San Francisco Trip

Justin and I decided we were in need some much deserved "us time."  I can't even begin to explain whats been going on at the company and all the stress Justin has been under.  It seems to be never ending.  He does so much and it's like his secretary says, "He is the brains of the business!!!"

I have wanted to go to San Francisco with Justin ever since my trip there with my friend Steph.  So that's just where we went.

Enjoyed yummy food at the Rain Forest Cafe.

My ears where freezing one night while we were out enjoying the city so I decided to buy a beanie that the kids would like.  Yes I know I look like an idiot but I was a lot warmer with it on!

This was our home away from home for 4 days.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this place.  It was interesting but not a place I'd want to stay again.

It had a real old school elevator.  It was more like a scary carnival ride then an elevator!!  It did add to the whole experience of the place I must say.

We had a wonderful brunch at Rose's Cafe just down the street from our crazy hotel.  It's a place the locals love we were told.

My granola, yogurt and fruit was delicious.

But Justin wasn't too fond of his fancy french toast.  He was more hoping for like the Ihop type french toast plate.

Aunt Carol recommended we go to the Palace of Fine Arts.

I am glad she did.  It was a beautiful place!

It's amazing the magnitude of these pillars. 

We saw a lot of couple getting wedding pictures while we were there.

We knew our kids would love to see this picture as they all really like the old tv show, Full House.

Yes I wore yoga pants the whole trip .....don't judge me!

This is the actual house that the Full House was filmed in.  Funny enough it's not even on the street that the opening scenes of the sitcom makes it look like.  It was a mile or more away from that street.

We enjoyed a little hiking at Lands End Park.

What a wonderful trip with the Love of my Life!

I really enjoyed all the vegetation.  

Gorgeous views!  Justin and I explored different aspects of San Francisco then I had on my trip with Steph.  So it was nice.

This is Mile Rock Beach

Of course we had to hit China Town.

I like all the lanterns hanging across the street.

I was super excited to find the Little Italy of San Fran.  

We had some yummy pasta at Mona Lisa.

Then we had to find some cannoli's to try after all it was Little Italy.

Stella Pastry & Cafe had some yummy pastries but not as good as the ones we had in NYC's Little Italy.......those were AMAZING!

I love all the different cultures you can experience in big cities.  I hope to be able to take our kids to places like San Francisco and New York City so they can be exposed to these cultures. 

One of our favorite things we did, and by far Justin's favorite thing was taking a tour on the segways in Golden Gate Park!  I didn't get any pictures downloaded from their site yet, but it really was AMAZING!  Of course after doing this Justin wanted to rent a segway every where so he didn't have to walk.  He's not a huge fan of walking.  

The Golden Gate Park is 1,000 plus acres and it is gorgeous!  It's amazing....we loved being in this park.  It's just huge and beautiful!

Justin really wanted to do the segway tour to Lumbard Street, famous for being the crookedest street.  But I wasn't too sure about such steep street, me, a segway and I was having some bad cramps from a procedure I just had done at a doctor in Tempe.  So Justin finally agreed to walk the steep streets to get there.  Of course we could have taken a trolley or cab.  Mostly I think Justin just enjoys giving me a hard time, so of course he had to whine about this walk.  Or should I say hike!

We enjoyed the food and fishing down at Fisherman's Wharf!

Couldn't pass up fresh made Trish's Donuts now could we?

Nope we couldn't!

Love all the sea lions down at Pier 39.  Our kids would just love to see this.  

And what a gorgeous sight of the city!

One thing I really enjoy about big cities is the street entertainment.  These spray paint artist are always fun to watch!

I was excited to make it to Alcatraz this trip to San Francisco.

Alcatraz has such interesting history to it.  It's eerie and neat at the same time.

All the tunnels and underground portions of buildings were interesting.

This is what the cells look like.

I can't even imagine spending any amount of time this a place like this.

This is the cell of one of the inmates that was part of the Alcatraz escape in 1962.  Those three men that escaped were never found. 

We did the audio tour of Alcatraz and it sure was interesting to hear about the high profile criminals that were housed here. 

This is a view of the courtyard where the inmates got to have a few moments of "leisure".  

I really enjoy traveling places and hearing about the history, walking the grounds where such interesting people lived, and imagining the lives they lived.

It was neat to see such beautiful flowers and gardens on the island.  Much of the staff that ran this high risk prison, families included lived on the island.  The children went to school here and spend years and years just feet from such insane criminals.  From the audio tour we learned that the children rarely, if ever, saw inmates.  

It would be tortuous to be imprisoned on Alcatraz and be able to see and hear the city so close, yet unreachable!  What a great thing for those criminals to have to endure I think!

One of the many delicious meals we had while on our trip!

Enjoying a little Joe's Crab Shack!

I could have crab legs every day if I could afford it!

The cable cars were a ton of fun to ride on.  Defiantly a must do when in San Francisco! 

And yes I wore yoga pants the whole trip.............don't judge me Ha, ha, ha.... I had a good reason for doing so.

It was such a wonderful trip!  I am so grateful for the long weekend Justin and I were able to spend together in San Francisco.  Next trip we take though is going to be to a location where there is no cell service or Internet.  

Without me knowing it Justin had sent up my MacBook to be able to remotely access his computers at his office.  So every morning and every evening he was busily working on the computer doing CKC stuff.  Not only that but he was on the phone many, many times a day regarding the jobs going on and what not.  I felt bad he worked so much while we were on "vacation", but that's what happens when you own your own business.  

Even though Justin still was working I wouldn't trade our little get away.  He loved San Francisco, but not quite as much as I did.  He is a country boy through and through!