Grubers Go West

“On the road again

Goin’ places that I’ve never been

Seein’ things that I may never see again

And I can’t wait to get on the road again

On the road again

Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway

We’re the best of friends

Insisting that the world keep turning our way and our way”

~ “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson

What a trip! We are sad this journey is over, but already looking forward to where the road will take us next. And we are, of course, eternally grateful for all the family and friends that supported us, housed us, and followed us along the way!

“Happy trails to you, until we meet again

Happy trails to you, keep smilin’ until then…

It’s the way you ride the trail that counts, 

Here’s a happy one for you.”

Happy Trails,

Siblings Gruber

Day 19: San Francisco, CA to Miami/Jacksonville, FL

Depature: 8:45 pm PST

Arrival: 8:55 am EST

Mileage: 3906 mi

Destination Song: “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” by Bon Jovi

5:15 am saw us pulling into Miami, FL with two hours to kill before boarding a very, very small plane to make the hour and forty-five minute flight back up to Jacksonville. A whole twelve hours later, we deplaned and reunited with Daddy Gruber who so lovingly came to pick up his children from the airport. In truth, we got to do what every person taking a trip wishes they could do—take a vacation after our vacation. Loading up Levi, Sarah’s beloved Santa Fe, this time, we headed to St. Augustine, our beach and summer destination for the past 23+ years! Who says you can’t go “home”?

More from Day 18!

Day 18: San Francisco, CA

After checking out of our hotel and packing up the car one last time, we headed to the Wharf to squeeze the last hours of our trip. Our first waterside stop was to Pier 9, where the Musee Mecanique, a collection of old school arcade games is housed. We picked up some fresh fruit and lots of good chocolate as well, snacking while we watched the sea lions sunbathe. Perusing Pier 39 brought lots of surprises—an entire store devoted to socks, a shop designed just for leftys (yeah, Sarah and Eli), and Harry Mason, a Gruber-girl favorite earring shop. We ended our trip the Wharf with two San Fran traditions, fresh seafood and homemade sourdough. The day did not end their, however. We had one last task before boarding the plane home—dropping off the car. As noted earlier, one condition of the trip was that we ship the car home. We drove Fievel to Concord, CA, a short forty-five minutes away, gave him a quick bath, and turned him over to JoAnne, our sweet truck driver who would be driving Fievel and several of his friends to the east coast. Carless for the first time in three weeks, Mr. Kirkpactrick, a family friend, picked us up and delivered us to BART, California’s public transportation system that took us straight to the airport. After checking our bags, we grabbed one last dinner with Michelle before parting ways (oh the agony of separate terminals). Much to our surprise, we happened upon a sister restaurant to the Lark Creek Inn, home of the most delicious butterscotch pudding known to mankind, the perfect ending to a perfect trip.

More in-betweens from Day 17!

Day 17: San Francisco, CA

Excited to have made it to San Francisco, we could think of no better way to kick off our visit to the city than with an overlook of the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove through the rainbow tunnels and headed to Muir Woods, home of the beautiful redwood forest where we romped around between the trees for a little bit before driving into Tiburon for lunch at a family favorite, Guaymas. That afternoon we played around in the Exploratorium—by far one of the world’s greatest hands-on science museums. Best of all, located deep in the back corner is a large structure known as the Tactile Dome. Designed to inhibit your sense of sight and make you relay solely on your sense of touch, the dome is at its most finite, a pitch-black series of tunnels with a variety of textures and obstacles lining the walls, ceiling, and floor, and at best an incredible experience. Needless to say, we made Michelle take the lead on the first round which frightened the pants off of her, but she made it out alive. Driving around the surrounding areas, we encountered Chewbacca, a beautiful and very large Newfoundland. Still a puppy, he currently weighs in at a meager 160-lbs., but is expected to surpass 200 over the next few months! Introducing a newbie (Michelle) to San Francisco would not be complete without a drive down Lombard Street, notorious for being the curviest street in the world. The end of Day 17 brought a fabulous surprise as Sam and Daddy Gruber arranged for us to have dinner at Opaque, another senses-defying experience where you literally eat in a room that is so dark you cannot see anything—your dining companions, your food, the table. Not even the wait staff, comprised solely of individuals with some type of visual impairment who treat you to an unbelievable and truly life changing meal.  

Day 16: Los Angeles, CA to San Francisco, CA

Depature: 8:30 am PST

Arrival: 12:22 am PST

Mileage: 3823 mi

Destination Song: “Save Me San Francisco” by Train

While this drive can easily be completed in about six hours, we decided to take the scenic route, opting to cruise this stretch along the Pacific Coast Highway, a.k.a. Hwy. 1. Doing so not only made for some beautiful views, but also some fun stops. First up, Pepperdine, where on any other day you can see across campus to the ocean from nearly every dorm window on the upper hills. Despite some fog, there were some beautiful views—Sarah and Michelle particularly liked the quarterback leading the field at one of Nike’s elite football camp being housed on campus. The drive took us by the Lompoc Valley, San Luis Obispo, Hearst Castle (where we spotted not cows, but ZEBRAS roaming the fields!), and up into Big Sur where we spent over an hour parked in traffic after an accident a few miles up on the two-lane highway kept us stuck with a perfect view of the ocean and no responsibilities. It’s a rough life, we know. A little while later we made it out and into Monterey where we opted for a little fun at the Dennis the Menace playground to stretch our legs before cruising the 17-mile drive at Pebble Beach and partaking in a delicious dinner at Roy’s at the Inn at Spanish Bay. The highlight of the meal was not their incredible chocolate lava cake, but rather dining with Condoleeza Rice. While we wish we could say she was actually at our table, we really just spotted her on her way out the door. Sigh! We finally pulled into the Mark Twain hotel in San Francisco a little past midnight where we got another star encounter after Michelle found Mark Twain’s gray hair on her pillowcase (not really, but that’s another story altogether).

SIGNS FROM THE ROAD

During our 2 2/3 week journey, we spotted some epic bumper stickers and signs! While we weren’t able to get pictures of all of them, here are a few favorites…

Day 15: Los Angeles, CA

With so many sights to see in the Hollywood/Bevery Hills area, we opted for a hop on-hop off double decker bus tour and decided to let someone else do the driving for the day. We stopped off at Rodeo Drive, of course, grabbed lunch at the Farmers Market @ The Grove, and checked out the handprints and stars surrounding Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Sitting atop the bus also allowed us to check out The Laugh Factory, Chateau Marmont, the La Brea tar pits, Marilyn Monroe’s house, Pink’s Hot Dogs, the Kodak and El Capitan theaters, as well as several other restaurants and star-studded hot spots. Dinner at The Formosa with Blake Mitchell, a classmate and friend of Sam’s from UGA who is interning at MGM and , was the perfect way to cap off a cool LA evening!