Truly memorable
Our vacation was a once in a lifetime chance, most people cannot say that they went to all of these national parks in two weeks! Our adventure is coming to an end and our bags are twice as heavy as day one. I can’t wait for the next family vacation.
Our last day and some final thoughts…
We dropped off the RV this morning and headed to the hotel. We decided to go into San Fransisco one last time. Matt got a recommendation last week about the BEST dumplings in the city. He has been craving these dumplings all week. We found the Dumpling King restaurant and OMG, the food there was amazing!!!! We walked around the city (mainly to walk off our lunch) for a bit and decided to go back to the hotel so the boys could go swimming and we can just relax . Tomorrow we will be up at 5:00 a.m. and get ready to travel most of the day, we should be home around 6:00 p.m. So, here are some final facts and thoughts about this adventure
1. I am married to the most patient( I know his wife, believe me he has the patience of a saint),generous ,selfless and kind man.
2. The 5 people I just made the most incredible memories for the last 16 days with are my favorite group of people in this whole world.
3. Our 4 children share the same twisted sense of humor that Matt and I have. I can’t begin to tell you about the off color jokes and conversations we shared. Sometimes, I laughed so hard I cried.
4. My family pushed me to go out of my comfort zone ( on those #@!& hikes) and cheered me on even though I think they probably wanted to push me off a cliff once or twice.
5. We put on almost 3000 miles between the 2 RV’s!!! And God love my husband, he drove the whole time and NEVER complained once.
6. We made memories and shared an amazing adventure that none of us will ever forget.
7. We are already talking about what our next trip will be.
8. We have the best family and friends that shared this journey with us on this blog. It was so sweet to get texts and comments on the blog encouraging us.
9. My children of the corn (remember, that’s their new name with reasons stated earlier in the blog) refuse to just give me a nice picture when I ask the first time. Good lord, they have to poke at each other or grab someone around the neck. That’s ok kids, mom has allllllll day. I am more than happy to keep you in one spot until I get the one I want😲
One last…actually our only fire!
My fatal “mistake”
While I was looking for my two child like brothers I passed through the ladies shower room. At first I had no idea I was inside the actual shower room, I only thought it was a walkway to get closer to my brothers! When I finally found them i started questioning how old they really are. Kevin and Mason were jumping on a inflated bubble like platform with 5 and 7 year olds!! After watching them dominate at every game they played I decided to walk around and adventure the rest of the campground. The stars were beautiful and the people were silent, a real life paradise. Without knowing where I was I totally passed out RV and ended up right back at the ladies showers. Again, not knowing it was the shower room I walked through again hoping to meet up with my childish brothers. To top this embarrassing moment a young girl and her mother watched me walk right through the shower room without even warning me!! After listening carefully to the sound of only women talking I finally realized it was the ladies showers and went red to the face right away. With a little more pep in my step I rushed back as quick as I could to the RV to share my “terrible” experience.
Lake Tahoe and Yosemite
We woke up in lake Tahoe yesterday and went to see Emerald bay which is said to be the most photographed scenery in the world (I can see why, it was beautiful). We weren’t able to hike down like we planned because it was so crowded and there was no place to park the RV on the side if the road. I was able to get pictures as we passed through though . The water is the most amazing color. Lake Tahoe is so clear(you can see 75 feet down). From there we made our way to Yosemite. The scenery on the way was spectacular!! We live in a beautiful country, this trip has truly opened my eyes to that. I hope our children continue to explore all the places that they want to (and hey, don’t hesitate to ask mom and dad to tag along😉)before they plant roots and settle down. We arrived in Yosemite in time to see some of it’s beauty AND see the most beautiful sunset…… Today we went back into Yosemite and did a 2 mile hike to see some of the sequoia trees. After we stopped at the Iron door saloon ( it is the oldest liquor serving establishment in California). We are now making our way back to the coast……
Silicon Valley and lake Tahoe
So, Monday we left the house in San Fransisco(I am not going to miss the the 11 flights of steps to get to the top😥) I am going to miss watching the whales play in the cove each day. We headed into Silicon valley (I live with 2 nerds (Ry and Matt)that insisted on seeing it) Ryan has decided that he wants to go to school for programming (we couldn’t be happier or more proud, he has always been incredibly sharp with computers and games) I have to admit, the Google complex was very impressive!! So, after that we picked up our 2nd RV and away we go to lake Tahoe. We arrived later than we wanted (California traffic is the worst)to so we found this awesome little BBQ restraunt and enjoyed a great meal and some laughs. Yesterday we found a beach and just let the kids play in the water and relaxed. Lake Tahoe is so beautiful, we decided to spend another night here. As we made our way back to where we knew we wanted to have dinner ( McP’s Irish pub💚☘) the sunset was spectacular so of course we pulled over to enjoy the beauty of it. Today we will do a little hike (well at least that’s what Matt and Kiersten said 😈😈) and then off to Yosemite…..
San Fransisco day 2
We were up early and made our way into the city. Matt had gotten our tickets (should I be worried he bought me a one way ticket?🤔)to Alcatraz a few weeks back. Being there was one of the coolest experiences. I’ve always been fascinated with history of Alcatraz. Coincidentally, yesterday was the 83rd anniversary of the first prisoner being brought to Alcatraz. We listened to a prisoner who was there the same time as the Robert”birdman of Alcatraz “Stroud was there. After Alcatraz we drove over the golden gate bridge (it was too foggy to see the whole bridge) and into Sausalito. What a beautiful town, of course we had to go have lunch and get a tequila sunrise at the historic Trident restaurant. We walked around town and sat by the water. To end the day we made our way back to Pacifica and found a Krispy Kream donut shop (after all the hiking and walking we have been doing, I can afford to eat a donut or 2😉)
Day 1 in San Francisco
What a day…..I woke up this morning to whales in the cove.🐳 We made our way to the parking garage and took the Bart into San Francisco. At first sight, it reminded us alot of New York city. We walked for miles today(the hills in San Francisco are no joke!) Had lunch in an amazing Italian restaurant and then over to see the Ghirardelli store😁. Gotta LOVE the free sample when you first walk in. We walked along the pier and then headed up to Haight and Ashbury street. I am such a people watcher and I got quite the show today. We had so much fun exploring the city.Tomorrow Matt has another BIG day planned for us….
A little further west….
We dropped off Casa de Pease this morning and headed to the airport. We arrived in San Francisco early this afternoon. Traffic out here is no joke. We decided to have a low key night to rest up for the next leg of our adventure. Ate at a cute little Italian restaurant, grabbed a few groceries and headed to our rental house. What a view!!!! Tomorrow we are back at it with a full day of exploring.