First Visit to California!
June, 2024
Reghan & Helena's visit to Grandma Helen & Charles

Table of Contents

Introduction

Helen and Charles started planning this visit in April. We were so excited to have Reghan (13 years old) and Helena (8 years old) visit with us for two weeks! This will be their first visit to California and the longest period of time Helena has been away from her parents. I'm not sure who will have separation anxiety the most, Helena or her parents ;-)

Day 1, Thursday, June 13, 2024; Flying from Charlotte, NC to San Francisco, CA

The rental car is all loaded up and we are ready to drive from Hickory to the Charlotte Airport. It is one of those occassions where Helen wanted to take a picture of Karen & Dave, while they were taking a picture of us leaving.

Karen and Dave are excited about the adventure their daughters are going to have. Click on the picture to see their big smiles.


And we're off to the airport...

Welll, maybe this adventure won't be as exciting as we had promised ;-)


Even though Charles had planned on being at the airport 2.5 hours early, it was barely enough time. We arrived at the gate as boarding was beginning, however, since we were in American Airlines boarding group 6, we had to wait about 10 minutes before it was our turn to board.

Charles took a picture of Helena on the plane, but she had other ideas and used some of the Android graphics features to modify the picture.


Reghan, during one of the few moments she was awake during the flight.

We made it to San Francisco, yea! However, we now had a 1.5 hour BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train ride to get to our home in Fremont.




The train was pretty empty at 3 PM, however Charles wanted to change trains at the San Francisco Embarcadero station. BART has a service center at this station where Charles could change their adult Clipper cards (a Bay Area wide transportation ticket) to youth cards. This will give them a 50% discount on BART and free rides on buses, ferries, etc.

It took about 15 to 20 minutes to get the youth card. By the time we were back on the train it was the beginning of rush hour, so there was standing room only. This lasted for about 15 minutes, then the train emptied out enough we could sit down.

We were all exhausted by the time we arrived home. Since it was dinner time, we decided to go to Burger King. It was fun and the grandkids really liked the "King crowns" they give out.


Helena wanted to stack three crowns on her head, so she borrowed Charles' phone to use it as a mirror, however, she accidently turned on "video" mode and took a video of the stacking


Day 2, Friday, June 14, 2024; Big Breakfast; Drive through the Hills; Short Hike

After the exhausting trip yesterday, we all wanted to kick back and relax. The day was limited to a short ride through the hills near my house, where the girls could see many ranches and ranch animals such as horses, cattle, llamas, ground squirrels and other animals. We *think* we saw a bob cat, but it was far enough away it looked like a kitty cat.

At the top of the hill is a small park with a great over look of San Jose. At about 3,000 feet, it appears you are viewing the city from an airplane. The park also has a short 30 minute hike with an easy hill to climb. Both girls had much more energy than Helen and Charles. They raced ahead, however it was like the tortise and hare. By the time we caught up with them, they were exhausted ;-)

A yummy pancake breakfast.

Enjoying the banana pancakes.


Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve

Over looking the city of San Jose. Click picture to enlarge.


They are racing to get around as quickly as possible.

Resting on the Baccardo Memorial bench




Day 3, Saturday, June 15, 2024; Garden & Neighborhood Playground

Today was another relaxing day. We hung around the house mostly, but we also went grocery shopping, took tour of our vegetable garden and went to a neighborhood park with a fun playground. Helen and Helena also visited with one of our neighbors who have kids Helena's age. They invited Helena to a bouncehouse party that was starting at sunset. However, when sunset arrived, around 8:30 PM, there was no bouncehouse. After checking to see if the bouncehouse was set up, multiple times, with no success, we went to bed.

Picking a lemon from a neighbor's lemon tree.


Reghan admiring Helen's green bean plant. There was even one green bean on it!

Tomato plants in the foreground and strawberry plants in the background.


Wow! That is big strawberry!

I wanna bite of the strawberry. I'll just take a nibble, I promise!


Another tomato plant.

What a fun playground!


This miniture merry go round is may favorite!

Posing in front of Helen's beautiful flower garden.


I really like this merry-go-round!


Charles was amazed at how well Helena can swing. Last October, when we took Helena to the Veterans park in Hickory, Charles had to push her on the swing as she hadn't let learned how. Now look at her!!!


Day 4, Sunday, June 16, 2024; Chinatown & Pier 39

Day 4 was a long day. Here was the plan:

  • An hour long BART ride from Fremont, CA into San Francisco, CA
  • Get off at the Montgomery Street BART station in downtown San Francisco
  • Walk 0.3 miles to Bush St and Grant Av which is the entrance to Chinatown
  • Walk 0.4 miles through Chinatown, shopping as we go, to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
  • Take a 20 minute bus ride to Pier 39 to watch the sea lions that hang out there
  • Walk 0.5 mile to the Musee Mecanique, a free museum of old nickelodian machines
  • Walk 0.2 mile to In-N-Out Burger for dinner
  • Walk 0.2 mile to the National Maritime Museum at the Hyde Street Pier
  • Walk 0.2 mile to Ghiridelli Square for an ice cream treat
  • Walk 0.1 mile to the Hyde Street Cable Car turn-around to ride a cable car the Powell street BART station
  • Take an hour long BART ride home

Unfortunately, we all ran out of steam at Pier 39. After watching the sea lions, riding a carousel and shopping in a magnet store for a refrigerator magnet, we were done! Instead of completing the rest of the items on the list, we headed straight to In-N-Out Burger, then to the historic F-Trolley line for a ride back to the Embarcadero BART station for the long ride home. Once we got home, around 8:30 PM, it didn't take long for us to become horizontal in bed!

Entrance to Chinatown at the intersection of Bush St and Grant Ave.

The lion protecting the entrance to Chinatown.


The famous Chinese saying "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil"


Helena standing next to a large geode. This is what we were looking for at the gem mining place near Hickory, NC, last week ;-)

Are we having fun in Chinatown?


Looking down Grant Avenue in Chinatown


Fun fact. The fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco. Almost every Chinese restaurant in America serves fortune cookies at the end of the meal. However, this is an unknown custom in China!!!

Click here for more about the Fortune cookie history.

At the end of the day, while eating at In-N-Out Burger, I was sitting next to a 30 year old Chinese lady. We started chatting and I found out she works for Tik-Tok and was on a business trip. The local Tic-Toc office is in San Jose and she was spending the weekend in San Francisco sightseeing.

Anyway, Helen offered her a fortune cookie, we had bought a bag of them at the fortune cookie factory, she happily took one and started to eat it. She didn't realize there was a fortune inside and started eating the paper! I caught her before it was all eaten. She pulled the fortune out of her mouth and read it. She was surprised when I showed her the bag it came in, as the writing on it was all in Chinese.

The famous Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory that has been around for 61 years!



Posing behind the lady making the fortune cookies.

Helena writing a special fortune to be put inside a fortune cookie.


If you have ever wondered how a fortune cookie is made, watch the above video.


Pier 39, the famous shopping pier in San Francisco.

The girl's first view of Alcatraz. Reghan knew about Alcatraz, but was surprised to hear it was in San Francisco!


Lammie posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, it was late enough in the day that the setting sun blocked out the bridge, but if you squint, you can make it out.

Sea Lions!!! The famous Pier 39 sea lions! When Charles first moved to the Bay Area, there were a lot of boats docked here. Then, after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, for some unknown reason, sea lions started taking over the boat docks. Since they are a protected species, there was not much that could be done. Everyone thought they would leave on their own. When they didn't, they decided to remove the boats and the docks. These special platforms were made and attached to remaining pilings. Since then, they have become a tourist attraction, so Pier 39 built some platforms for people to stand on to get a better view of the sea lions. They even have wildlife rangers on hand to answer questions about the sea lions.


When Helena saw the carousel on Pier 39, she had to have a ride! Even though it was only a 2.5 minute ride, she thoroughly enjoyed it.

A windy day standing in front of an In-N-Out burger. The 76 year old (as of 2024) privately owned company has 400 locations covering 8 states, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho.


Helena playing with Lammie on the hour long train ride home.


Day 5, Monday, June 17, 2024; Hanging Out at Home

Today was a kick-back day. We stayed home all day, however, we did get out to a neighborhood park.

Charles showing Helena how to make Bisquick biscuits.

Patting out the dough is really fun!




The first park we went to was near a day care center. It was too crowded and the availabilty of playground equipment was difficult because of all the kids.

So we walked to the first playground we had taken Helena to where her favorite piece of equipment, the single person merry-go-round, was again her favorite. This park only had one family of 3 year olds, so Helena could play on everything.


"Cutting grass is so much better than cutting my hair"!


Oh my! Look at all these strawberries


Water plants, gosh this is fun!


Day 6, Tuesday, June 18, 2024; Flying to the Old Gold Mining Town of Columbia, CA

On Tuesday, we took an exciting plane ride in a small, private, Piper Cherokee 180, tail number N8085W, to the old gold mining town of Columbia, California. The flight was 1 hour long and travelled across the California central valley to the Sierra Nevada mountains. When we reached Columbia, Charles couldn't find the airport as it is nestled amoung the rolling hills. Charles knew he had passed it by 0.5 NM (GPS is great!) and asked if anyone had seen it. Eagle eyes Reghan was the one who spotted it as we were crossing over. Charles then turned around and executed a perfect landing.

This town was established around 1849 during the height of gold mining era. Wildfires are prevalent in the California Sierra Nevada mountains and the town has burned to the ground multiple times. The historic version of the town today, dates from the 1870s, as gold mining was coming to an end.

We started our exploration by having lunch at a El Jardins, a mexican cafe I have been eating at for years. Then we went on to explore a Soap and Candle shop, an 1870's pharmacy, dental office and many other exciting stores. In one of the shops, the girls found polish rocks they could not live without ;-)

Of course, the highlight of the day was when we stopped for some ice cream. After that, we walked back to the airport and flew home. The trip home was quiet as everyone was tired.







What's the best part of a quesadilla and french fries? The french fries!!!!






Trying on old time clothes.


Reghan wanted a photo taken in front of the court since Dave and Karen recently received court custody of her.



Helena wanted me to play with her new fuzzy toy.

After an exhausting day, flying back home meant it was time to sleep.


Day 7, Wednesday, June 19, 2024; Kickback Day at Home

Wednesday was kick-back day. After the flight and the hike around the gold mining town, everyone was exhausted. However, we did venture out to Walmart in the afternoon where Helen bought some Kinder eggs, Reghan was able to talk Grandma into a new dress and a new pair of stylish glasses. We were also able to get her old, black frame, glasses adjusted so they would not fall off her face when she looked down. All-in-all, it was a very relaxing day.

Helena has discovered sleeping on the floor with the cushions from the back of the couch to be a lot of fun.


The keyboard is one Grandma Helen had purchased for Dave when he was a youngster. Both Helena and Reghan got a kick out of playing their Dad's keyboard.






A afternoon trip to Walmart.




Day 8, Thursday, June 20, 2024; Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Another long day. We left the house at 11:30 in the morning and returned at 8:30 PM. Everyone has now gone to bed, except me as I wanted to get yesterday's and today's blog pages up.

Instead of racing over to look at the beautiful scenery, the two girls found playing in the parking lot sand a lot more fun!

Fortunately, we were able to coax them into having their picture taken in front of a valley full of redwood trees.



After arriving at the park, the first thing we did was to sit down to a picnic lunch. Ummmm, what's missing? Uh Oh, we left the bread at home! Oh well, we'll just have "sandwiches" with ham and cheese between two pieces of lettuce!








This is the "Mother" of the forest. It is the tallest tree in the area.



This is the "Father" of the forest. It is the oldest tree in the area.



Big Basin Redwoods State Park is still recovering from the August, 2020, CZU fire which cleaned the forest out. Most of the redwood trees survived as they have special tannins in them which protect them from fire, even though they do get charred on the outside. The landscape, while pretty, is not what I'm used to when coming to this park.

About 40 minutes down the road is Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. It has not had a fire in 100 years, so it is a more beautiful setting. The canopy is completely closed in and not much light filters down to the ground, so there is not much ground cover, other than the needles from the redwood trees. It is also much cooler in this forest as compared to Big Basin. We thought this would be a fun comparison for the girls to see both environments. However, we were fooled. They were both tired, hungry and cranky. We sped through the half-mile loop trail, barely taking time to enjoy the beauty.










We promised the girls we would go to Chick Fila, however, we were fooled. Charles thought they were every where. The closest large town was the beach town of Santa Cruz at only 6 miles away, so off we went. When we finally found cell service is Santa Cruz, we discovered there were no Chick Fila in the town and the closest one was near our home, over an hour away. We knew this wasn't going to fly. Instead, Charles got the bright idea to go to a seafood restaurant as there are many good ones in Santa Cruz.

Helen was able to find one, so we thought, that sounded really good. It was the Surf City Grill, so off we went. It turns out it was a fast food restaurant on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Oh well. As long as we are here, we might as well dip our toes into the ocean. Well, Helen's definition of "dipping ones toes in the ocean" is not the same as the girl's definition! As you can see, they got thoroughly drenched! Unfortunately, the water is cold (Charles had warned them) and there was a breeze blowing and the sun was going down so it was starting to get cool. In other words, they were cold! So, instead of wandering around the boardwalk and going on some of the rides, we gobbled down a dinner of corn dogs, chicken nuggets and french fries. Then hustled back to the car for an hour long drive home.


The cutest girl on the boardwalk! This is the new dress she had bought at Walmart. Fortunately, it was in the car, so after getting her shorts drenched, she had a backup dress to put on.


Now remember, we are just dipping our toes in the water...



Day 9, Friday, June 21, 2024; Another Day at Home

Today was another mellow day. After all of the activities of yesterday and being cold from their swim in the ocean and tired from the two 1/2 mile walks, today was a day for recovery. All we did was go food shopping and stopped by Walmart to pick up Rae's new glasses.



Day 10, Saturday, June 22, 2024; Chinatown, Lombard Street, Goldengate Bridge, Rodeo Beach

Today started off slow. We didn't leave the house till 11:15 AM. The first stop was Chinatown so Helena could buy a Hello Kitty purse, which she has been wanting since she saw it last time we were in Chinatown. Then we headed for the \"Crookedist Street\" in the world, Lombard Street. From here, we traveled through San Francisco to the Golden gate bridge. The plan was for Charles to drop everyone off at the South Vista Point. They would then walk the 1.8 miles across the bridge and he would pick them up at the North Vista Point. Unfortunately, it was cold, windy and foggy, so we decided to forgo the walk and drive across instead. Charles is glad we did as the Vista Point on the North side of the Bridge was closed, so it would have been a nightmare trying to pick them up.

We did find a place to park across Highway 101, so we walked under the bridge to the North Vista Point did our sightseeing over there. Helen and Helena walked out on the bridge about an eighth of a mile and back. From the Golden Gate Bridge we went into Sausalito for lunch and then headed to Rodeo Beach.

Rodeo Beach was cold, windy and foggy too, however, that didn't stop Helena from stripping down to her swimsuit and running into the fridged water. The beach temperature was about 60 degrees and the water temperature was around 50 degrees. Helen and Charles stood on the beach as Helena ran into and out of the water. Each time she had the biggest smile on her face as the waves chased her back to the beach!

Helena is one smart cookie!!! After about a half-hour, Helen was freezing and wanted to return to the car. So, Charles, being the clever sole he is, told Helena she could run in and out of the ocean 5 more times. Do you know what she did? She ran in (as far as we had allowed her to go) and then stay there! Foiling Charles' plan!!!! After about 5 minutes, we called her in and she was grinning like a Cheshire cat that had just gotten away with something!!!!

After getting all the sand off, drying off and putting on dry clothes, we wandered up to Charles' favorite Golden Gate Bridge Vista point, Hawk Hill. At this location, you are several hundred feet above the bridge looking down on it. The view was spectacular! It is Charles' favorite view with a finger of fog sneaking through the Golden Gate, but low enough the tops of the towers are visible as well as the city of San Francisco in the background.

By now, it was approaching 6:30 PM and it is a little over an hour drive home, so off we went. When we arrive near home, I was able to fulfill my promise of taking the girls to Chick-Fila, their favorite resteraunt.

Mailing letters to Mom and Dad.

Chinatown for Helena


I'm soooo happy. I finally was able to buy the Hello Kitty purse I have been wanting for a week!

Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge


Reghan enjoying the view of her favorite bridge.



Walking under the Golden Gate Bridge. Now how many people know about this secret passageway?

Me! Charles knows about the secret passage and has been taking visitors under the bridge for decades!


A precious lady bug both Helena and Reghan fell in love with. No, you can't take it home!


A quick walk on the bridge.

Yummy! Isn't it great to be able to have a strawberry and chocolate waffle for lunch! Grandma Helen and Charles sure spoil me!!!


Ohhh, this water is cold!










Charles' favorite view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Click on the picture to make it larger (opens in a new tab).




Charles told Helena to pose on the fence (he is such a bad influence!).


Helena wants to fly!!!


A little artistic creativity.






Going down the crookedist street in the world!




Near the end of the above video, Charles does a quick pan of the beach to show all the fog. It was cold! You can tell by the jackets most people are wearing.



Day 11, Sunday, June 23, 2024; Another Laid Back Recovery Day

After the full day yesterday, today was planned to be a day to recover. We started off with a waffle brunch. Then around 2 PM we went shopping for craft supplies. First we went to Daiso Tokyo, a Japanese dollar store as they usually have a bunch of craft things. Usually, I go to the one in Union City, however, I decided to go to the one in Milpitas which is closer to us and it is close to a Michaels craft store. Big mistake. I didn't realize it was in the largest mall in the area and on Sunday, it was extremely crowded. It was a bit overwhelming for the kids. Since Daiso didn't have anything they could use, we went to Michaels. Helena found some paints, but Reghan couldn't decide what to get.

The day was hot, so we headed home to an even hotter house :-( Helen fixed a dinner of quesadilla and tacos. It was very good. After dinner, Grandma and Helena went to a local playground so Helena could play on her favorite ride, the single person merry-go-round. However, it was so hot, they didn't stay long.

That pretty much wraps up the day. Tomorrow is the Oakland zoo, so it'll be a fun and exciting day!

Sorry, no pictures were taken today. Tomorrow, we should have lots of pictures of elephants and tigers and bears, Oh My!.

Okay, one picture for today...


Day 12, Monday, June 24, 2024; Oakland Zoo

Today we are going to the Oakland zoo! Of the two zoos in the area, San Francisco and Oakland, Oakland is by far the better zoo. It is better organized, has updated facilities and is more fun.

After the zoo, we took the girls to Costco. Reghan has been there many times and this was the first time for Helena. We tried to make it exciting for her, but hey, it's just another megastore. One thing that did catch their attention was the ice cream sundae's they sell in the food court. We bought two and they were large enough Helen and Charles could split one and the girls split one. It was a lot of fun!

Getting ready for a day at the zoo.


The gondola ride up to the California Trail exhibit. I'm sure glad I didn't have to walk up the steep hill!


Oakland Zoo Map. We took the Gondola up to the California Trail exhibit. After walking around the exhibit, it was approaching 2:30 PM, so we took the Gondola to the lower level and walked a little around that area.







Lammie investigating the California Grizzly Bear tracks.






Can you spot the Jaguar in the center of the picture? Don't worry, I can't see it either, but it is there!


After looking at the giraffes, we were all getting a bit hungry, so we headed to some picnic tables for a very late lunch. The plan was to return to the zoo after lunch, but by the time everyone had a full stomach, we voted to go home instead. I guess two and half hours is long enough.


Oh Boy! Sushi! My favorite!!! (Well, except for Chick-Fila!)

After the zoo, we went to Costco for a couple of items AND for an ICE CREAM SUNDAE!!!


Day 13, Tuesday, June 24, 2024; Exploratorium - A Hands-on Science Museum

Another exciting day!!! Today we took our last BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) ride. Reghan wanted to ride one more time. She must have asked me 20 times between yesterday and today if we were going to ride BART today. Obviously, this was really important for her ;-)

We took BART into downtown San Francisco, then walked from the BART station to the Exploratorium, a short 1/2 mile walk which took about 15 minutes. We arrived around 1 PM and had a great time. We finally left when the museum closed at 5 PM.

The girls were entertained the whole time, running from one exhibit to another. I'm not sure if they learned much science as they were more interested in pushing buttons, turning knobs and twirling around. Fortunately, we went during the week and even though there were a lot of people there, they could get to most of the hands-on exhibits without waiting.

Interesting story: Helena and I were at a big bubble table, making as big a bubble as possible. There were many stations and there were other kids at the table. Later, on the way home on BART, I happened to be standing to an older couple on the train, so I started a conversation with them. They had their granddaughter with them and she was visiting them for three weeks. Turns out, they recognized us as being at the same bubble table Helena and I were at. After a few more minutes of conversation, I found out the granddaughter was from Alaska and that she was 8 years old. Well, I couldn't resist. I called Helena over (the train was crowded and Reghan and I were separated from Helen and Helena) and introduced her to Sawyer. It was kinda awkward at first as I was prompting Helena to tell Sawyer about her favorite park in Fremont, what grade she was in and other small talk. Finally they hit on a subject both were familiar with, iPad games! That was all it took. The two girls chatted and danced around for the next half-hour till they reached their stop. Helen invited them to come over tomorrow, but, unfortunately they already had other plans :-( Helena's first friend in Fremont :-)

Paying for parking at BART.


One of the cable car turn-around points (Drumm Street) is just outside the BART station. There was a cable car there and NO line!!! Amazing for a Summer day. I had the girls sit on the cable car so we could take their picture. There was another young tourist couple on the cable car and they moved over so Reghan and Helena could have their picture taken.



I asked Reghan and Helena to stand on the running board, hang onto the pole and look like a real San Franciscan. So they did. As we were walking away, the young couple did the same thing! I was flattered they wanted the same picture I had taken with the girls.


In this exhibit, they were introducing the concept of doubling the size of an object caused the volume to increase 4 times. The chair in the middle is normal size. The one on left is twice the size and the one on the right is 1/2 the size. The volume was the space beneath the seat. Awwww, the heck with science. Let's just sit in the chair!!!





This is a pin table. Placing an object under the table will cause the pins to rise and create the same contours. Helena wanted to see what would happen if she put her face on the pins....not much. All you can see is her nose.

Using a Fresnel lens magnifying glass to make your face look larger.


Charles loves maps and charts. Here he is looking through some historical maps of San Francisco.


This map is from 1848, one year before the gold rush. The city of San Francisco was sure small!

This map of San Francisco is from 1851, 2 years after the gold rush. What a difference!



Riding on a crowded BART train.


This exhibit deceives the eyes into thinking you are moving when you actually standing still, however, it is more fun to run through the rotating ribbons ;-)


Making huge bubbles. This was our third time at this exhibit.


Dancing in front of a screen with various light colors.



Day 14, Wednesday, June 26, 2024; A Relaxing Day at Home

Today was planned as a relaxing day before Reghan and Helena fly home tomorrow. Reghan packed up their main suitcase and was ready to go by the time she got up this morning. Yesterday was such an exhausting day, she went to bed around 8 PM and woke up at 3 AM. Unfortunately, she forgot to plug her phone in, so it was dead. With nothing better to do she packed for the flight home.

Reghan wanted to ride in "Big Blue", the Ford Expedition Dave had given to us. She remembered it well and felt a bit of nostalgia toward the car. She wanted us to take them to the airport in the Expedition, but Charles nixed it as the gas mileage is so low and gas prices in California are high ($4.69 per gallon last week). Also, the tank is about empty, so we'd have to fill it before the 70 mile round trip to the airport and back. Sorry Reghan :-(

We did take them for a 20 minute ride to our trailer and back. They liked the trailer and have already claimed where they would sleep when we take them camping, maybe on the next trip out here.

The stuffed animals were David's, 40+ years ago!


Sitting on the bed in our 2018 Jayco Jay Flight 212QB travel trailer.




Sand from Rodeo Beach, where Helena went swiming last Sunday. When standing on the beach, it looks like grey sand. However, if you look closely, you'll see there are all kinds of interesting colored pebbles. Click on the picture to get a larger view.


The last playground in California for Helena. This is the first time she visited this one. Her favorite item was the rotating drum. She had fun trying to stand up on it.


Helena playing on the rotating drum. How long can you stand upright? Oh well, if you can't stand on it then lay on it. It is much easier!


A drawing by Helena titled: "I will never hike on flag day ever again" The drawing was made after our two hikes through a redwood forest. Each hike was about a 1/2 mile long and took maybe 30 minutes each as we stopped and looked at trees along the way.

Funny story. Charles was unaware of this drawing till he mentioned to Helen about a curious question Helena had asked today:

Helena: Why is there so much hiking in California?
Charles: Because the weather is so good, everyone wants to be outside.

To add a little more perspective, over the last two weeks, we had hiked in San Francisco, around the gold mining town of Columbia, California, the Golden Gate Bridge, around the Oakland Zoo and the Exploritorium. Everywhere we went, walking was involved.


Day 15, Thursday, June 27, 2024; Departure Day

Helen and Charles are sad the final day has arrived :-( However, the girls are happy they will be seeing their parents. Both girls did really well with the separation and are now looking forward to their lives returning to normal.

Charles wanted to arrive 3 hours early to take care of all the paperwork for unaccompanied minors. He is glad we did as American Airlines chose this day to rearrange all of their check-in counters and we were shuffled from one counter to another as they tried to figure out where unaccompanied minors were supposed to be checked in. It took an hour for them to figure out which counter we were supposed to be at as we were shuffled from baggage check-in, to an unmarked line, to International check-in, to priority check-in (where elite members get special treatment. This upset several of them as we went to the head of the line, but then we were shuffled to another line) to finally a normal check-in counter, whew! Charles thought we would never get there!!! Finally, all of the paperwork was completed and we had an hour to get through security.

Security presented its own set of problems. Charles and Helen are used to going through the "Pre-Check" security line, however, we couldn't use that line because 1) Helen and Charles had gate passes and not a ticket and 2) any one over 12 cannot go through "Pre-Check" unless they have paid for the "Pre-check" privilege. This meant we all, except for Helena, had to take our shoes off, our jackets and coats off and take Helena's iPad out of her backpack, in addition to having to empty our pockets. For some reason, Helena's backpack was flagged and needed extra screening, however, all they found were a ton of little girl's toys! Then Charles, picked up what he thought was Helena's ipad and belt. When I gave it to her, said emphatically said it was not hers! I then returned these items to where I had picked them up only to find a distraught gentleman frantically looking for them! He was relived when I brought them back. What an exciting start to their flight home.

The gate agent told us to stay in the area until the flight had left the ground. So we took pictures of the plane departing. Then sat around waiting to be told we could leave. After awhile, we noticed the gate had been abandoned. Charles went to another gate to inquire about the status of the plane, only to find out it had just taken off. The gate agent said the agents that were supposed to tell us probably thought we had left as most people with unaccompanied minors leave once the plane departs the gate. She apologized and sent us on our way.

The original plan was to go to the Sunnyvale community center to buy some Blenheim Apricots (there is a working apricot orchard next to the community center) as they are only on sale for two weeks prior to July 4th. Apricots have a very short season! We decided we were too tired to anything other than to go to Texas Roadhouse for some steak (it was now around 3 PM and we hadn't had lunch). Charles whipped out his birthday coupon and we got a side of ribs on the house. Our waitress also gave him a birthday cake, ala mode, and even gave us an extra one to take home!

Once we got home, all we could do was go to bed! We even forgot to put the birthday cake, ala mode, in the freezer, so you can guess what happened to the ice cream on this very hot day ;-)

After our nap, we watched Reghan and Helena's plane on Flight Aware as it approached and landed in Charlotte, NC. After that, we started watching Survivor season 46 (which started in February, but we delayed watching it till now to avoid commercials), then went to bed around 11 PM.

Thus ended our exciting four week adventure, starting with a week long JEDEC meeting in Denver, follow by a week in Hickory visiting Marrs, Campbells, Jenkins and Papa Scott and then bringing the grandkids home to California and spending two weeks with them. We enjoyed every minute and made the most of this fun adventure.

Till next year, thanks for keeping up with our adventures!

Charles and Helen

Helena's backpack filled with toys and stuffed animals.


Helena and Charles playing a game.


Waiting in one of the many lines to check-in unaccompanied minors.


Helena was fascinated by the pouch they give to unaccompanied minors, however, Reghan has had to wear so many of these that she hates them!




Our last glimpse of the girls as they disappeared down the jetway. Both Helen and Charles were teary eyed as the girls left.




We felt we had to video the plane leaving...it's a long video...


Picture credit: Reghan Campbell

Yea!!! I'm headed home to Mommy and Daddy!
Picture credit: Reghan Campbell


Happy sisters on the way home.
Picture credit: Reghan Campbell

Reghan's artistic talent as she captures a sunset while approaching Charlotte.
Picture credit: Reghan Campbell


Arrival in Charlotte. We're home!!!
Picture credit: Karen Campbell

It feels good to home.
Picture credit: Karen Campbell


The end of a wonderful California adventure visiting Grandparents