Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair...

That's right... San Francisco! If you think about it, there are a ton of songs about San Francisco. San Francisco, I learned, is also the headquarters of many of life's important necessities. Rice-aroni, Ghirardelli, Boudin Sour Dough, Wells Fargo, Full House... :) It is one neat city. But let's start from the beginning.

We left on Thursday morning for Stockton, California. Andrew had an interview at the University of the Pacific. Since I am on maternity leave and we hadn't taken a vacation in a long time, we decided to make a family trip of it.

On the way we drove through Lovelock, Nevada. We stopped and admired all the locks that had been placed on the chains, 'locking' people's love. Several were there from the 60s. Andrew and I did it the cheaper way, and locked our love with a kiss.

We hit a huge winter storm at the Donner Pass. So intense, that they stopped every single car and made them put chains on. What about people like us, who didn't have snow chains in the car? Oh, not to worry there is a man set up on the side of the road who happens to be selling snow chains, and even installs them for you for a mere $70. Sometimes it is worth paying for convenience. After 3 hours, we made it through the pass. We kept thinking of those pioneers that passed through there. We thought we had it bad, but it was nothing compared to what they endured.

After the interview we drove over to San Francisco, found our hotel, grabbed some dinner and crashed. We used Priceline each day to book our hotels...it was fabulous. We stayed in a Marriott and a Hilton for the same price we paid to stay at the Quality Inn which we reserved ahead of time. Priceline= cool.

Saturday we were tourists. We started at Pier 39. For breakfast, this is where our stomachs lead us.

I watched through the glass the entire time ours was made, like a hungry little puppy dog. I was so excited to eat it, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! Trust me though, it was amazing.

The Sea Lions at Pier 39

We meandered down towards Fisherman's Wharf, being entertained by the variety of street entertainment. Unfortunately, we did not get a picture of my two favorites: the man hiding in the trash can, yelling out to scare people as they walked by. (He called himself "Oscar the Grump"... almost got it right.) The second was the man who had chopped off branches of a bush, crouched down on the sidewalk and popped out from behind the branches as he yelled at the passerbys. Yes, I am easily amused.

Here are the others--- the man who made a scantily clad marionette dance, the men who painted themselves gold, the musicians, and the real artists.

Oh yeah...

We then headed over to the Ghirardelli Square to indulge in some yummy chocolate. (well, just the free sample they gave us as we walked through the door...) :) We could have bought an 80 piece bag for $30, but decided to save our pennies.

Next we worked up a sweat trekking it up those ridiculously steep streets that lead to Lombard Street, the "crookedest street." I would not want to live on Lombard St.

Makayla and I

We didn't ride one, but I had to get on one...

We eased our way back down (both hanging onto the stroller!) to the wharf and dined at the Boudin Sour Dough restaurant. We each got the bread bowl with clam chowder, New England style. It didn't disappoint.

That's right, lobsters made out of sour dough

With full bellies we were ready for the last stop of the day, the Golden Gate Bridge. Amazing structure, fantastic views, and perfect weather. There were even surfers for entertainment down below. Cool.

We drove over the bridge and headed to Sacramento, where we stayed our final night in California. The drive home was much more enjoyable, not to mention shorter! The pass was beautiful, hard to believe that it was the same road we had spent hours on just a few days before.

We had a great time. It felt good to try new things and go new places...mix things up a bit. Makayla was the best traveler out of the three of us. I think it is a blessing she loves her car seat! :)