what to do with the kids on a rainy Saturday ? The same thing as every other kid in SLO : take them to the Children's Museum! They open at 10 AM, and we got there shortly after opening, so managed to beat the rush. We must have had a solid hour in there before the rest of town showed up, so that was good. W managed to take charge of the train table, and the Brio Locomotive without getting into too much trouble. All aboard! One of the things I noticed while up on the 3rd floor, a zone recommended for those 4 and under: a Yellow caution sign noting "Max Occupancy: 34". I wondered if this was a building safety rating, or a note to parents that only that many toddlers can realistically be managed in this space - only accessible by elevator. The staff were keeping an eye on things, communicating to each other via walkie-talkie the number of people crowding the upper-level.

C was down on the dress-up stage doing a Western role-play, on the large stuffed horse they have in there. We packed up that visit around 2.5 hours in, and headed out of town on the 101. Still raining out heavily. Blah. W fell asleep right away, as he was bagged from that play-time adventure. Did I mention that he was playing hard in the plastic-kitchen, being a chef, and serving up Daddy an entree of plastic ice-cream cones? Anyhoo, nap-time stretched through the shopping trip at New Frontiers, and all the way back to Shell Beach. It was still raining in the afternoon, so after lunch we just worked on colouring books, stories, and the cartoons we're packing on the computer. We also installed the new "I Spy" software on the computer for the kids to play with, so that was lots of fun. I Spy is a Good Game for the kids these days.

Speaking of games, Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final started on NBC around 5 PM, so I made it through the 1st period before dinner.....missed most of the 3rd and OT due to bath/story/bed time. Sounds like OT ended quick. Will have to catch highlights on WiFi later.

<geek note>After kids went to bed, I took a bit of an interest in dialup Internet performance, and did some poking around on websiteoptimization.com, and asked it to analyse the URL cbc.ca/sports for web-page download performance; It turns out that your browser needs to make 155 HTTP requests to download all the content at that URL, a total of 1430908 bytes. With a 56 Kbps connection, their analysis estimates the download time at 316.18 seconds, over 5 minutes! Huh! I'm finding a lot of sites are like that, and if the average person's wait time for a page to render is 10 seconds, there is just no way that sites like that are useable in the dialup context. This is actually interesting to note for web-developers and site architects. </geek note>

It's supposed to be rainy tomorrow too, so we'll have to come up with another indoor-activity. Blah.

Wolfe was up at 0530 this morning, and thinking about getting into action. Mommy got him to think about going back to sleep, and luckily he thought that was a good plan, so pounded the pillow until almost 0700. Good thinking, Wolfe.

I had a plan arranged to go out surfing this morning, and that worked out nicely. The kids wanted to hit the playground, so off they went with Mommy and Poppi.

The swell is a little lower this morning, still on a decline from Wednesday's peak. The low tide was at 0610, so was still climbing when I got down to the Pismo Pier at 0900 or so. Lots of folks out, and it was NOT windy this morning, which makes for a nice treat. I've got the 8'4" board I bought last time here, and this was the 2nd time I've taken it out. Plenty of elbow room out there just north of the Pier, and caught some decent rides.

I still need to work on getting up quicker, and could definitely take a lesson or two from one of the old-timers that was out there this AM. This guy didn't know it, but he was giving a tutorial out there on how to pick a wave, and ride it with classic style. I so dig seeing the seasoned locals out there riding the waves, it's always a pleasure to watch. He must have had 10 or 15 years on me anyway, and I'd estimate he's been surfing a lifetime. He paddles out past me, and sits to wait for his first ride, which wasn't long. He's got a bit of a wider board, with a fun-shape. He's likely picked the right board from his collection, for this morning's conditions. So he makes his pick, a rather unremarkable wave, and makes just 2 paddles before his push, and is on his feet in no time. He cut to the left, facing the wave, and went right behind me, so I had a great look at his ride. This is a classic scene, just like in those longboarding surf videos I've got at home. This time, the footage is live, I'm in the front row, and I had to peel my eyeballs away from the scene so I ccould keep a watch out for my next wave.

It wasn't long before my ride in came, and it took me a couple more paddles, and a less elegant push to get up on this one. Somehow, I got more than I bargained for on this wave, as it took me for a long ride, almost all the way into the beach. I couldn't believe the energy that just kept coming out of this mushy beach break. And this board seems to have quite a bit going for it. A shout out to SLO craigslist! I picked up so much stoke on that ride, that I figured I'd end the session on a high-note.

Stayed close to Shell Beach for the rest of the day. Charlotte and I did more practice on her bike-riding, and then we went down to the beach at the end of the street to check on the tide pools. The tide was still too high to access the beach, and the pools, so we ended up at the Steaming Bean with the rest of the gang. Ordered the Caramello, an espresso and caramel treat, very nice.

Hmm....should have gone to bed before 0130 last night. Feeling a bit rough this AM, and again, kids up at first light, raring to go. Didn't really get too much breakfast in them, as their kid-level spirits were a little too hard to manage this AM. We took them down to Dinosaur Caves park to get their beans out before 8 AM. Luckily the SeaSide Cafe is already open, and we got coffees on the way by. At last, non-Bucks brewed coffee! Kazoing!

Windy and sunny again this morning. Last night at Swacks, Karen advised that it is very windy this time of year. We're glad the sun is out though, as last fall we had all those really foggy days down here. Went back to the house for some breakfast somewhere mid-morning, and then arrived a Wolfe's cranky-time. Uh oh. That's right. Right on schedule. He needed a ride in the van, so off to town we went. He was asleep by the time we got to downtown San Luis Obispo. This time, we dropped Charlotte, Mommy, and Momo off at Mitchell Park to play, and me and Poppi took Wolfe back out along the freeway to hit the New Frontiers. He slept for an hour or so, while I shopped up a storm. Took charge of their bulk-section, loading up on all sorts of goodies that I don't usually find elsewhere, like organic cream-of-wheat, and organic fruit&nut bar chunks. Yum!

Returned to SLO to grab Charlotte, and the kids played for a while longer there with some other youngsters.

Later on that afternoon, our hosts John and Pamela arrived, so we had a nice family round-up going on. Charlotte decided that she'd like to do some more bike-riding practice. So, on went the helmet, and out came the bike. Not to be left too far behind, Wolfe demanded his helmet and scooter too. Charlotte has selected Daddy as her preferred coach, so we went out onto the street for more practice. The street is nice and wide, flat, doesn't have too much traffic, or too many cars parked on it. This is a bit of a laid-back beach community, so actually a great place for a 5 year-old to learn to ride a bike. She's been on training-wheels recently, so has developed a bit of a tendency to lean to one side on them. Riding upright and balanced is a bit of a new thing, but she is getting the hang of it pretty well.

She likes me to keep one hand on her until she feels pretty steady, so we went up and down the street a couple of times to give her a chance to practice that balance, and for Daddy to get a light jog in. She was wobbling and tipping a little bit here and there, so I kept her out of trouble on those first couple of tries. On the next try, my hand didn't leave her shoulder until I could see that she was doing fairly well, and then away she went...! There it was, that moment that so many kids have with their parents, where they ride free, on their own....and this time, that's my kid!

On one of her trips down the street, Poppi came out with the Canon and shot some video, so we could capture Charlotte's first ride digitally. Neat, and timely!

We were not entirely free of mishaps, however. I failed to provide adequate instruction on the notion of "tip and turn". That is, if you tip to one side, you'll likely turn the bike in the direction of the tip. Unfortunately, Charlotte learned this the hard way. We were going down the street together, and I had let her go, so she was riding on her own. Until she tipped to the left a bit, and the bike made a left turn that took her right into the side of a parked truck. OW! She was just out of my reach, so I couldn't quite prevent the crash. She got upset, got a cuddle from Mommy, and then climbed back on the bike to take another turn. *whew* The only lasting damage was to the front-reflector on the bike. Cracked, and broke a piece off it. I'll try and fix with glue....

Bright and sunny this morning. Kids up at first light. We ended up at Dinosaur Caves Park this AM for some play-time, and I should have worn more than a t-shirt and shorts. The sun was shining brightly, but the wind was really coming in off the ocean. Brrrr....next time I'll bring my jacket. We'll also remember to not play too close to the bluffs, because it looks like a large chunk has fallen into the ocean since we were last here, and the safety ropes are up to keep everyone away.

Came home for some breakfast, then Wolfe needed a nap, so we put him in the car for a short drive to New Fonrtiers for supplies. He was out for an hour or so, and he needed it. We took him shopping for sandals after he woke up, and that was only a minor disaster - he wanted pairs that didn't fit, and didn't want the pairs that he claimed to want before. So....you know, a shopping excursion with a 2-year old. What else to say. A challenge. He really-really wanted these Disney princess sandals, but we're still keeping the Disney princesses on the shelf where they belong. To secure him some sandals, I ended up taking him back to the van, so that Mommy could shop solo to find him something. Luckily we got him something to wear for the summer that will handle sand, keep his feet cool, and allow him to run around on the playground. Great!

We've got a bike for Charlotte stowed down here, so we pumped up the tires and took it down to Dinosaur Caves park for her. We brought a scooter for Wolfe from home. This time we didn't pack Charlotte's training wheels, so this would have to be the vacation where she learns to ride her bike. So, Charlotte and I spent a good time learning how to stay balanced, and pedal, and look where you're going, etc. All that good bike-lesson stuff. We'll practice more tomorrow. Today was not to be the day she rode free....

Home for dinner, then bath, stories, bed by 830 PM. Kids are tired right out. Daddy then went to Swacks for WiFi, wings, and Canucks game highlights ( 1-0 win over Boston in Game 1)

I've got a journal going in hard-copy right now. Been doing 1 entry per day for a couple years now. I have been buying smaller notebooks, so that I can cycle through different ones with higher frequency. Used to by a 365-day journal every year. A bit of daily journal-therapy works for me....just writing it out, you know? I note my penmanship is declining, though. I might be the only one able to read these notes...

I know my blog is well-past its peak, when the creative-writing juices were really flowing, like 8-10 years ago. Glad that stuff is still online, and I do miss the stoke of those days. There was a creative-energy I really liked extending through this medium, but I'm out of that phase now in these years. It's hard to explain, but I don't feel like I have the same range of motion in terms of creative-spark, online-sharing, and publishing-energy. There is a part of me that still wants to, but I find that my creative-energies are drained by other activities, and I have little spirit left over to get down to business in here. Also, I've got a personal-privacy envelope that seems to flutter open and shut over time, and there's times when I don't really feel like sharing much here.

I don't want to close my blog either, as there are times like now when I just like to bounce things into it. I've noticed a pattern though: when I'm on vacation, I've got more time to blog, and get things online here. Case in point - I'm in the back-seat of the van, during business hours, and writing in my road-trip journal.....

Hey, look at that, I just got a 49.2 Kbps connection to the Telus dialup pool down here. And last night I got 46.0 Kbps. I know this external modem can DO 56.0 Kbps, and I haven't got that lucky yet. Because you know if you're doing 49.2 Kbps, you really really want that extra little bit of speed to make the session kick some serious bits around.

So, what do I think about dialup ? I think I'm glad that I got online. I've got a couple of things going for me - I travel with a 56K USB external, and my high-speed provider offers global dialup as part of the residential package that I pay for. So if I pay for it, might as well use it!

The neighbours have secured WiFi, and I have yet to stumble upon a well-known password that will let me on. I'm thinking about knocking on a few doors down here, and see if I can rent some WiFi time for a bottle of wine or something....

Hey, check that out : just did a Google image search, and the result set is dressed with this message: "You are seeing the basic version because we think your Internet connection is slow". Good to see that Google is catering to my bandwidth - nice feature!

I know there are some web sites that you just can't use on dialup. Also, I'd like to watch the Canucks game tonight, but won't even try squeezing the game from cbc.ca/sports down this pipe....will have to follow along on the web site, or the Canucks chat-forum or something....

Kids up at 0700 this AM. Stayed at the Super 8 in Gilroy this time, though we noted it was not as Super as last time. The price was right though, and we are keeping an eye on the budget. Staying closer to Monterey or San Fran is a little pricier.

There is a Starbucks kiosk on the sidewalk in the outlet location across the street, so that was our first stop. I usually opt for a 1/2 decaf americano, and the rest of the gang gets lattes. The kids usually get a junior steamer, with tiger-stripes, but not this time.

With coffees loaded, we headed on the 101 down to the Monterey Peninsula. No fog on the coast, and wesaw some dudes out surfing near Sand City, aptly named it would appear, in amongst all these sand dunes north of Monterey City. A bit of volume on the exit into town, due to a nasty fender-bender just before the turn-off to downtown. Ouch. Looked like a fresh one, and drivers were OK, but likely in shock. In amongst the mayhem was some 90-year old in a Honda that almost drove into me while they were jockeying for a new position. My passengers were telling me to lay on the horn, but I find that I don't really have that reflex at the ready. Just don't honk a lot, so when it comes down to actually needing to, I usually miss the mark. Sometimes I manage to turn out a polite beep, or a toot, rather than a real gutsy honk, know what I mean? Weird. I know there is only 1 tone, but there is some sort of art to laying on the horn that I just don't have. Yet. Maybe I should work on it?

We had a great visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, this the 3rd visit for all of us but Wolfe (2nd time). We did the Kelp Forest, the Splash Zone, the Jelly Fish Gallery, the Seahorses, the Penguins, yah - very impressive undersea exhibits - and the GIANT OCTOPUS! Wolfe liked that one. We saw this Leafy Sea Dragon, something I have never heard of, or seen before. Check out this youtube clip for a visual. Looks like a sea-horse that has sprouted a bush out of itself.

We snuck past the Dennis the Menace Adventure Playground (closed on Tuesdays) on our way out of town. We've made a plan with Charlotte to stop there on the way back home, but you never know when there is going to be a massive fit about a playground-bypass.

We hit route 68 for the drive toward Salinas, and had a sun-soaked tour-de-veg this time. Last time it rained quite heavily on this leg. Didn't gaze out so much at the fields of veg this time, as I was nose down in the Netbook. That made this leg go by pretty quick.

We hit the Chevron just south of Salinas where I treated myself to a gas-station coffee. Mmmmmmmm....you know I'm a coffee enthusuast when I'll tank my personal mug with 16 oz of Farmer's Coffee from their thermos, and add non-dairy, flavoured creamers. Only the finest gas-station coffee, I say.

Charlotte has resigned herself to the middle seat for the trip south, and me and Wolfe are taking charge of the back-row. At the time of writing, we've got the Music Together CDs on, and Wolfe is drawing and counting in my journal. He's counting from 1 to 25 or 29 these days. When whe reaches 29, he usually pauses for a bit of help and then arrives at "20-10" on his own. When I give him "30" he starts up again at 31 and keeps going. He's got my hard-copy journal out and doing some drawings in there for me. Yesterday at this time, he was having fun with the iPhone, and shot several minutes of video of himself, laughing hysterically into the phone. Those vids are gonna be great to play back!

We pulled off the 101 to hit our preferred grocery store, the New Frontiers outlet. Ooops, they've moved to a shiny new store farther south. Back onto the 101, and then exit at Los Osos Road. I navigated Lance to the store, and in we went to do our shopping.

Checking out new grocery stores is fun for the whole family. I know, because my Dad used to take the family into new stores that we would encounter on our various road-trips. That's something you do as a grocery-family, you check out grocery stores. I would always be surprised that we'd end up somewhere on the Island or the Lower Mainland where I had never been, but my Dad would lead us into these stores and always be greeted by staff there that new his name : "Hey Reg !" How did my Dad know so many people ? How did they choose to lay out this store ? These thoughts are with me when I enter a new store for the first time.

Only a couple miles south to Shell Beach, and we arrived at Uncle John's house under sunny skies. We've never been here in June before, so this should be interesting to see how different it is around here than in the Fall...

Kids are off their schedule big time, once again sleeping in until almost 8 AM. A bit of a rough ride getting out the door, as the kids are unsettled travelers. After finally getting everything and everyone packed into the van, Wolfe had an absolute meltdown because it was Charlotte's turn to ride in the back car-seat with Momo. He didn't want to sit in the middle row with Mommy, so we sat there for 15 minutes or so, trying to work that out. Charlotte eventually performed the gracious manoeuvre of offering her turn to him, so that he could sit in the back. This cleared the logjam, and allowed us to leave Yreka at 10:15 AM.

Daddy was driving the first leg, and needed coffee well before the usual stop in Redding, so we peeled off the road at Weed, and made a nice stop for coffee Ellie's Espresso and Bakery, on the main (only?) street. Great coffee, and yummy pastry. I'm trying to do less Starbuck's coffee on this trip, and so far, this is the first non-Buck's bean I've had.

The last time we left Yreka, it was dark, so we missed all that there is see around here, most notably Mt. Shasta, and the other sights along the Volcanic Legacy Highway. This morning, almost all of Shasta was in view, still loaded with snow, and the peak hidden by clouds. An awesome site, the way it just rises out of the surrounding plains....

The Shasta Lake is WAY up since last fall, when we saw the effects of drought quite clearly on the level of the reservoir. This year, the lake is nearly full, as there is no red-rim showing around the edge of the lake. WOW - they must have had a wet winter down here.

We made many miles while Wolfe slept in the back-seat, not pulling over until we needed gas, and then again at the Maxwell Rest Area deep in the heart of rice growing country.

We switched drivers and made the southbound cruise on I5 untli the 505 Westbound towards the Bay Area. Then the 680 south around the east side of the Bay. Heading for San Jose. Once again, Lance is piloting along 7 lanes of freeway, and there's good volume, and things moving pretty smooth. The interchange cut-over to 101 is cool, because you're way up on this ramp, and then get this great view over the rest of the freeway far below. We'll be on the 101 for most of the rest of the way, so it's good to get there.

Finally pulled in to Gilroy, CA at 1745 or so. Whew, another long drive. Kids are tired, and feeling the length of this journey.

Final day of the conference. Charlotte went to a finger-knitting funshop this morning, and learned a new skill. She's now busy finger-knitting various balls of yarn that Momo and Mommy have in their knitting bags. Wow. She said she would even teach me how to do it! And she told me that single-knitting comes before double-knitting.

Mommy went to hear Jeff and Ginger Sabo speak at 11 AM, while me and Wolfe played "Don't Break the Ice" in the Games room. Been probably about 35+ years since I played that one - good to see that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Bashing those plastic bricks is still a good time!

Man there was lots of river-traffic last night. We've got the bridge for I-5 just out the window. There is a section of the bridge that lifts to let the boats go by underneath. Just to the west, there is a rail bridge that has a swinging-section. So, lots of moving-bridge action from our hotel-room vantage point. Lots of trains. Great location for train-watching. Tons of rail-traffic happening at all hours it seems. Which reminds me that the since the Dayliner went offline on the Island, that there have been none of the familiar rail-sounds around town for a little while now. Bummer.

So, packed the van up, and left Vancouver, WA at 1200, heading south on the I-5. Tonight's stop would be in Yreka, CA. The ride through Oregon went pretty well, but lots of rain. Made a stop at the Cabin Creek rest area (southbound), and the rain let up just long enough for us to have the kids run around outside.

Needed coffee and gas at the same stop, and that would be Eugene, OR on this leg of the trip. Some small trouble with the back-seat driving on this stop, but we managed to find the right gas-station, and get a full tank without getting lost. Stops in the past have been Rice Hill, and Cottage Grove, but not this time, as we blew by both those stops.

We weren't going to make it over the pass before dinner time, so had to stop in Medford, OR for dinner. Took the kids to Red Lobster, and that worked out fairly well. You'll see in the picture here that they took a liking to the pile of firewood outside the restaurant, and set out to build a campfire, right there in the front doorway. Another fun part of this stop was the lobster-petting that was a surprise on our way out. The kids were taking an interest in the tank full of lobsters in the lobby, and the hostess asked the kids if they would like to check one out - yah! So she pulls out a drink tray, grabs the biggest lobster from the tank, and pulls it out for the kids to inspect. They are SO into undersea creatures right now, and I think this may have been quite a surprise for them to see this big lobster up so close - and to pet its belly! yes!

Made the final leg over the pass, through the banned-fruit checkpoint (we never travel with fruit banned in California), and arrived at the Mountain View Motel in Yreka, CA, a preferred stop around 8:30 or so. A little chilly in northern CA tonight. Guess summer isn't quite here yet ?

I hit the talk Jeff Sabo gave this morning called "Dads Included". Based on his experience, when Mom is leading the charge into unschooling, Dad has 2 choices:

• To be left behind, and not involved
• To run fast to catch up

I ltook a lot of notes in my journal on this talk, as I have a lot to gain from the experience of other Dads in the area of unschooling. Some of the points he made, that I noted:

• unschooling as an advanced-parenting path, requiring a deeper level of commitment to the self, your partner, and the journey itself, which can throw a lot of curves balls, and where it is easier to get lost.
• Connectedness: partners need to remain connected through a high degree of change. Making choices that benefit the whole family is key to a joyful journey (as this is supposed to be about joyful living, after all)
• Dad needs to keep an eye on his baggage for this trip, so that he knows what sorts of expectations, hopes, fears, and dreams he might be bringing along with him.

His talk was followed by a group discussion, where parents could share their various perspectives based on their experiences. There was a surprising amount of discussion on how Dads can make smooth transitions between the structured world of work, and the often-unstructured home environment of their unschoolers. Sounds like it's different for every family.

Just found this post on his site that captures many of the experiences and ideas he presented at the conference.

In the afternoon I attended an afternoon discussion that covered a lot of ground around unschoolers and access to post-secondary education, access to the job-market, skills-development, motivation, and where the path of developing one's own interests can lead. I had a couple of "ah-ha" moments in this talk that sat well with me, given my own path through the post-secondary system.

The kids made their way out to the local playground today, and also had fun at the Conference. Charlotte ended up in a magic-wizard role-play with some other kids in the dress-up room, and Wolfe and I took charge of the train-room for a while in the afternoon. We've never had THAT MANY wooden train tracks and train cars to put together before - good stuff.

The talent show on Saturday night was fun, from the sounds of it. I only caught a bit of it, what with story-time, bed-time and all that. Kids are off their schedule right now, with bed-time much later than usual.

Attended a great panel at the Conference this morning, a Dad's Panel, featuring 7 unschooling Dads that all offered their perspectives on a variety of questions sourced from the crowd. I'm essentially a newbie in this scene, and am trying to find my way through the home-schooling or unschooling scene. I'm really interested in all the discussion around parenting, schooling-choices, family lifestyle, communication, connectedness, and what its like to take this alternative path.

The unschooling movement is about child-centred learning, where the kids learn what they want to learn, based on their own interests. It's not about following a predefined program of learning and having to "keep-up" with the crowd. I've still got a lot of my own de-schooling to do, and this is something that I find myself working on lately.

If you want to read a blog by someone much more actively involved in the unschooling movement, then try Jeff Sabo's blog. He is here, and I'll attend his talk tomorrow.

The afternoon session was alsos really good - I am now a member of the Secret Society for Unschooling DadS, so the SUDSS group met for 2 hours of discussion about unschooling and parenting topics. An excellent selection of micro-brew beer was available for the session. I contributed a bit to the discussion on the reality (or not) of competitiveness in the traditional school-setting, and the degree to which the absence of that is a factor for those in an unschooling setting. Great comments on that from several of the Dads. I joined the newbies group, but there were Dads involved in the discussion that have many years of unschooling experience, so it was great to get a more-seasoned view of it all.

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Well, here we go again, launching the crew on the annual California road-trip, this time making it a Spring-time adventure.

I don't feel like I'm ready for this road-trip, as we just went down in Oct/2010, and that trip is still fresh in my mind. It's also super-hectic at work, with many balls in the air right now. Along with the technical stuff, I'm doing some team-building, and getting a chance to work with some folks I've not worked with before - always a cool thing to do.

Anyhoo....will try to keep up with a blog item for each day of the trip.....so here we go....

I think I got enough packing done in the wee hours of last night, but couldn't shake that feeling that I'd forgotten something. Lance got the packing puzzle all figured out and the mini-van left our place in time for the 0900 arrival down at the COHO dock.

We took the 1030 sailing down to Port Angeles, and on driving the van off the ship, I realized that my soft-top surf racks were still back at home - DOH! Oh well, I'll get the surfboard to the beach like how I used to - tossing it inside the van, asking passengers to duck if needed

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Really enjoyed this post on positive psychology. If you've got 21 minutes, then watch the video clips of Shawn Achor's talk, but GeekMom has included a summary of his points on how to cultivate personal happiness. It seems that more and more science is showing that re-shaping the brain is possible.

We can choose to be happy, and the results include enhanced productivity. I'm going to make a more invested effort in multi-tasking less.