Epic Spring Break Adventures: San Francisco

Early Friday morning, we loaded up the van and headed north to San Francisco... because we’re nuts. 

Several years ago, Scotty had to go to San Francisco for work. When he came back, he said, “I never need to go back there.” Then we ended up going there to see Hamilton, after which I said, “I never need to go back there.”

Why is it, then, that we decided to go back there? I guess because we thought it would be cool for our kids to see, and we were already in California, and we had bookend weekends on our vacation, so we had to do something, right?

Well, I’ve now been to San Francisco twice, and I never need to go back there. 

As we headed out of town, we stopped by Randy's Donuts for a photo op (giant donut? Heck yes!) and breakfast. We went there once when Nicky and Daisy were really little, but I couldn't remember if the donuts were any good. I got a powdered sugar lemon-filled donut and a raised maple donut, and they were both excellent!

(In fact, I kind of need a Randy’s donut right now).

We really enjoyed the drive to SF - we loved seeing all of the orchards off the side of the freeway. We came in across the bay bridge, which was fun. When we got to the city, we had to pop into a CVS to pick up a prescription that my doctor had sent in for me. I was in rough shape that day, so it was a pretty brutal drive, and walking around SF was really hard.

We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, which wasn’t what we’d planned, but we missed our turn to avoid being rear ended and had no choice but to continue on the bridge. Since we ended up across the bridge, we got out of the car and took some photos and then walked out on the bridge. My edema had gotten worse, so I couldn't fit my feet into my shoes. I ended up walking 10,000 steps in slippers that day, which probably wasn't wise. My family left me in their dust as I shuffled out on the bridge. 

I appreciate the bridge so much as a historical landmark and an engineering marvel, but walking across it is miserable. I feel like everyone hates each other on the bridge, and rightly so. The pathway is narrow and is supposed to accommodate two-way foot traffic as well as bikes. Everyone out on that bridge wishes ill upon their fellow men - I promise you that - and it doesn't help that your senses are on overload from all the traffic noise, the wind, and trying to not get plowed down by someone on a bike ringing an angry bell at you. 

After we crossed back over the bridge, we went to Point Fort under the bridge. It's in the National Parks Passports, so we had to take the kids to get their stamps and cancellations. The kids seemed to enjoy exploring the fort. It was a little different with COVID regulations, but it was still cool. 

I'm not sure how we still had time left in the day, but we ended up going to Pier 39 to see the sea lions. It was really crowded, so we didn't stay long. We did take a quick break to enjoy some Coke and a loaf of sourdough bread before we left, though. 

One thing I noted from our last trip to SF is that it doesn't feel like a place where you can "sit down and stay a while." That remained true for this trip - I feel like everywhere we went in SF, we needed to leave as soon as possible due to lack of seating, bad smells, or cost of parking. There is nothing relaxing or comfortable in San Francisco. It's just busy and claustrophobic, and with COVID, they have signs that say "Stay Home," and that just made it even worse!

For dinner, we really wanted some pizza. We booked a hotel away from the downtown area (good choice) and found a pizza place nearby. We checked into our hotel, and Scotty went and got us some pizza, and it was delicious!

The next morning, we headed out early to go to Muir Woods. You have to reserve a parking spot and time to go to Muir Woods, so we were on a tight schedule. We got there around 9:30 and barely missed the chance to park in the close lot! 

Entrance to Muir Woods

The kiddos (I tried to get them to move their masks for the photos, but my kids are die-hards about keeping their masks on)

Some of the forest-y details

We spent a few hours exploring Muir Woods. Last time we went there, a lot of the trails were closed. This time, a lot of them had opened back up, but since I could barely walk, we still weren't able to check any of them out. That's okay, though, because that meant we didn't have to push some of our lazier kids up a mountain. I only have so much endurance for that. 

The kids thought the forest was pretty cool. 

After we left Muir Woods, we stopped at Muir Beach. There are lots of rocks and tidepools at Muir Beach, and therefore, all sorts of disgusting creatures.

Sea life! 

Ew!

There were claws laying around, and possibly a dead jellyfish, and then there were these giant pulsing, slimy things, and mussels, and everything a person with tryphophobia can't deal with. 

Things with holes and pores... 

Things that shouldn't be living, yet somehow are...

Excuse me while I vomit.

But the beach is beautiful. 

We had a hotel booked in Reno for that night, so when we left the beach, we started heading that direction. We wanted more pizza, so we stopped at a pizza shop in Sacramento. When we got to our hotel, we let the kids swim for a while, and then we made everyone take a bath and go to sleep. 

The next day was Easter Sunday. We dragged everyone out of bed and left by 7:00 a.m. It was definitely a non-traditional Easter for us. We had continental breakfast on the road (the front desk had packed it "to go") and then we ate lunch at Wendy's in Elko. Wendy's was ready for an Easter crowd, and they had coloring pages sitting out waiting for kids. Right after we got there, they had a pretty big lunch rush. I didn’t know Wendy’s in Elko was such a popular place to celebrate Easter!

A few hours after we left Elko, they announced the Elko, NV temple in General Conference, so that was kind of fun!

Easter lunch at Wendy's

We got home right around 4:00 and discovered that the Easter Bunny had been to our house! The kids found all their eggs, and then we went to Scotty's mom's house for dinner. 

We had such a wonderful time and made great memories. We feel so blessed to have been able to take this trip. Our souls needed it!

(And I’m already itching for another trip).

THE END