A photo gallery of my travels driving across the country from Illinois to Phoenix. Editor...

My guide on where to go for spooky,not scary, Halloween in Los Angeles. I love Halloween, but I'm not a guts and gore kind of gal. Fake haunted houses aren't for me, but I found a few really unusual experiences to check out before Halloween arrives.

A trip to Santa Barbara is not complete without a visit to Stearns Wharf....

When I was a girl, my dad always tried to teach me about cars.  He pointed to what this thing was and he explained how it worked.   And I remember none of what he tried to teach me.  I remember looking at his tan, scarred hands, that grime under the nails that would never come out.  I can close my eyes and smell the mix of diesel fuel and cigarette smoke. That was the smell of my dad after a long honest day's work in the shop.  The literal blue collar with his name stitched across his chest.

The melted water travels across the desert, picking up dust and gravel and reaches the Flagstaff lava field and then falls. Ultimately it ends up in the Colorado River and Grand Canyon. It was beautiful to see so much flowing water and rainbows in the water too.

Have you ever asked, Is There More to Life? That's How We Started Wandering.The saying is it takes a village to raise a child, and with 8 children between us, we found support in one another for carpools and sleepovers. Our friendships strengthened into family camping trips and celebrating holidays together