Our Big Family Roadtrip
by JP
In the middle of the summer Martha got off the phone with our San Francisco friend David and suddenly said “We’re driving to California.” It was a shock and a case of terrible timing, but it was true just the same. It was obvious. We had been trying to visit relatives out west for over 7 years. We’d tried several times but it had never worked out. We don’t like to fly. We almost took a train once. We hadn’t been on a big roadtrip in 12 years.
My Uncle Kent from Hollywood had been calling for the past 10 years asking when were we coming out. We wanted to take our little kids out to see him and Aunt Jo in their cool town, where I’d once hung out a lot and where I’d lived for months at a time on an old wood sailboat. We wanted to see Uncle Tim way up north beyond Reno in Susanville as well. And we wanted to see our friends out there.
Suddenly we knew that this was our chance. In the hectic storm of life and desperate work to avoid bankruptcy and try to create a viable alternative publishing company, it was clear that we had to go now or never.
The Big Kahuna–if you want to read the whole tale at once
Otherwise, here it is, a day at a time…
Day 1: Illinois–a great ‘found’ dinner site (pic)
Day 2: St Louis–family visit and great cycling
Day 4: Denver–Swiss Family Fondue
Day 5: Boulder–breakfast and a mountain ride (pic)
Day 7: Utah–Old time candy! (pics)
Day 8: Utah–I meet Pete and get killed by the US Ski Team
Day 9: Reno–driving driving driving…and Elvis’s guns
Day 10: Alameda–We make it to the Bay! (pics)
Day 11: Alameda–A San Francisco fiesta
Day 12: Alameda–Rivendell, and Welcome to the Tenderloin!
Day 13: San Francisco–We love the Tenderloin!
Day 14: San Francisco–Bussin, eatin and drinkin, all day long, in the blazing sun (pics)
Day 15: San Fran–Japantown and American Classics bike shop
Day 16: Nevada City–a Strappin’ Dudes reunion! (pic)
Day 17: Sierras–Wild river swimming and a mountain vs. valley drive
Day 18: Susanville–Lessons learned so far, and Uncle Tim (pics)
Day 19: Seneca–a big little town in a big little gorge (pics)
Day 20: Sierras and the Basques: lamb is as good as beef
Day 21: Big Valley, scary campground: welcome to America
Day 24: LaBrea Tar Pits and Canters
Day 25: Chinatown, Philippe’s, Venice and The Villa (pics)
Day 26: LA Harbor and my old home marina
Day 28: Grand Canyon: no, little canyons: si. (pics)
Day 29: Colorado Springs: nothing happened at all
Day 30: Omaha and Johnnie’s Steakhouse! Yeah! (pic)
Day 31: Home! (with perch and froglegs at Shmit’s in Hammond, IN, on the run-in) (pics)
