Chasing Life

Day 7 We started today off by going to the hot breakfast provided by the hotel, and then Alana went to visit a friend while the kids stayed in the room to do school. Around 2 pm, she came back and we all went to Lolita’s Mexican Food for lunch. After collectively finishing 6 tacos, 2 burritos, and a torta, we headed to another friend's house for the evening (the same friends we saw last Christmas). After arriving at their house, we decided to go to Jump Around (a trampoline park) with the kids, while Alana stayed and talked with her friend. We all had lots of fun at Jump Around, especially playing dodgeball, then after our two hours were up, we went back to their house. While we were gone, Alana and her friend had made homemade bread dough that was then baked into delicious braided loaf bread and scrumptious cinnamon/caramel rolls. We also had some mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce left over from their Thanksgiving dinner. Before leaving, we picked a blood orange and fresh pomegr...

Day 6 Today was mostly spent driving south. We stopped briefly at a couple of places but didn't have much luck finding a beach that was slightly rocky, not very busy, and open. We eventually decided to stop at Oceanside Harbor Beach because it was nearly dark and we hadn't done much of anything yet. Kade and Kye climbed around on the north jetty and played in the sand, and then we all walked to the harbor and saw some sea lions. Immediately after that, we watched the beautiful sunset, before getting back in our car. Our next stop was Mt. Soledad in San Diego. Although it was dark, windy, and freezing cold, we still had a cool view of the city, moon, and sky. After that, we drove to our hotel and found out it had breakfast in the morning and a hot tub! We unloaded our stuff into the room, then went in the hot tub for a little bit before going to bed.

Day 5 This morning we started our day by driving to see the Painted Ladies in San Francisco. Next, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, stopped briefly, then went back across. After that, we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts, and while there, we walked around the manmade pond and fascinating architecture. Following that, we went to the Wave Organ and got a nice view of the GGB and of Alcatraz Island. Then, we drove down Lombard Street again on the way to Pier 39. We parked about a block away from the pier, and the parking was free because of Thanksgiving! A couple of things we saw there were seals, musical stairs, a crepe shop, a Christmas tree, and an old railroad ramp. We walked around for a while and eventually decided to catch a streetcar (twice) before heading back to our car. As we rounded the corner to our block, we noticed our empty suitcase sitting at a bus stop. Someone (most likely a homeless person) had burned the cords that were tying it down, taking our air mattresses...

 Day 4 This morning our first destination was nearby Sequoia National Park. On our drive in, we could see Moro Rock and a picturesque mountain view. After lots of switchbacks and elevation gain, we arrived at the main Sequoia section of the park. We got lots of photos that made us look tiny, and also had some fun crawling and sliding through hollow logs. Our last stop in the park was the General Sherman tree, and then we started the four-hour drive to San Francisco. We arrived there around 4:30 and immediately drove to the cable car turntable on Powell Street. From there, we caught a ride across town and then walked the 1½ miles back to our car through Chinatown. Next, we drove down Lombard Street and then headed to our lodging in the southern suburbs of the city.