My Vacation: Day 7, Going Home

I planned this vacation for almost 2 years, but the whole time I was dreading it. Eight kids, hotels, amusement parks? What, was I crazy??? Taking 8 kids on a vacation like this, including one under 2 years old, couldn't possible be fun. It was going to be a chore--dealing with crabby babies, potty accidents, hungry children, and unfamiliar sleeping arrangements.

"Stop it," I said.

"It's for the kids," I said.

"It's not about you. It's about making everything run smooth and wonderful so they can have the time of their lives," I said.

And they did. I really believe that they will remember this trip forever. But the unexpected happened--My husband and I had the time of our lives too. So much so that we are planning on doing it again much sooner than 10 years from now.

For the trip home the plan was to take 2 days. Day 1, drive to Eureka. Day 2, drive home through the Redwoods. Once we got on the road, though, the doubts crept in. What if we can't find a decent priced hotel at the coast on a Saturday night? Is the Redwood National Forest worth an extra 3 hours of driving just for a drive through? We have to be home by 3pm to get the van back to the rental place, so that only leaves 2 hours or so for sight seeing. Should we risk ruining an otherwise perfect vacation with this side trip? Should we risk ruining an otherwise perfect vacation by disappointing the kids?

We still hadn't reached a decision by Redding, which is where we needed to turn off to go to Eureka. We stopped for gas, discussed it with the kids, and decided to push on to home. We were a short way from Shasta Lake, so we decided to stop and spend some time there as a compromise.



We ended up spending over 3 hours at the lake. We ate lunch at a little picnic area, then went and played in a little playground. We considered going on a tour of the Lake Shasta Caverns but arrived only about 15 minutes before the last tour of the day left. So instead we went on a hike beside the lake. The oldest kids went swimming in the lake. The lake was extremely cold, but it didn't stop them.






Now we are planning a camping trip to the Redwoods, with stops at the Oregon Caves and Crater Lake. Maybe next summer...