San Francisco!

I finally did it.  I left Randy and the boys while I escaped to warm and sunny California.  The last time I ditched the boys was NINE YEARS AGO!  Seriously, people, that's a long time.  And it was to go to England after Lindsey died so it wasn't exactly a fun-filled trip since I remember crying a lot, or trying not to cry......
Anyway, my friend Monica lives a few miles away but we rarely see each other.  We met our sophomore year in college but really became good friends when we did our student teaching together at BYU.  The last time we got together for lunch she mentioned we should visit our other college friend, Jenner, who is currently living it up in San Francisco for one year.  Monica got the idea for the trip in her head and wouldn't take no for an answer.  I was up to my eyeballs in dust from the bathroom demo, still battling pregnancy nausea and the last thing I wanted to do was book a flight.  So she took care of everything and all I had to do was show up.
Honestly, I was worried if I'd even be able to enjoy the trip because I'd be stressing over my kids and whether they were surviving or not but it turned out I needed a relaxing trip even more than I realized.  It was bliss to sight-see, sleep in, and talk non-stop with friends for three days.  I didn't have to cook, clean, or nag anyone.  The temps were in the 60's which felt pretty perfect and Jenner's house overlooked the ocean so the whole thing was pretty dreamy.

Off the plane and a late dinner at In-And-Out Burger

 We started our first day off with a quick walk through China Town and ate lunch at the Great Eastern Restaurant that boasts of food so good Pres. Obama ate there.  The food wasn't that great but oh well.  We did a little window shopping and hoped to see some interesting people on the streets but I have to say the people weren't too strange.  Or maybe I'm just used to the weirdos in Seattle.  Yeah, that's probably it.

This guy was awesome!  Those sun rays shining down right on his big ol' belly cracked me up.  He looks the way I feel every night as I've battled the nausea. I wish I'd sat down next to him and copied his pose!

We spent a couple hours at the beach looking in tide pools for the ever elusive octopus Jenner had found earlier that week.  We never found him but had fun anyway.  I've missed the ocean, although the California beaches or so different than the East Coast beaches it's hard to compare.

Our second day we walked up and down all those super steep streets and saw just about everything you could possibly want to see.  We ate lunch at the most delicious restaurant called The Stinking Rose, that boasts a lot of garlic dishes.  I'm still thinking about the deliciousness of that meal!  We attempted to take a tour of Alcatraz but it didn't happen so we settled for reading some plaques about it.  Monica was bummed but I saved $40 by not doing it so I say it's a win!  I'll read about it online for free.  We walked up a crazy steep hill just so we could walk down crooked Lombard street which was fun, and then walked along the wharf.

 On our way out of the city we stopped by this palace place that was pretty cool and photo bombed some wedding photos which was so mature of us. This place was beautiful and made me wish I'd brought my real camera.

We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge which was beautiful but not as impressive to me after living in RI where we drove over big, beautiful bridges all the time.  In fact, I didn't even try to snap a picture of it.  But we scored big time when we just happened to turn around right in front of a trail head as some hikers emerged from the woods.  The hikers were locals and told us the 2-mile hike offered the best panoramic view of San Fransisco so we decided to check it out.  In our street clothes and shoes.  We got a lot of strange looks from the other people on the trail who were actually dressed for hiking which was ironic because trust me, we are not city girls at all!  The view was breathtaking and well worth the muddy hike.  We sat up at the top for almost an hour just talking and looking.  It was definitely the highlight of the whole trip.

We went to church Sunday morning which was so enjoyable without wrestling any kids, and then drove to a nearby beach to soak up some sun before flying back home.  Randy is the man for holding down the fort on a weekend full of sports and scout stuff.  He deserves a vacation which is perfect timing because we are driving down to UT today for some skiing for our mid-winter break.  I get to see my family!  Hooray!