The Coast with the Hornes

We have been trying to schedule a trip with Richard and Sandy for a long time now.  Since she was caring for her sweet mother it has been difficult to get away for any length of time.  Then Richard was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease late last fall.  Then Sandy's momma passed away.  We then decided it was time to plan our trip but only a few months later we about lost Sandy.  In August she had a ulcer that ruptured and she was life flight'ed to SLC.   Harold and I drove to the University the morning Richard called to tell us.  Miraculously she came through.  Our trip was planned for Sept 6.  She wanted to still go on our trip so when she had her 2 week checkup the Dr told her she was ok to go on this trip.  I feel it was a blessing for both Richard (to go before he can no longer travel and still enjoy mobility) and for Sandy ( who after so many many years of service to her parents could now take the time to leave home and enjoy herself without the constant worry for her mom).  We had a wonderful trip:

We left Sept 6th at 8:00 in the morning, picking up the Hornes from their home and heading out so we could make as much headway as possible the first day.  Our goal was Bend the first day.  We stopped about every 2 hours to allow Richard to get out and move about a little, (which my kids know for me its get in the car and we don't stop til we get there!).  We got to Ontario in time for lunch so we grabbed a Kentucky Fried Chicken and then headed out of town when Richard mentioned an Aunt that lived in a nursing home in town.  Harold immediately said lets go see her and they both refused saying we didn't need to stop to see her as it was our trip too, but Harold insisted and so we found the home and they went in but Sandy came right back out saying Aunt Virginia wanted to meet us so we went in and she was so adorable.  We are so glad we stopped because 2 weeks after we got home Virginia passed away.  They would never had taken the time to visit one last time if Harold hadn't insisted,  Sandy called to tell me of her passing and just cried and thanked us for making them stop.
n to Bend.  When we got there Richard was so proud to show us around the town (his old stomping grounds).  We spent the night there in the cutest hotel.  After leaving the next morning they realized it was the same hotel they stayed in the night of their reception in Bend!  Then we met up with a couple of friends of Richards for breakfast.  Then stopped at the most beautiful park in Bend and took some fun pictures.  Then on to Crescent City. We got to the Jedidiah State Park first and thats where the biggest Redwoods were.  It was beautiful!  We spent about 2 hours making the loop trail and taking pictures and talking.  We got to Crescent City and stopped at the tour center and they told us where to head next.  So down the highway we went to another area of Redwoods and took more pictures.  We did that all in one day so that was nice and we had plenty of time there.  Spent the night in Crescent City and then headed up the coast highway.  We stopped a Schwans truck and got some ice cream!  We stopped at lighthouses and coastal areas all along the way.  ( when I got home I went to download my pictures and made the mistake of backing the phone up to my itunes which deleted more than half of the trip pictures, I am just lucky to have downloaded the Redwood pictures before it synced)
The rest of the trip from the lighthouse was really fun too but no pictures (esxcep a few I got from Sandy)  We took a Whale Watching cruise and poor Harold got so sick.  He was puking off the back of the boat.  It was so foggy when we left and even on the way back but when we got to the jetty to go back into dock the fog lifted and the captain took us out a little longer and WE SAW A WHALE and her baby!  That was awesome!
This trip was so enjoyable.  We love Richard and Sandy like famliy!