Cali Trip - Just the Two of Us

Our trip started very early in the morning, 4:30 actually.  We flew into Oakland, got our rental car and got on our way.  We were actually there to scout out convenient stores to see if it was do-able to start a bakery in that area so we spent most of the day in the car driving around.  The plan was not for me to drive with him, but to shop or site see or just chill with a book, but we couldn't even check into our hotel until 3pm and Oakland was NOT somewhere I wanted to hang out alone.  After a long day of driving around, we checked in, had a short nap and then decided to go for a run.  It worked out really well that there was a paved path right outside our hotel that went on for miles.  We did 4 miles that night.  I was really tired and didn't feel like a night out so we got dinner and brought it back to the hotel.  Our hotel was actually located in a little town called Walnut Creek.  I'm so naming my town something like that when I get one!

Day 2 started with another run.  The weather was really nice in the mornings, but got hot by afternoon.  I ran my best 3 miler in a long time.  This day I spent by myself shopping at a nearby center.  It was nothing exciting, but it was fun to be outside and see different kinds of stores.  I ended up at Ross, big shocker and got a few cute things including a big warm coat.  Sometimes we go to cold places!!  We usually only ate two meals.. our breakfast was free at the hotel (good ones too!) and then we would get an early dinner.  So in between, we usually found a treat.  This was my lucky day!  A yogurt shop was featuring Thin Mint yogurt.  I topped it with a light sprinkling of oreas and YUM!  I also had my first experience on a bus, and what an experience that was!  While waiting I got to chat with two lovely women who were both missing a few screws.  The 76 year old said I definitely looked the same age as her, or least in my sixties and the other filled me in on how her husband used to beat her and how many relatives she has that went to college.  Good times.  I took the bus to the local BART station (their commuting service) and then walked the 3/4 of a mile back to the hotel.

After a brief nap and some freshening up, I trekked back to the BART station, but this time to get on the big train that would take me into San Fransisco.  I did not enjoy that at all.  It was a 50 minute trip and the train feels quite rickety and is LOUD.  Once there, I waited on a corner till Glade came and found me.  Then we tried to maneuver our way through the city on a Saturday night.  It wasn't long before Glade was frustrated and just wanted out of the city.  I told him I did not ride that stupid train for an hour to not be in the city!  We finally found a parking garage and decided to find dinner.  The meters up there only took quarters and it was $3 an hour.  We put in what we had (15 min worth) and went in search of more quarters.  After about 40 minutes of begging and buying packs of gum, we finally got enough.  We ate pizza at a place called Amiccis.  After, we walked around the block taking in the sites.  That's one of my favorite things to do!  Glade was a little done with all the people and crowds so we headed home.

The next day was Sunday and we were going to go to Sacramento to check out that area.  We found a church in town and attended Sacrament meeting there.  The people were very friendly and welcoming.  We had lunch at Fudruckers, oh the chili cheese fries! and then went to see the Temple. 

A nice lady took this one for us.  Later we tried taking it with a self time and that was quite the experience. 

There was a big grassy park next to the temple that had wild turkeys roaming around.  Very strange.

This is the bathroom in the park.  I prefer to call it a tender mercy.  I'm pretty sure the chocolate muffin I thought I ate at breakfast may have actually been prune based.  Yikes! 

After visiting the Temple, we spent a couple of hours driving around.  I was so done by this point. I knew it was part of the deal but we were now at about 5 hours in the car for that day.  We finally got home and Glade, sensing my dissatisfaction, stopped by the yogurt shop for some Thin Mint yogurt.  No go, they changed their flavors.  We still got some and that was our dinner. 

The next day was by far my favorite.  We got up and ran again, this time 5 miles.  I hadn't run that much since the last Ragnar, sad I know.  It was a good run though.  We then headed in to San Fransisco for an actual day of vacation.  First we drove the bridge and walked around a cute little town called Saucalito.. I just love to say it!  There we got some taffy for the kids and poked our heads in all the souvenir shops.  I had to have some ice cream while here. (Is there a pattern here with having ice cream for a meal?)  I got the most delish caramel, banana, chocolate chip ice cream in a chocolate dipped waffle cone.  Truly heaven.  We had reservations for Alcatraz soon so we went back over to get checked in.  By this time it was actually hot. Seriously, like 90 degrees.  Totally sucky.  The visit to Alcatraz was super cool.  They have you put on a headset and take a tour at your own leisure.  You can stop it and start it whenever you want.  We spent about 2 hours on the island before catching the boat back.

Riding the ferry over to the island.

While in Saucalito, this fog just came up out of nowhere and rolled over into the mountains.  You could actually see it "rolling" over the peaks.  The line at the top of the white fog is the Golden Gate Bridge.  We actually had to drive right through it on our way back from Saucalito.

These are the showers at the prison.  I think I'll obey all laws.

Every cell looks exactly the same.

This is me in "the hole".  They said it was completely dark in there.  One guy said to pass the time he would rip a button off his shirt, toss it in the air and let it drop.  Then he would crawl around till he found it.  Repeat. Can you even imagine?

I had a hard time getting a good picture because they had glass in front of the cell, but this is the cell the prisoners from Escape from Alcatraz were actually in.  You can see the dug out vent back there and the head you see is the fake heads they made to make it look like someone was sleeping there.

It was obviously windy out there.  This is the city  behind us.

Once we got back we walked down to Pier 39.  We decided to eat at Bubba Gump's just so we can say we did.  It was super pricey, but a fun atmosphere. We even got a seat right next to the window.

After dinner we walked around the Pier a little more and got goodies for the kids.  We then hiked up a hill about a mile away to the Ghirardelli store.  The had a small display of how they make chocolate.  It was seriously filled with old foreigners.  On that note, I couldn't believe how many people were not from here.  I would bump someone and say sorry and they would retort with something I couldn't understand.  Crazy.  Anyway, they greeted us with a free sample of pumpkin, caramel chocolate.  It was so yummy!!  We roamed around a little (it was so crowded) and then grabbed a few "souvenirs" and headed out.

The next day was pretty uneventful.  We didn't run, Glade was really sore from the ginormous hill we climbed the previous day and I didn't want to have to do my hair again.  We intended on actually going to the Oakland Temple to do work, but weren't able to make it in time.  We were able to walk around the grounds though.  It's really pretty and has a walk around the top of the temple.  The temple is set high up over the city so the views are spectacular! 

This was on the grounds up on top of the walk around the top.

This is a totally random picture, but it's something that has made my vacations just a fraction better.  Leslie made me this "cover" out of a hotpad.  It goes on top of my straightener so I can pack it even if it's still hot.  So genius!!

After the temple, we set out for the airport and ended our trip with a fun flight home enjoying a Rachel Ray magazine together.  I know that sounds funny, but it was really fun to read it together and the flight was over in no time!  Back to life...Back to reality...