May 13, 2013 - Riverside, California

Staying at "Rancho Jurupa Park", which is part of the Riverside County Park system, while visiting friends. Dumped, Left the Park, and 2 miles later blew a trailer tire. 3 hours later we had a new tire and on the way to Oceanside.

Apr 25, 2013 - Here, There and Everywhere

Greetings! We hope this latest trip journal finds everyone doing well and is happy and healthy. We have had some enjoyable adventures since our last posting, so here it goes…. We attended a NASCAR race at the Auto Club Speedway with Brandon and our friend, Pat Kuykendall. We hadn’t been to a race in quite a while and it was Brandon’s first experience; fun day for all of us, perfect weather, great people watching and an exciting finish. We arrived early and had a blast looking for as many weird hairdos, mainly guys with every variety of a...

Jul 16, 2012 - Hollywood Tour

We went to Bass Proshop store which is like Cabela's and Jordan and I got sleeping bags and salt water taffy from there. Daddy was looking at the different speed boats with Tito June and Tita Lourdes. They treated us to the restaurant there. Then we went to Hollywood and we took one of those tours. I really wanted to go there. I was asking my mom to make sure i go there. It was 20 dollars for a two hour tour. We saw famous people's house like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Tom Cruise, Julia Robert, Elton John. we saw a gas station too coz...

Jul 15, 2012 - Pool and Barbeque Day

We woke up and swam at the Pool at Katkats house. Daddy picked us up from there after and we went to some house and had a barbecue there. We met our cousins Kiera and Miko for the first time. We were all playing truth or dare with Tita Rhea. She had us show our butts, lol. She dared us to go outside and say she was the prettiest Tita in the world. We also did some truth and she asked us why we love our moms and she was recording it and I think she was going to send it to my mom. There was a lot of family in that party. Summer was there too...

Jun 16, 2012 - Karen and Fred's first stop.

This is the first entry in our trip journal and hope we did it right. We finally left home at noon on Saturday June 16th. Our first stop was Brian and Gwen's home in Riverside. We spent the afternoon swimming and then went out to dinner to celebrate Father's Day for Fred and Brian and an early celebration of Thomas' 8th birthday (July 25th). Thomas and Joe Bear spent the night with us in our trailer parked in front of Brian and Gwen's home. We were up early the next morning, said our good byes and were on the road at 7:30. We are really...

Feb 14, 2012 - Ever wonder why it's called a "Flea" Market?

Well now we know!!! Over 2500 booths and 20,000 + people, they were thicker "than fleas on a dog's back!" Mike guessed it was all packed in 8-10 acres. Making a trip to the Rose Bowl Flea Market (one of the largest in the country) had been on my "bucket list" for years. It is held on the 2nd Sunday of every month at the Rose Bowl Stadium grounds and people come from all over the Western U.S. for the experience and bargains. But oh what an experience. Just about anything you would want to purchase you can find, from vintage clothing to...

Feb 13, 2012 - How the "old-timers lived."

Spending a warm sunny afternoon touring the Jensen-Alvarado Historic Ranch and Museum was a trip back in time. Situated in the middle of Riverside, California you would never know you were in the city. At one time the ranch was over 500 acres but in 1862 when the family first settled in the area it was much smaller and Mr. Jensen continued to purchase land, it is now only 35 acres. He was a Danish Sea Captain and built his home from bricks like homes were designed in his homeland which in itself was unique for the area as most homes in...

Sep 16, 2011 - Rancho Jurupa

We have started a new tradition with the Carlson clan. This is the third year that we have camped with our best friends, the kids and the grandkids. So much fun. Everyone made it and we actually got a good picture, only missing Big Jeremiah as he was visitinng our camp the night before. We forgot to get a picture on Friday. Rancho Jurupa was so fun for the kids. Miniature golf, splash zone, lake. We had a huge shady site. Terri and Maury went to a nephews birthday while Michael and I took the kids to the splash zone. We weren't even out of...

Aug 4, 2011 - USA- Ich komme!!!

Hallo, Guten Tag! Jetzt gehts dann bald los! Gerade bin ich aus der Arbeit heim gekommen und wieder hat mich ein brief meiner Au-pair familie erwartet. Bis ich dort bin soll ich doch jeden Tag schreiben. Andererseits heisst es hier auch schon Abschied-nehmen. Ich fange an meine Reitschüler drauf vorzubereiten, dass ich nach den Ferien nicht mehr da sein werde. Bis jetzt sind alle traurig und ich auch, aber auf mich wartet das große Abenteuer. Und es gibt so viel zu organisieren, wahrscheinlich vergess ich die hälfte und darf gar nicht...

Apr 17, 2011 - Family visit

We spent three nights in Riverside, California with Jim's cousin, Martin who is just 6 months older and was a childhood buddy. He and Pat were more than gracious to us by opening their home to us, sharing delicous home cooked meals, and showing us the sights. They took us to San Bernadino just a short drive away to visit with more cousins, Patricia and Melissa and to see Aunt Minnie and Uncle Herman.

Apr 17, 2011 - Joshua Tree National Park

Day trip to Joshua Tree National Park.....two deserts in one park. Martin and Pat drove us about a two hour drive from Riverside (past Palm Springs) for a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park. It was a sight to see......part Mojave and part Colorado deserts(both sub Sonoran). We were glad that we had been back in the greener part of the world for a few days before we ventured back to the desert but the vistas were beautiful.

Nov 5, 2010 - DELHI

My Impressions so far: NEGATIVE 1. Pollution - the air is rank. When the plane first landed I thought that something was on fire. But no, it's just the air. every day when i leave my hotel room the first twenty minutes or so my nostrils and eyes burn. When I blow my nose in the evenings I get lots of black goop. 2. Traffic - it's not so much that the traffic is horrible as there are no rules, and I mean none. There are lanes and lights, but nobody uses them. they use the opposite side of the street from us but its not unusual for cars to be...