San Fran 2009

Well, for our last trip for the decade, we headed west to town of San Fransisco. We made this journey with Martha and Jonathon. On this trip, we made a variety of stops along the way to make this more than a trip but with an adventure. After leaving, we soon realized two things, we forgot the play pen for Preston to sleep in and we brought along tour guide Martha. The first thing was not so bad because Preston could just sleep in the bed with us, it worked out because Preston ended up being sick and needed the extra comfort because he was up most of the night anyway. The second thing, tour guide Martha, had its perks as well as a fascinating way of making Jonathon crazy.
As the pictures will indicate, we stop for lunch at KFC which happened to have a Col. Sanders there, I knew that was a sign to the beginning of a great trip. Soon, after we left KFC, we made it to the Jelly Belly factory, which apparently so did the rest of California. The place was packed so we decided, to forgo the tour for now. More about that later.
We arrived to San Fran, 5 1/2 hours after we left Reno and found our Motel. It was a bit scummy but cheap. All 5 of us made our way to room 216 at the Surf Motel Inn and found that the reason why the room was so small was because the bathroom was huge.
We went to the SFMOMA which is the Museum of Modern Art. It was cool but I didn't find it as interesting as the NY version. That night we hit Chevy's for dinner. We could have tried a local joint but with an 8 month old, you have got to go where you know whey will have high chairs. You can't mess around with that in a city that has horrible parking and traffic, especially when the driver gets road rage. Anyway, it was a successful first day.
the 2nd day of our adventure was jam packed full of fun. We started out by going to the pier and fisherman's wharf. We we to the aquarium which everyone loved. I got a bit unnerved in the underground tubes of fish and things. I had to make it quickly to the other side so I would not pass out or throw up. Fish and water are not my favorite things. Preston did love looking at all the fish, he stayed with Dallin in the tubes.
We also went to the exploratorium, where I learned many things. First, a lot of interesting science. sSecond, that kids in San Francisco and surrounding areas are brats and should be slapped. Third, I learned some valuable lessons that I will teach my kid about manners.
We also made it to the Japanese Tea Gardens that day, We thankfully got there right before closing so we did not have to pay to get in. That saved us $5 each, not much but still I am grateful. It was a very pretty garden and we enjoyed looking around there. We hit the IHOP next to motel for dinner, again convenient and kid friendly and had an enjoyable night playing games in our room.
We left pretty early the next morning so that we could get to the Jelly Belly factory before the rest of the world. This worked out in the end because there was not much of a wait when we got there but by the time we left it was completely full. Unfortunately, because we went on new Year's Eve, the factory workers were not working but at home with their families. Boo for me, good for them. I had never gone to the factory before this time and so had to use my imagination through the whole tour. We got delicious Jelly Belly's on the way out and headed home safely. we did make a pit stop on the way into town because Preston was sick and had ear infections but he is fine and is a champion.
I am getting this all out now so that when testimony meeting comes around,I won't feel the need to share it over the pulpit. Our next big adventure, the Redwood trip April 2010.