Day 2: Turlock

I woke up at 7:30 a.m. to the sound of children eating breakfast. I spent the night on the couch with only five hours of sleep. But I'm not complaining, it was just another chance to spend time my sister Clemencia's children. I watched them have breakfast and listened to Antonia tell her favorite joke over and over again: "Why did the cow cross the road?" … Think about it … "To go to the mooooooovies."

I watched "Night at the Museum" with her kids before I left for Turlock. I filled up the gas tank in my Scion Xa and, in case you are wondering, 35 MPG from Long Beach to Fresno.

I arrived in Turlock to find this town has changed considerably in the 26 years my sister Carmen has lived here when she first attended Cal State Stanislaus. Housing and shopping developments have sprung up all around her home, which they have lived at for more than 10 years.

Now I have a good sense of direction, as many of you know. Tell me where to go, and I'll usually know how to get back. But I admit I turned down the wrong street.

As soon as I arrived at my sister Carmen's house we, along with her husband, went out to lunch at a local Italian food place. Later, she took me to her kindergarten class to pick up some items. Sitting on a chair meant for a 5-year-old at a table and walking around her classroom decorated with a bid calendar that is changed every month made me feel a bit nostalgic.

Later on in the day her children, Dominique and Serena, are excellent in the pool and of course were doing everything for my attention, especially a camera.

Her kids were happy to see me, but were worn down from spending the day at a church camp so they were only up for two hours while I was there.

By the way, the electricity was on all day here so I didn't have to deal with the 103-degree heat during the day.

And that was in the garage.

Next stop: Sacramento

Miles traveled today: 101

Miles traveled total: 331

Day 1: Fresno

I could hear you laughing, but you probably didn't know why. Maybe it was an out of body experience you had at 7 p.m. on the first day of my vacation.

It could be taken as a sign of things to come. Or maybe it can show that even when the unimaginable happens, you can still make the best out of the situation.

Never would I have imagined that on my first night on vacation, at my sister's home in Fresno that the power would have gone out right before 7 p.m. and lasting until 1:10 a.m. during one of the hottest days of the year when the temperature reached 110.

But you make the best of what you have. Her children had one of the longest play days of the year. At 7 p.m. the temperature was still in the mid 90s, but they're used to that and they had a kiddy pool. They also were dancing with their shadows.

I got to play with both of my niece Antonia and nephew Francisco a little extra today. In a way I kind of felt that I was making up for lost time since I rarely see them. They were excited to see me when I arrived at this afternoon. They didn't know me as well as my brother, but they were not going to let that stop them.

They both were excited to show me their rooms and Antonia was eager to show me her reading abilities.

Francisco may have shown me an early sign of having fun anyway you can by finding comfort in a laundry bin.

And the youngest, Sophia was eating her afternoon snack.

The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau sited in an essay that the fall of civilization began when the first caveman decided to fence off a piece of land and call his own. After visiting Fresno on my first day of vacation, I'm sure Rousseau would have said the founders of Fresno are not only uncivilized, but also foolish. Especially after visiting on a hot July day, with no power.

Well I know not all of the people of Fresno aren't all uncivilized or foolish. My sister, her husband and three children have a beautiful home with a dog in a big back yard, with air conditioning, when it works.

They have found what we all want.

Next stop Turlock.

Miles traveled today: 230

Miles traveled total: 230

Day 0: The prologue

When I last wrote, I was excited about the trip I am about to take up and down the state of California. Priorities, however, can quickly change.

My mother was recently admitted to the hospital for what discovered to be fluid in her lungs.

She spent three nights there as doctors also treated her for anemia by performing a blood transfusion. I talked to her on Tuesday and she sounded as if nothing had happened. In fact, she was full of energy thanks to the new blood.

But I still worry. Going home now has a new aspect to it since this is the second time in a year where she has been admitted to the hospital due to complications from her diabetes.

My last night in Long Beach gave me a reminder of my last night at home before I moved. It was Independence Day and before I left for Southern California I was able to see the fireworks show in Tracy, Stockton and a white flight community called Discovery Bay.

From the Press-Telegram offices on the 14th floor of the ARCO Center I was able to the show next to the Queen Mary. It reminded me of that last day.

Tomorrow, I begin my trip. I'll update with thoughts on that day. So far, I'm already sort of dreading it. I'm looking forward to get away from work, don't get me wrong. Especially after I worked 10 of the last 11 days (quiet Feenstra) where I had to design special pages and make adjustments to new guidelines set in place by my company.

What I am dreading is the weather. My first stop is Fresno (insert your own joke here) to see my sister Clemencia and her family. The high tomorrow is expected to be 111. The stop after that is Turlock, where my sister Carmen and her family live. On Friday the temperature will level off at 101.

The high in Long Beach today was 77.

But that is what family is all about.

Miles traveled today: 0

Miles traveled total: 0

My upcoming road trip

On July 5th 1996, I took the next step of my life, independence. I was moving to Southern California looking forward to the fall semester at Cal State Long Beach. With the help of my sister Deanna and her Ford Explorer, I packed up what I could of the first 18 years of my life.

I left my home at 7 in the morning and my parents, not surprisingly, were not emotional. I was the seventh of the eight children to leave the house – and the sixth to go to college – so it is not like they didn't care, they had just seen it before.

Since then, I've been home very rarely. The last time I was home as May, 2006. Before that, I came home in the summer of 2003. Before that, I couldn't tell you.

Eleven years later, July 5th 2007, I begin a new journey. It will be a trip that will help me reconnect with my sisters and their families in the Central Valley of California and will eventually send me home. (I'll also be at the UFC PPV event in Sacramento on Saturday, but that is work related.) But that is only the first part.

The last leg is a trip of discovery. After I leave my sister Rosa's in San Leandro, I will drive the scenic Pacific Coast Highway back home. Starting on Marin County side of the Golden Gate Bridge I will come back to Southern California, making several stops and spending nights in Monterey, San Simeon and another place I have yet to decide on. Any suggestions?

So I have a brand new digital camera with a 4 GB memory card and a sense of adventure.

I'll let you know how it goes.