PapiBlogger will ride again! My wife, four kids and I will be heading to Northern California courtesy of State Farm and Chevy for a 1,300 mile road trip that will take us through Yosemite National Park, Mt. Shasta, the Redwood Coast, San Francisco and even Alcatraz, July 5-21.
For us it just doesn’t feel like summer without a major family road trip to build memories and recharge. We’re grateful we get to do these wonderful trips and that we get to work with brands committed to family values like our presenting sponsor State Farm, who I have my automobile insurance with and Chevy, who has sponsored our road trips for four consecutive summers.
Along the way to visiting Muir Woods, Sonoma & Napa Valleys, the Redwood Coast and Mono Lake we’ll also be doing numerous surprise acts of kindness for complete strangers. Being a good neighbor is what State Farm is about and it’s what we’re about so the ideas we have planned to bless people will be fun and practical.

This road trip will also mark a milestone for our family: it will be the first major family road trip experience for 1-year-old Naomi. My wife, who will do most of the driving, says it should be relatively easy for Naomi to do the 1,300-mile road trip given that that’s nothing by our standards of driving more than 12,000 miles in 2010 and 10,000 miles in 2011.
The PapiMobile for this year’s journey is a vehicle we’re very familiar with: a 2013 Chevy Traverse. In 2010, we drove the same model 12,136 miles during 46 days and 33 states. (See the official recap video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV5bqsSNPNo).
A Social Media Story
In the spirit of social media storytelling, we will be chronicling our family’s exploits daily through the Twitter hashtag #SFSummerTrip (@PapiBlogger on Twitter), on Instagram @PapiBlogger, on Facebook and, of course, through this blog.
During this year’s family trip – like others past – history, geography, science and even photography will be in session for our kids Jonathan (13), Elena (9) and Briani (4). The life and technical lessons of surviving and thriving together as a family is part of why the road trips have become one of the most important traditions the our family works hard to repeat every summer.
Key 2013 PapiBlogger Family Road Trip Facts
— Expected road trip miles: approximately 1,300 miles
— Number of Travel Days: 16 days
— Major destinations to be visited: San Francisco, Alcatraz, Muir Woods, Sonoma & Napa Valleys, Redwood National Park, Mt. Shasta, Yosemite National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park and much more!
— Cumulative road trip miles we’ve driven since 2008: 25,000 miles including road trips through Texas and Costa Rica.