Family Self Portrait - TJGNorthern California had long been a serious gap in our cross country RV travels, mostly because too much of our 3 to 4 week travel window would be eaten up by our drive back and forth from New Jersey. However, then we discovered the miracle of flight and the fact that we could comfortably reach our destination in 6 hours rather than 6 grueling days and about $1,500 worth of gas (each way).

Herb was tough to convince and I must say that I too felt very guilty and could not look the RV straight in the headlights. However, it was this way or no way for this year. My 92-year-old mom is not doing well and is very dependent on me. Two weeks was all I felt comfortable leaving her.

Our Northern California venture was to have three legs. The first 3 days of the trip were just the 4 of us (me, Herb, Andrew, and Tommy) exploring Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Times together as a family are getting tougher and tougher to come by as they get older, so I was really relishing the thought of some quality family time.

The next 6 days we would be guests at Andrew’s girlfriend Celeste’s parents’ home in Sonoma County, where they would show us an insiders’ view of the wine country and the coast. We definitely would not have to worry about being bored, as they are very much like us in their enthusiastic love of the great outdoors and their penchant for long hikes (often multiple ones in a single day).

Then, after the boys flew home to start their internships, Herb and I would continue with the romantic part of the trip – just two carefree spirits with 5 days to see and do whatever we wanted. But there were so many wonderful choices. At first we thought we would drive Route 1 up the coast all the way to Oregon, exploring Redwoods National Park, but whenever we looked at the map we kept seeing how relatively close we were to our all-time favorite place on earth – Yosemite. A few clicks of the computer later, we had reserved two nights at Housekeeping Camp. So it was to be a compromise: some new sights driving up the coast and then across California to an old favorite.

I don’t know if I could pick a favorite leg of the trip. They each were great in their own and very different way.

Let me finally say that traveling with a 20 and a 22-year old is a very different experience than our earlier travels, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. Now, they are truly our best friends and the best traveling companions one could ever hope for.