Hall of Halls: CA trip- part 1

Marlee and I went to California to visit my brother Richard’s family.

Laun snapped this picture of Marlee and I entering the Tucson airport.

Today was Marlee’s first day to ride on an airplane and she was excited. Our flight left super early this morning, so we had to be at the Tucson airport around 4am! I brought the ipad to keep her occupied until we boarded the plane.

Still on the ground, waiting for take off. It was still dark outside, but the lights are deceiving. I was excited that Marlee had a window seat.

Not a great picture, it was still pretty early in the morning and dark outside. Malree liked looking out the window and getting a soda on the plane.

We landed in Los Angeles and then boarded another plane to get to San Francisco. The plane we were on was pretty small so we got to unload outside and then enter the airport.

Here’s Marlee waiting for Richard and Carolyn to pick us up from the San Francisco airport.

We had a great time in San Francisco.

Richard drove us through China Town. It was crazy busy with traffic and people. There was so many cool buildings.

I couldn’t believe how narrow some of the roads were.

There was markets and restaurants everywhere.

I thought this mural was cool.

Sometimes it’s hard to get good pictures while driving (well I wasn’t driving, but from the passenger seat). I liked this building though, it is the Transamerica Pyramid, the tallest building in the city.

Here’s another shot of that building and another cool one.

For lunch we went to Boudin.

This picture of the salad Richard ordered doesn’t do justice. It was so good. The red and green tomatoes were both very sweet, the lettuce was so delicate and the soft cheese under the lettuce was amazing, as was the dressing.

Carolyn got the clam chowder that comes in a cute sourdough bread bowl shaped like a turtle. Marlee got mac and cheese. I guess I should start making it at home more often because lately when we go out to eat that’s what she wants.

I like going out to eat with Richard because we share everything, so I get to try lots of different foods. He got a pesto pizza with shrimp and crab and I got a trio of tacos, the crab taco one was my favorite.

Then we went to the Boudin Museum to learn more about how they make their bread and to see the factory where the bread bakes.

It’s fun to see all of the different creatures they make out of bread.

The factory-

If you look closely you can see a ball of dough about to fall.

These mixers make my Bosch look tiny.

There’s nothing quite like freshly baked bread.

It’s hard to tell from the picture, but that is a huge alligator made from bread.

Then we went to Pier 39 to see the sea lions.

Some of the sea lions were sweet.

Some of the sea lions were fighters.

Some were just plain lazy, like this big guy who would just put his fin in the water and lightly splash. He got so close to the edge I wondered if he would just fall in. And if you look at the plank behind those sea lions were territorial and wanted their space, they would push any sea lion off that tried getting on.

Some sea lions were playful. They were all so entertaining to watch.

The pier view is beautiful and you can see the golden gate bridge and lots of boats going by.

You can also see Alcatraz island, the old prison.

We went to the candy shop for some taffy’s. I'll be taking some home to the boys, too.

There are so many different street performers. This silver dude stays still until you put money in his cup. Marlee was excited that Uncle Richard gave her some cash,so she could see him move.

He moves sort of like a robot. He kept offering Marlee a candy, but every time she’d go to grab it he’d move his hand, it was funny to watch. Finally, she got it.

Carolyn and Marlee with the “silver statue/robot dude” (not sure what you call him, but it was cool). He also had this whistle thing in his mouth that sounded cool.

This guy made spray paint art. He was fast and it was really fascinating to watch. The coolest part was when he brushed a crumpled piece of newspaper across the wet paint to make mountains.

Some Steelers fan requested him to make this one.

We saw another silver dude. Richard said the gold guy is really cool, but we didn’t see him today.

We walked around Fisherman’s Wharf, it reminded me of a show you would see on TV about food traveling.

Then we Met the Ghirardelli chocolate dude on our way to the Ghirardelli place.

All this chocolate reminds me of the Willie Wonka movie.

We ordered some chocolate ice cream which was amazing and grabbed some chocolate squares to take home.

Then we headed out of San Francisco and on to Santa Rosa where Richard lives. I was excited that we got to drive on the Golden Gate Bridge.

When we got to Richard’s house we hurried to get the girls in their Halloween costumes and meet up with everyone else at the Ward party. Marlee was excited to get in her princess outfit.

Marlee liked the donut game and the lollipop tree.

There was also a cool shooting the apple or small gourd with a sling shot. The target is super far away, but some people actually got close. Richard helped Marlee pull back the sling shot.

If you look closely you can see Marlee’s produce flying, it is just above the mountain and houses in the picture.

We took a hay ride.

I snagged one of Richard’s pictures, since he actually got a group shot.

There was horse rides.

She hardly ate any chili and cornbread because she was entirely too busy to eat. Marlee especially loved the bounce house, but didn’t even enter the haunted house. I went in and I guess she came crying to Richard that the house was going to eat me or something like that. Poor girl has been up since 4am and is not only exhausted, but now worried about her mom living or not. In case you can’t tell from this picture…she’s tired. I hurried to get her up so she could go trunk or treat and not crash till she got into bed.