Sabbatical Reflections Part III, the Family Truckster

Remember the movie National Lampoon's Vacation? Where the Griswold's led by Chevy Chase got in the green station-wagon called the family truckster and set out from Chicago to Wally-World in California on the vacation of a lifetime?

The road trip my family took on part of our sabbatical was nothing like that-except for the family truckster part (which turned out to be Kristi's dads Honda Odyssey mini-van, which actually ran like a dream!). We too drove to California, though our trip took us from Seattle down the Oregon Coast, through the Redwood forest, ending up in San Jose. But instead of being a comedy of errors, it turned out to be one of those great lifetime gifts that provided adventure, refreshment and love. I want to spend this entry discecting the road-trip part of our trip.

At the outset of our sabbatical, Kristi and I knew we had three major things we wanted to accomplish. We wanted to 1)give me time to study/work on my dissertation 2)see our family and friends in Seattle, 3)and we wanted to spend time as a family of 5 by ourselves, exposing our kids to a little bit of America in the process.

After the first 5 1/2 weeks of pounding out a good part of my dissertation, the kids got out of school and we flew to Seattle. 4 days later we started off on a 3 week trip to try and accomplish goal #3 -- spend some family of 5 time together. We were able to borrow my father-in-law's van (a great gift!) and set off down the Oregon Coast, heading for San Jose where we had a house to stay at, made available to us by some generous folks from our church.

Some might accuse me of living in the past (or not being very creative) -- but the trip I planned down the Oregon Coast mirrored almost exactly a trip my parents, brother, and I took in 1990, as we drove him down to college for his freshman year at Stanford. All the places we visited (along with a few new ones) were one's I remembered from before; Cannon Beach, the Sea Lion Caves, the Dunes and Dune Buggy Rides, The Redwoods (complete with a huge talking Paul Bunyon (or "Onion" as Dayle calls him), seaside diners, beautiful vistas, and Crater Lake (on our way back up). To have the time to explore, have adventures, and just be together in new, and beautiful places was a memory I will have forever. Here are some things I learned:

• The Oregon Coast is maybe the most beautiful place in America. The beautiful beaches, gorgeous outlooks, and the huge rocks coming out of the ocean like fingers ripping out of the earth were breathtaking. To be able to see this in the glorious weather we had was a piece of grace. (The picture above is from Cannon Beach, Oregon).
• Sand Castle buckets can double as barf buckets if you need them to. Only 2 people threw up in the car on the trip, which I suppose isn't bad for any car trip with kids. We want to teach our kids to share, but illnesses are ok to keep to oneself...Hey, it was all part of the adventure.
• Taking a dune buggy ride with your 3-year old might not seem smart at the time, but do it anyways. Outside Florence are hundreds of miles of sand dunes, where dune buggy rides and outfits line the landscape. The most adventurous thing we did was take a professional dune buggy ride as a family. 1/2 an hour of thrilling terror at 60 mph! I will never forget Dayle with her goggles on, strapped in so tight she can't move. During the ride, she said it's not so much fun. After it's over, it was really, really fun. Go figure.
• The Redwood Forest is a piece of heaven. To have my kids see some of these miracles, and get to see it with them, was better than any Disneyland trip.
• On our way back up from California three weeks later, we went to Crater Lake, Oregon. Crater Lake is a lake on the top of a collapsed volcano. There is nothing else there but the lake, and it is on the way to nowhere else -- at least a half-day travel out of the way. But it is the most beautiful thing we've seen in the entire world. Who would have thought water could be that blue? God's creation is amazing.
• I also was re-reminded that I have one great family. I'm thankful every day for them, but having a concentrated time to spend exploring, being, laughing, barfing (ok, that's the one part I could have done without), and loving each other was a gift from God. This one week was equally as important to me as all the work I accomplished on my dissertation, and anything else that happened for those 12 weeks. Our family hasn't ever had an experience like this by ourselves. When you live away from family, most of your time is spent going back to see them. While we wouldn't want to change that at all, we learned that times to just be the 5 of us on the road was a must.

Next time...European Vacation!