Good times here in Cali.... We started off on Sunday after I went and got a new phone. See DAMN IT to get that irritating story. We went to a 5 year old birthday party where Coulter and Sophia were falling apart. Sophia finally got it together. Coulter on the other hand.... This did not give me hope for the ride.
At 1:30 I was finished with crying kids. Coulter saying this day at a party with a bunch of buddies was the "worst day of his life." Apparently he didn't know how much worse it would get if we didn't change the situation fast. I was fixin' to make it much worse for him. We loaded in the car and started out for CALIFORNIA. The first bit of business in the car....NO SHOW. I got a bunch of books on tape from the library. They picked one that was 4.5 hours long and didn't complain once about no movie. NOT ONCE!!! Then we listened to a shorter one. At about 7:30 we stopped for some food and I use that term loosely. Yuck, road food. We all talked and the kids were given 2 options. The first was too press on. They could sleep sitting up and I would drive until we got to the East Bay area. We'd get in really late but we'd get there. The second was to stop and stay at a hotel, maybe swim and sleep in a real bed.
They decided to stop. Remember, the last hotel they stayed in was the Atlantis in the Bahamas..... We checked into the Motel 6 in Weed California. There was Wi-Fi, a pool and 2 beds in our room. The room was clean but really small. The kids all helped unload. Then Sophia said, "Ahh, this is a little different then our last room." And we all got a BIG laugh out of that. No baby, this was no Suite at the Atlantis. They went swimming. For 5 minutes. It was really cold! The air temp was 68 and I am pretty sure they don't heat the pool. So now they are freezing. They took a shower all together in the RV sized shower. They got their PJs on and played for a while before going to bed.
I woke up early due to doors slamming and dogs barking. The "noise" was on (white noise) so the kids slept through all of that. I showered, got dressed, pulled out clothes for the kids and then loaded the car. Sophia was up and dressed by the time I got back to the room. Getting the boys out of bed was another thing. Again I gave the kids a choice. Do you want to go to breakfast now or drive for a while and then stop. They wanted to get on the road.
We started another book on tape and drove on. It was a nice drive for an hour. We stopped at Denny's and all had what we wanted. They were really good. Then back in the car for another 4 hours. Again with the books on tape. At the end they watched a movie and we didn't have to stop for potty breaks. Awesome!
We arrived at Nancy and Dave's at about 2:00 and the kids went straight into the pool. They have a great place in the East Bay area and of course....with a pool. We all caught up with each other, Nancy made a great dinner and we enjoyed our selves for the balance of the day.
Day....Let's say day #3, we (including Nancy) went into the "CITY." San Francisco of course. It was great fun. We took the BART in. The kids were a bit nervous that it goes under the bay but they did like it. Then we walked around the Embarcadero, walked through the Hyatt, walked the newly remodeled Ferry Terminal / Market (very cool) and then took a cable car. The boys wanted to watch the driver, I think he's called the Grip man, Sophia and I hung off the side. She thought that was one of the coolest things she had ever done! We hoped off in Chinatown. We walked Chinatown and did a little shopping. The kids each got a little something. Next we found a spot for dinner. It was great and too much food for sure! The we took the cable car to the train and went home. It was a great day. No one complained about walking or carrying their things. It was a total success!
Day #4 - Back into the city for us. We drove this time. We took the Bay Bridge over, drove along the Embarcadero and stopped at Pier 39. We walked Pier 39, stopped in a couple shops and rode the double decker merry-go-round. Then we did the best part, we saw the Sea Lions, there were hundreds of them barking and generally lounging around. We all enjoyed that a lot. I have to say after being at Pier 39 again I don't think I have to go back except maybe for the Sea Lions. The Pier itself just has a ton of junk shops that are brightly colored. The parking is $7.00 an hour! We enjoyed it but really....too touristy.
Then we were going to drive to the Presidio via Fisherman's Wharf. When we were driving through the Wharf area there was a parking spot right near the action. I pulled in. When the good Lord throws you a golden ticket you take it. Parking at the Wharf was $.25 for 6 min or $2.50 an hour. Still a lot of quarters but worth it. We walked along the crab and shrimp stands and then ended up at an old time arcade. It was all the machines that used to be at the Cliff House. These were machines from the 20's to the 40's. It was so fun. There were dancing puppets, player pianos, baseball games, bowling games, photo booths, moving scenes and so much more. It's the kind of thing you have to see. I remember going to the Cliff House when I was a kid and playing these games I couldn't believe there were there! Then a bit more walking around the Wharf and back to the car. That was a fun little stop.
We drove through the Marina District, then past the Palace of Fine Arts, and through the Presidio. The kids were getting really bored. I showed them where I used to live and play. They didn't really care too much. They wanted to get to the park. We drove past the Cliff House and into the Park, Golden Gate Park. What a gem. Except Coulter thought otherwise..."Where's the park?" When he hears "park" it means play structure. Ahhh...We found a play structure. Thank goodness. The kids played for an hour and then we went to find a snack. We didn't do much eating during the day. Then we went downtown to meet Dave for dinner at a great pub. They gave us our own little room off the main dinning area so it was great for the kids. Then home and swimming and bed.... Another successful day.
Day #5 - The kids were done with the city and wanted to swim dang it. We stayed home and they went swimming ALL DAY. I thought I would get acquainted with my new cell phone. I tried to sync it and it froze up! Argh.... I tried everything could think of and then I called T-Mobile and spent 3 hours on the phone. This is NOT what I wanted to do on my vacation! But I did get it fixed. I swear if this happens again I am going to go into T-Mobile and who ever is there is in big trouble. Anyway, I planned out another day in the city for day #6.
Today, day #6 I am taking the kids to the Exploritorium via the train, cable car and bus. This should be a big adventure if nothing else. I am really proud that the kids have been so good and they've been great little travellers. This means that we can do more of this in the future and I don't have to be worried that they can't or won't do it. I'll blog more when I can.... big adventures to come!!!!
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