Cable Cars, Italian Food, and Rain

Alright, here it is. Sorry I"m a slacker. This week has been slightly crazy. I'm sure you're all dying to hear about my spring break (psh...doubt it.) Anyway, enjoy :)

**WARNING** This is a long one, but most of it is pictures. :)

Sunday:
Woke up at the crack of dawn (well kind of, keep it mind that it was also daylight savings time so we lost an hour as well as waking up grossly early)
Drove to Fairfield, California.

Don't worry, I only looked away from the road for a second.

Carmen, our trusy GPS. What would we have done without her?

When she got bored, she took pictures.

Nutella, yum.

If you can't read the license plate, it says JKRWLING. :)

When we got to Fairfield, we were greeted by a very nice man named Brother Gallespie who Jerrica's family knows. He immediately wanted to see what we had planned for the week. He gave us all the ins and outs of what we needed to see while we were in San Francisco. Then he gave us a tour of his GORGEOUS house. Keep in mind that he is a single, 58-year-old, doctor. He is very wealthy and has no one to spend his money on. He then asked us what kind of food we like to eat. We were hesitant, but he stared us down until we told him. Yes, he did buy us some groceries. Later, we were comforted when Jerrica's dad told us that it was alright that he bought us food.

Monday: 
We woke up and Brother Gallespie informed us that it would be the only day this week that we would have good weather. So he helped us change our plans. We drove into San Francisco. We started out the day by visiting the Golden Gate Bridge.

First toll. What a nightmare.

 Then we drove down the most crookedest street. Oh, yeah.

Then we went to pier 33 to buy our Alcatraz tickets. Then we walked around Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, and Ghiridelli Square. Then we  hopped on the cable cars which was so fun!

Yes, we did feed the birds when we stopped to eat our lunch. 

We definitely hung on to the outside of the cable car. SO fun.

Then we walked down to Union Square, the Ferry Building, and then Chinatown. We ate dinner in Chinatown.

Ferry Building

That's right, we're rebels.

 That night, we watched a movie and ate ice cream that Brother Gallespie bought for us. Actually, we did that every night. ;)

Tuesday:
Monday had been so exhausting so we decided to sleep in. Also, it was really rainy so we went to the Jelly Belly Factory. Then we went and ate lunch. Then we decided to go to the Oakland temple. Still rainy.

It was rainy and so we didn't stay and take pictures.

That night we met Brother Gallespie and his niece and nephew at S & L Thai. It was my first time ever having Thai food. I liked it for the most part!

Wednesday:
We woke up and drove into San Francisco and went to Alcatraz. It was kind of creepy. But I really enjoyed it. I thought it was fascinating. I think those kind of things are so interesting. Oh, and it was raining. Hah.
Then we went to the Aquarium of the Bay. (I'm sorry to say that I have seen more impressive aquariums in my day. I was a little disappointed.)

We hid our cameras in our rain jackets to keep them dry.

Jerrica wearing a shark mask. That was for you, Karen.

Then Brother Gallespie took us to Napa and we went to this incredible Italian restaurant. I have never eaten so much in my life and it was so delicious.

Thursday:
Thursday was museum day. We went to the exploratorium which was so fun. Then we went to the De Young museum so we could ride the elevator to the top. Unfortunately it was really foggy so there wasn't much of a view. Then we went to the California Academy of the Sciences. It was awesome too but we were a little rushed because the were closing soon. Then we went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Huge map of San Fran.

Singing in the rain.

She couldn't NOT get her picture taken with the giraffes.

Modern Art.

Jen came with us to San Francisco!

Friday:
Lazy day. We slept in again. Then we went to the Oakland temple again! This time it wasn't raining so we were able to take a lot more pictures! We also visited the visitor's center.

Such a pretty temple.

This is how we feel about the rain.

Saturday:
We woke up and went to (drum roll please).....Six Flags, otherwise known as Discovery Kingdom, or Marine World! Wahoo. It was opening day and the tickets were cheaper than they usually are so we decided to go! It was a lot of fun. The weather was overcast for the beginning of the day but then it started to rain. Of course. Be we didn't let it get us down! We went on all the roller coasters and saw all the animals! Jer even went in the butterfly habitat even though the butterflies scare her. We also saw the dolphin show, the whale show, and part of the elephant show.

I want a dolphin.

Can you see the pure happiness on her face?

Butterfly habitat. Yes, she was terrified.

This walrus was all about getting attention!

This is when it started raining.

Vertical Velocity. Our very favorite ride.

We went to bed a little early to prepare ourselves us for another very long day of driving.

Sunday:
Brother Gallespie warned us that there was probably going to be snow as we drive through the Sierras, and sometimes they only let people through if they have chains. We were a little worried as we embarked on our journey towards Utah. We got to the Sierras and it was....snowing. And there were signs on the sides of the roads saying that they were only letting people through who had chains on their tires. BUT, it was alright if your vehicle had four wheel drive and snow tires. Well....we were in luck. My mom's car had snow tires and was all wheel drive. The lady at the check point said, "Drive safely, girls." So we headed through the mountains. It was the longest two hours of my life, and I have never been so scared. I also don't think that I have ever gripped the steering wheel so tightly. Snow was coming down very hard and very steadily. The roads were very slick. Well, we got through it. Trust me, many prayers of gratitude were said because of our safety. Once we were out of the mountains and in Reno I had to switch Jerrica spots. I was so exhausted. We continued our way home without any problems. We stopped by Jerrica's house so she could get a few things and then my house so I could give my mom her car back. After making grilled cheese sandwiches at my house we headed up to Logan. We got past Ogden when it started snowing. Hard. Oh great. Not again. As we neared Brigham City we made the decision to go the long way to Logan. I'm glad we did. I did not want to deal with Sardine. We made it to Logan at about 10:00 pm. Long day? You bet.

So, There it was. I know that was incredibly long. If you get to this point and are still reading, kudos to you. You just went up a couple levels on the totem pole. Thank you.


P.S. Spring is my favorite season and today is INCREDIBLE. So, if you don't mind me, I will be putting on some shorts and going outside to ride my bike, take a walk, or read in the grass.