California adventure

Day 1

Late arrival
Arguing with the car rental lady
Driving an SUV for the first time in my life
Hanging out at the hot tub.    Late night awesomeness....



Day 2
Driving back to the rental place.
Spending 3 and a half hours there trying to make it work
Driving an SUV into the lot and they couldn't find it 45 minutes later!
After tons of time we found a van that was like the one we rented.
It was horrible.


Day 3
San Fran day 1.   Sausalito and other cool moments.   Accidental red light district.   The redwood forest....   Foggy san fran bridge.


Day 4
The first thing I recall was watching a helicopter drop water on a local fire.   We saw this two or three times and it was amazing, After that we stopped at a skate park and Colin and I played on the ramps and stunt areas.

Before we got to Yosemite we went to a pool nearby.   It was called rainbow pool.   I got too close to the waterfall and was really scared if would suck me over.   I later worked my way to the waterfall at the top of the natural set of pools.   I washed my very little amount of hair in the water and enjoyed the heck out of it.     I also put colin on my back and brought him there.   He insisted on climbing up the waterfall and it scared the heck out of me.   He was fine and it all turned out ok though.

Yosemite   Day 1.    Great rocks, bad starlight.   It was a very intense task to get to our star gazing tour.   We had a serious run to get to the star tour.   Colin was very scared to be away from mom and dad.   Until we made the door between the cabins work he was NOT COOL with the set up.   It was a surprise to see him so scared, but he got over it pretty well as soon as we opened the door.

We also had really good food from the local vendors.   It was delicious.

Day 5

We went on a morning hike/ tourist excursion.   We saw some breathtaking views, and we also spent 45 minutes waiting for our bus driver to find a path out of traffic.   We learned about some of the local rock slides
.   We also learned about the topography of the nearby mountains.  

Day 6-
Driving through death valley trying to get to LA    McDonalds.    Stopping at a ghost town and buying ratatouie.  






















It is very interesting to go to a place like Disney with no connection to the characters.   The children that yell and gasp, clap and cry are easy to understand.   Seeing something in real life that previously only existed on television is an interesting thing, an event.

The older people are more of a mystery to me.  My sister went to Disney with two of her friends in honor of them turning forty.   One of them was excited about it.  My sister and the other girl seemingly just went along for the ride.

I found the entire park astoundingly boring.   Perhaps my poverty explains it.   Perhaps my regular experience with Kings Island has tainted my experience.

The other thing that I noticed is that Colin is VERY emotional.   He cried over forgetting to pack a hat.  He screams over having to leave any where that he enjoys.   He demanded to sleep in the same room as his mom and dad in Yosemite, despite being 6 feet away from them, closer than he is at home.   When they left for twenty minutes, he stared out the window the whole time.   To me he claimed he saw a bear.  When I looked and saw no bear, I told him I would go outside and prove it.   He refused to let me.   When his parents came back, he said he was up looking for them because he missed them so much.   I can't recall missing my parents when they were gone very much.

Twice he has screamed at me "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" and it took everything I had not to be very mean and confrontational.

Some of my perspective is shaped by poor memory.  I'm sure that I probably threw tantrums when I was young.  I just don't remember.   On the other hand, I don't think I was that scared at ten.

Here is the trip so far

Day 1
Plane delays mean Salt Lake City and long waits
I spent too much money out of boredom
The announcements gave me some concern.   They were begging people to allow their carry ons to be checked.   For a 3 hour flight, I needed my gadgets.
I used a towel as a neck pillow, after losing my neck pillow in the course of a day.   It was only slightly effective.
In Salt Lake I was worried about my short layover, only to find I had the same plane and the same seat on the way back.   I immediately regretting leaving my gum in the front pouch.  I also learned that some planes have plugs near the floor on the seat in front of you.
I arrived at LA, made it to the car rental place and the nightmare began.
They charged me 500 dollars more than they should.
Despite a reserved van, I was forced to take an SUV.
Driving unknown streets at 300 am my time with nothing but Siri to guide was terrifying
I almost merged into another car due to misreading my blind spot.
I got home and fell asleep instantly

Day 2
The rental car nightmare continues
The first turn of my trip involved crossing four lanes of traffic in .4 miles.
The people of San Francisco
I returned my SUV, then I went back inside, holding confirmations for the price point and the type of vehicle, one day after my sister rechecked both with customer service.
I waited in line which took one hour and ten minutes.
I explained the problem.
They responded by saying "we can't do anything about either of them."
I said "so you are saying that I showed up with a confirmed price of 1000 dollars and a confirmed 7 seat van, and I got neither of them?   It isn't you that screwed me.  I get that.   You didn't do it and you apparently don't have the power to fix it.   I'm not mad at you.  I'm mad at the company.   Let me talk to the manager, please."
The manager repeated that he had no power to fix things, that it was the booking company's fault.  I then asked for my SUV back that I had just returned.
The company couldn't find it.
I waited for two additional hours.   They finally found a van.
The kids arrived and the adventure began.
After a few minutes in the hotel room, we drove out to Sausalito for dinner.   We ate artisan burgers in a huge rush, sitting on couches.
Then we went to Muir Woods, looking at giant trees.  The children were very loud and Robin and Andrew got irritated.
On the way back we drove over the Golden Gate bridge, and then stumbled upon a block of the San Francisco Red Light District
When we returned the kids went to the pool, and I fell asleep.  I hadn't slept well the night before.  I was quite tired.



Day 3
We woke up, ate from the excellent breakfast bar and headed out.
Our first stop was the Pixar sign where I had stomach trouble.
Our next stop was a mall parking lot.  Everyone grabbed things from Target because we were going to be gone all day.  I chose medicine for my stomach.
We met Ian outside near the cable car, then we promptly started to wait in an epic line.   It took an hour and a half, but there was a man who was singing karaoke still who made it more bearable.
The kids were a little cold so they bought wool hats.   Robin bought Colin an emergency shirt from the Gap because he was too cold.
Andrew got some delicious pretzels we ate in line.'
On the cable car, I stood on a very small spot on the back of the cable car, mesmerized by the sights.   Since I was facing backwards there was no way to anticipate what was coming.   New houses, people, and businesses suddenly burst into view.
At the end of the cable car we saw a parade of amazing cars.   Mazeratis.  GTOs.  Mustangs, Convettes.  A dodge challenger, and a truck with the bottom tire lowered as much as possible.
We quickly got to the wharf and heard the sounds of NO Woman No  from a wharf musician.
We spectated for a minute and browsed at shops.   The seafood options were impressive.
We walked down to the end of pier 39 on our way to the sea lions.  We saw a juggler do two tricks.   The first was to catch pins thrown from the audience and juggle them.
The second was to juggle flaming pins.   When he lit them Claire sit, did he spit fire from his mouth?
Andrew said "he used a lighter that was in his pocket."
Claire responded by saying "that isn't very impressive at all!"
Then the juggler began to juggle those flaming pins.
Claire said "ok.  That is pretty good."
After that we headed through market square and saw a sign shop.   In the sign shop the was a piece of rescued driftwood, laquered and sanded, smoothed and decorated with a simple message, which read "take this as a sign."
We walked to Park Chow to meet Karen and Drew.  They were nice, the food was great, and the kids were tolerable
After park chow we were on a mission from god to get the kids tot he san franscisco science musuem with only 50 minutes left before the museum closed..
I was aghast at the idea of all of us paying significant money for such a short visit.   Luckily we didn't have to.
Ian got the kids in with his membership.    A little while later, Robin talked her way in.
After that we walked home by the magic shop, now closed.
Then we took public transit back to the place.
I took Claire and Colin to the pool and the hot tub.