We stayed 1 night in San Francisco and I
have to say I really liked it. The houses were old with lots of charm (and were
REALLY expensive!). The weather was nice and it was a lot of fun! We started
the day with a stop at The Pink Ladies (aka The Full House house!). Our kids
did not understand the significance of this but I sure thought it was neat!
Next we went on to the Golden Gate
Bridge. This was one of the scenic places the kids wanted to see since we
learned about it. It was soooo windy! It was hard to get a picture of everyone.
We literally jumped out of the car, snapped a few photos and got right back in,
it was crazy!
We found a cute hotel and let the kids
relax for a minute before we headed out to Pier 39. Dinner was at a greasy,
yummy, burger place. Then we just walked and looked at everything. There was a
small stage set up and it said the next show was a sword swallower. Perfect for
the kids to watch right?! We waited around to see what it was and ended up
staying for the whole thing. Some of his jokes were a little inappropriate, thankfully the kids didn't know what he was talking about! Part way through Linx (the performer) asked Johnny to go up on stage and help! He was given $1 then the guy asked him to go hand it to a little girl in the audience. Johnny
looked hesitant but I was so proud that he actually did it and didn't try to
keep it for himself! After a few jokes, Johnny ended up with a $5 bill
instead! He did get to keep that one and was so excited!! After the show we
finished walking the Pier then headed to the hotel. Because it was like 11pm and
everyone was tired, we rode the bus back to the hotel which the kids loved
doing!
We checked out in the morning and started
our drive through California. One of my best friends from high school happened
to be in the area for the weekend also so we met up with her for a quick hello!
We went through the Redwood Forest and saw some awesome trees! We were able to
stop at one that you can (pay to) drive thru! Unfortunately, our car was too
big to drive thru it but we were able to get out and get some pictures. The
kids slept through much of the drive thru the forest after that. I was sad
because we talked about driving through and seeing the massive trees but I was
relieved at the same time because Daniel and I had some peace and quiet. :)
Our last overnight stop was in Medford,
OR. We pulled in late and made a quick hotel choice. The rooms were so small we
had to get 2. We were all so tired I didn't mind spending the extra money!
The next day we were all up and ready for
our last day of driving! We made a quick stop at the Portland, OR Temple to
stretch our legs. The visitor’s center there provided the kids with about 10
minutes worth of entertainment then we were on our way again. Honestly, by this
point we all just wanted to get home. We were so close!
The Painted Ladies
Too bright for a selfie!
Gold Gate Bridge!
Daniel took this panorama picture of the bay!
Love Dia's face in this one! So windy!
Pier 39
Crazy real looking wax statue!
The steps on this staircase were musical like piano keys! So fun!
Linx, the sword swallower.
Daniel happened to already be filming when he called Johnny up on stage. It's kind of long, so you can start watching at about the 3:30 mark! If you watch from the beginning, ignore his lame California humor. :/
Opal in awe of the giant crane game!
The pier had all kinds of things to look at. Giant transformers, muscians, and a Lefty store! I browsed inside but actually only found 1 thing that I thought would be really useful, a measuring cup! Something right handed people don't think about. :)
Quick stop to say hi to Anna!
We took a slow drive down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world!
Late on one of our last nights. Every one was loopy and tired! At least they were all still laughing!
Portland, OR Temple Visitor's Center
And that's it!! I'm done with our trip!! Holy cow. It only took 10 posts and 2 months! We had such a great time and it went really well. Excpet for the vomiting at the beginning, everyone did awesome. So thankful we didn't have any major car trouble (our dvd player did stop working the last 2 days!), no car accidents or speeding tickets! The kids are already saying they want to do another big road trip. Not sure I am ready for that, but I will agree to Disneyland in 5 years!!
