Can you drive to Italy?

Winding roads shaded by tall trees. Three kids sleeping peacefully in the back seat. No better time to take a drive.

• We had no place in mind. We just like to explore. We were driving in the Santa Cruz Mountains until a little place caught my eye. We continued driving until we felt the kids were waking up then Josh took me back to check out what I had seen.

There was a title antique shop next to what seemed to be a cafe.

I opened the door to a whole new world. The smell of sweetness filled the air. Three or four men bantering back and fourth in Italian. And Windows filled with fresh home made Italian pastries. We had driven to Italy!

As we walked in closer I wanted to taste everything! Gelato swirled in one window. Next to that they had one beautiful pastry after another.

Cannoli, Ricciarelli, Sfogliatella, Tiramisu… And so much more! My favorite was a warm pastry filled with sweetened ricotta cheese!

Next to that they had the coffee bar. Here the can serve you Italian coffee through a pore over. This was a first for us and very delicious.

We loved it all so much we had to bring Josh’s mother up there on one of her visits. Even with us living about an hour away.

Propino tibi!

Ben Lomond Baking Company

 

 

Meet Emily

Emily is a lady I met one day who touched my heart and moved me. She came in to do laundry and saw my kids. My kids are always eager to talk and meet new people. She told them that she should bring her little girl in to play with them. My kids energetically agreed.

A few minutes later, she came back with her daughter. The pretty little girl had red hair and a cute little red, white, and blue outfit on. She was adorable. (We will call her Kay.) She was five years old, just a few weeks older than Leah.

As her mother and I introduced ourselves and talked over folded laundry she began to tell me a small part of her story. Emily and her husband had three boys. And as she put it, they did not know they could make girls. So, when God put it on their hearts to adopt, they were happy to welcome Kay as part of the family. But what warmed my heart even more was that Kay had down syndrome. And so did the two other children they had adopted.

They also had adopted one of her older brothers who was ten now. Tim came in just for a minute to introduce himself but, wanted to get back to his show. And, once she woke up from her nap, Amy was brought in to meet us. Leah was delighted to be allowed to hold the little 12 month old baby girl.

Emily told us how happy she was to have her seven children. She shared some of their adoption stories with me. With Amy’s adoptions she had an open adoption. Some of the family’s her children came from were actually bigger family’s who were still wanting more children but felt that a child with Down’s syndrome would not be a good fit for them. Or, that they would not be able to give the care needed for a child with Down’s. As mixed as my emotions were on hearing this she proceeded to tell me her feelings.

“I am just glad they did not abort.” Was what she said. To that I can agree wholeheartedly. She told me that her little Amy’s birth mother was called every week asking her if she had changed her mind and wanted to abort. To this I shake my head in disgust! How can that even be allowed?  If a hospital did that through one of my pregnancies I may have filed harassment!

She still stays in contact with the birth mother and she is again pregnant with a little girl. This one does not have Down’s syndrome.

To commend Emily even more, I should tell you that her children are in excellent hands. Kay sat in my lap for most of our time together and talked to me. She spoke and communicated so clearly! She played so well with my kids.  They played tag, restaurant, and with stuffed animals. It was hard to tell she had Down’s sometimes. Also, Emily home schooled all of her children. She was quite proud that Tim could read. I am proud for both of them.

I did not have the pleasure of meeting the rest of the family. They were hiking with their father, Allen. He had taken them to the Channel Islands.  Allen loves our national park system and hopes to visit all of them over time. They travel every summer as a family.

Emily kept the two little girls home to do laundry.Tim had wanted to ride the boat but not go hiking. She told me that all of their children had the same rules. So, if Tim had gone he  I would have had to hike just like the other kids. So he stayed home. I would have loved to have met all of them. She had told me that her other children want her to adopt another brother now. That way they will have the same about of boys as girls.

I hope our paths cross again some day. They could have more children then because they are open to adopting another baby with special needs. They don’t feel confidant that they would be chosen. Nonetheless, they are open with loving arms.

They left camp before I thought to go back and ask for her email or contact info but am happy that I met Emily.

 

 

I changed the names of the people in this story for their privacy. 

Home in the Red Woods

Our first order of business was to find an RV Park. Easy enough, right? Not in California!  We probably sounded like the most irresponsible, crazy people ever when I called ahead a day to reserve a site.  Any where else I had been in the United States had never needed a notice to go camping.  The response on the other end of the line was “I can help you out for one night but then you have to move on.” The next place I called said they had a 50 person waiting list. The next and the next met me with the same kind of answer. I was beginning to panic! Where were we going to live? I called all over the San Jose, San Francisco, Santa Curz area. (or the Bay Area, as they call it) Finally, one place took pity on us.  She said that we could stay one week. They may be able to let us stay two. They would try to see what they could do. I took it! That would give us at least a week to figure out the next place.

We stayed our  first California night in Gilroy. It is about 30 miles south of San Jose. The name of the park was Gilroy Garlic USA RV Park.  “Odd name.” We thought.  But once we got close to the town our answer came.  The town grows and distributes garlic.  The whole town smells delicious! We really liked the town. They ave a great outlet shopping center. The park was nice too!

Josh looking off 9 HWY

We had to move on though because they were booked.

The Park

A place located in the Santa Cruz Mountains was to be our next destination. Santa Cruz Red Wood RV Resort was the name. Be warned all who dare to venture there with your RV…You have to cross the mountain via highway 17 which is considered one of California’s most treacherous highways. This was a scary ascent pulling our 30 foot trailer! Sharp turns! Fast traffic! Steep inclines and descents! I should note that our toeing vehicle was an SUV at the max of its tow capacity. (2005 Ford Expedition)  By Gods grace we made it!

It was BEAUTIFUL though! As the name implies, the resort is nestled at the feet of the redwoods.

Alisabeth exploring with Daddy

That alone we found breathtaking. The sound of a rushing river came from the back of the park. Josh had to check this out as soon as we arrived. The trees absorb most other sounds but you could hear a steam train pass by a few times a day.

The staff there were so friendly and pointed us in the direction of our temporary spot.

Happy Dance!

Happy Campers!

It was a very nice park. They did a very nice job of keeping it clean. They have a shower house, two bathroom buildings. They have a lounge with a banquet hall and pool table in it. A grill area with provided propane. A laundry room with sinks outside for dish washing and a kids play area.
I call it a “play area” because it was not a playground. Instead they have a very cool arrangement of carved seats out of logs. They had a rustics ping-pong table and a tether ball pole. Other than that the kids could play in the trees and hollowed stumps.

 

(A small one) We discovered that this area is home to the worlds largest slugs. They can be up to about ten inches long. They are yellow and appropriately name Banana Slugs.

In this area you find Coastal Redwoods. I did not know that there was more than one kind until we lived under them. Redwoods are really cool. Not just because some stand up to 379 feet today. Not only because you can drive a car through some of them. But they are also a fire resistant tree. They contain no pitch. They also have hundreds of pounds of water traveling through them. Their  bark contains tannin that along with the thickness of the bark, protects them from bugs and pests. In spite of the drought there is a lot of moisture in the air. This combined with the shade of the trees makes the air feel cooler.

After about a week they let us know that we could stay monthly. We were very relieved! We stayed there for three months, October through December. The weather ranged from mid 30’s as a low and high 50’s to 60’s during the day even in winter months. In spite of the drought, the climate was very moist. (We had to purchase a very nice de-humidifier to prevent mold. This greatly improved out comfort by making us feel much warmer.)

 We lived there for Alisabeth’s first birthday and through the holidays.

 We were moved close to another nice family  who also home schooled their two kids. She was actually from Gilroy. He taught outdoor/ nature classes at the Henry Cowell State Park that our RV park was encompassed by.  They were so kid and the most gentle people you would ever meet. We were able to have play dates with them. They even had us over to make ginger bread houses and go Christmas caroling for the holidays. It was wonderful to get to know them.

Henry Cowell Red Wood State Park.

Squirrels Gathering

This is a nice park and  complacently surrounded us.

Dear

We went down one day and enjoyed the walking trails. We saw dear three or four times on the walk. We gathered nuts and climbed trees. They have a steam train that you can ride from Henry Cowell to Santa Cruz. Though we did not ride it, we heard from many that it was a beautiful ride. I am sure it was. It went down the mountain, through the red woods and to the ocean.

Girls Finding Nuts

Bay Nuts:

Our neighbors told us that the nuts we had gathered were Bay Nuts.  I guess that they have a stimulant in them similar to that of coffee. It takes some work to prepare them and they are not delicious so we did not try them. Instead, we had the neighbor kids over and we made arts and crafts with them, for fall.

 

Library

Felton is a small town in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was just over 4000 in 2010. It does have a few things that you can do. They have the Felton Covered Bridge Park. Our girls enjoyed it there. The Library is great. It is in an old church. Very cute, and they had good books for the kids. A restaurant that we would have enjoyed more if we did not have kids with us was the Cremer House. We only stopped in for appetizers and it was amazing! They always have a line out the door.

A few things we did not know until we lived there were that there would be a lack of sunshine and how intense Josh’s commute would be. There were days that the kids and I only got about one hour of true sunshine and after a few months this began to wear on us. It really just encouraged us to go out and play in Santa Cruz more. Not a bad thing. On the other hand Josh was driving three days a week to San Jose for work. To get there he had to take Hwy 9 to Hwy 17. Hwy 17 is, as I mentioned previously, is treacherous! We are not the only ones who think so. ABC7 named Highway 17 one of California’s most dangerous roads. We knew it would be long but not that crazy. At least he left early and came home late to reduce some traffic. Josh never did complain though. I just knew that when an opening would come at a closer RV park, we should take it.

We had a lot of fun living in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We began to explore the area. We ventured many places such as Scotts Valley, Ben Lomond, Los Gatos, Santa Cruz and more…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Henry Cowell Red Wood State Park:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/

The Creamer House of Felton:

http://www.cremerhouse.com/

The Sound of Waves

The sound of waves… All day all night you hear them crash, tumble and thunder. Salt in the air and sand in your toes.  Dolphins leap out of the water. Pelicans dive and splash into the ocean for their next meal. This is the beauty that enthralled  us last week when we stayed at Rincon Parkway.

 

waves…

walking the beach…

Our camper above!

Rincon Parkway is just off of Highway 1 of the central coast of California. About 30 min south of Santa Barbara, Ventura is the closest town. This is a wonderful place to come and experience the ocean from your front door. The cost is just under $30 a day. You can stay up to five days in the summer and two weeks in the winter. Pets cost extra. Port-a-potty’s and trash cans are provided.

The difficulties in coming: This is a first-come-first-serve park. So hope that you don’t pack up your camper and come all the way here to not find an opening! When we came we had our pick of spaces but by the time we left there was not one space open.  Also, they have no hookups. So five days is about all my family of five can last on what water we can store in the water tank.  You do have to keep valuables put away or they could be missing in the morning. (Generators, etc…) Park correctly or you will be fined! The road is busy behind where you park with a speed limit of 45 mph and many cars go faster so keep an eye on you kids(…thus the gate I have my kids in).

The weather is in the 70’s almost year round. The mist and fog can be quite thick. But most of the time the sun came out in the afternoon.  Just a side note, be sure to wear your sunscreen even in the mists.

The water off the beach stays shallow for a long ways. We felt comfortable playing around on the body board because we could always just put our feet down when we needed to.

Josh tried surfing for the first time there. That was made into a very memorable experience when dolphins joined him! We were quite excited! We saw dolphins almost every day and all through each day. At another point a seal popped up about twenty feet in front of him and looked him in the eye before diving again. What fun!

Go Catch Some Waves!

Josh and the dolphins

The kids had a blast! We chased waves, skipped rocks, made drip castles. We found little critters on the beach like crabs and snails. Leah learned that there is such a thing as “rock art” and got her creativity on.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We had great neighbors there, too. They let us watch Josh surf from their camp fire and even moved our camper for us to meet the parking regulations. The kids were able to find kids to play with on the beach.  I would say that anyone would be able to have a great time here!