The Trip Begins (AGAIN)

Crazy summer....as stated in the previous post we'd had many car problems this year but we're assured the van was in good condition to make our 5,000 mile +/3 month trip.  We started out the end of June on a typically very warm day and made it to the Palm Springs area where we spent the afternoon visiting friends.  We then drove up to Idyllwild (in the mountains just south/west of Palm Springs).  After 'communing with nature' and resting up in the nice cool mountain air headed out on the remainder of our trip.  Next stop was to be Thousand Oaks where we were going to spend some time with hub's twin sister.  But that was not to happen!

(right to left) Hubs, moi, Dave
(hub's best friend from days gone by)

On our way down the mountain the van's engine light came on and the van started running rough.  We prayed our way into Riverside (the next larger city) and found a Hyundai dealership.  After checking the van out thoroughly and running a diagnostic on it they showed us a list just short of a 'mile long' of things that were wrong with it.  After doing some repair work, which set us back another $500, they told us we could make it back to Phoenix but did not recommend a trip like we had planned.  We took their advice and came home....not happy campers but thankful God had taken care of us.

Fern Valley Inn - Idyllwild, CA (this is where we stayed)

After arriving home we took it back to our mechanic and they insisted nothing was wrong.  If we would like to spend some more $$$$ they would be glad to fix something that didn't need to be fixed...Noooooooo, we don't think so we said.  Just to be safe we took it to another mechanic and were told the same thing our mechanic had told us.  VERY frustrating, to say the least.

Not feeling real comfortable about starting out again we decided to wait and see what the van did this summer....taking some trips of 200 miles and just driving around town.  No problems at all.  We feel comfortable now that we can take a 5 week trip with no problems hopefully.

Wednesday the 26th we will head out.  Please pray for safe travels.  We'll head back into California, through Riverside (we hope), and onto Thousand Oaks for our visit with hub's sister/husband.  Then we will head north to visit my brother in Oxnard.  We hope to spend a few days at Lake Cachuma (a popular family camping site when the kids were younger) and get into Solvang again (see earlier post from last summer to read the history of it).  By the first of next week we will head further north with details to be told at a later day.

Pray for us as we travel and that our health and van hold up.  Looking forward to sharing our travels, pictures, and thoughts as we go through this adventure.

Here We Go Again!

After an up and down couple of months with our summer trip being on-again/off-again we are FINALLY about ready to leave. The last few months have been full of unexpected as well as regular doctor appointments, emergency surgery for the hubs, and a myriad of car problems.  After a cracked radiator, a blown head-gasket, and a leaking gas line we are praying the van is ready to make this 5,000-6,000 mile trek.

We got the van back this past Monday (after it being in the shop for 12 days this final time) and we're ready to pack it up and move on with the summer....just in time for Phoenix's infamous 110+ temps (last week we had a day or two of 114-115 degrees).  We are being told our monsoons (rain and dust) are ready to roll in the first of the week.

We leave Saturday morning early and our first stop will be in Idyllwild, CA.  If you've never been there it is a lovely town tucked up in the mountains west of Palm Springs.  We use to pack the kids up and go camping there.  This time we will be spending 2 days in a cabin with all the amenities, relaxing and enjoying the cooler temps. We will be visiting with friends in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area while there.  Then we'll be off to beat the holiday (4th of July) traffic through Los Angeles...and visit hub's sister and brother-in-law in Thousand Oaks and then my brother who lives in the Ventura area.  We'll be spending a couple of days hanging around the streets of Solvang and enjoying one of my favorite little towns in California....wonderful Danish shops and, of course, lots of delicious eating of Danish pastries!   

I'll chat about our times in these places as we go through the week.  As we continue our trip I'll keep you all updated as to where we are, who we are visiting, and what we are up to.  Pray for us as we start our travels.

This is the route we will be taking....

('K' on the map is our start and finish points)

Happy New Year and Vacation Plans

With the new year we begin to think about vacation plans for the summer.  We had so much fun and positive response when blogging about our trip last summer that we want you all to know our New Year's resolution is to do it again this year.

After reviewing the trip last year we decided two things 1) we left a little too early - we had planned 3 full months and maybe a week or two more.  But the best laid plans of mice and men don't always go the way we want - we were home by mid-August (we had left Memorial Day weekend).  As most of you know August and September are the hottest and wettest days of the summer in Phoenix. This year we plan to leave closer to the 4th of July and be home by late September.  2) Although we did a lot of sightseeing and went to places we'd never been, we spent too much time hurrying to get to the next place on our agenda.  This year we plan on taking it a little slower and being gone a full 3 months.

some of our sights from last summer
(sorry goes too fast, must learn to master this)

Our plans are to visit the far western coast of the United States - from San Diego all the way up to the Canadian border. We have plans to be with family and friends, time for just the 2 of us and plans for lots of sightseeing. While in California we hope to visit our son in Long Beach, my cousin in Yorba Linda, hubs sister and brother-in-law, my cousin and my baby sister.  We also hope to travel through and stay at some of the awesome National Parks (Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings River).  We plan to continue the trip up into Oregon where we hope to see my dad's sister, Aunt Shirley and her children (my cousins).....it's been several years since seeing them. From there we'll go to Washington state (visiting more friends), over to Idaho (where my mom was born and spent some of her youngest years), Montana (to see Glacier National Park), then head south - down through Wyoming (Yellowstone), into Colorado, New Mexico, over to Nevada and then down home. If you live in any of these areas, or are just visiting during this time, and want to get together let's work on making that happen! Email or private message or call or leave a message below and we'll see what we can work out.

Be sure & bookmark our blog: www.WanderingsOfTheWarrens.Blogspot.com by clicking the link and then right clicking to save the page. I'll try and post here when there are updates so all you will have to do is click through. I did find sometimes last summer that I would forget this last step....so just be sure to check it out occasionally.

For the next few months I'll just be updating this blog occasionally....be sure to keep an eye out for the updates....once the trip starts I'll work hard to update daily.

August 9 - Winding Down

We left Solvang about 8am today after spending several days shopping, eating and having fun with special friends we had not seen in 25+ years.  What a great time was had by all!!!

We left about 8am and arrived in Long Beach to have lunch with eldest son in Los Alamitos at Taco Surf on Los Alamitos near Katella.  Great food, great company.  Bill surprised us with his 65 lb weight loss....he looks GREAT!

After lunch we headed to Santa Ana to spend some time with my cousin Hillary. Such a sweet lady, who suffers with Alzheimer's.  She paid more attention to Howard than me...having fun flirting with him. She loves to whistle along with the music.  We visited with her for some time and then jumped in the car to head to Yuma AZ to visit our youngest.

California coastline near San Diego

California coastline near San Diego

We arrived in Yuma about 6:30 pm, grabbed some fast food for supper, visited for awhile and are now ready to drop in bed.

August 7 - Fun Day in Solvang

What a fun day we had today! Nothing like being with special friends we hadn't seen in years.  We started with Danish Blueberry Pancakes at Ellen's Danish Pancake House in Solvang.  We got our exercise by walking the streets, and shopping the stores, of Solvang.  For those who don't know Solvang is a quaint little town in the foothills northeast of Santa Barbara (about 25 miles).  We used to come here often in the 80's before moving from southern California and had not been back since.

After a short rest we headed to Andersen's Pea Soup for a light supper and then came back to our hotel for a few rousing games of "Chicken Foot".  We quit about 9:30pm and retired to our rooms for what hopefully will be a good nights rest.

This is where we ate Friday night in Solvang.

August 6 - Fun in Cali

Of all the places we have been this summer we have had THE BEST weather  in California! Monday was absolutely gorgeous as we toured the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  Tuesday was just as wonderful as we kicked back and recupped from the previous day.  We also had lunch at Marie Calendar's in Camerrello and took a driving tour of the area. In the evening we met hub's sister & her hub's friends - enjoying Lemon Merrangue pie and lots of talk.

Wednesday we arose early, packed, snapped a couple pictures and said our goodbyes before heading north to Solvang.  We stopped for a couple hours in Oxnard for lunch with my brother at The Lazy Dog...great food and lots of fun playing 'catch-up'!  Tonight we met up with our good friends in Solvang. We went to 'The Red Viking Restaurant', a Danish Smorgasbord in the heart of Solvang.  Tomorrow we plan to do the touristy things and see how much damage we can cause and how much $$$$ we can spend/save

Howard and Dorothy

August 4 - Summer Trip - Phase 2

Yesterday we started phase 2 of our summer trip.  After recuperating from phase 1 we took off into the pouring rain and headed to southern California where we are now visiting hub's sister and brother-in-law.  We arrived here Sunday night after a 7 hour drive.  After a short rest we all went to Chili's for some supper and then came back home for some early shut-eye.

Up early this morning, we all headed to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley,...what a beautiful and interesting place.