Day 2 - Muir Woods National Monument

Our original California travel plans included the Redwood National Park, but after researching we realized it was too far north to fit into this trip.  Thankfully, we were able to get a reservation at Muir Woods, a National Monument with over 500 acres of protected redwood trees located just 12 miles outside of San Francisco.  The redwoods were magnificent, and it was so neat to see and learn about trees that are hundreds of years old and over 250 feet tall!  

We spent the entire morning exploring Muir Woods, and even enjoyed a 2 mile hike that led us up and around the hillside.  Carter was a hiking machine!  She loved being off the "accessible" trail and never complained one time!  

We are basically professional, outdoorsy people now, and we all have the shoes to prove it.  (Side note...I willingly carried a Kavu bag and wore hiking shoes for most of this trip...never say never!)

I wish I could say that the rest of the day was uneventful on our short drive to our house near Yosemite, but life isn't always sunshine and rainbows and for the sake of full disclosure I'm not going to skip over the less flattering parts...this is real life!  With that being said, I think I was the maddest I've ever been at Craig!  Basically he (and Grandad Mike) pouted, flailed arms and refused to eat lunch at a vegetarian pizza restaurant in Berkley.  A pizza restaurant that had over 5,000 five-star reviews and smelled delicious....mouth watering, delicious...but, we had to leave the yumminess promised by the grab-and-go-pizza to find a new restaurant because he "needed some meat!"  What in the world?!?  For the record, I didn't care that we left that restaurant, but I did care about how ridiculous he acted over pizza...I cared so much that I didn't get over it until mid-morning of the next day!  

I think the whole vibe in Berkley was enough to guarantee that none of us, besides maybe Grant, will ever want to return.  Our plan to make a quick stop for lunch turned into a huge fight...the rest of the adults walked down the road to find a new place to eat...Chesley got cussed out on the street...I sat in the back of the van and didn't help Craig park...we picked them up from their walk because we couldn't park the van...cross dressers and wackos filled the sidewalks when we found new place to eat...I sat on the opposite end of the table at the that pizza restaurant...a pizza restaurant that served "cola"....the Target next door was out of Diet Coke...finally found Diet Coke down the street...got back on the road just in time to spend the rest of the day in bumper-to-bumper-Friday-before-Memorial-Weekend traffic.  

Just think of all the fun we could have had on our first night in Mariposa had we of eaten the grab-and -go-pizza?!?

California Road Trip Day 1 - San Francisco

Getting ready and out the door for an eight day trip to California for our little family of four required days of planning and organizing.  After we booked our flights earlier in the spring, we realized that someone needed to go ahead to pick up the van during normal business hours.  The best choice was Craig, and even though it worked out great that he could be there to pick us up from the airport, I desperately needed his help in the final hours to get out the door!  The weather forecast wasn't necessarily in our favor, so we strategically went through each day and planned a daily wardrobe for Craig and the girls...the girls' clothes were bagged and labeled by the day...hair bow and all.  I, on the other hand, started filling my suitcase at 2:45...15 minutes before Billy and Marilyn were scheduled to pick us up for the airport.

My last minute luck continued when we arrived very late for our connecting flight in Dallas.  The rest of the group rushed off the plane, hurried to the bathroom and got to the gate and immediately had to board.  I went straight to the Chick-fil-A line to get everyone dinner.  The line barely moved, I heard final calls over the loud speaker, Mom and Chesley were texting me to hurry, but by golly, we all needed some food, and I was bound and determined to make it.  Everyone was staring at me as I ran through the airport with an arm full of Chick-fil-A and panic on my face...and just by the skin of my teeth, I made it!  I would argue that those were the best waffle fries I've ever eaten! 

Meanwhile, Craig arrived in San Francisco with plenty of time to pick up the van and go the Braves vs. the Giants baseball game before picking us up...bless his heart!  ❤️ No, seriously, I am actually glad he could go to the game, just slightly irritated that I had such a stressful start to our trip and he didn't!  We were all waiting on the side walk when he pulled up to get us, and Amma almost peed in her pants laughing at him driving our van.  I knew what to expect because I had booked it, but to someone with no expectations, an empty, 15 passenger transit van looked pretty ridiculous and over the top.

I'm not going to say much about our hotel in San Rafael, other than it was pretty "meh!" The whole crew loved the breakfast, but the fountain Diet Coke was it's only saving grace in my book.  We spent two nights there while we toured San Francisco.

Day 1 of our California Road Trip was crammed full with all the quintessential tourist attractions in San Francisco including the Golden Gate Bridge, Painted Ladies, Full House, Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli, Pier 39, sea lions, a night tour of Alcatraz, and lots and lots of eating!

I always say that these trips are a way to see a little bit of each place, and one day we can go back and really experience the places that we love the most.  After our very full day in San Francisco, I'm gonna just go ahead and mark it off my list of future vacation destinations.  It was neat to experience, but now that we've experienced it...I'm good!