After months of preparation I was ready to start my trip.

The date was August 4th, 2006.

I made myself a sandwich before leaving.

It was delicious.

I hugged my brother and kissed my mom.

We waved our goodbyes.

I drove North on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway).

It was a lovely drive.

I stopped in Santa Barbara to snap some photos.

Palm trees have the most fascinating shape.

As I drove inland I saw some great scenery.

I stopped in San Luis Obispo to visit my Grandma Lemmon. I had the pleasure of enjoying my Grandma’s home cooking.

It was delicious!

At my request, my grandma pulled out a book with information about my geneology. I studied the faces of my ancestors, and wondered to myself whether they shared my quirky behaviors. I wonder if my Great Great Grandfather, Alfred Lemmon, liked to challenge people to wrestle. I wonder if Washington Lemmon had too many hobbies to keep up on. Did Lafayette Lemmon collect books, like I do? Things to ponder…

Before leaving town I had one more stop to make.

I paid my respects to the late Don Curtis. I could tell that Grandma Lemmon had been there recently because of the flowers.

I almost didn’t notice this little guy.

I named the frog Grandpa. I picked him up and played with him a while before letting him go. I felt that this frog was a good omen for my trip. I don’t believe really believe in omens, but that little frog warmed my heart.

As I was leaving town, I decided to document the milage on my odometer. How many miles will this car have on it when I reach Argentina?! When I left Thousand Oaks earlier that day my odometer had read 167,404.

I had planned on driving up the coast to San Francisco so I could see the coastline and the ocean. However, it was dark already, so I took the inland route.

I headed North on the 101 toward San Francisco…