Thursday, June 30, 2016
Posted from: Long Beach, CA
Miles driven: 219
Total trip miles: 3,766
Total national parks visited: 10
Today we were back to our early routine. (I think the kids got used to sleeping in on Mom's work days). Today we had our sites set on Channel Islands National Park.
We had already looked online and knew that unfortunately only the day boats were running today. This means they drop you off at 9:00am and pick you up at 6:00. That is a very long day on a deserted island with kids. There are no services on the island, so you carry in all good, water, etc, and the weather can be very unpredictable. On weekends they do half day trips and trips where you just float around the islands and watch for whales. We were hoping for a half day trip. Bottom line, we knew we were driving three hours up there and would not actually see the islands. But there is plenty more to do, so we went for it.
We were off to a speedy start when we got caught up in this car fire mess.
Our chosen route (based on traffic) took us right past the Hollywood exits, so we decided to hop off and check it out.
Here we are in front of the Dolby Theater where the Academy Awards are handed out once a year.
Caleb was disappointed that he couldn't find a star for Goofy. He decided Donald Duck was cool enough.
Grace's nickname is Tinkerbell, so this one was perfect for her.
Cameron could not commit to a character, so he just had his picture taken with the Disneyland star. Later he had his picture taken with the Micky Mouse star.
Mom picked Harrison Ford's hand and feet prints...or was it Harrison Ford's brother?? (Sorry, inside family joke.)
Matt was feeling a bit like this guy at this point...
With the naked eye you could see the Hollywood sign, but the haze and smog prevented it from showing up in pictures. It is on the lighter hill in the background.
Matt had misplaced his sunglasses yesterday, so he wore mine, which had a little more bling than is usual sunglasses. (I was nice and didn't take a picture.) But then we left Hollywood he found my spare pair that had no bling. But I think they had spent too much time in a hot vehicle. The lenses were a little warped. He was trying different angles to see if he could improve the situation, but it just turned into a comedy routine. He wore mine the rest of the way. And yes, I was nice and reminded him that he had them on when we stopped to refuel. ;) Though I was secretly laughing in the passenger seat just thinking about him pumping diesel into his big black truck with his big Jackie O blinged out sunglasses. Oh the memories that would have made... *sigh
We arrived at the visitor center. It was windy and cool.
The kids decided to go ahead and complete the inland version of the Junior Ranger program. They had a nice visitor center that was very interactive.
The tide pool with lots of real plant like like giant star fish, crabs and bright fish.
The observation deck gave a nice view of the ocean. On a clearer day you can see the islands from here.
The kids completed their books and were sworn in as Junior Rangers. We really learned a lot. The video was amazing. It was narrated by Kevin Kostner and really made us want to go to the islands. Maybe another time!
We had lunch at a small sweet little place on the marina. The kids loved their little round glass apple juice bottles. They said it was the best apple juice they ever had... Couldn't have had anything to do with the fact that they were by the ocean in California and the bottles were unique and cute. I think that would make anything taste like the best.
Right after I took the picture above, I laid my phone down on the table without turning it off. I noticed that the umbrella was pretty and then Matt's head slowly moved into the picture. It cracked me up so I snapped a picture.
And finally... The ocean.
It was still cool, but with the warm sand it felt perfect.
After spending time on the beach, we travelled the three hours back home. We stopped to get groceries and arrived home to see that more people had shown up at the house. Dave's daughter and the band she tours with (Dead Horse Trauma) were there. We had dinner and enjoyed great company for one more night. We will miss this place and those people.
We decided to pull out later in the morning tomorrow, and spend tonight enjoying the evening and stay up chatting. Besides, I was concerned about what it would take for us to get out of their driveway and up their hill. More on how it goes tomorrow...
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