Day Five: Into the Woods and Out of the Woods and Home Before Dark

WELL, WE HAVE DONE IT. COAST 2 COAST!!!!

I know you’re all wondering, what was the Braccino Boy surprise activity??? Well, it required us getting up at 5:30 in the morning. Here were my thoughts:

But regardless, we were ready to hit the road by 6:15. However, there was a brief moment of tension as Joey watched James eat his cereal at 6:16. Here is some photographic evidence of the conflict:

BUT THEN WE WERE OFF. Because I did not plan this excursion, I knocked in the back seat for three hours. When I awoke at our first rest stop for the day, I purchased a donut and had a renewed energy. IT WAS TIME TO TRAVEL TO MUIR WOODS IN CALIFORNIA.

We wanted to see the woods, but thought it would be impossible. We needed to be at the rehearsal dinner for the wedding by 6 pm, and the woods were an hour and a half away. I should also mention that the woods were 7 hours away from our hotel in Nevada. NEVERTHELESS, we traveled onward and hoped for the best.

And wow, I’m so glad we did. For those of you who don’t know, the Muir Woods is a national park that if filled with the redwood trees that can grow over 23 stories tall! This has been on my bucket list, so I was so happy to check it off. I honestly can’t describe these woods, so here are some pictures to give you an idea of what it was like:

I want to mention that while taking one of our pictures this dude literally was like “RUTGERS!! I’m from New Jersey!! I went there for engineering!!” The power of RU RAH RAH is real.

But anyway, leaving the woods was a bit of a challenge. We needed to drive through a mountain, on the outer lane, with no guardrail. We were, once again, terrified for our lives but Joey led us to victory. We survived, and are grateful.

We then began the time crunch to get to the hotel in time to change for the rehearsal dinner! It was about 3 pm when we left, so there was theoretically plenty of time. That was until… we saw the Golden Gate Bridge. WE NEEDED TO STOP TO BASK IN ITS GLORY. When we all saw it for the first time we literally all gasped, it is magical. A short pit stop later, and we were able to grab some pictures!!!

THAT IS RIGHT FOLKS, WE WENT FROM THIS:

TO THIS, IN FOUR DAYS:

WHAT PROGRESS. WHAT A BRIDGE. WHAT A TRIP. and then we began our race against time once again. The traffic of California was no match for Winnifred, and we made it to the hotel with time to spare.

The rehearsal dinner was beautiful. Joey’s cousin Leanna is marrying Michael, and they both performed a tradition Chinese tea ceremony for their parents and grandparents before we ate. Here’s a picture:

Also, all of the Tong clan was TOGETHER (minus Jason, but he will join us tomorrow). Here are all 24 of them:

They are so excited for the wedding tomorrow, and so am I! So after a quick late night pool party, we are off to bed. We are so happy to be in this part of California for a few days instead of driving around. Check back tomorrow for wedding photos!!

DAILY STATS UPDATE:

• Number of States We’ve Been In: 11
• Miles Driven Today: 520 Miles
• Miles Driven Total: 3,063 Miles
• Cows Spotted: 4,594
• Hours in the Car Today: 8.5 hours
• Total Hours in the Car: 47 hours
• Chicken Nuggets Consumed: 68
• Windmills Spotted: 553
• State License Plates: 45/50 States
• Number of Musicals Listened to: 3