They say life is a journey. In our case, it’s also a pun.
A family of Trans… constantly in transit.
We figured if life is going to keep moving, we might as well document the ride. Welcome to our new site.
It was a lovely family outing by the sea! We rarely make it all the way over to Cambria so it felt like a special treat. Jasper was happy to join along and run with Cato, but was quite frustrated by all the ground squirrels teasing him. Cato made friends with a cute little girl who insisted that he hold her hand. We traveled along with the other family for a little bit until they had to turn back. Their dog, Gracie, was a VERY enthusiastic, wiggly 2 year old Golden Retreiver that was confused why Jasper didn’t want to play with her.
It was a fun weekend outing in the van (with new and improved vehicle stearing!). On Saturday, we drove up to Felton for the Roaring Camp Railroad train ride through the redwood forest and staid at a Harvest Host winery. Then, on Sunday, we had Father’s Day brunch with Auntie Lucy and Rick in Pacific Grove at Red House Cafe. After brunch, we enjoyed a family bike ride along the coastal bike path with a stop for climbing trees and collecting sea shells on the beach.
It was great getting to catch up with everyone for Eric & Kelsey’s “Welcome Home!” dinner. They’re very excited to be discharged from the army and home from Korea (next step Europe travels!). The pool was perfectly warm, and Cato had an absolute blast kicking and splashing around while Uncle Ed paddled the boat around. Uncle Eric tried to introduce Baby Blaire to beer, but she declined. After a delicious salmon dinner with contributions from Gina, Daren, Breana, and Barbara, Cato and Grandpa Dixon worked on engineering a Lego tower.
We finally made it back for some more beach play! It was definitely thick summer overcast, but Cato didn’t care in the slightest and was in the water before I had a chance to put his swimsuit on lol 😆 He even found a friend to play with! Jasper had a blast, as always, wondering all over the beach exploring and greeting all the other dogs.
This was our second bike ride out Bob Jones Trail, but Cato’s first time going the entire way out and back! (5.3 miles total) It was a lovely day, and everyone was out walking, running, biking, etc. on the trail. Cato did a great job and enjoyed the 3 playground stops despite a crash on gravel at the last one.
Cato’s preschool had quite the gathering last week to celebrate the end of the school year! The kids did a little performance, and then each received a certificate highlighting their personalities. Cato’s says “Loves to run & play with his friends, Assertive, Aware & ready for the next activity.” Afterwards, it was a yummy potluck lunch for all the kids and their families (we brought zucchini muffins made with the very first produce from our garden!!).
Margarita Ranch hosted their annual Antique Equipment Show this weekend, so we went to go check it out. The train was the biggest highlight, but the tractor parade was also pretty cool!! It was also fun running into preschool friends (Casey and Gigi as well as Malachai and Luke… also very excited for the train ride)
First road trip in the van! It was a fun-filled highlights tour taking 9 days to explore Bend, Crater Lake National Park, Redwoods National Park, Burney Falls State Park, and Lassen National Park. Breana did a two day mountain bike skills clinic from Phil’s Trailhead in Bend while Du and Cato got to explore around town. Crater Lake was beautiful and Cato got to throw some snow balls, but most of the park was still closed for the season. Redwoods was definitely a highlight with the “Trees of Mystery” experience topping the cake (canopy walks and gondolas included!). We even saw two herds of Roosevelt Elk along the road in the park! Burney Falls was every bit as beautiful as advertised, and it was quite enjoyable relaxing in the park during off season when it was nice and peacefully quiet. Unfortunately, Lassen was mostly still closed for the winter season so was a bit of a disappointment (not much to do or see, but Cato still enjoyed getting to play in a creek!). The van performed its function well, but as with all hobbies, still needs some more work to get it dialed in.
It was a little cold, wet, and muddy without any wildflowers or stars, but the clouds were beautiful and we got to use the truck awning side walls for the first time!
