Picture This: Your husband loves the Grateful Dead and this is the LAST year some of the original members will be touring the US (as Dead & Company). So of course, he buys tickets to shows in LA, Chicago and San Francisco (their last stop). You wish him well. And then, as he’s planning his SF trip, he reaches out to some friends up there to get to spend time with them, too… and those cool friends ask, “Are you bringing the family?“

Little did they know they’d kick off another Johnson Family Road Trip! On July 9, we loaded up the minivan and set out to drive up to San Francisco, something I’ve never done, even though I’ve lived in LA for 25 years. As you’d guess, it all started with a Google spreadsheet, and the clever man I married who mapped out a trip that included fun for all!

Our first stop: Avila Valley Barn. This San Luis Obispo spot is just under 3 hours from our home, a perfect stop that offers a farmer’s market, farm animals to view and feed, food for our human family, and even some live music. It also gave us a chance to reenact a chicken chase from 2017 when these same little girls followed a chicken around the grounds.

While not a perfect match, they loved the idea of a “do-over” (and I did, too). After hanging with the animals, we headed headed on to Paso Robles, which was our destination the last time we stopped at Avila Barn. After dinner at Thomas Hill Organics in downtown Paso (not super kid-friendly but delicious), we went to Sensorio, a cool light show right outside of town.

Basically, an artist has installed over 10,000 lights in a field that change color throughout the evening. While we loved the nighttime view, equally gorgeous was watching the sunset over the field, and their new “Light Towers”, an art installation with glass bottles filled with color-changing lights. Oh, and the gorgeous sunlight for photos before the sun set.

The following day, we went to Eberle Winery, one of over 200 wineries in Paso Robles, which offers Cave Tours of their underground cellars. See? Something for the whole family. Speaking of which, I’m claustrophobic, so I did not “see” those cellars, but a kind worker gave me a bonus taste of Chardonnay while I waited on the lovely deck overlooking the vineyards.

We also checked out J Lohr Winery, which has a beautiful outdoor area (and one of my favorite Chardonnays), and our knowledgeable server let the girls go out to touch the grapes on the vine (and gave them extra “tasting chocolate”).

Next time, we’ll make sure we work in more wineries, but two was the limit for our kids… They did however enjoy the playground in the town square!

The following day we got back on the freeway for a kid-friendly adventure to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which according to their site was “Voted the World’s Best Seaside Park”. Who knew? What I do know is that it is filled with carnival rides and games of chance, and between Zoe wanting to ride the things Ella did not and Ella wanting to “win” on the midway, Bart and I ended up dividing and conquering after the bumper cars (which interested both girls).

I ended up with Ella, where I worked HARD to convince her that the games were rigged (she got a ridiculous competitive streak from her mother)… and that even when she “won” she got the small crappy prize. It took a lot of convincing, and here’s how ONE of those games went (which ended up with a tiny crappy bear instead of the big tie dye one she wanted).

We regrouped to wrap up the day with a round of mini-golf, in a very ornate “pirate ship” setup at one end of the boardwalk. I won. There, I said it.

At dinner that night, at the East End Gastropub (highly recommend), Ella drew the following picture, so I’m going to call the Santa Cruz portion of the trip a win:

Up next, we headed to Felton, CA (north of Santa Cruz), where we boarded the Roaring Camp Redwood Forest Steam Train and got to see some really huge trees up close!

Getting to see the train in action, as they filled it with water then allowed us to board, was worth it. Impressive stat: “Roaring Camp’s steam engines date from 1890 and are among the oldest and most authentically preserved narrow-gauge steam engines providing regularly scheduled passenger service in America.” Riding on one as it zig-zagged and switch-backed up a mountain was a neat experience!

After the train ride, the girls got to pan for gold in the little “town” at Roaring Camp. We found about 8 tiny specks after who knows how long panning… But hey, it was a neat experience!

The following day we stopped briefly in San Jose for me to host a virtual summer party in a WeWork, then finally got to see our friends Charlie and Ted in San Francisco! First of all, they are awesome and gracious hosts, and second, they have a really cute dog that Ella would have taken home with us if they’d let her.

That pic was from Sonoma County, where we went on our last day, but before that, we played tourist for a day with the girls around SF! We went to the Exploratorium at Pier 15, which the girls could have spent DAYS wandering around and touching everything. We followed that up with a stop at the Musée Mécanique, which is basically a huge warehouse filled with vintage arcade machines (their story is really interesting!). When I say “vintage” I mean everything from an old Pac-Man machine, to creepy dolls that move and even an Arm Wrestling machine, which was no match for Bart.

When I say “creepy” you might not have gotten the picture I want you to have… And so, check these out:

Yes, a Bimbo Box. And this lovely one, in which we did not dare to put money:

We did get a lovely view of Alcatraz from the parking lot, with “Karl” surrounding it (that’s the name of the fog in the Bay Area, and here’s its story). Yes, it really has a name.

We also got to see a driverless Waymo car with a passenger in back, stopped at a stoplight right beside us. If you haven’t caught up on the drama associated with those (and the Cruise cars), you should.

To cleanse our palettes, we headed to Ghirardelli Square for ice cream sundaes and a shake. There were photo opportunities, cute shops and lots of people. Two of those made me happy.

That night, Bart got to go to his Dead & Company show while the girls and I had a delicious sushi dinner with Charlie, Ted and Ziggy (the cute dog). Charlie is literally one of Bart’s longest friendships (they went to grade school together!). It’s one of the many reasons I fell in love with my husband. He sticks.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t share the one picture Bart sent us from the show at Oracle Park, proof that he is such a die-hard fan that he was at one of the last Dead & Co shows ever.

I think that’s half of John Mayer’s head on the screen by the stage (he sings the “Jerry Garcia” parts), and I’m sure this scene looked very different after dark. Ha! The following day we headed up to Charlie and Ted’s “Cabana” in Sonoma County, stopping at the cool vineyard where you see Ella with Ziggy above, Russian River Vineyards. They have a really pretty outdoor area and live music!

That afternoon we spent at their friends’ house, with a BBQ, a pool and an absolutely stunning view of nothing but redwood trees, everywhere. It was the most relaxing afternoon I’ve had in long, long time. Proving once again that awesome people know other awesome people. (Thanks, Charlie & Ted!)

And so, another successful Johnson Family Road Trip is in the books. I’m exhausted just writing about it, so I’m sorry if our adventures exhausted you, too. Just had to get this one on the blog before the annual BIRTHDAY posts, as we’re about to have a [gulp] TEENAGER, when Zoe turns 13 next Friday, and a 9-year-old (almost double digits) just two weeks after that. Wish us luck!