Trip to California, Part 1

At the beginning of October, my husband and I went on a family vacation with my parents and sister.  The trip was actually a gift to my mom for a big birthday she celebrated several months ago – don’t worry mom, I would never reveal the number : )  We have not had a family vacation since I was in high school (yikes, I’m also not going to mention how long ago that was), so my dad thought this would be the perfect gift for her.

So off we went to California.  For the first few days there, we stayed in San Francisco.

Of course we made a stop to see the Golden Gate Bridge.  The following was one of my many attempts to get a photo to use for our Christmas card this year.  I don’t think my husband understood my obsessive behavior to get just the right shot.  This one’s not it.

We saw a whole lotta sea lions.  We spent an afternoon at Fisherman’s Wharf and watched these guys for a little bit.  Side note – they were my favorite part of Fisherman’s Wharf.  Total tourist trap with way too many people.  Least favorite part of our trip by far.

We took a ferry to “escape to” Alcatraz.  You can thank my husband for that little joke there.  Ha.   It was pretty neat to look around the island and learn more about the history of the prison.  The ferry rides also made for some great views of the city.

We made a quick day trip to see some of the giant redwood trees.  They were stunning.  And so big!

Here’s one shot of me, my mom and my sister.  We only managed to get one photo of all five of us and my mom is most likely using that for her Christmas card.  Top secret business I tell you.  So I can’t share.

I did not do a great job of taking notes of all the restaurants we ate at in the city.  To be completely honest, the food in Napa blew the restaurants in San Francisco out of the water.  Don’t get me wrong, we ate at some wonderful places, but after our time in Napa it is really hard to compare.  More on those restaurants later.

By the end of our stay in San Francisco, I was a little tired from all the sightseeing and exploring.  Good thing we had a few days to relax in Napa Valley.  Stay tuned for part two of our trip soon.