Trip to CA

Both Dave and I are from the Bay Area and most of our family is still down there. I love to visit at least once a year so that Aaron can see his family and we can also see all the wonderful things that the beautiful state has to offer. On Friday, August 8th we set out towards Folsom, CA to attend my 20 year high school reunion. The drive was uneventful and the MDX was full of gadgets and while Dave was driving, Aaron and I had plenty of electronics to keep us busy. I mostly watched videos on my ipod touch while Aaron played the PS2 and did some web surfing on the laptop. Dave was stuck listening to music on the 80 gig video ipod.

We arrived in Folsom and got checked into the Lake Natoma Inn, showered and headed to the Happy Hour event at Yagers. There I saw classmates that I've known since the 3rd grade but most that I haven't talked to in 20 years. It was a lot of fun!

Saturday we checked out of the hotel and headed to Dave's Mom's house in Saratoga, CA. We relaxed most of the weekend outside on the patio and Aaron played in the pool. Monday, Dave's Mom and I headed to the gym and then went out shopping. She took me to Nordstrom Rack and then a wonderful shoe haven called DSW. I loved both and bought a few things for great prices.

On Tuesday, we headed to San Francisco and spent a wonderful day in the city. I had purchased CityPass tickets for all of us ahead of time so we had a bunch to do! We took the CalTrain to SF and then rode a bus to the piers. We had lunch at Fog Harbor and walked around the various shops. We then took a cruise over to Alcatraz and visited the famous "Rock". After that, we caught a bus and raced over to the Exploratorium which closed shortly after we arrived. We then headed to Ghiradelli Square and had huge sundae's and milkshakes. We then headed back towards the wharf Dave got some crab sandwiches along the seafood row. Aaron found the Musee Mecanique and we spent some time there. We missed the Boudin sourdough tour, but we had done that before. As it started to cool and then sun went down and the tourists started to leave we headed to the aquarium which was open later than any of the other places we visited and was indoors. When we finished the aquarium, we caught a bus back to the CalTrain station and then headed back south. We arrived back at 10:30p making for a long day in the city, but it sure was a lot of fun!

On Wednesday, we headed north again, but only to Belmont where my Nanney (maternal grandmother) lives. I had finally completed her digital scrapbook after 3 years of collecting photos, scanning them and then compiling a 100 page book spanning almost 100 years. It includes her and my grandfather's acestors, their 3 children (my mom), 7 grandchildren (me), 4 great grand children (Aaron) and 1 great-great grand baby born last year. It was a beautiful work of art and I was very proud to present it to her. We headed to lunch at Mimi's and then talked and visited for a few hours. That night, we met up with one of Dave's friends, his girlfriend and her son and went to a wonderful italian place on Santana Row called Maggiano's. Huge portions, great service and spectacular food!

Thursday we headed to Apple headquarters where we visited the Company store. I heard about it from Cali Lewis of GeekBrief.TV but never realized it was literally 3 miles from where I've visited my MIL many times! Aaron and I were in heaven and bought some goodies and took pics. We then headed over Highway 17 and into Santa Cruz to visit my step-sister and Dad. My sister and her boyfriend live in a beautiful home in Aptos where they have 3 doggies, wonderful decks and great food, music and conversation. My Dad happens to be working in the area so he joined us. Him and Aaron always have great conversations about gadgets and electronics. Aaron even brought his scooter charger to have Grandpa see if he could fix. If only we had brought the volt meter!

Friday we packed up and headed towards home. We stopped in Pleasanton to visit my Aunt and Uncle and visited with them a bit before they headed out to play some golf. We then drove to Reno, where we ate at the Peppermill buffet and then spent the night.

Saturday we drove home, picked up the dogs and spent the night outside on our patio since our hardwood floors had been refinished while we were gone. The smell was horrible (it even killed all my fish) and we decided not to take any chances on us or the dogs having any ill effects from breathing the fumes. Sunday we unpacked and then Monday headed back to work. I loved our vacation, but it went by SOOO fast!! It always reminds me what a beautiful place CA is and how I love to visit, but am definitely happier in Idaho.

Full album of the pictures here.