I love vacations! I love being away from work. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could work only 4 weeks a year and vacation the rest? Right now, I think it would be wonderful. I so do not want to go back to work tomorrow. I want to stay home for a week and vacation in my home....relaxing and doing nothing. That will not happen though so I will have to live on the memories of California.
We had a great time in Northern California. There was not much time between coming home from Utah and leaving again. I spent my days at work and my evenings washing clothes so I could pack again. Thursday afternoon I took off so I could get everything ready to leave early Friday morning. I have decided that Southwest airline points are wonderful as I have been able to fly us free this whole summer. Our trip to California would have taken us 14 hours to drive but we flew in 1 1/2 (but the one hour drive to our condo took us three). Still, it was much shorter than driving all day long. It is fun to see the kids excited to fly too and fight over the window seat. They can all have it as I take the middle - that way I have two hands to hold when we take off and land. However, it has gotten to where it does not bother me anymore...I just use it as an excuse to hold Rob's hand.
We stayed in Tina's timeshare condos again in Windsor, California which is about an hour outside of San Francisco. The nice thing about condos is they have the full kitchens and we can cook some meals there and have fridges to put our food in. It sure cuts back on the cost of eating out everyday. We spend the first couple of days just sightseeing. We all wanted to go to a beach on the coast, but our drive never took us to the state park we were looking for. It only took us on a very curvy road that made people car sick. We did find a small beach by some picnic tables so the kids were able to play in teh beach for a few hours. I was not getting in - I don't swim in ice cold water. It was funny - Rob said he was going to wade in just to get his legs wet, but the first wave in took him down and he went under. After that, he was in all the way. The kids had a blast and it was nice on the beach - not like the beaches in Hawaii, but nice. Our next trip was to the Redwoods to hike and picnic. We had a BBQ lunch under the huge trees of the forest. The kids were able to climb inside of trees - all 15 of them and still have lots of room. We went on a hike through the forest and even took mom and Mckay in their wheelchairs. I have not laughed that hard in a long time. My mother was hilarious and had a great time. She was four wheeling in her wheelchair - literally. I loved the mountains and the cooler weather. I love to be outdoors.
We took a day to go to San Francisco and I loved it there. I would love to go back just for a weekend with just Rob. One day was just not long enough. It was fun to shop in some of the little shops outside of China town, go down Lombard Street, see the trolleys, and head to the wharf. I would like to ride the trolleys just to say I have done it and I would love more time to stroll the shops of the wharf. Trying to get everything into one day just was too much. We did shop some and I bought a jacket that I love. The kids had fun seeing the ships and shopping too. They liked the cheap prices. My whole family (I forgot to mention we went with my parents, Tina and Rick, Scott and Diane - and all their kids), went to Bubba Gumps for dinner. My sweet husband I know would have loved to go there to eat seafood but the rest of us don't like it, so he sacraficed and ate greasy food with us. I need to take him back for that seafood.
Our children decided they were not too tired to do a canoe trip that we had planned, so we headed for the Russian River one morning for that. They were all excited - for about 1/3 of the trip. I do agree, the trip needed to be much shorter. It was only 10 miles long - but that is a long 10 miles to row. Poor Rob was the "driver" of our canoe the whole way so his arms were pretty sore. I got the luxury seat in the bottom of the canoe and needless to say, could not feel my bottom half when we were done. I think I bruised my tail bone. It was beautiful day for the trip and the river was pretty. The kids wanted to be done about 5 miles in but we had no choice but to go the whole way. It was either that or carry our canoes the 5 miles back to our cars.
I think the highlight of the trip for the kids was the day we spend at Six Flags. I am spoiled and love Disneyland and DisneyWorld. Six Flags was okay but it was not nearly as fun. I think I only went on one ride but that was one ride enough. Those roller coasters are very harsh and extreme there. Too many twists and upside downs for me. I was not too well when I got off for about a half hour. I spent the rest of the day watching the kids loving them all. They really enjoyed the rapids and came off soaked each time. We were able to watch some marine shows and see live animals too there so that was nice. It was another long day but it was a good one.
All too soon, it was our last day. The kids spent the day at the swimming pool and game room. Rob went to an air museum with the guys and I packed everything one more time. We packed into the car like sardines to take the trip back to the airport so Rick did not have to drive in the traffic. It was a late flight home and we got here about 12:30 a.m. We were tired but relaxed. I wish we could have had another week. Instead, I spend the next two days washing all the clothes and repacking them for the men in my life to go to scout camp for a week. They left today and I miss them already. I can't wait for them to come home so I can do 20 loads of laundy again :-)
I do have to mention, Boyd went on a mini mission the last two days. I thought for sure he would be too tired to go, but he really wanted to go. He actually got a "call" for his mission and spent it with the elders here going to all their investigators. He loved it! He said it makes him want to go on his mission even more. I love those opportunities for my children. I love vacations...I love being a mother
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