MORE ROAD TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

When I was a kid my family was into camping. We camped all over California and up into Oregon and Washington State - so I spent a lot of time in a car with my siblings. My kids have gone on very few long car trips and it was made very clear by Ally's reactions to some of the sights on our road trip!

We travelled highway 101 north up the coast. It doesn't take long for the cities to become towns and the towns to become smaller and smaller. The freeway then "ends" and starts again as we travel through the towns and there is cross traffic. Ally was freaked out that the freeway was suddenly going to come to and end - leaving us adrift. When I explained the way it works, she was then amazed that there was such a thing as a town smaller than the one in which we live (population 67,000!) She was at first horrified that people could actually live in a town of 2 or 300 people, then became enchanted by the countryside and decided it might be okay.

I was able to point out a lot of the places my family had gone camping when I was a kid. We especially loved camping in the redwoods and near the coast. I remember the feeling of enchantment in the fern filled forests. She was enticed by all the sign for this roadside attraction - Confusion Hill - but when we pulled into the parking lot it was closed so we had to learn it's mysteries on the internet later on in our motel room!

We had some fun with road signs - I about drove off the road I was laughing so hard when she reacted to a "slide ahead" sign with a "whoo hoo!" Thinking playground rather than rocks...

Then there were the towns with one flashing yellow light swinging in the middle of the main intersection but peppered with "Congestion" signs up and down the street. Irony? Wishful thinking?

Even with my dieting we had some nice meals. I had read about this little restaurant in Ashland which is directly across from Southern Oregon University. It was as wonderful as the "yelp" reviews indicated and is colorful and pretty inside, too. I have to admit that I steered Ally wrong on her menu selection. I have to admit it because blogging about my mistake was the only apology she would accept.

She wanted to order a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. The menu also listed capers and red onion. I said they always have all those things on the plate and you can assemble what you like. This is what was delivered to the table:

I WAS WRONG!! I AM SORRY!!

Eventually she got used to me asking questions of the students we ran into and I got used to her refusal to choose a restaurant. I let her eat junk without comment and she stopped trying to get me to eat junk with her. She went along with lights out at 11pm and I let her sleep when I woke up at 6am. So, we got along just fine considering we traveled over 1200 miles and spent 5 days in the car together!