Road trip 2011 – part 4

Day 9-11 (11/14-11/17) – Stayed the night in Los Angeles, CA then drove the coastal highway up to San Francisco. Along the way, we were able to meet up with a good friend from college, Dave C., in Monterey. I can’t believe that I forgot to get pictures when we were with him!

We also stopped for a few minutes to get our feet in the Pacific Ocean. Clear instructions were given to “not get soaked”!

Guess who didn’t listen and got soaked? HA – he got knocked over by a wave. Savannah was wet enough to need to change clothes, too.

San Francisco is a beautiful city. We enjoyed Lombard Street, the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, COIT Tower, Chinatown and many other hilly streets :)

Look for John up the hill a little on Lombard Street. This is Coit Tower on the right – it was a beautiful day.

We walked to Chinatown and enjoyed the culture their. We ate lunch at a family restaurant, then walked through the streets and found a little park where there were tables of people set up all over. We wondered what gambling card game they were playing. Does anyone know?

 

John and kids near the Coit tower. Mail deliverers in San Francisco are fit and trim!

Street trolley car – we didn’t ride on this time. Alcatraz from the parkway.

The second day, we walked almost 8 miles. We parked along Marina Blvd and walked along the water to the Golden Gate Bridge and went as far as they would allow on the pedestrian walkway. They have the walkway blocked off near the middle of the bridge, so that was the furthest we could go. For fun, to join other tourists, we dropped a nickel onto the bridge. We told the kids that when they return with their kids, they should look for our nickel.

Next we went to Fisherman’s Wharf and specifically to Pier 39 to see the sea lions. The kids enjoyed their fussing and bellowing at each other. Although there were many empty piers, they all seemed to need to be together on just a few.

On the way back to the car, the kids each got a stuffed sea lion to remember the fun time we had here.

COFFEE!! This is the car that we rented waiting in line at the nice little coffee shop. I can be a bit like the sea lions when I haven’t had my coffee soon enough!

The Golden Gate Bridge is reportedly “the most photographed bridge in the world”. John definitely did his part to keep that tradition going. We have at least 75 pictures that include the bridge in some way. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Leaving San Francisco, we saw a beautiful double rainbow right next to the highway. I can’t say that I have ever seen one that “close” before. Sure seemed like the pot of gold should be there somewhere. We took a little detour off of the main road to enjoy the drive-thru redwood tree. We missed seeing the majority of redwood trees because it had gotten too dark by the time we went through that area, but you could see glimpses in the headlights and they are magnificent, I’m sure.

Day 12 (11/18) - Overnight in Medford, OR and then on to Cannon Beach to visit my sister, Debbie.

Road trip 2011 – part 3

Having fun yet? We sure were! Day 6-8 (11/12-11/14) Yuma, AZ with my parents. My parents actually live in OR, but they travel to Yuma for the winters where it’s warm and sunny most of the time! They both are very active and enjoy golfing several times per week.

They took us to a couple of flea markets where we enjoyed looking at all of the items for sale. I thought the signs for the oranges were so cute! The sample orange that he gave us was pretty good, but I must not have picked the right ones, because the ones that I bought weren’t all that great.
They spoiled us immensely with fabulous steak and crab that they had caught themselves on the OR coast. YUM!!! Savannah and Hadden had never tried crab and both loved it.
On our last day visiting, they took us to Al Godones, Mexico. Boy, was that a cultural experience! Immediately after crossing the border, visitors are bombarded with people trying to tempt them into their store or to buy their items.

My Dad walking through the shops. Savannah found another horse.

The vendors are very aggressive at trying to sell items and one of their tricks is to hand you the merchandise to keep you from walking away. I had several "pure silver" bracelets in my hand at one point when one caught my eye. I really didn't need a bracelet and he wanted $30 for it. HA! I offered him $5 and we bartered back and forth, him saying a value less each time and me saying $5. I ended up buying it for $5 :)

Savannah thought she might like to try bartering, too, and she was looking for a horse pendant for a necklace. After searching for a while, she finally found a little burro that was very cute. He also wanted $30 and she offered $5. Again, the bartering started. She kept saying $5 until he agreed. She might be pretty good at this bartering stuff!


Slug-bug is a favorite game of ours. This one was exceptionally cute. With my parents in Al Godones, MX.

Street vendors – one drew us in with his spray painting art. Before long, we had bought 2 paintings as a souvenir.

Big red truck at the border. Street vendor getting prepared for the day.

Back to Yuma for some lunch at Lutes Casino. Do you recognize this Yuma criminal?

The sign in the background says “Dick and Jane’s Lunchbox” – my parents go by Dick and Jane :)
Finally, we had to say our good-byes and head to Los Angeles, CA.
A million thanks to my parents for a wonderful time!