Santa Cruz - Another "Kamping" Trip

Yosemite was fun and beautiful, but there was not alot for my youngest son to do. This year, we decided to take a 4-day weekend (Friday through Monday)  KOA "kamping" trip to Santa Cruz. During this trip we planned to visit the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as well as one of the state beaches.

I chose the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay KOA as it was the one closest to the Boardwalk and to the beaches. I have to say that out of all of the KOAs that I've been to, this one was the most crowded both in terms of how many people were there, and how many spaces/cabins were squeezed together. That's neither good nor bad; just an observation. Of course, we were there on a weekend...in the middle of summer...right before school starts. So, yeah, it was crowded. However, alot of people left on Sunday morning so the campground was a little quiet on Sunday and Monday morning. The camp store had just about everything you could need or want in case you forgot something, or in our case because our car wasn't big enough to bring. Since we couldn't pack our coffee maker, we were soooooo glad this KOA store served fresh hot coffee for a fair price.

On Saturday, we went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I purchased tickets at Costco (follow link for other discounts and offers) and then had to exchange those tickets for the all-day ride wristbands and arcade tokens. While we were at the ticket booth, the clerk behind the counter noticed my younger son and mentioned that we might want an Exit Pass. I did not know that the Boardwalk had those. I did not see any mention of those on the web site, but they are mentioned in the Accessibility Guide that you can download. Basically, this pass allows you and your family (4 people maximum) to go to the EXIT of a ride and get on the ride that way. Not all rides can accommodate this and the pass clearly lists which rides do and which rides don't. (See pictures.) Also, since there was no way that my youngest son would wear the all-day ride wristband, a clerk stapled it to the pass. Really, everyone was very nice and accommodating, but I do want to say that my son has an obvious disability. Other people's experience might be different.


Everyone in my family loves the beach; it's one of the few places we can go where everyone has a good time. The Santa Cruz area has many beaches and it was difficult to make a choice. We opted for the Manresa State Beach because it was literally a 4 minute drive from the KOA. We were not disappointed. This beach was littered with shells, sand dollars, and little crab carcasses, along with lots of seaweed and surfers. The sea gulls were annoying, but really this is their turf and it was fun watching toddlers chase them.

For this beach, you park in the parking lot and then you have to walk down the cliff to the beach. Parking for all state beaches is $10. What we loved about this beach was that there were concrete stairs as well as an accessible ramp down to the beach. Score! This made walking with my youngest son so much easier. He is very apprehensive about walking up and down stairs; consequently, he is very slow. With the ramp, I could walk with him and haul my beach stuff without feeling like I needed my inhaler. Very awesome. The fog decided to lift about the time we decided to leave. All in all, it was still a lovely day at the beach only this time, we had a 4 minute drive back to "kamp" instead of a 2 hour drive home.

Tiny crab carcass

Sand dollars and shells

    

Manresa State Beach - view from ramp

Brothers

When in Rome...

...do as the Romans do, but you'll still look like a tourist. 

Inside the Colosseum

So, I'm a week late in writing this post and I actually did mean to write it sooner. I've been busy this week with several things and I just didn't make the time to write this post. However, in answer to your question, "How was your trip?" (Since we brought our 12yo along I considered this to be a trip not a vacation. There is a difference.)

The answer is we had a great time. So did alot of other tourists. A couple of things threw a monkey wrench into our trip, but nothing too serious. First, we missed our connecting flight in Munich from DC because the plane was delayed for an hour and a half in DC. Something stupid, obviously. Luckily, we were able to catch the next flight to Rome from Munich, but we were almost two hours late from our original arrival time.

Artena

We had a chance to have a quick visit with some friends who live outside of Rome. Our friend played host and tour guide and took us to a small village (?) called Artena. I'm going to be lazy and let you follow the link to Wikipedia. I felt like I had been transported back to the Middle Ages.

Grocery shopping

On Monday afternoon, we said good-bye to our friends and headed into Rome. We stayed at the Auditorium di Mecenate, which was like a hotel on the third floor of an apartment building. Of course, I totally forgot that the 3rd floor in Europe would be considered the 4th floor by Americans because what Americans call the 1st floor is called  the Ground floor in Europe. There was a small, 100 year-old "lift", or "elevator" as we say in the States. One thing I realized was that when someone spoke English, it was usually the UK flavor. Anyway, we got settled in and after dinner in a restaurant, we quickly realized that restaurant dining for three was going to be expensive. We found a little market called SuperElite and bought our food there.

Tiber River

The second monkey wrench was that I discovered that a formal tour is not good for a 12yo with Asperger's and ADHD. Sure, you can say, "No s#!t, Sherlock", but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Lesson learned. I loved touring the inside of the Colosseum and our tour guide was very good. But, a structured tour was awful for my 12yo. The following day, I had scheduled to take a tour of the catacombs and crypts - I cancelled it. I know, I know, but I wanted to enjoy myself not grit my teeth and bear it. Instead, we decided to hit all of the tourist sites that we could: we took the Metro to the Spanish Steps, followed by a long walk to Trevi Fountain, near which we stopped for gelato at San Crispino's; afterwards, we walked to the Pantheon, then somehow made our way to the Tiber River where we walked across a couple of bridges. Finally, we walked back to our hotel. Seriously, keeping my 12yo moving was the key to happiness.

View from Cupola of St. Peter's

Our final day in Rome, was actually spent in the Vatican. We toured the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica. If you ever go there, my advice is: look down at the floor and look up at the ceiling; some of the best artwork can be found there. The Sistine Chapel was smaller than I thought it would be, but it was still beautiful. Breathtaking, in fact. St. Peter's Basilica was huge. (Anyone who complains about today's megachurches has never visited St. Peter's.) The amount of art in that church is overwhelming. It was very cool to see the Pieta in person. By far, the most thrilling thing about our visit to the Vatican was climbing up to the the cupola of St. Peter's Basilica. It was like climbing up a lighthouse. This part of our tour was totally spontaneous. On our way into the church, I saw a sign advertising tours of the cupola for 7 euros. Keeping this in the back of my mind, as we left the basilica, I mentioned this to my husband. Long story short, we decided "What the heck" and spent the money. Boy, were we glad we did. The view from the top of St. Peter's is astounding! Yes, even my 12yo made the climb.

I took way too many pictures and I wish I could share them all, but don't worry: I won't bore you with them. It was difficult picking out some of the highlights as there was so much to see. Here are just a few more:

Trevi Fountain

The Spanish Steps

   

Guarding the alleyway across from San Crispino's gelato

Spiral Stairs of the Vatican Museum

I guess Romans don't Diet

A picture of perfection

Packing the Light Way

The last time we traveled to Europe and also to Hawaii, I brought a large suit case filled with clothes. I promised myself that I would not bring my entire closet when I went to Rome. It's not like I'm a fashionista - far, far from it. (I mean, really, I shop at Goodwill.) But, I do have a tendency to overdo things whether it's packing or cooking. Also, I really didn't want to deal with checking luggage. It's a hassle and it's expensive. The backpack and the purse that you see in the picture contain everything that I'm bringing to Rome. Let's have a look inside, shall we?

In the backpack I have:

3 pairs of pants
2 sweaters
3 long sleeve shirts
3 T-shirts

5 pairs of underwear
2 bras
1 pair of gloves
5 pairs of socks
2 camisoles (1 is for sleepware)
1 pair of workout pants (sleepware)
1 quart size bag containing travel size sundries
1 Bible
1 package of handy wipes
1 package of Kleenex
1 folder containing travel info
1 can of baking powder **
2 packages of cilantro seeds **

** Special requests from my friends in Italy.

I rolled up all of the pants, shirts, sweaters, and even the underwear. When clothing is rolled, it's easier to stack in layers inside the backpack.

In the purse - The Day Purse by Reign Vermont - I have my medication, flight and shuttle info, Altoids, gum, coin purse, cell phone, cell phone charger, and an adapter plug. Sorry, I didn't really want to take a picture of all that. :-)

You don't grow up in Northern California without the idea of dressing in layers being drilled into you. Anyway, my flight outfit consists of one pair of comfy, stretchy jeans, a black T-shirt, a long sleeve blouse, a sweater and of course, shoes. The one pair of shoes that you see is the only pair of shoes that I'm bringing. Since we are leaving on Saturday morning and arriving in Rome on Sunday morning (because of the time difference), then technically, this outfit will be used for 2 days. :-)  I'm hoping that it will still be OK to wear on the return flight home. So there you have it. No, I didn't leave alot of room for souvenirs because I'm not really a souvenir monger. I'll just have to find something that fits in my backpack...or my son's backpack. I hope to post some pictures when I get back. TTFN.

10 Days and Counting

In 10 days, my oldest son and I leave for Rome...Italy, not Georgia. Although this isn't my first visit to Europe, it is my first visit to Rome and I'm very excited to do all of the tourist stuff. He's more excited about travelling on the plane and being out of school rather than visiting the actual destination. I take part of that back: he's excited about eating "real" Italian gelato. Seeing the Coliseum and the Sistine Chapel? Shrug. Who can blame him?

I've made my to-do list and it's surprisingly long. So, it's short and sweet today as I continue with my errands and work my way down the list.

A Dash of Guilt and a Pinch of Regret

So here's the scoop: next month, my husband has a business trip to Germany and Poland. After business is concluded, we figured it would be fun to join him in Europe and go to Rome to (1) visit with some friends that we haven't seen in years, except on FB, and (2) check out the sites because we've always wanted to go there. It just so happens that around that time, my 6th grader's class will be studying ancient Rome. Perfect! Nothing like connecting a textbook to real life. So what's with the guilt?

Well, we have decided not to take our youngest son with us. It was an agonizing decision and one that wasn't made lightly. Last Thursday, my MNO buddies all counseled me to not feel guilty. Honestly, it's the same advice that I would give to any one of them. However, there is still a twinge that tugs at my heart when I think of leaving one and taking the other. I know there are some who would insist on bringing their special needs child along and I say, "Bravo and kudos to you." Truly, I mean that without a hint of sarcasm. You see, somewhere along the line, I got it into my head that anything less than a superheroic effort is unacceptable. If there's a will then there's a way, right? That's always been my attitude...until now. And I feel bad. I feel bad for even thinking of leaving one of my children at home. I feel bad for not feeling bad enough. I feel bad for wanting time with my oldest son without the added responsibility of caring for a 9 year-old who isn't really 9. Do I feel bad enough to cancel the trip? No. There, I said it. And I feel bad.

There are several factors that went into our decision:

Eating and Sleeping
Our youngest son can also be a picky (and messy) eater, which is not good when you're eating out in restaurants all the time. The rest of us can always find something on the menu to eat. With him, there's no guarantee. He also likes to be in a familiar environment. He likes his bed, his room, his toys, his house, etc... He doesn't even like to spend the night at grandma and grandpa's house. Grandma and grandpa are only two hours away, which means we have the option of driving home if he absolutely will not stop screaming. We can't drive home from Italy.

Walking and Flying
When in Rome, we plan on walking alot. Our youngest son has mild cerebral palsy (in addition to other stuff) and he walks with a limp. When he's done walking, he's done. I'm also unsure if Italy has anything equivalent to the ADA, but I'm going to assume it doesn't. Let's not forget about the whole flying on an airplane thing. We have two stops before we get to Rome - one in DC and the other in Munich. Flight time and layover time will take 20 hours. (I hope the airlines serve drinks. :-) I will be traveling solo with the kid(s) as my husband will already be in Europe.  I will also be traveling solo with the kid(s) coming home as my husband could not get the same flight that we got.

Personal Care
The fact that my youngest son is not 100% potty trained is pretty much a deal breaker. Seriously. Without getting too technical, let's just say that sometimes it's an hour-long process; or sometimes there is alot of cleanup involved followed by a shower. Enough said.

Money
I hate to admit this, but even when it's not about the money, sometimes it is. Financially, this will be a splurge, a stretch even. But it's one of those opportunities that is too good to pass up. Family vacations can be expensive, especially if an airplane is involved. Truth be told, I would hate to spend the money for him to fly halfway around the world and be frustrated and disoriented most of the trip. None of us would have a good time.

There you have it. Are they valid reasons? Yes. Are they merely excuses? Maybe. A friend of mine - who has two special needs children - asked, "Don't take this the wrong way, but would he really know what he's missing? If he's happier at home in his routine, would that serve him best?" I'm glad she brought that up because it's exactly what I was thinking, and tears came to my eyes as I was thinking it. What about my oldest son? Sure, I could have done the "fair" thing and left them both at home and be completely free of guilt. Yet, I think it will be a great experience for my oldest son to actually see one of the places that he's been studying. Would it have been "fair" to deny him this experience? Either way, it's not a fair situation, and my husband and I had to make a judgment call.

My husband's parents have graciously offered to come house sit and babysit. (Pray for them.) My youngest son will keep his routine and he'll be given the opportunity to have grandma and grandpa all to himself. I'm already doing things to alleviate my guilt like buying him some Sesame Street DVDs. I'm sure as the weeks pass I'll think of other things. In the meantime, there's lots to do. I'd better start making my list: Sesame Street DVDs? Check.

Yosemite Again Along with Bodie

Olmsted Point

Yosemite never disappoints me. Even with all of the tourists in the Valley, the view of El Capitan and Half Dome is spectacular. We did the open air tram tour of the Yosemite Valley floor and even though we did this last year, I still learned something new.

This year, however, we weren't content to stay in the valley floor. This year we decided to drive through the northern part of Yosemite on Hwy 120 aka Tioga Road. We got to see Half Dome from Olmsted Point. We got to see the beautiful Tuolumne River and Tuolumne Meadows. While standing in the middle of the meadow, we got to see five deer on the other side of the river just grazing in the grass. 

Barber Shop in Bodie

As astonishing as all of this beauty was, this was not our final destination. We were really on our way to visit Bodie, a real California ghost town. We continued on the Tioga Pass to Hwy 395 and had lunch at Bodie Mike's Barbecue in a little town called Lee Vining, which overlooks Mono Lake. I had the tri-tip sandwich and I have to say that it was pretty darn good. The most memorable part of lunch, however, was the fact that we were surrounded by French families on vacation. Imagine being in a teeny tiny eastern California town surrounded by French speakers. OK, maybe only I find that amusing. On to Bodie.

General Store in Bodie

The last few miles to Bodie is nothing but dirt road; thank goodness we had a rental car. (You didn't actually think I'd take the Bug to Yosemite did you?) I have to say that if you're a history buff or you just like California history, then visit Bodie. The kids might act bored or they might actually be bored; but who cares. This will give them a chance to actually see a wild west town. The town itself is in a state of "arrested decay", which means that it won't be restored but rather it will be preserved. This is very cool. All in all, a very fun trip. 

Busy Busy

I don't have alot of time to blog today. I'm getting ready for our camping trip to Yosemite. For the record, we don't do "real" camping - I need a campground with facilities, because I'm sorry but I don't sh*t in the woods. Also, when you have a child who needs to be watched constantly because he still puts everything into his mouth, it's not in our best interest to be around alot of poison oak.

So, it's off to Yosemite we go for a few days of rest and relaxation. I'm looking forward to the beautiful scenery, the family time, and of course the S'mores. Seriously, what's a camping trip without S'mores? Until next week.

Through the Nose - A Day Trip

Last month, we took the boys on a day trip to San Francisco to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. This month we took them on a day trip to Squaw Valley and Lake Tahoe. I have been to Lake Tahoe, but since I'm not a skier, I've never been to Squaw Valley. I was reading online about what to do with the kids while in Tahoe, and noticed that one of the web sites mentioned Squaw Valley's tram - or Cable Car. Huh? I've never heard of that. I went to Squaw Valley's web site, and read all about the Cable Car. I knew I had found the perfect activity. The price was not cheap and as the title suggests you can pay through the nose (or up the waz) for all of this fun. But, I reasoned that it would be a fun activity for all of us to do and since I have blown at least that much at Target on more than one occasion, then Squaw Valley was surely worth as much as the crap I bought at Target.

Seeing the Cable Car in a picture is one thing; seeing it up close and in-person is another. My 11yo became a little apprehensive when he saw the Cable Car making a return trip - the realization that he would be lifted 2000 feet was dawning on him. In spite of this, he sucked it up and he enjoyed himself. As a bonus, we got to play in the snow at the top of the mountain a.k.a. High Camp. Totally cool! Snow in July!

After the return trip to Squaw Village, we made our way down to Lake Tahoe. The blueness of Lake Tahoe takes my breath away. It's simply gorgeous. We sat on the rocky shore and tossed rocks into the lake just to relax and enjoy the scenery. All in all, a fun albeit expensive day. No, I take that back. It was an investment in making memories that will last a lifetime.

Our Own Backyard

OK, so technically, San Francisco is not in my backyard. However, I consider anything within a 2 hour drive to be in my backyard. Since we aren't planning a real vacation this year, we plan on doing day trips so we can show the boys all of the fun stuff that's close to home. It's easy to forget all of the cool stuff that's located in our home state.

The boys were out of school last week and my youngest son doesn't start summer school until next week; so, this week was entirely free. We decided to spend the day in San Francisco. Although I grew up in the Bay Area, I had never walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. I figured that now was as good a time as any and I could drag the kids along so they wouldn't have to wait until they were in their 40s to do this. As is typical for San Francisco, it was chilly and foggy, but what a rush it was to walk on that bridge! There were of course some somber reminders that some people come to this famous bridge in a pit of despair: there were phones with a direct line to suicide prevention counselors if anyone wanted to talk before making a final decision. Fortunately, and I don't want to sound insensitive, my oldest son did not notice these as he was too enthralled with the bridge.

We left the bridge and headed toward the famous tourist trap, the ever-kitschy Fisherman's Wharf. Lunch was at an Italian seafood restaurant called Cioppino's. My husband had the cioppino and I had what else, fish and chips. The kids had the usual pasta and grilled cheese from the kids' menu. After lunch, we headed to Ghirardelli Square for some chocolate. I'm partial to See's Candies, but Ghirardelli makes some pretty good chocolate bars. Afterwards, we went to the Hyde St. Pier, which is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. There was a small fee to tour the ships, and as my husband went to pay he noticed a sign advertising the different passes to the national parks. One of them is the Access Pass, which we got last year at Yosemite for our youngest son. Having this pass allows the card holder and up to four adults to gain admission to any national park for free. The downside, is that you have to go to your nearest national park to get one. To me, it's worth it. If you have a special needs child and you want to enjoy visiting our fabulous national parks, I recommend that you pick one up. All in all, a great day in the city by the Bay.

Chunks of Spring Break

So, the kids are on spring break this week and that means I have to get them out of the house at least once a day until they go back to school on the 25th. OK, I don't have to get them out of the house, but it makes vacation time go alot smoother. Getting out of the house can be something simple like going to the library (which we did on Monday) or going to Target (which we'll do today). I need to do something to break up our long days.

While we are at home, my time is divided into chunks- 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there. Occasionally, there is a 20 minute stretch. You see, while my oldest son can entertain himself with Legos, or by drawing, or playing his DS, my youngest son needs a bit more help to go from one activity to another. He will happily listen to his CDs one after the other; however, I need to change the CDs for him otherwise he might chew on them or use them as a makeshift hammer. He has several alphabet toys and loves to press the buttons to listen to each letter sound. On a couple of these toys, I used 3D fabric paint to create raised alphabet Braille dots on each letter button; however, he still wants me to help him find the right letter.

I don't mind any of this, much. Admittedly, there are days when my chore list seems far too long and my chunks of time are not enough to complete them. It can be frustrating to start a task and then be continually interrupted. I've had to learn to go with the flow; to do what I can within those chunks of time. That might mean it takes a half hour to fold laundry or that I need to prepare dinner a little at a time starting at 3:00. Or...oops. Time to change a CD. :-)

Yosemite the Beautiful

Back from a short vacation in Yosemite.  All I can say is, how can someone be surrounded by so much beauty and still say that there is no God? Yosemite is simply stunning.  Too beautiful for words...my amateur pictures do not do it justice.

Bridal Veil Falls

The Meadow

El Capitan

Half Dome

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:2)