Day 13 - Rainy day in San Francisco

Friday, April 2nd

Other than wind in Vegas we have been very fortunate with the weather until today.  Rain in the Bay area ..... I guess we will be doing the motorcoach bus tour over the motorized street car.  It is foggy her so the pictures are going to be so so ... but that is the Bay area and now we can say we have seen a sunny SF day and a foggy, rainy one.

We packed up and checked out of the hotel in Lynnwood after our tour today we are going to cross the Golden Gate (Hwy 101) and stay in North SF area tonight probably around Santa Rosa.

One of the only pictures I got off with D3000, should have checked the battery the night before .... the day was shot with the point and shoot ...... The Bay Bridge in the fog.

Empty Street Car

The rolling hill streets of San Fran

Love the name .... probably a great place to eat

Gorgeous Catholic church

City Hall, encrusted in gold

Motorcoach self portrait, Hailey looks thrilled

Victorian Home, painted lady as it uses 3 colors in its color scheme most only use 2

Painted wall

View from Twin Peaks

A little rain can't hinder our smiles

Hailey all bundled up for the ride at our stop at Golden Gate Park, this is the area around the Japanese Tea Garden which we didn't see as we only had 15 minutes at the stop and it was a $7 entry each.

About to cross the Golden Gate on the bus in the fog

Across the Golden Gate

It started raining pretty hard and was windy so Hailey and I stayed on the bus however, Ian got some pictures and someone took a picture of him and the bridge.

Hailey was pretty happy when her Daddy came back to the bus.

All done the tour, headed back to Pier 39 for a bite to eat.  It was much quieter in the rain so, we took some photos with the famous carasouel.

The view from the upper floor of Pier 39 where all the yummy restuarants are.

The skies started to clear as we ventured across the bridge in the MINI which was great as we wanted to drive a bit of the coast.  Hailey was fast asleep in her carseat after our big tour.

Sharpie was HERE!

This photo was taken about 2 hours after we were at the bridge viewing area the first time what a difference without the rain.

What a weather change.  However, the car is now dirty which depresses Ian.

San Fran view from the GG Bridge viewing area.  The first time you couldn't see across the bay because of the fog.  Bye, bye San Fran.  I already miss the sourdough.

And we are off for a drive along Hwy 1 the coast road.  The sun is shining now.

The road had lots of twists, turns and switchbacks which Ian says is perfect MINI driving.

The sky is blue, I love how this tree grew.

The Pacific Ocean ..... we would love to show you more pictures but by this point in the day both camera batteries are dead so the rest of the drive along the ocean had to be pressed into our memories.

We stayed the night in Rohnert Park in a Best Western again.  It was a great room, we were only 5 miles from the Santa Rosa area.  After a rainy start to the day, the late afternoon and evening turned out great.

I did the laundry again.  Hailey hit the sheets by 8:30 and we all had a great sleep in this quiet hotel.  It was Good Friday today as well ... though when you are on a road trip vacation it is hard to notice the holidays such as this.

We plan to start driving towards Oregon tomorrow but we want to take the #1 for awhile so it is going to be a slower drive.  Hopefully the weather isn't that back.   I don't think we will make it to Oregon tomorrow night just probably the end of California. 

Day 12 - No joke, we are in San Francisco on April Fools Day

Thursday, April 1st

No jokes here!  We are really in San Francisco on April 1, 2010.  The day is cool but sunny and we are off to Pier 39 and lunch at Bubba Gumps...... we know we want to do a city tour but we are planning on saving that for Day 2 along with the Golden Gate Bridge.

After a good sleep, we got up and headed towards the Bay Bridge and Pier 39.  We were both suprised that the freeway was so rough.  Concrete freeways are definitely loud and rough with the MINIs low profile tires.

Hailey is ready for another day.

Pier 39 - Just like in the movies!

The famous sea lions though not as many as there usually is.  A low herring year in the bay has many of the sea lions gone, though they have been spotted in Oregon coasts.

Golden Gate in the distance.

The big highlight of the bay - touring Alcatrez.  We don't have the time nor does have Hailey have the patience for this one but someday we will be back.

I look like I've hit the mother load and in candy terms with me I have.  I love salt water taffy so I loaded up with lots.

Can you guess where we are headed for lunch?  While waiting for a table the gal in the gift shop gave me a sticker for Hailey it read 'I'm eating at Bubba Gumps'

I was so excited to be going to Bubba's again.  I ate at the restuarant in New Orleans and knew Ian would love it as he loves the movie.

Run Forrest Run

Onion rings and shrimp .... so good.  We had the cajun shrimp appetizer too but didn't take a picture.

Life is a box of chocolates.

The Bay Bridge.  We came across this on the way in.  I didn't take the camera out as I was just taking it all in.  We were suprised that the toll for 2 axels was $6 though you only pay one way.

Ian's hero, Sponge Bob.

A view of the shops on the Pier.  It was a very crowded day.

Fisherman'sWharf .... all the seafood stands looked amazing.  I would have loved some chowder in sourdough bowl but we were so full from Bubba's.

Sourdough is on the agenda for tonight or tomorrow.  I did stop at Boudin's and get a half pound and some butter for the hotel later.

The ride back on the Bay Bridge not as spectular on the lower deck.

We had another great day.  We are really hoping that the weather holds and the rain that is forecasted doesn't come as we want to do the motorized street car tour tomorrow.  If it does rain we will just have to take the motor coach tour doesn't sound as thrilling though. 

Day 11 - Driving to San Francisco

Wednesday, March 31st

Not a single picture was taken today.  I was a little tired and sore from my sunburn and the drive was very long.  Ian was amazing though and drove the entire way to Lynnwood which is 20 miles from downtown San Francisco.

We got in to the hotel about 7 pm - I wasn't sure if we would make it into the Bay area as the drive through the LA area on I-5 was rather slow at times.  I really would hate to see that area during a rush hour as we were there around 11 and it was a slow go.

Early to bed tonight!  Bubba Gump's and Pier 39 are on the agenda for Thursday!

Day 10 - His Dream Land ....

Tuesday, March 30th

Yesterday, we went to one of my dream places ... the San Diego Zoo.  Today, we headed out to Legoland.  Until meeting Ian, I didn't know it was possible to own as much lego as Ian had as child and teenager.  There are pictures of him building bridges across the backyard in Nova Scotia ... he might have been more a manchild by then. 

So, off to Legoland we go .........

LEGOLAND California - one of the 4 or 5 Legolands in the world .... I wonder if Ian will want to conquer them all?

Bob the Builder

Miniland was amazing and really the Lego highlight of the part.  The next several photos are all from Miniland.

The White House, the band moved!

Ian in all his glory

New Orleans during Mardi Gras

This was one of my favorite buildings in the French Quarter when I was in New Orleans.  The Lego version is so near the real thing, I wish I had the NO pictures on this computer to compare.

Back in Vegas.

The Strip

The Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco is our next destination.

Pier 39 in San Fran on our list of places to visit ... look at the sea lions on the docks on the right side.

Buildings of New York, you can see me pushing the stroller in this picture.  Notice how big the structures are around me as I was at the same level as them.

Seattle Space Needle, our last US city stop on this trip

After MiniLand, Ian took a break with a buddy and we were off to find some lunch but, we stumbled across a kids area and Hailey got pretty stimulated!

She was so excited ... this lego exhibit combined her favorite things music and water.

The instruments played music and water came out the spouts if you jumped on the pad/circles you see on the ground.

After lunch, we were off to go on a couple rides but with an almost 9 mo old baby that involves a couple very slow boat rides.

The first boat ride took us through an enchanted forest of nursery rhyme/storybook characters.  I picked out my two favorites.

Enjoying the boat ride.

Fairy Godmother as every girl needs one of these.

Sleeping Beauty - this was so life like.

Hailey enjoying the park in her ride with her monkey from the San Diego Zoo.

On to the next boat ride.

This boat had a driver and fit about 30 people or so.  It took your through a canal at the park and showed you some lego structures you really could only see from the boat.

Sydney Opera House

Taj Mahal

Eiffel Tower

Mount Rushmore, if you look at Washington closely you will see he is getting a bit of q-tip cleaning.

New York City in MiniLand - you can really only see Lady Liberty well from the boat.  We thought it was interesting that they have the new building that will be built to replace the Twin Towers in the sky line.

After the big boat ride, we walked around a bit but it was getting really hot and Hailey was ready for her nap.  Ian took about 250 pictures at Legoland so although I have uploaded a lot it doesn't even touch on what is on the hard drive.

An interesting tidbit of the day: I rubbed Hailey down with SPF 55 so she didn't get an ounce of red color however, her parents aren't as smart.  Ian and I were a bit red and hot come evening.  Ian's scalp was burnt, I had a slight line on my forehead where I must of missed with foundation and my part was burnt of course.  My arms are a bit red but nothing serious ....... I will remember to do myself from now on ... no more red.....

We are off to San Francisco in the morning.  A long drive a head of us - north on I-5.

***NOTE***

Our families have been reading about our trip via my blog posts so although we are home - it is now April 13th and I am just posting March 30th, I am going to continue posting about the rest of our trip as I know our families are waiting for the pictures and it is great journalling for my scrapbook pages down the road.