While the kids were safely tucked away with my parents, Sam and I made a getaway to California. This was back in July mind you, but like I said, I'm a little behind on the blog. Sam had some business down there so I just went along and we were able to do some sightseeing along the way. Our first stop - San Francisco.
This beautiful building was just one of many on our drive into the city - while we were trying to find our hotel, we saw a big crowd of people who were taking pictures down a street. We kept driving and before we knew it a city worker directed us to drive down the street so we did... it wasn't until we were on it that Sam realized it was Lombard St! One of the curviest streets in existence and apparently quite famous. So we drove down it and luckily got a few pictures when we realized what we were doing.
Next up, Sam had a little surprise for me - he'd heard about a Segway tour that goes all over the city - so you not only get to see all the famous sights, you get to learn a new skill and practice it! It was pretty funny to see these big groups of people in the reflector vests and helmets traveling through the streets in big troops! It felt a little nerdy, I'm not going to lie, but hey, it was still fun! San Francisco also surprised me with how chilly it was for mid July - as you can see I had to put Sam's sweatshirt over my sweater and scarf. That building behind us is the one and only Alcatraz. We'll have to save touring that for next time, maybe with the kids.... we could scare em straight or something.. ;)
Down by the fisherman's wharf was a bustling, fun place - lots of street performers, vendors, boats, good seafood to eat, sea lions, trolley cars and most everything San Francisco - here's one guy who was messing with me and wanted to pretend to steal my purse.. nice try buddy. There was even a guy who was holding tree branches in his hands and he'd jump out from behind stuff just to scare people. He seemed to like to rotate his location just to keep everyone guessing. San Francisco is also the birthplace of Ghirardelli chocolates - we tried so hard to get ourselves there but with so much to do we just didn't have time to hit it. Another point on the list of "next time"
This carousel was down one of the piers. Do people who live here know how lucky they are? I love it!
There are actually lots of different types of "trolley cars." the original trolleys run on the hills mostly and then there's lots of electric rail cars that go around the city - most of them vintage and actually donated from other locations. Like the one by Sam - below that you can see the traditional trolley car.
We stumbled into this beautiful church - I did take a picture of the outside of it, but only on my phone. It's St. Peter and Paul's. Apparently, when Joe DiMaggio wanted to marry Marilyn Monroe here, the church wouldn't let them because it was a second marriage for both of them. So Joe partially solved the problem and paid the church lots of money just to take pictures outside the front of the building. They actually married in the courthouse. Just a little tid-bit I learned on my totally awesome segway tour!
After a few days in San Fran, we started our way south and took the Pacific Coast Highway. Although it's incredibly windy ( like a wind up toy, not like a storm...) and slow - we couldn't miss out on all of the absolutely breath-taking scenery. We only got stuck behind the same camp trailer 6 times, so it was all worth it! haha, every time we'd pull off to take pictures, the same trailer would catch up to us and then we'd have to try and pass them again. Oh, and I tried to count how many red convertibles we saw and I know I can remember at least 5 but there were plenty of other colored convertibles taking the drive too. Please excuse my Zha Zha expression in the collage below.. when asking strangers to snap pictures, you get what you get - I think I must've been mid hair flip or something.. at least it wasn't on purpose!
Finally, we made it all the way south to Newport Beach. We didn't stay too long here but did get to stop by and see a couple of Sam's friends. He's known them and swam with them since 8th grade. Here's chopper - one of the their dogs. He was such a gooood boy!
Heading back north we went through LA and I can't really express the irony I felt seeing one of our church's temples - the Los Angeles temple ( where my parents were married ) right on the main road just off the exit heading downtown to Rodeo drive. What a contrast in interests! I was proud of my church and loved seeing the temple set against the background for what seems would be all things Los Angeles.
Here's some pictures we snapped while driving through - Some noteworthy shots - the chip n dales traveling in a pack, some people dressed in full star wars garb and the classic "paparazzi " they really were just wandering the streets, looking into all the ritzy shops to see if they could get a glimpse of someone famous. I tried to stay on the lookout too - but no luck. It was still fun to see all the places in person. I wanted to see the Hollywood sign ( I know, Cheesy ) but we took a wrong turn and got on to the freeway before we meant to - and once you're on - you're not going to be getting off just to circle back, all the driving in the city takes FOREVER. So, maybe next time.
We made our way back up north finally before we left the state to have one more day in San Francisco - we had a great breakfast and did a little more (pretty important) sight seeing. We couldn't leave the area without going over the Golden Gate Bridge! San Francisco really impressed me, theere was so much to see, such great food, and the people were so fun to watch. I'm a believer that going new places opens up new places in your mind! I'm so grateful for my experiences I've gotten to have with my honey by my side.
Here's a couple of famous buildings that dot the San francisco skyline - Coit tower and the Trans America Pyramid. I love big cities! They have the best Architecture!
It was an awesome trip. Thank you Mom and Dad / Grandma and Grandpa Ladd and Nyleen!! We couldn't have done it without you!!
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