To document this event I ran into the house for my camera, depositing leaf particles throughout the interior. A cold late-day Thanksgiving wind brought down the rest of our tree's leaves. It was literally raining leaves. And our indoor cat, spying these objects fall gently to the ground pounced at our window in an effort to grab them. The next day we worked off our holiday feast with a family leaf-blowing and raking celebration. I say celebration for this was the first year our girls wanted to help bring in our annual crop of crunchy detritus. I was very excited....

A parent's primary responsibility is to make sure his children are safe, sheltered, well-fed, and have the best childhood possible. (Hold that thought; I hear my two fighting upstairs and I'd better intervene before someone gets hurt). Ok, I'm back and all are safe.

In return for providing everything they need to grow and become well-adjusted adults I get to watch them explore the world with their innocence and wonder as they learn its lessons. One of the most gratifying aspects of parenthood is getting to experience life through my daughters' eyes.

The truth of the world, as well all know, is handed out slowly, as your children become able to accept it. And parents resort to white lies, ostensibly to protect them until the proper time. But just when is the proper time?

From our hotel room at the Fairmont. View larger image.

Our fifth and final stop on the 2007 Gates family vacation tour would take us to San Francisco for the wedding of my best-friend-from-the-first-grade's daughter. First grade: back then Ron and I were members of a very exclusive club. Just the two of us, Ron was the president and I was the VP. Our official meetings were brief but boisterous. Uncontrollable laughter was high on the agenda. I remember one sleep over Ron made me laugh so hard I had an asthma attack in the middle of the night (which made him laugh even harder).

Our closeness led to the inevitable: our desire to elevate our friendship to blood-brother status. But when the time came to go under the knife we both chickened out. We decided becoming "hair brothers" would be just as good but not as deadly. Each of us pulled a lock from our scalps, exchanged follicles, and ceremoniously transplanted them onto our own heads. Today, Ron has a full head of my hair and I am bald.

The by-laws of our childhood club clearly stated that all members would attend the weddings of their respective children --someday. Once a hair brother, always a hair brother; the time had come.

My life long dream of tasting garlic ice cream would finally be realized. After a few days in the clean mountain air of Yosemite it was time for a change. So the family trekked across California's central San Joaquin Valley to Gilroy with its pungent garlic-infused atmosphere. Truly. As we wound our way down the slopes of the Diablo mountain range just east of the city we rolled down the windows to smell the bulb that would be the center of attention that third week in July. We were on our way to the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. To be...

The highlight of our my Yosemite visit has already been recounted. What more can I say? Well, my wife tells me perhaps just a bit more. We spent two days in the park. We started planning this trip back in April but that was already too late to book a room at the famous Ahwahnee Lodge in the Valley. So we spent our two nights at both the eastern and western edges of the park (in Lee Vining and Mariposa). And while we are not known as the All-American Outdoor Family, we did take a few day hikes in both...

Some people are so nuts. They think every body of water is a wishing well.

My vision of what my children would see when they first viewed the Sierras. The reality wasn't quite like that. Albert Bierstadt's Sunrise in the Sierras, courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

The drive from Las Vegas to the town of Lee Vining, the "gateway to Yosemite," would be the longest drive of our trip: six hours, give or take a rest stop or two or three or four.

Susie and I had prepared as much as two parents could for the day ahead. Gameboys and travel versions of our girls' favorite board games were conveniently accessible. We had entertained the notion of buying a portable DVD player but just couldn't make ourselves go down that road. After all, the purpose of this "drive by" was to show our children the wonders of the West. Living in the former swamp that is Washington, I miss the mountain vistas of my youth. Passing this appreciation on to my children was important.

All was going according to plan until we got about an hour from our destination. Suddenly, my youngest announced she was about to throw up. The first and only other time this had happened was last year while driving the winding roads of Puerto Rico. Back then it had caught us completely off guard. And we were most relieved to return a prestine rental car by the time we left the island. We didn't want to have this on our conscience this trip.

This time we flew into automatic pilot. Immediately upon Susie's command I pulled over (the long and empty road cooperated). She jumped out and opened the back door. My daughter leaned out and all was once again just as I envisioned our family road trip would be. For the rest of the journey we allowed the girls to roll down the back windows for some fresh air while we blew the AC to the front. "Whatever works" is the parents' first rule of survival. But a note to myself: next time bring a roll of paper towels and a big plastic bag. You know, for emergencies.