Our First Big Roadtrip

My grandpa passed away back at the end of May. We knew that there would be a family gathering at some point and we knew we had to be there since we never get to see all of that extended family. Once we got the date we checked on airfare and when we saw that it would be about $2,000.00 for the 5 of us to fly to Sacramento and then add a rental car on top of that, we decided to do a roadtrip. This would be our very first roadtrip with all of the kids, so we were a bit anxious about it.

We left on Thurs, July 19th right after swim lessons ended at 5pm. First mistake...leaving during the rush hour traffic time. We sat in a lot of traffic, but once it eventually sped up we got moving. My initial plan was to drive until about midnight or so and stay at a hotel wherever we ended up. Jason had another plan in mind and he never once planned on staying at a hotel. He planned to drive through the night. So come midnight we agreed to keep going because all the kids were asleep and the car was finally peaceful (something that is hard to come by with 3 kids who are constantly asking when we will get there). Jason drove from midnight until about 4am while I tried to rest (I sure didn't get much though) and then I drove from 4am until we arrived at my brother's house. As hard as it was to pull an all nighter, it was worth it!

And we are off!

Apparently sunglasses were necessary for using her tab at night

All FINALLY sound asleep!

On Friday we just hung out at my brother's house and waited on the arrival of my parents who left WA early Thursday morning, but stayed the night in Oregon. The cousins had fun playing together and of course were excited for a sleepover!!

Pizza dinner with the cousins

Sleepover time!

Saturday was the memorial service for my grandpa. All of the family gathered at the cemetery where they buried his cremated body. Afterwards we all gathered at my aunt Karen and uncle Lonny's house nearby for a lunch and social time. It was so nice to be with all of the family that we haven't seen for over 4 years (last time was oddly my grandpa's 90th birthday party) and for my grandma to have all of her grandkids AND great grandkids all together!! To beat the heat later in the day we all went swimming.

Graveside ceremony

Great grandkids throwing roses into the grave

One final goodbye

The whole Friedrichs side of the family

My grandma and ALL of her great grandkids!

My grandma with her grandkids and great grandkids!

Have to snap a photo when we are all dressed up

Cammy lounging around

Brielle ready for a swim

Grams and her grandkids

Hailey riding around on the tube

Shoulder jumps off of daddy

Sunday we packed up and hit the road for our drive back home. This time I convinced Jason to stay the night part way so we could do some fun things on the drive. The first tourist stop we made was at the Lake Shasta Caverns. We took a little boat ride across the water and then a little bus ride up the hill to the caverns. It was a really cool tour with a lot of stairs, but the kids did great (and we got our leg workout in helping to carry Brielle up and down the stairs). It was an extremely hot day, so it was nice to be in 55 degree caverns. But when we came back out we just started dripping in sweat again.

On the boat to get to the caverns

Checking out Lake Shasta

Riding the bus up the hill and checking out an amazing view!

In the caverns

So cool!

Family photo opt in the cavern

Walking back down to the bus

Popsicles to end this hot adventure!

Sunday night we arrived at our hotel in Salem pretty late. The girls were pretty energized from napping in the car so Jason decided to take them swimming at the hotel at 10pm!! They thought this was great, but all I really wanted to do was get everyone to bed.

Late night swimming at the hotel

Monday we got up and moving pretty quick and headed on our way to our second tourist stop...the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. This place was so much fun!!! We got to drive our car through the animal park like we were on a safari. The kids (and me too really) loved getting to be unbuckled in the car and hanging out the sunroof. Some of the animals that were free roaming were giraffe, rhinos (although they were way up on a hill when we drove by), Bison, Elk, Zebra and Yak. And then behind fences on the safari were lions, cheetahs, hippos, bears, tigers and elephants. There was a point on the drive where you could buy a cup of food and feed the animals straight from your car window, so of course we did that. Cute little deer, Rhea (like an Emu or Ostrich but cuter), and some other yak looking animals were what we could feed. It was amazing!! And after the drive thru part we ventured into the walk thru part where we saw more animals (and the walk thru part is free!). We would totally recommend this to anyone!!!

Ready for our safari

First close up animal encounter

Hanging out the sunroof

Giraffe so close

Daddy let Brielle drive

Then Cammy wanted to drive

A bison (I think) so close!

Of course Hailey wanted to drive too!

These guys were hungry!

Jason feeding the animals

He was following us

Trying to get my food

Hi Cammy!

This Rhea was fun to feed

Feeding coy fish in the walk thru part

Hungry fish

We're wild!!

Finally by about dinnertime we made it home on July 23rd! The last couple hours were brutal as all we heard from the kids was "when will we be home?" and the occasional bickering. After Brielle's solid 3 hour nap after the safari park it was all downhill from there until we got home. The kid doesn't stop talking and asking questions and bothering her sisters! We were all so happy to be home after so much time in the car.

First roadtrip= SUCCESS!