Christmas, California Trip

Christmas Day 

We started the morning off, opening presents. Well, first we slept in and then opened presents. John got me a nines unit, necklace with our wedding date and initials, and a much need Iphone case cover (since my old one didn't fit). So thoughtful. I gave John a bunch of gift certificates for eating out (which are kind of for me too, ha!), a gift certificate for go-kart racing, a BYU shirt, some stretching cables, etc.  Then we got all ready to go to Mom's in order to celebrate with them and Brent's family. Unfortunately we were not able to get up the long, steep driveway due to the horrendous snow storm. We definitely need new tires; that was the main problem.  But at least we got the Warrior's game in! 12-25-16

California Trip

John's sister and her husband invited us to the Bay area since they were going to be there  for a couple weeks. We stayed in her friends' house since they were on vacation, themselves. It was so beautiful! The weather was incredible for December. My favorite part was Fisherman's Wharf and tending his niece.

 Britney (John's cousin), John and I landed at the San Jose airport (after a 2 hour delay on the plane!). We took our bags to the house in Palo Alto, then went to a fantastic pizza place. Might be the best pizza I've ever had.

Then we toured Stanford University school grounds...

The next morning we drove to San Francisco.

We took a boat tour out to the Alcatraz and Golden Gate Bridge.

While we waited in the boat, a seal came up to us and just stared for about 5 minutes.

 Alcatraz. We wanted to take a tour of the actual building but they were booked out 2 weeks!

If you make a wish as you go under the bridge, it will come true.... No, I'm not saying what my wish was!

 It was pretty cold on the boat. And we were in the very front. in the splash zone. Eventually Britney had to move cause she was getting too wet. And then I had to move because she was my splash shield. John was strong- he stayed right where he was.

  Here's some more of the bridge, if you haven't had enough...

I had to stop myself from being reminded of Full House every time I looked at the bridge...how embarrassing.

I hadn't been to San Francisco since I was a kid. John said that as a kid they visited San Francisco frequently, since he grew up in the Bay area. 

 Excellent view of the city. That sign says "Ghirardelli"

We found out that the Golden State Warriors arena will be moving to SF. Right next to the water. 

Old war ship.

 After the boat tour, we chilled for a bit, and I got a glimpsed of a friendly bird.

 Then I realized what an incredible view I had, sitting there!

I so want to live by the ocean!

We stopped at a restaurant and got some seafood. The clam chowder, scallops and squid were excellent!

Since it was "my day," which is what Britney and John told me, I chose to take a tour of this cool submarine.

I should have gotten some pictures of the interior.

Hundreds of men lived on the ship, and there was, seemingly, no room for them! The kitchen was the size of a closet!

On our way to Pier 49 we saw a "tin man" that looked incredibly like a statue. People would get up really close, out of curiosity, I'm sure, and he would move and scare the heck out of them. Pretty funny.

 This is either Pier 49 or 39. At the end is what's called "Seal Island." Which is an "island" with a bunch of seals just hanging out. We saw them wrestling. Cute. 

I so much prefer this to Sea World and the Zoo. There's less guilt involved in observing animals in their natural environment. And the animals, themselves, are lots happier.

We stumbled upon 3 different spray painter stations. These guys paint incredible pieces using only spray paint.

This guy in an apron walked up to Britney, squirted some substance on her boots, and said that he needed to give her a lesson on "being had." Then charged her $10. Not for the shoe shine, but for the lesson on being "had."  I wouldn't have paid! But she was nice.

Fun shot of Fisherman's Wharf. This day was so fun!

This is the guy we actually bought some pictures from. Only $10! And let me tell you, these artists draw quite the crowd. It was funny because John and I were having a hard time trying to decide which ones to buy (and the helper was taking his time), and after a little while, Britney was like "What is taking you guys so long!?" Ha! She had had enough. 

The next day we all  went to Swan Market in Oakland. It was basically a bunch of restaurants all together in the same room. Oakland isn't the classiest place, but there are some fun spots.  

Next stop was a very well known modern art exhibit in San Francisco. There were some pretty incredible pieces. Adrienne got us some free tickets since she's a teacher at one of the universities.

Britney posed for me. She wasn't really staring at that sculpture.

This is a fish bowl made out of one strand of wire. 

I really like this one.

Honestly, I loved a lot of the pieces there. But there were some that Britney, John, and I had a good laugh over. For example, the completely black canvas with nothing on it that took up the size of the entire wall; a completely white, empty canvass that took up half of a wall; a urinal; and a pile of dirt laying on the ground, divided by mirrors. 

Then we went to a very unique kind of restaurant. It's a toast restaurant. They serve scrumptious, thick slices of bread with all kinds of toppings 

We ate outside, of course.

We did some shopping. John and I were thoroughly entertained by his niece. She would walk outside the store, then inside, then out, then in, repeatedly. And, every once in a while, attempt to steal some merchandise.

That evening, John and I watched his niece and put her to bed while the others went to Yoga at a friend's house. She was such a fun and easy little girl. She laughed and laughed at John's pretend snoring (we have this on video) she couldn't get enough of it! I think that wore her out because she fell to sleep so fast

The morning of our last day was bitter sweet. John and I took his niece on a little walk, saw several "doogies" and stopped to play at a park. (Our times with her were the only times John actually WANTED pictures taken)

A neighbor of the park owned chickens and he periodically lets them roam (probably so the kids can experience them). They were so fun! And not scare of humans at all. The kids were feeding them.

She didn't fear the chickens at all. She seemed pretty interested in them.

Hanging out with Uncle John. Walking into the sunset. Or....through the park.

John was very hesitant to take her down this slide. Turned out she really enjoyed it.

Such a beautiful park. It went on for miles and there was a bike trail, too. Northern California's air is so much cleaner than Salt Lake City's. So much. I actually felt free to breathe.

After that, it was time to say goodbye!!  We so needed a get-away. It had been too long since we last "went on holiday." 12/26/16- 12/30/16