Roses and Thorns – The best and worst of the trip
Brock Roses Yosemite Cannon Beach Wood’s Place in Montana Thorns When a 3 inch wasp flew into the car, and we tried to get it out without waking Olivia or Toby. Toby decided to pee the instant we got into our hotel room on the last day of the trip. Loosing Chippy Johns Roses; Camping … Continue reading
Day 33 and 34 – Out with a bang, end of the line, finito, kaput.
We have come to end of our journey. We realized that the world has become restless and everyone is trying to get out and be in nature, just like us. The problem is, parts of nature are becoming extremely crowded and it is beginning to feel unsafe. Many of the national parks are becoming so … Continue reading
Day 32 – Yosemite
It is hard to describe Yosemite, even the pictures don’t seem to do it justice. I think it is the only time my breath was literally taken away by something being so beautiful (or maybe it was just hard to breath with the altitude) Here is a small spattering of the best pics and videos. … Continue reading
Day 31 – The Devil Wears Hiking Boots
Mammoth lakes was an unexpected, but pleasant, delight. For being so far away from, well, almost anything, that town was one of the most beautiful we have been to. It is on the back side of Yosemite, and caters to skiers in the winter and mountain bikers in the summer. There are national parks everywhere … Continue reading
Day 30 – Made it through the wilderness
The morning started off with a bang. Well, it started off with me yelling “we got a ticket!” Let’s backtrack… The ticket I was referring to was a day pass into Yosemite, which right now is like getting a ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. After visiting so many national parks, we didn’t think it … Continue reading
Day 29 – Journey to El Dorado
Over the past few weeks, we strayed from the spirit of Codiwomple. Most of this was because we were so familiar with each of the areas we were in. We have been consistently visiting Napa, Monterrey and Amador county for years. We keep a detailed record of everywhere Olivia has been since the day we … Continue reading
Day 28 – Amadon’t stop
With Olivia spending the day at the lake with her aunt, uncle and cousins, Dads and Toby had the day to themselves. It was wonderfully relaxing hanging out in one of our favorite areas, Amador. We checked in at some of our favorite places, saw old friends and simply enjoyed being here. It was a … Continue reading
Day 27- A New Hope
After a few heart-to-heart talks, Olivia decided that being an adult is not all it is cut out to be. We decided it is best to work as a team and our little travel buddy is back. We decided to head back north where there are very few instances of the virus. We drove a … Continue reading
Day 26 – It was almost the end
This day started off well, but ended in a rough patch. We made reservations at one of our favorite places for brunch; Folktale Winery. We joined this wine club when they were just a few weeks old and it has since turned into the most popular winery in the area. And, they continue to win … Continue reading
Day 25 – What about Breakfast at Tiffany’s?
Being back in Carmel is like having a little touch of home. We have spent a lot of time in this area, and our love for it is one of the main reasons we chose to get married here. Our day started with a lovely brunch in the Carmel Valley. It was outdoors with lots … Continue reading
Day 24 – Do you know the way to San Jose?
We moved on from Napa Valley and started heading down the coast to our favorite fairytale village (and where we were married 6 years ago), Carmel-by-the-sea. Here’s a reminder of that; First, we made a little stop in San Jose to see the Winchester house because Olivia wanted to see what a haunted house looks … Continue reading
Day 23 – You had me at Merlot.
What a difference three months can make. We were in Napa the first week of March, before everything started to get crazy. During that time, it was bustling rooms of noisy people. Hugs with friends we were excited to see, and lots of choices of where we wanted to eat and drink. This time, Napa … Continue reading
Day 22 – wine, wineries, and wine clubs, oh my.
We ate. We drank. We were mostly alone. We had a blast. It’s another atypical typical Napa day. And, we joined another wine club. Of course. I think this makes number 10, but they are so much fun!! And how cute is this new hotel in Calistoga. Each room is like a little camper. Daddy … Continue reading
Day 21 – Wine A Little
Today was a day of relaxing. Beautiful wineries for the adults. Swimming for the kid. It was a great day. LEDSON Winery Mayo Winery Relaxing and swimming at the Grandparents And, a bonus FaceTime call from Olivia (who slept at the grandparents). Daddy Brock check-in Rose: FaceTime call with Olivia kept me laughing Thorn: I … Continue reading
Day 21 – Birthday!
Yesterday was Olivia’s birthday and we did it her way; swim and play, then swim and play again. We drove to the Napa area to meet her adopted grandparents Karen and Jeff. Then, after a brief lunch at the beautiful Korbel Delicatessen, we were off to the hotel and to swim (of course). But first, … Continue reading
Day 20 – A Bad Case of the Glamp
Tomorrow is Olivia’s Birthday! As always, we made big plans for it. We started down the coast towards her surprise, and found many adventures along the way. We took the scenic route through the “Avenue of Giants,” a 30 mile road through the redwoods. They were majestic and reverential. We stopped at a gift shop … Continue reading
Day 19 – Oregon-a-go-go
Another day of travel, but we had many adventures along the way. We saw many beautiful parts of the Oregon coast today. And, beautiful gardens! Then, we crossed over to California to the beautiful redwoods. We stopped at the redwood park and saw some breathtaking sights. We had some adventures climbing up through the trees … Continue reading
Day 18 – And the Bandon played.
We were sad to have to drop Stacey off at the airport this morning, and sadder we needed to spend most of the day in the car. We needed to make it pretty far down the coast in order to make our next big adventure in a few days for Olivia’s birthday. We had a … Continue reading
Day 17 – Sashay Away
For our final day with Stacey in Oregon we took off down the coast. But first, brunch. We brunched hard and we brunched liked the real housewives of The Oregon Coast. We hit the road and our first stop was the Tillamook cheese factory, of course. From there, the spirit of coddiwomple guided us on … Continue reading
Day 15 – Big Mac Paddy Whack
Today we have a special guest joining us… our neighbor and great friend Stacey! We picked her up at the Portland airport and we immediately went to do what we do best; brunch. From there we made our way to McMinnville, Oregon stopping at wineries and shops along the way. Our house in McMinville was … Continue reading
Day 11 – Coeur D’Alene
It was a cold, rainy, busy day in a beautiful location. Today’s main objectives were to do laundry, fix a headlight on the Jeep, and I had to teach two live Zoom classes. We made quite a mess of our little hotel room as we reset ourselves. Luckily, we had time to get out and … Continue reading
Day 7 – A little dose of reality
Today we had to spend the morning catching up on real world things. I had a few hours of work and John had some homework. Then I had an online meeting that lasted a few hours. The meeting was difficult because there were many who have been quarantined for months and needed some human interaction. … Continue reading
Day 6 – I Ain’t Sayin’ She a Gold Digger
Today we took on a whole new challenge- Be gold diggers. But not really. We went sapphire hunting! It took about two hours to drive up a steep and winding 30 mile road. The scenery along the way was fantastic. The sapphire mine was fun for something that forced all of us to sit and … Continue reading
Day 5 – Woods in the Woods
Today is best told in pictures. We spent most of the day hiking around Lake Como with some of the Wood family. We went all the way to the beautiful waterfalls on the other side. We took a lot of pictures around the waterfalls. At the end of the day , we took another walk … Continue reading
Day 3 – Slow and Steady gets the Pesos
We took a while to get up and running today. We spent most of the morning doing work and catching up on emails. I looked up to realize it was time to check out, and we hadn’t packed yet, It was a mad dash throwing everything and everyone together. And, I think I lost my … Continue reading
Day 2: Pleasant surprises
This morning started with one of those rights of passage for all traveling families. We told Olivia to watch Toby and keep him in the room while we packed the car. While loading the car, we turned around to see her standing outside the door, with the door closed. And what of Toby. He was … Continue reading
Day 1 – All the reasons we hate (and love) road trips.
2 a.m. – I woke up in a sweat after having a nightmare of being homeless and the “ladies of the night” were being mean to me. LOL. But seriously, I felt like I was having a panic attack because I was leaving my home for who knows how long. 8:00 a.m. We are finally … Continue reading
#Coddiwomple 2020 – Here We Go. . .
Why? When 2020 started, we posted a little something on Facebook that went like this; I don’t remember ever being this excited and nervous for a new year. 2020 is going to be big and scary for our family. Lots of adventures and big changes. Let the roaring 20s begin! We couldn’t have been more … Continue reading
Daring Greatly
Brock here, we figured it was time to give an update on what has been happening with us over the past year. In Sept of 2020 we sold our home, packed up our family and moved accross the country to a place we new little about. Why? It was time. I heard someone say that … Continue reading
The Uncharted Territory 