We got up early on Thursday morning and left the house about 7 am. We stopped at Maverick in Farmington to get gas and Mom saw Casey from Chanel 2 new doing a report and went up to him and was on TV. It was funny because she was in her jammies. We had to give her crap since she would never let us out of the house in our jammies and she was on TV in them. :) Then we just kept driving. The weather was not the best on the way there. We stopped in Winiamucha to get gas and lunch and there was a sideways wind/hail storm. It was crazy! Spencer had some super high winds Dad started driving after Reno so he could drive Doner’s Pass. It had snowed over the pass and they were requiring chains on all cars. So we pulled over and put chains on (a first for all of us) and drove 30mph. it was so crazy. We did not even need the chains. We left more snow in our driveway than what was on the road. We even asked them how much snow was on the road to see if we even needed chains and we told them we were from Utah and drive in snow all the time but the just said that Chains were Required. Oh well, we made it. We saw some way cool animal life along the pass also. We got in to California and found this farmers market and they told us of a great place to eat dinner. Oh my it was so so good. It was an Italian restaurant. We all loved it.
Then we drove some more and finally got to our hotel. It was a nice hotel. We had all of us in the same room. We were a little squished but I was still wonderful. We had a Great view from the room. We could see the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge and a lot of other places. That night I did not sleep much. Dad and his snoring kept me up. I then learned for the next nights what to do (sleeping pills and ear plugs ) then we got up really early and got ready for a fun day of adventure In San Francisco.
We started out our trip at Alcatraz. We were on the first tour. As we were standing in line Dad ears perked up. We looked at him and asked what’s up. He said that he think he hears Swedish. And he did there was a group tour and he got to talk to a lot of people in Swedish. It was fun for him and for us to see him use his Swedish. It was also great to see him explain about the church and why he was there and how he learned Swedish and to tell them that Spencer was going on a mission to Africa. It was really cute to see him have so much fun.
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| On The Boat over to Alcatraz |
We then walked up hill a few blocks and caught a bus. to take us to the Exploratorium. When we got on the bus it was not super full but then 2 stops later a whole school field trip got on. it made it super crowded. we rode the bus to the end and got off to walk the rest of the way. We have decided that we LOVE walking in San Fran just to see all the houses. They have so much character and they are so beautiful and interesting.
We get to where they said the Exploratorium is at and we did not think that it was it so we started walking around and we found this wonderful collum thing. it looked like we took a trip to Rome. It was beautiful!
After we played for a while, we caught the bus back down to the Pier and went to the Aquarium and played and watched some fish. Then we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
On Saturday, Spencer and Dad went to the Oakland Temple to do a session and I drove all by myself(well with Lola the GPS) to Martinez to get my car fixed. then I picked the boys up and we got mom and Sky and headed into SF and we went to Golden Gate Park. We rented bikes and rode around. It was a great Idea but we were out of shape and SF is up hill both ways. then we went to a science museum. we saw some penguins being fed and we went into the rain forest section and we were all grateful that Spencer was the one going to Africa. humidity is a killer.
Then we went to dinner. I was able to pick one restaurant while we were there. I got online and did some research and picked a restaurant from Diner Drive-in's and Dives. and i found one that was good priced and the food looked good. We went and LOVED it! It was so so yummy!
After that we rode the trolleys/cable cars all around SF and we stopped at China Town and did some shopping. We were really tired and did not stay long but we did have some fun riding the trolley/cable cars. I think we took them everywhere they they could run. It was a lot of fun. We learned that the breaks for the Trolleys/Cable cars are nothing but wood.(2x4's) and they change them out every 5 days. At one point when we were stopping it smelt like a campfire. :) We really enjoyed learning about them. When we were done with went back to the Hotel.
The store was called H&M and oh my we LOVED it! and there were some other fun stores there also. but i was getting late and we were hungry so we scoped out what they had there. Spencer and Skyler got some hot dogs, Dad got a shake and onion rings, mom got a salad and i went to this little Italian place and got the Yummiest things Ever! I got a Butternut squash ravioli in a brown butter sauce with crispy sage. HEAVEN!!! seriously i could eat it all the time. no one else would touch it, they were totally missing out!
Then we went back to the hotel and crashed.
We all slept in on Sunday and then got everything packed and ready to go. We took a trip over to the Temple to get some pictures and see the visitor center(Spencer wanted to see the cute sister missionaries.) They had given us directions to Fentens, which is the ice cream parlor that is on the movie UP at the end when they are counting red and blue cars. :)
We then went back to SF and got some pictures of us in front of our favorite places and on Jones Street. :)
After that we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and went to Muri National Forest to see the Red Wood trees. On the way up there we got stopped for a little while for traffic to go down the mountain but then that got backed up. we were so confused and so were the construction workers. and then we found out a semi was trying to go up this very small very curvy road and blocked traffic.once he got out of the was and the traffic cleared up we were able to make it there. it was so beautiful and quiet and the temperature was just right. The trees were so tall and beautiful. We actually bought a Sequoia tree and brought it home. I am hoping it will look like the trees we saw.
We then started the drive home. We got to just outside Reno when we decided to stop and spend the night and drive home in the morning.
The weather was much better on the way home. we did not have any real problems excpt that Spencer ended up with a speeding ticket.We felt so bad for him. but it won't effect him to bad since he is leaving for Africa and by the time he comes home it wont be there anymore. :) We got home about 4-5 pm on Monday. we shower and put stuff away and then went to bed.
It was a Wonderful Family Vacation!!
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