A San Francisco Treat

Well things have been crazy around here lately, but for now I wanted to post about our fun Labor Day trip to San Francisco. William took off work on Friday and we drove up to San Fran.

Just doing some reading on the way

We got there around 4 and found our way to the cabin that we were staying in. We had decided to stay just outside the city, in Mill Valley, so that we would be in a more relaxing place and so we could be close to the redwoods and hiking trails.

This is a yurt. It's like a round tent. There was a bed in there but no one was really feeling adventurous enough to sleep in it.

William's sister, Michelle, was in San Fran for the week and had planned to stay over the weekend to join us. She was already there when we got to the cabin, so we just hung out a little bit before going to dinner. Arden didn't have a great nap in the car that day, so dinner wasn't too enjoyable, but it was neat to see the little town of Mill Valley.

Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast at Mama's Royal Cafe before heading out for a short hike. We were hoping to see some of the redwoods on the hike, but we didn't hike far enough down to see them.

We went back to the cabin in hopes of a nap, but Arden wanted no part in that, so we decided to go to the Muir Woods National Monument (the national park with the redwoods (Muir woods) in it). We walked around a little path and saw lots of huge trees. It was mind blowing how huge they were!

After that we had to rush back to the cabin so that William and I could get dressed for a night out. William had surprised me with tickets to Wicked for my birthday, so Michelle agreed to keep Arden for the night so that we could have a date night with a fancy dinner and a show! We got all dressed up and were ready to go!

We drove into the city and had dinner at a place called The Market Grille that was right across the street from the Orpheum. We valeted our Ford Focus wagon and were ready to go. Dinner was wonderful, however, my eating skills were apparently lacking. The dress I was wearing was made out of a material that would hide no smudge or spot, and I happened to splatter part of my dinner down my front. It was ridiculous. I mean, really?! The first time that I've gotten all dressed up in the longest time and I've already ruined my outfit? Well, I decided to go to the bathroom to see if I could get the spots off. I wiped them down with a paper towel and it was quite obvious that my dress was wet. There were huge spots all over the front, and since I didn't want to stay in the bathroom the rest of the night, I just wet down the entire front panel of my dress and went on my way, knowing that it would dry soon enough. Ridiculous. However, it worked fairly well and I could stop worrying about the spots for the rest of the night. ANYway, after dinner and dessert and wine, we headed over to the Orpheum. Wicked was AMAZING! I had wanted to see it for the longest time and am SO glad that we finally got to. It was so good that I want to see it again! After the show we picked up our car from the valet (right along with the guy with the ferarri and the other guy with the BMW) and were on our way home.

Sunday we got up and went to Sausalito (the next town over) for brunch. It is known for its house boat community, so before going to eat, we walked down by the water to check out some of the houseboats. They were fascinating!

Looking down the "street" of houses

After brunch we headed into the city to see a few famous/tourist sites. We saw the Painted Ladies (the Full House houses),

Lombard Street,

and Ghirardelli Square, where we had lunch.

Michelle had to get back to the airport, so she dropped us off at the ferry station where we had planned to take the ferry back to Sausalito where we had parked our car. We almost missed the ferry, but made it just in time to get back across. The ride across the water was fun and gave us a great view of the city.

The Bridge!

That night we got some dinner and fro yo and took it back to the cabin to eat. After putting Arden to bed, William and I sat out on the deck for awhile and just chilled. It was nice to finally relax after the busy weekend. Originally we thought we'd head back Sunday night, but decided to stay an extra night. Monday morning we got up and went for another, longer hike.

Sleepy boy on the hike

Fam shot

We actually made it down into the Muir woods this time, so we got to see the big trees again. It was a great hike and we were glad that we had decided to stay so that we could do it. After the hike, packing up, and a stop for lunch, we headed back home after a fun filled weekend!

A little poem we wrote for the guest book at the cabin: