California Trip Day 4 - San Francisco

There is a large bridge in there.

Watching the cable cars turn.

Sam on the cable car.

Gabby trying out her chopsticks.

Sea lions.

Gabby in the new outfit she got in Chinatown.

We spent Day 4 in San Francisco. We started out catching the bus behind our hotel down to where we could get on a cable car. Sam was a happy, happy boy over the cable cars! He loved watching them turn and then getting on one. He didn't want to get off! We did, though, and walked over to Chinatown where we ate lunch and did some shopping. Gabby ended up with a whole new outfit. We rode the cable car back and walked down to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 where we saw the sea lions and ate some supper. We took the trolley bus from there back to catch the bus to our hotel. Gabby loved Chinatown and Sam loved all of the transportation, just as I thought they might.

California Trip Day Three - Redwoods to the city

What a drive!

Tight squeeze.

Sam can touch on his side...

and Gabby can touch on her side.

Inside a redwood tree house

Big tree cross-section

Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands

Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge

Lombard Street

Coit Tower

On June 21 we left Eureka and headed south once more. We took the Avenue of the Giants to see just a little more of the redwood forest. We caved to tourist mode and paid to drive through a redwood. It was a 7x7 opening and we barely made it side-to-side. Good thing the side mirrors fold in! They also had some cute little treehouses made from redwoods that we played in.

After leaving the redwoods, we drove down through Sonoma county, enjoying the vineyards and reminiscing about Germany along the way.

As we came in to San Francisco, we decided to stop at the Marin Headlands to see the bridge with the city behind it. Good thing we did - the bridge was covered fog the rest of our stay there. Unfortunately they were repaving the road (not mentioned on the national park website) and it was down to one-lane with half the parking spots blocked off. It too forever to get up, find a place to park and get back down.

We then headed across the bridge to our hotel. We stayed in a nice little hotel called the Cow Hollow Motor Inn. The block behind it was full of stores and restaurants so we walked for a while and ate supper. We then decided to drive on down Lombard Street to the curvy section while traffic was lighter and then up to Coit Tower so the next day could be a no driving day.

California Trip Day 2 - Redwoods: Big Trees=Big Fun

Doing a Junior Ranger walk and learning about habitats.

Tidepools

It was a big tree...

So was this one.

And this one.

Those too.

Gabby loved to catch the millipedes. Sam did not want to hold them.

Bulldozing the beach.

We left Crescent City and went in to Redwoods Parks - there is a chain of state and the national park and you go from one to the other all day and from forests to ocean views. We did a hike and learned about habitats from a California State Park Ranger. The big huge enormous amazing redwoods just went on for miles and eventually you lost a little perspective on them. But those were some big ole trees. We hiked a couple of short hikes enjoyed ocean views when we came around to those, too. We spent our second night at a KOA Kampground in Eureka, California. This was was up on a windy hill so not quite as cozy as the first but we still enjoyed it.

California Trip Day One - Travel to the edge of the Redwoods

Our cabin in the Redwoods

They were standing on one side of the trunk. I was standing on the other side of the same trunk.

Swinging on the porch

Saturday we left DuPont and drove all the way to Crescent City, California. This was the first night of two that we stayed in a KOA cabin. These cabins were scattered about right in the redwood trees, which was very neat. I had been wanting to try the cabins out but never have been at the right place, right time. I figured it had a large potential to be miserable with having to make the beds and go to the bathhouse, especially with a newly potty trained three year old. In reality, it was nice. This campground was a little bit nicer than the second one we stayed in but they were both nice. I won't say that we saved much money by doing this, which was disappointing, but it was nice to park right at the door and have a playground for the kids. After going for supper, we came back and they played till they had all the riding out of them. We had ice cream and then went to bed. We did find the simple style to get us in bed earlier and up and out earlier the next morning. No distracting TV, everyone hurried in the bathroom, and the kids were ready to try out the bunkbeds each evening. We did have to carry bed linens, pillows and towels with us to use these but we had plenty of room for them so that wasn't a problem. All in all, we will probably do it again if the opportunity presents itself. We were ready to hit the Redwoods the next day!

Daisy Bridging

June 6th Gabby bridged to Brownies. It sure feels like I just signed her up for Daisies in Kansas yesterday. She did a lot in her two years as a Daisy and is looking forward to being a Brownie. She was in two awesome troops as a Daisy! Thanks to everyone who worked with those troops to make her time in Girl Scouts fun. Yes, this one one week earlier than the boating trip and yes, the weather is a nasty as it looks! It was rainy and cool and a little miserable but if they're going to be Girl Scouts in Washington, they're going to have to deal with it!

Boating American Lake

Three of the five bald eagles that were circling the lake all afternoon.

Happy Jordan!

Daddy's face after jumping in the very cold water. Jordan stuck her head in my shot just as it was focusing so it ended up on her instead of him. You still get the idea...

Which ones are the smart ones - the ones in the boat or the ones in the lake?

At least they're smiling!

Finally, after nearly two years of no use, the boat came out of storage yesterday. The last time we used it, we got stuck on the lake in KS in September of 2008 with a engine starter problem. By the time they pulled the engine and fixed it, it was October so the boat was winterized. We pulled it out here in January of 2009 and it sat all last year while Robert was deployed (no Arledge family to use it this time). After spending a great deal of time cleaning it, the moment of truth came when he started it up here in the alley. We headed out to American Lake 1) because it's close and 2) because there are always a lot of boaters on it in case we get stuck. Last time we got stuck, there wasn't a soul around for quite a while.

We rode around the lake for a while, watching the eagles hunt and then the kids just had to try to water. It has not been in the 80's once yet this year. Barely in the 70's a few days. This water is c-o-l-d. Jordan went first - she's the least affected by the cold. After a couple of swims, she didn't want to get back in. Sam took one dip in from the back and one quick swim and he didn't want to go back. Gabby, and therefore Daddy, lasted a bit longer, swimming around for five minutes or so. Hopefully we will find more time to use it before the summer is up. Hopefully the lake will warm up a little. That's probably wishful thinking. Glad I bought that wetsuit in Montana. Hope it still fits.

Columbus in April

Gabby and Jonathan

Ben and Sam

Cousins

Relaxing after a fun day!

I am dreadfully behind in posting all the fun things we have done since Robert returned. Between the new computer and blogger's sudden inability to upload more than one photo at a time, I just can't get them posted as fast. So I am going to randomly try to catch up as best I can.

We visited my sister in Columbus for a day while on return leave. The kids love to play together and had a great short visit. Can't wait to see them out here in a few weeks!