Lots of exploring during our 14 day discovery of Yosemite, Sequoia, and King's Canyon National Parks. This was our covered wagon. We didn't have any,"Are we there yet" questions but Conor was always saying, "Dad, dad, dad, I have a question." And when I would say, "What is it, Conor?" He would say things, like, "The sun is out." Or, This is a really, really long drive." Or, "Mommy is scared of heights."

A 14 day vacation is just what the family needed. It takes about six days just to untether from work. It's amazing how much time we spend thinking of work even when we're not at the office. It took six days for me to finally unplug. It took Valerie about nine days. She thought it might not happen at all. The best part of the holiday is when you finally unplug and look around and the whole world is waiting to say, "hi!"