From Sea to Shining Sea

What a nice vacation Drew and I had! Last Friday morning we took off from Savannah, GA, and after an hour and a half layover in Atlanta (you can’t go many places from here without a stop in Atlanta!) and a long four hour flight we arrived in San Francisco, CA that afternoon. I had never been to the West Coast, and, boy, were we in for some breathtaking sights! The mountains that surround the area right up to the sea were the biggest thrill for me to see, having grown up in flat, flat, flat Florida with sandy beaches. The cliffs and mountains and rocky beaches were stunning. And one of the coolest things, I thought, was the sea lions! I LOVED seeing and hearing them barking away right there on the dock near the place we ate lunch that first day.

We spent the weekend in San Francisco enjoying being tourists riding the cable cars, being amazed at the steep roads built right up the mountain, looking for sights from Monk’s show, visiting Alcatraz and the piers and, of course, Fisherman’s Wharf and eating sourdough bread. We made sure to eat at an In-N-Out while there, too, since we’ve heard how good their burgers are from a friend who grew up in California. We took a whole day doing some whirlwind sightseeing in the area, driving over the Golden Gate bridge and beyond, making our way through Napa Valley and going to visit Snoopy at the Charles Schultz museum in Santa Rosa then over to Fairfield where we took a tour of the Jelly Belly factory – very fun! My Christmas shopping is finally done, too. Half the fun for me this trip was finding interesting things for the kids in the shops at all the touristy places we went. Driving back into San Francisco over the Oakland Bay Bridge that evening was something else. If traffic is that congested and crazy on a Saturday evening, what in the world is it like during rush hour on weekdays? I don’t even want to know. There are benefits to living in our small town.

After our long weekend in San Francisco, we spent the rest of our time in Monterey. That was a nice, relaxing time, too. Sea lions everywhere at the wharf! I loved it. We also took a whale watching tour that went out about 6 miles into the Pacific and saw otters, sea lions and a mommy humpback whale with her calf. We got to spend about 30 minutes watching that mommy and calf and it was the coolest thing – well, cool until the rocking of the boat in the waves was too much for my stomach and I had to sit and fight off sea sickness for the rest of the trip. But it was still an incredible time to see God’s interesting creatures.

One afternoon we drove the 17 mile drive through Pebble Creek along the coast there and then went on down to Big Sur. Talk about gorgeous scenery. I don’t even have words to describe the beauty of those mountains and the ocean. Right before sunset, we hiked down the mountain on a long, steep, winding path to a little beach area and watched the sun go down over those huge waves and rocks. The dangerous beauty of those mountains and cliffs is so different from the beaches we have here on the East Coast, and a breathtaking reminder of the wonder of God’s creation. Along the way back to Monterey, we stopped at a cutoff on the road and looked down the cliff where there were tons of sea lions barking and we listened to their barks echoing up the cliff for a little bit. Drew took some video of it so we could show the boys, and if we can figure out how, I might try to share it on the blog eventually.

As much fun as we had, however, I really missed the kids. Every day we’d look at our watches and add three hours and speculate about what they were doing right then. We called home every day, and they did very well with Gram and Grandad, but I know they missed us, too. It was a blessing knowing they were in good hands with their grandparents, though, and we didn’t have to worry about them, but, six days is a long time to be away from them and I was so glad to see them again yesterday morning. I was so worried that Boo would be stand-offish with us when we got back because six days is a really long time for a 19-month-old, but she’s been extra cuddly since we’ve been back. She keeps bringing books to me and wanting to crawl in my lap to read. I just stop what I’m doing and read to her, because it’s just so sweet that she wants to cuddle and I think it is her way of making up for the time she was missing us. The boys have been asking tons of questions and we had a great time showing them our pictures last night. They seem most enthralled with hearing about Alcatraz and I’m thinking maybe I should have paid closer attention to the details on our tour there because they are just full of questions!

I’m sure I will blog more about our trip because I have lots of reflections about it all, but for now, I have got to get my laundry done and get back into the routine of being home. That three hour time difference is a doozy, and I’m still getting my body clock readjusted to home time. Oh, and there are currently 112 unread blog posts in my Google reader, so it's going to take me a while to get caught up with my blogging, anyway - and that will be after I get caught up in my 'real life' things around here. That's the hardest part of vacation - coming home and taking care of all the undone business that keeps piling up when you're gone. But it was worth it!