Independence Day (2019) and the Day After

 Happy Birthday America!!!

Backtracking to Seaside from Newport. 

We always make a stop at Depoe Bay when we're on the Oregon Coast. Depoe Bay harbor is a 6 acre harbor that the city promotes as the world's smallest navigable harbor. It's a small beach town but their bay is worth the stop because it's a great place to spot whales! and lucky for us we saw a whale. About time too because we hadn't been lucky in the past.

I'm still in awe of all the pretty pines in the PNW! I remember moving from AZ and thinking, look at how green it is here! It was also my first time in WA, back in 2012. I still love admiring all the evergreens. The 101 is very picturesque. I really don't like taking the 5 and avoid is as often as possible. 

We arrived in Seaside (where there's a fireworks show) around 2:40 pm. For the past few visits to Seaside we've been stopping by Ruby's Roadside Grill. They have wings, hamburgers, hotdogs, beer and shakes. They're actually pretty decent and we're glad we found a restaurant where we can get good quality food.

This was our second time spending the 4th in Seaside but the first time not staying here. We were just playing things by ear and because we didn't plan accordingly we weren't able to find any hotel vacancies. So we didn't have anywhere to chill and refresh.

We parked near their main street so we could avoid traffic but this meant that we had to walk quite a long way to be near the action by the beach. 

I love beach houses especially the ones with shingles, they add so much character to the exterior. It's just so Nantucket. 

What a pretty area for a stroll.

Broadway Street is where most of the restaurants and stores are and also where Funland Entertainment Center is located. Jacob and Riley passed the time playing games.

And they also rented a Surrey. It was a very warm day. Jacob said that Riley kept taking breaks from pedaling so he had to work extra hard. They went all over Seaside while I did some window shopping. 

There was a lot of people. I'm glad that Police presence was everywhere, as it should be. We found a spot right where the fireworks were set to go off, just across the way from us. Once the sun went down it got very cold and although we were wearing our jackets we were still cold. I guess we failed to layer up. 

We know that the PNW is liberal (unfortunately) but we were very surprised about how patriotic the firework show was. They played awesome patriotic songs while the fireworks were going off, gave us goosebumps. It was very enjoyable and made me so thankful for this wonderful country of ours.

After the fireworks show was over we had to walk quite a bit of blocks to get to our car then we drove an hour east to Hillsboro which is located about 30 minutes from Portland. We try to avoid staying the night in Portland, it's just not our vibe.

We definitely got a good nights sleep that night.

The following morning we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We are so happy that we can go to a Cracker Barrel and enjoy good southern food. I also love to shop at their gift shop. I always end up leaving with a few things. 

My go to breakfast is Uncle Herchel's breakfast with their delicious hash brown casserole and their coffee is quite tasty too. We like it a lot. 

After breakfast we kept driving East to The Dalles (rhymes with the gals). It is the largest city of Wasco County with a population of 13,620 at the 2010 census. It sits along the Columbia River outside the Portland Metropolitan area.

I thought the drive to The Dalles was pretty. There's several exists to hiking trails which some have waterfalls. 

We saw a bunch of people windsurfing the Columbia River Gorge.

We pulled over to see them up close because Jacob was very interested about it. He hopes to try it some time in the future. 

That bridge in the distance is called The Bridge of the Gods. A toll bridge which connects Oregon and Washington. Here's the story of this ancient legend if you care to know the meaning behind this tribal lore.

Got back on the freeway towards The Dalles.

It was hot over here and the drive felt kind of long. We didn't know what to expect and once we arrived we were shocked about how old this area is. It also looked like a ghost town. We drove through their downtown and there were several stores out of business. 

We stopped at Klindt's bookstore. Opened since 1893, one of the oldest bookstores in the West. I was hoping to find a bargain shelf but was quickly disappointed to see they had none and was even more disappointed that this bookstores is very biased. They had no biblically sound books. The "Christian" books they did have were from progressive Christians that I don't care for. The one thing that did caught my eye was a set of pretty pencils that I did end up buying. 

The Dalles is very rundown and not really much to see or do so we stopped at a Walgreens to buy some snacks and quickly headed out of here.

Jacob had looked up good places to eat and found Chicken n Guns in E Portland. Bummed that it was in Portland but we went anyway and glad we did. Their chicken is delicious. I don't know what they season it with but the chicken is so darn good plus they serve the chicken with some very flavorful green sauce called Peruvian Aji which contains creamy jalapeño, cilantro, garlic and lime. SO good!! And "guns" stand for their crispy potatoes with lemon and sea salt topped with pickled onions and Aji sauce. We are so glad to have found this place. 

We spent one more night at a hotel. This time it was near the Oregon/Washington border. 

I guess one needs to try out new things to find out if they will become favorites and which ones to not bother with again. Although there were several things that we didn't care for one this road trip there were more positives and chose to be happy in the moment. One needs to grow thick skin and learn to ignore things that try to put a damper on our happiness. And I don't mean to be ignorant of important issues but to learn to not stress over things we can't control. I make it a point to find beauty even in the ugliest of places.

From my life, I'll never hide, loving the journey with every

 stride. Wherever I go, one thing I'll take, smile of joy, each day that I wake.

Summer 2018 Road Trip - Day 6

July 4th - Independence Day!

Got our day started early. After breakfast at Linda's Seabreeze Cafe we drove straight to the Boardwalk. Riley loves roller coasters and fast rides. He's such a thrill seeker, has been ever since he was a little boy. Good thing Jacob goes on rides with him and makes sure he's safe.
I love the look on his little face!

Maybe one day I'll feel brave and ride on the Sky Glider ... but until then I'll admire them from down below.

As you can imagine, the Boardwalk was super crowded on this 4th of July. The day started out cloudy and chilly but by 3:00 pm the sun broke through the clouds and it began to warm up. Jacob and Riley got on several more rides then it was time to leave.

For lunch we stopped at Gayle's Bakery and Rosticceria in Capitola, which is a short twelve minutes away from the Boardwalk. They have a large array of foods. There's a Grab & Go case filled with a variety of soups, dips, sandwiches, complete dinners, salads, etc or you can choose to eat in and enjoy a sandwich, soup or a hot entree which we got but bummed that I didn't take a picture of it to share on here. It was so very good!
I loved the fact that they had the place decorated very patriotic, as it should be! We all should show our patriotism ESPECIALLY on Independence Day!

Their tables caught my eye because of the mosaic of broken plate pieces on them. I thought it was a pretty unique, creative and an interesting touch to the restaurant's decor.

After lunch we went for a stroll at Capitola Village. Stopped by at Surf n Shack to buy several bumper stickers. Cool stuff in there.

And then made our way to get ice cream at Souza's.

The vibe in Capitola is slow paced ... definitely less adolescents, some young families but a lot more of the 30-40 year range couples.

After we left Capitola we went back to our hotel to freshen up and rest for a bit. You would think that Santa Cruz would have the fireworks show at the beach but it's not. The fireworks show is held at Skypark in Scotts Valley which is only eleven minutes away from Santa Cruz.

We brought our own snacks since Riley already had enough junk food. Jacob introduced him to adding peanut butter on his banana with a few chocolate chips. He loved it!

We lucked out on where we parked. We backed up the rental and opened the van's back door and sat inside during the fireworks show while Riley watched from a few feet away.

We were surprised the fireworks show was pretty good. The grand finale was awesome!

I'm thankful to be living in such a great country. I thank God and our forefathers especially Benjamin Franklin who was part of the five member committee that helped draft the Declaration of Independence,  in which the 13 American colonies declared their freedom from British rule.

E PLURIBUS UNUM

"E Pluribus Unum" is a Latin phrase that is best translated as, "Out of many, one." These words, as they relate to the United States, have particularly great symbolism when taking into account the fact that the motto was proposed on July 4, 1776 as the theme of the seal for the United States.

Independence Day 2017

San Juan Capistrano. San Diego. Independence Day!


Of all my years living in San Diego I also had never stopped by San Juan Capistrano but I've always liked it for their white buildings and a huge mansion that is visible from the freeway. I remember always waiting for it to appear in the distance as we drove on the freeway nearing SJC. It sits on the top right hand side of a hill. I've always wondered who lived there. I wondered what it looked like inside. One day I hope to drive up to that mansion, hopefully it wont be a gated street.

We woke up this morning, July 3rd, at a descent time. Jacob found us a good breakfast spot called Molly's Cafe. We had to wait for about ten minutes which wasn't bad at all. We encouraged Riley to have a few bites of bacon again but he wouldn't this time. Go figure!

This is the mansion I was telling you about. That gray one in the center. Ever since I was a little girl I remember just staring at it, imagining how cool it would be to see it inside.

We had a few hours to spare so we visited the Basilica.
Sydna and Riley had noticed a butterfly. They were trying to make it land on their finger but it wouldn't.

It was a warm day so we rested under a large shady tree. This city has a conservative feel so we felt very comfortable here. It was so cool seeing all the U.S. flags all over the streets ... very patriotic. As it should be everywhere in the United States!!!

Nathan hit full blown puberty as soon as the school year ended. It seemed like his voice changed overnight. His facial features are changing constantly. He is continuing to grow ... still has that handsome look.
When it comes to Nathan, his life has definitely flowed at a normal pace. The feeling of "where has the time gone?" hasn't applied to his life and that's been a good thing because I've gotten to enjoy his every milestone thoroughly. I feel close to him and it'll be heartbreaking whenever he moves out.

The brothers. No matter the age difference siblings will argue and roughhouse. These two do and it drives me nuts. But, Riley always wants to hang out with big brother and big brother just wants his privacy .... so yeah, they've got a lot to learn about learning to not be pests and learning how to make time for one another.

Pretty

Took a few moments for prayer and to give thanks.

We drove through Lake Elsinore because I wanted to get the feel of the area, just to get an idea on how it would feel if we ever decided to move back home. I didn't like it. Neither did Jacob. It's also quite hot there and there's really nothing to do in that town, besides of course hanging out at the lake. I was disappointed because I had the impression that it was a descent place. So I gotta scratch Lake Elsinore off my list of possible places to live. I'm not saying we're moving any time soon ... just speculating, just thinking out loud that's all.


We got to Old Town in time for an early dinner. Old Town is nice, pretty but the food fair has changed significantly since the place went under new ownership over a decade ago. Now, all the restaurants serve Mexican American cuisine which is NOT authentic Mexican food. However, we mainly went because of the slush margaritas and appetizers. Our meals were just ok.
To tell you the truth, if you want authentic Mexican food in Southern CA you will have to go to taco shops, not restaurants.

Gates, doors and windows have always caught my attention especially when they're decorated with flowers and vines.

I do enjoy mariachi music. It felt good being back home ... to places we would always frequent when we lived here.

We stopped by to see my parents. We had booked a hotel for the first two nights we were in San Diego. I didn't want to overwhelm my mom with all of our belongings. It was so good to see them. Here's Nathan with my mom.

This year's 4th of July was different for us. Since our car was packed with our luggage and cooler we weren't able to bring our tarp, beach chairs and grill. Because of that I told the kids that we weren't going to spend the entire day at the beach like we normally would for 4th of July. It was a bummer but it was what was best.
We decided to stop by Phil's BBQ in Point Loma for lunch. The wait was about fifteen minutes, not too bad compared how popular this place is. Everyone was at the beach that's why.

My parents. I cannot believe my dad doesn't like bbq sauce. What in the world?!!! I was beside myself. He totally doesn't know what he's missing. I mean, how can someone not like bbq sauce? So he got chicken (lame). I'm glad he came though.

We, on the other hand totally enjoyed some delicious bbq. Oh, and their onion rings are so good and so is their ranch.

After we ate my sister took my parents back home. We headed to Coronado. My sister got there later. We thought we weren't going to find parking because Coronado gets extremely packed but we lucked out. There's an area that's close to the Del that had signs closed off to the public. The city closes this area during the parade. When we got there it was around 3:00 pm and the sign said no parking until 4:00 pm. We knew that the parade was over so we parked there. We stayed in the car for a while just to make sure no police stopped by and had our car towed, in the meantime more cars were parking behind us. Within half an hour the signs were removed by city workers. We parked close to the beach, the Del and restaurants. That was pretty awesome!

I like this next picture because I have a picture at this exact spot with the Del in the background when I was a little girl. I also have a similar picture of Nathan when he was about 2 years old.

Well, since we didn't bring our tarp I shielded myself from with sun with my umbrella. I wanted to avoid getting a tan on my face because I get very dark. I brought a book and read while Jacob and Riley splashed in the water. Sydna and Nathan went to several stores.

Decided to not have Riley wear a rash guard because I wanted him to tan evenly. His belly and back needed a tan. Sand castle building is very calming, wouldn't you agree?

It was around 6:30 pm when we packed up our beach things, changed our clothes and decided to grab some pizza.

My sister arrived shortly after we ordered our food. She also lucked out with parking. We picnicked right in front of this pretty house. I hope these people know just how blessed they are about living in Coronado right off the main street and so close to the beach. I hope they're grateful.

Once done we walked over to the front side of the Del. We walked inside. It's cool that we know where to go, sort of like sneaking in since we all worked here at one point. I think it's sad that the inside of the Del has changed so much. I'm not fond of the changes. I don't know why things have to change. Sometimes it's good to keep things as they are. That's what gives it charm and character. We also recently heard that the hotel Del had been recently bought by the same company that owns Hilton hotels. Can't believe it! I wonder how much it'll change.

My sister loves my kids, ALL of them. And Riley loves his Tia Claudia. She spoils them all. Reagan and Lincoln would have been so loved.

Had to get a picture of all of us ... and my babies (I'll share more when I feel ready) in heaven are always on my mind.
The look on Riley's face. Funny!

This time we didn't feel like walking all the way down by the golf course like we usually do so we watched the fireworks from the Del's property. We were able to see them just fine.

The firework show was just ok. In years past Coronado was known for the best fireworks in San Diego but now the firework shows haven't been as spectacular as they once were. Now fireworks are set off on the San Diego Bay which is right next door to Coronado. We were able to see them and you could just tell that those ones were bigger and louder. We're thinking that next time we visit for the 4th of July that we'll watch the fireworks in Coronado but from the Bay side.
Riley never complained about them though. Kids his age are so carefree that they don't pay attention to those things. He had fun and he thought they were "so much fun and big".

It was a fun day though. We all enjoyed ourselves and the food. I liked being back in Coronado. This city has a special place in my heart especially the Del and Coronado Beach. They've been part of my life since I was about four years old and the Del was where Jacob and I met, twenty two years ago.

God Bless America!