Fiesta in San Antonio

If you ever plan a vacation to San Antonio be sure and come in late April for the vibrant week of Fiesta. Usually the bluebonnets are blooming in the hill country and the triple digits and bugs have yet to take over.

Even with the breezy, and I dare say perfect day, the kids were miserable in the shade, much less the sun. That's what happens when you grow up in the Pacific Northwest. I was so grateful to get some Vitamin D that didn't come out of a bottle, but the kids were far more focused on water, snacks and going inside somewhere --anywhere with air conditioning.

My sister with my niece and Flowerbaby drove us all over downtown for the day, even though the Riverwalk was closed for the parade. Still, cracking cascarones on everyone's head in El Mercado was a laugh (Little Man took absolutely no joy in this Fiesta tradition), and The Alamo turned out to be much more educational for Peanut than I'd anticipated. She was fascinated with the glass cases full of found objects: buttons, guns and soldiers' real letters describing the aftermath of battle as the Mexicans headed South.

We were just looking for a nice spot on the San Antonio river for a dinner picnic and ended up underneath the 300 year old Mission Espada Aqueduct. The Mission Trail is a must if you want to experience the true flavor of San Antonio although it's helpful to go before 5pm when they're actually open. Shoes were thrown off immediately and the cool, shallow water beckoned. A minute later Peanut started shreiking with glee and begging for us to come see the ants. We each crossed the river to find a gigantic Leaf Ant colony in action. A treasure!

Texas - Take Two

San Antonio is my hometown and it's a great place to be from. We visit once a year, eating our way through Tex-Mex restaurants and visiting family. Here are the requirements: Taco Cabana for cheap breakfast tacos, a stop at Rudy's for bar-b-q sauce, Bill Millers for sweet tea, Mi Tierra for dinner and lard-induced pastries, kolaches from a road side stand, etc.

As it turns out one of my dearest nephews planned his wedding during Fiesta so we decided to start our Southeast Road Trip here. (Our visit was much more about family than food this year.) Now, Texas -- the biggest state in the nation -- except Alaska, gets a proper place in our blog.

The bride and groom were gorgeous (such babies), but can you handle these darling kiddos? Little Man wanted to be anywhere but next to Peanut, Doodle or any of his girly cousins!

Fisherman's Wharf

Everyone had a San Francisco sight that needed to be visited before we could leave. Next stop: touristy Fisherman's Wharf. So many people loathe this spot, and if Tomcat and I were here for a weekend alone, we'd probably skip it. But if you have little kids, Fisherman's Wharf is a great place to be.

Doodle wanted a carriage ride. Done. We were told we could pet Susie, one of the horses, anywhere but the nose. They didn't understand and the driver said, "What if everyone always walked up to you and just kept petting your nose?" They got it after that.

Grandma and I wanted to go to the Musee Mecanique. It houses antique games from carnivals and World's Fair type amusements. Most of the games are in working order, for a mere 25 cents. Who knew the kids would be so enthralled? Grandma took a walk down memory lane and I just enjoyed seeing what used to make people laugh (Laughing Sal). The oldest item was a praxinoscope -- a truly fascinating artifact of human laughs.

Peanut wanted to go to Ripley's. Grandma and I had our doubts about this place, but it turned out to be a wonderful, engaging and highly educational stop.

None of the kids were freaked out, especially Doodle. When she went missing for about 5 minutes, I nearly lost my mind. Not so much that I feared someone had snatched her, but the thought of her being terrified in the life-size kaleidoscope or the simulated earthquake, or any number of bizarre exhibits we'd passed through was more than I could handle. Guess where we found her? Grandma saw her ahead of our group, hunched over on her elbows, staring eye to eye with an African mummified face, teeth and all. She couldn't wait to show me the treasure she'd found, completely oblivious to the heart attack she'd given her mama.

Little Man wanted to run free. So we hired a pedi-cab to take us down the Embarcadero to see the Cupid sculpture. I'd seen in a magazine on the airplane and just had to see it. From there he ran from one sculpture to the next all the way back to the bus stop.

Something we all needed was a stop at the Ghiradelli ice cream shop. Now that we've eaten a scoop of Ghiradelli ice cream, we can officially say we've been to California!

Chinatown

Just outside the gates of Chinatown, we stopped at the sweetest little church where Green got married. They were actually in the middle of a small service so we sat for a minute. (My kids have a new fascination with different churches in different states.) We only lasted about 5 minutes because Little Man got frustrated not knowing when to say, "Lord hear our prayer".


If Peanut called Muir Woods home, Little Man wanted to move into one of the gift shops in Chinatown. Each kid ended up with a fun Chinese outfit souvenir, but none so appreciated as Little Man's warrior hat and sword.

We had to have a big lesson on the history of ivory because the endless Chinese antique stores are full of ivory figurines (mostly in kama sutra sex acts) that most Americans won't buy. Even with the history lesson, Peanut found her prize: a tiny ivory bunny. I let her buy it with her own money.

Peanut and I wanted to check out the galleries. I was on Cloud Nine with the number of originals in this town. I kept telling the kids, "You guys, this is like walking into museums!" Our favorite by far was the Weinstein Gallery. They have more original Miro's than I remember seeing in Barcelona! The kids were intensely interested in discovering new artists (Becker) and discussing their art in a meaningful way.

Pinnacles National Monument

Bravely, I rented a car so we could take a day trip to Pinnacles. Have you heard of it? I highly doubt it, because no one in California had any idea what I was talking about!

What should have been a 3.5 hour drive turned into an all-day adventure. At one point I asked the kids if they wanted to turn around and head back or if they wanted me to continue the quest for the funky land formations. They wanted to keep searching! I love these kids.
We eventually found Pinnacles -- a spot on the San Andreas Fault where the plates collided and sent the earth upwards into a volcano and spiky fingers of land. Sounds cool, right? It was pretty hot and the kids' legs were so tired from our San Francisco hills, that we chose ONE hike. It just happened to be an uphill, mile-long hike to a big cave. The search was worth it! The formations were really cool, especially after just visiting Volcanoes in Hawaii last month. (This is what Kona will look like in millions of years!)

Peanut and I had our own thrill, though. We saw a tree covered in holes and then a Pileated woodpecker showed up. We felt like it landed there just for us and we watched it for as long as we could (we have a lot of patience when it comes to bird-watching). Little Man's thrill was having his snack in a huge, dark cave and having free use of the flashlights. It was really fun. Grandma adds that her thrill was making it to the top and down again in one piece!

Muir Woods

Oh, if only I'd allowed us an entire day to hang out here!

The kids were so enamored with Muir Woods, and I'd forgotten what a special place it is. In fact, Peanut lost herself in imagination picturing how she could make these woods her home: bedroom over there,

living room over here, a little place to sit and be alone under that tree, a nice place to read on that pile of moss, etc.

We were linking experiences here which thrilled me; we learned all about John Muir in Alaska and Henry Thoreau in Massachusetts, and it was all discussed here in San Francisco. Is this called Home Schooling?

Did you know that Redwoods bark is extremely thick -- so thick it protects them against bugs, disease and most importantly fire? That's how so many lovely homes (see my last post) survived the 1906 fires after the earthquake! They were built from old growth Redwoods. Cool.

We stopped in Sausalito on the way back -- a foo foo community where we toured some galleries and indulged in a fantastic seafood lunch.

We took the ferry home, adding to our many modes of transportation on this trip, getting a good view and quick lesson on Alcatraz. (We opted against this tour, by the way, preferring instead nightmare-free bedtimes.)

Golden Gate Bridge

We made it across the 1.7 mile long Golden Gate Bridge! Little Man said, "I got so tired I didn't think I was going to make it, but then I did make it."

Doodle promptly collapsed. She wins the prize for best 4 year old walker!

Peanut described the walk like this, "It was really hot, but the air was cool

blowing over us, and we got really dizzy up there. I mean, it was scary to be up there, but it was

cool to see the porpoises leaping at the bows of ships under us and the sea lion just hanging out."

I knew it would be fun, and we

discussed the fact that the bridge was actually orange, but the thrill of traffic buzzing past us was a bit unsettling. The weather was gorgeous; there wasn't a hint of fog or wind, or any jumpers for that matter.

We took a Double Decker bus back to town which gave us an entirely different perspective, with far less whining.

up and down, up and down

Well, give us a day of sunshine and we love San Francisco! The in-your-face novelty of stepping over homeless people on the sidewalks and witnessing P.D.A. in every nook and cranny, we got down to the business of exploring and climbing hills.

Cable cars were at the top of our list and they maintained their rank through our entire stay.

(I should have anticipated the thrill for a 6 year old boy and bought the 3 day pass.) We stayed at a hotel in Union Square -- just a few blocks to the cable car turn-around!

We walked down Lombard Street peeking in the lovely street-side doors to see the hidden gardens within, found real lemon trees and freesia actually growing in flower beds and saw amazing views

of the city.

While riding the cable car, I overheard a mom say to her kids, "Did you know that some people go on trips and do absolutely nothing? They just lie around -- no exploring whatsoever!" We were facing opposite directions, but I really wish we could have met that family!

California - Take Two

Our last attempt at seeing California involved a picture under the state sign followed by a quick walk in the Mojave Desert with a locally made bag of jerky. The emergency room in Las Vegas was calling my name -- darn infected eye -- and that was the end of exploring one of the most diverse states in our
country.

So we're going to try this again!

It's been a decade since I was in San Francisco (45 years for Grandma!), and with kids in tow it was an unrecognizable city. So seedy. It took me a while to figure out the secretive game Little Man and Peanut were playing: Count the Homeless People.

Needless to say, our first day left me wondering why I chose the Golden Gate Bridge over the La Brea Tar Pits.

Good-bye Hawaii

We found a beach with proper sand!!!!!!! What a treasure for our last day in Hawaii, this tiny little cove at Kukio Beach. Not only was the water shallow and calm, it offered easy snorkeling, a few turtle sightings, numerous humpbacks breaching in the distance and finally, some rays to jump start our Vitamin D intake before heading home. Here were our favorite parts of the trip to Hawaii: 1. Curly Top: the ultra soft feel of pulu (fern fuzz), and a red-footed booby landing next to me on the beach. 2. Tomcat: lava tubes, green turtles, the dose of Vitamin D. 3. Little Man: getting his ukulele, shave ice and swimming in the ocean. 4. Doodle: seeing Island Girl and whatever Peanut liked. 5. Peanut: besides the thrill of digging a pearl out of an oyster, she signed the guest book in our condo, and we're tickled by what she wrote (I corrected the spelling): We loved our trip to Hawaii!! It was a pleasure to visit. Our favorite things were: going to the Sheraton Resort where the manta rays came out for plankton, hiking up Akaka Falls, Botanical Gardens where we saw trees with roots that can walk and lots of other cool plants, the long drive to the ranch where we rode on horses, Volcano National Park and Kukio Bay. We are going to all 50 states. If you would like to visit our blog go to www.fiftystatesofmind.blogspot.com. We are not a big computer family but we are making a blog because we might write a book. We have had a wonderful time in Hawaii and we really enjoyed it! Peanut (cat face), age 8

Volcanoes National Park

Doodle asked me if Pele, the Volcano Goddess, is nice and I said she's actually pretty grumpy. The natives were always trying to please her because if she got mad, she'd cry lava tears and throw her glass hair around (did you know lava rock is actually glass?). There are numerous Hawaiian legends and plenty of them involve the wrath of Pele when she gets pissed.

(Speaking of myths, my favorite Hawaiian myth is the one about the Naupaka flower.)

After ample time at the Visitors Center (with the best park ranger interactions to date), the kids earned another Junior Ranger Badge. What's required of them to get a badge is incredible and worth every day of missed school. One of the required explorations was to walk through a lava tube.

This was creepy as hell, but we all dug it -- just like the Tom Sawyer cave in Missouri. In fact, it was likely the highlight for all of us.

Kilauea volcano looks different than our Pacific Northwest volcanoes because it's flat and spread out. Picture a stack of pancakes with syrup pouring across them and you've got a good visual. Sometimes the pancake bubbles and syrup blows a hole out the side. It's alive and smoking and my gut was in knots the entire day.

Eventually I realized that I was simply afraid. With a small stumble, one of us could land in a crater or a caldera (why build railings when they just get destroyed by the random eruption?). Also, we watched a movie warning us about walking on the bench because it's "here today gone tomorrow". Falling into a boiling sea is at the top of the list for experiences I'd like to avoid. Finally, there are posted signs everywhere that basically say "walk or breathe at your own risk".

Right now the current lava travels underground for 9 miles, out of the park and onto private property before it pours into the ocean. The once lush hillside, dotted with houses, is now a sea of black lava rock from last year's eruption. A few houses remain...

This is where we were allowed to traverse the lava field. Peanut was fascinated that people would choose to live here (as am I), and she kept talking about the private property aspect, like how nice this person was to let all these strangers walk across their property. We survived the trek with only one stumble by Little Man (small as it was, the cries were loud) only seconds after asking why oh why we had to wear gloves.

At the end of the trail, we witnessed smoke billowing out of the lava tube, but since Pele was in a kind mood, we left without seeing any of the famed red glow. Bummer.

Hello Hilo

There are 3 main roads on the Big Island:
1. A semi-boring one across the top, Rt. 19.
2. A curvy, car-sick potential one around the bottom, Rt. 11.
3. A partially paved rollercoaster style one that goes across the middle, Saddle Road.

Each takes the same amount of time

to get from Kailua to Hilo: 2-4 hours depending on traffic. ( I was thinking about how many states we crossed in that amount of time in New England!)

First stop was Akaka Falls State Park. The falls drop about 450 feet and they are pretty, but I think this would be a much more worthwhile destination for someone who's never seen an impressive waterfall.


The coolest part of this stop was the Hawaiian man weaving palm leaves into baskets at the entrance. The kids were in a trance watching him, and he indulged their inquisitive minds knowing we weren't going to purchase one.

As usual, it had been a few hours, and we were all in need of a shave ice. A funny little one-street town called Honomu is just outside the Falls. While we waited for our shave ice, I tasted several of the nearly 100 home-made jams for sale. Then I bought several bottles each of coconut and Jaboticaba (a kind of plum that grows right off the bark). They were to die for!

Peanut gets sucked into markets and antique stores like lava in a lava tube. This tiny town had a musty antique store with shelves upon shelves of old glass bottles, dug up around the island. Of course, this island doesn't have any sand to make glass, so all the bottles have their own unique history.

(Note to Texas: I thought this was a really clever concept for a store -- and one that my history-loving-brown-bottle-collecting sister should visit some day!)

When we heard the Big Island had a Botanical Garden we considered it a must-see for the kids. They enjoyed hiking through the cool rainforest -- it felt like a jungle to them. But I longed for a guide; it makes such a difference. (If you ever go to Kauai be sure to visit their little Botanical Garden -- it's a gem.)

Our final stop was Hilo, the biggest city in many ways: size, population, orchid production, port, amount of rain...

We found the big market and picked up a few trinkets, headed to a guitar shop where Tomcat bought his own ukulele (so he and Little Man can play together), and then I found our best cup of joe thus far at Sharks.
Boy, did we need it.