Road Trip to..

to Sunnyvale!

We love road trips, driving in the car is so much easier than flying with 3 kids.

Since Nadim's Dad and brother live up north, we decided a Memorial Day road trip was in order.

Although, to be frank, the drive on 5 North is one of the most absolutely, mind numbingly boring drives ever.

But family is family and sometimes you've got to suck it up.

Anyhoo, here is our trip in pictures..

Day before

I've got the packing down to a science.  Two suitcases, one for Nadim and I, one for the kids.  Pillows, stuffies and toys for the car.  Don't forget a DVD player and the movie library.

5am Gas stop!

Yes we are crazy people who wake up at 4am so we can beat the LA traffic.  One year I let Nadim talk me into waking up at 6am and we spent an extra 2 hours on the road that trip.

I'm still traumatized.

5:45am Sunrise in Glendale.

6:15am Breakfast in Newhall.

I found the Egg Plantation on Yelp and since I needed a pick me up we stopped. They are known for their omelets but I got the strawberry waffle which was super yummy and my standard decaf wet cappuccino.

7:30ish Grapevine

At least the Grapevine is interesting, full of trucks, but interesting.  These are the last hills we will see until the Gilroy turn off.

7:45ish Fort Tejon field trip

Fort Tejon is now a state park.  The Fort being established in 1854 to stop cattle rustling.  I always try and include lots of education stops for the kids.  Plus Nadim and I usually learn something new too :)

8:30am  Central Valley

Ugghh, my least favorite part of the drive.  It is sooo boring.

Still the central valley, I've lost track of time.

Noon - Turn off to Sunnyvale - finally!

This is my favorite part of the drive.  We take Hwy 152 and I LOVE the landscape.  I think it is the contrast between green oak trees and the brown grass, coupled with the rolling hills.  Beautiful!

12:30 Gilroy

I like Gilroy, yes it smells like garlic, but I love the falling down barns and the homespun fruit stands.  It's also pretty fun to read all the signs out loud and torture Nadim :)

Fruit stand!  We bought some non-organic cherries on our way through.

1:00pm

Almost to Sunnyvale now.  We've seen more CHP officers on this trip than we have on all our other driving vacations combined. 

I hope you enjoyed your road trip to points north on the I-5.

Stay tuned for Day 2 of our road trip to Sunnyvale.