Hollywood

Well we didn't make it into the movies, but we did get to see all the glitz of Hollywood. Our friends Bryce & Steve, Kati & Vern, Joleen & Dave, and Pete & Rita all met downtown. Some of the kids went to the Jonas Brother's premier movie, others went thru Ripley's Believe it Or Not Museum, we saw the footprints of the stars, and just generally wandered around. All in all I wasn't too impressed and I'm sure none of the REAL stars would ever be caught dead around all the tourist traps that overshadowed everything. We did miss the big event that night though, when Kati, Vern, Pete & Rita (and the KIDS!!) all somehow managed to get on the A-list and get into one of the hot nightclubs and meet the owners.

So-Cal with Friends

"So, where are you going from here?" was the question that someone asked as we sat around the campfire on the last night at the rally. "Well," I said, "I think we're heading somewhere... sometime tomorrow... but, maybe not, I'm not sure". Hence the plan was born to head back South again, this time with new friends that we had met at the rally.

We stopped first at Oceanside where the kids scoured the rocks for sea life and loaded up on sand dollars, played in the ocean, watched the seals on the docks, and the guys got out the guitars and drums and jammed in the parking lot by the RVs. Although a pretty stop, the campground at Oceanside was horrible with so many rules and police patrolling thru it that it felt more like a detention camp than a campground. After a reprimand for opening our slides, a warning that we couldn't have chairs outside the RV, and a $245 ticket we were happy to move on the next day.


We headed further on down the coast to Carlsbad State Beach. We shared a space with Bryce & Steve and all of us had a great time building sand castles, kayaking in the ocean, swimming, making communal meals, and hanging out around the campfire. After a week at the campground, the group split up in different directions with some heading for Joshua Tree & Slab City while we headed North to Hollywood with Bryce & Steve.

West Coast Family's on the Road Rally

FOTR RALLY

If I could have planned out a rally and put exactly the people there
that I thought would be the most fun, I couldn't have made it any cooler
than the California FOTR Rally turned out to be!

We had great fun meeting new friends...

Abby & Cassie Rose

Eddy & Jason, Abby & Auni


Hanging out with old friends....

Eddy, Vern & Steve

Pete, Steve, Rita, Bryce, Gayle, Eddy, Connor

CLICK HERE for More Pictures of our FOTR Friends

Playing music & having fun around the campfire....

Kati & Rita


Music on the beach

Abby playing the guitar

Karen, Steve, John, Gayle, & kids

Jason, Kara & Auni

CLICK HERE for More Campfire Pictures

Enjoying all the fun things there were to do...

Curtis's Music Class

Abby, Cassie Rose, Sierra & Auni blowing bubbles

Exploring Tide Pools

CLICK HERE for More Tide Pool Pictures


Abby & Winston playing in the hot tub

CLICK HERE for More Pictures of FOTR Fun



Visit more websites and blogs about the FOTR Rally

VISIT THE OFFICIAL FOTR RALLY WEBSITE - More Pics

The DeMichiel Family - Great blog, lots of pictures

The Robinson Family

Mali Mish Family

Calico Ghost Town and the Civil War Re-enactment

What a Cool Place!!

We found out that Calico was going to have the Civil War Re-enactment so we packed up our bags and left Las Vegas so we could get there by the weekend. Although the Civil War didn't actually take place in California, it was a good opportunity to re-enforce what Abby learned in Virginia about the Civil War. Abby even got a chance to meet "Abe Lincoln"

Both the Union and the Confederate troops had set up encampments in the ghost town and the streets were full of actors in costume.

Plus, since Calico is actually a working ghost town, Abby was able to experience Pioneer life with the many activities they have there -

like leather working....


and making our own rope jump ropes....


and sitting in on class in the old school house

Yeah, Vegas Baby!

The Volcano at the Mirage - Circus acts and amusement rides at Circus Circus - M&M Factory Tour - Fountains of Bellagio - Aquariums, Robotics & Trojan Horse at Ceasars - Lions at the MGM - Finding pearls in oysters - Gondola ride and dinner at the Venetian - lots of fun!

Things Abby learned:

• how aquariums work
• how robots are made
• about the Trojan horse
• how antiquing is done to make the wood look like marble
  
• where pearls come from and about Oyster farms
• all about lions
• about the Eiffel tower
• plus, she got to visit with her friend Taryn who lives in Vegas!

Things we did:

• got a babysitter (Taryn's mom) and went out for our anniversary to the Venetian - the gondolier sang us songs as we rode down the Grand Canal in Venice, we kissed under each bridge, and we were serenaded at the Italian restaurant where we at dinner
• very little gambling
• same as Abby

Planetarium & Science Museum

The Astronomy Club sets up their telescopes once a month at the San Diego Planetarium and lets people view the stars and moon though their high powered telescopes. This also happened to be on the day when a special Southern Stars planetarium show was put on. And it just so happened that we were in San Diego at the right time!! The show was really interesting and it was really cool to see the craters on the moon and the constellations close up after just learning about them.

Surfing!

Yahoo!! Look at us go!!

We found a surf school while we were at the beach in San Diego and Pete, Christian & I all decided to learn to surf, while Dylan & Abby boogie boarded! An hour later, I finally was able to stand up on the surf board for an entire 30 seconds!!