At the end of September we got to take a trip up the coast to San Francisco to Red Bull’s King of the Rock. Last year Chris and I took the trip alone and had a great time. The whole time we were there we talked about how fun it would be to take the kids if we got to go again. When the opportunity presented itself again this year we were excited to take the kids. We have enjoyed attending some of the fun events Red Bull puts on since Chris began working there several years ago. This one is probably the coolest. It is a one on one basketball tournament that is played all over the world with the championship game being held on “The Rock” (Alcatraz Island) hence the name, King of the Rock.
The event takes place on Saturday but we decided to make an entire weekend out of it. We headed up the coast on Thursday after Libby’s eye appointment at UCLA medical center, (I’ll explain Libby’s eyes in another post). We left bright and early for her 7:30 am appointment in LA and then headed up the coast. We stopped at our favorite little beach, Avila. We spent some time swinging and taking a few photos, it was a perfect day and the weather was beautiful. Poor Libby had her eyes dilated when she was at her appointment so she had to wear my sunglasses. She wasn’t quite herself for a while.
We love Avila Barn and made sure to stop and see all the pumpkins they have there and even do a hay ride.
They have lots of animals there and the kids had a great time feeding them. Libby especially loved seeing all the animals. She was a little scared to feed them though.
Chris treated us all to some homemade ice cream afterwards.
My attempt at getting a normal looking picture of all 4 kids was in vain.
Carter, Sawyer and I got a kick out of all of the fun names of the variety of pumpkins they had there. It was amazing to see all the different types of pumpkins I didn’t even know existed! From Red Warty things, Orange Smoothies, Peanut, to baseballs just to name of few.
Just before leaving we took a ride on the tractor pulled hay ride. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed seeing the pumpkins growing in their element.
Later that evening we went to the San Luis Obispo farmers market. If only we had a farmers market like this where we live, I would go every week and buy all my produce. I just love the atmosphere there.
The kids made sure we stopped at Gum Alley to add to the collection!
Years ago when Chris worked for Odwalla, Maddie and Carter were little and we’d take the kids up there while he worked. We have so many fond memories in San Luis Obispo. Chris would often stay at the Holiday Inn Express and across the street was a Veterans Museum with a large tank out front. The kids thought that was so cool and would stand by it to take pictures. As they’ve gotten older they’ve gotten a little more daring, now they climb on top of it! Every time we are in SLO they say, “Dad, Can we see the tank?”
Friday morning we headed up to San Francisco for the remainder of the weekend. Red Bull put us up in a very nice hotel in an awesome location. It was right in Fisherman’s Wharf and literally steps away from the Cable Car turn around. It was fun to stay at such a neat hotel in an awesome location. 
Libby has a thing for San Francisco now since we brought home Boo the dog for her the last time we visited. She insisted upon bringing Boo with her and reliving all of his favorite spots. She has a little book of him that shows all the places he goes in San Francisco.
Friday evening we headed out to hop on the Cable car. This was literally steps from our hotel.
It’s a little hard now a days to “hop” on a cable car. It’s more like, stand in line and wait an hour to climb on to a cable car, then wait some more, then finally go! Nonetheless, we took some fun pictures while we waited.
Finally on the cable car ready to go!
We made sure we got to be on the outside spots and get the full experience, literally hanging on!
Once we got downtown we went to the Cheesecake Factory on top of Macy’s for dinner. It had a beautiful view of Union Square. We aren’t very original, we do this every time we go. I guess you could say we like to follow tradition!
This weekend was the week before the St. George Marathon so Carter and I thought we should get a little run in. We probably should have done a shorter run but who can pass up running across the Golden Gate Bridge? We got up the next morning and ran over the bridge and back to our hotel which was 10 miles. Still one of my most favorite places to run. There are so many people running and the weather is just perfect!
Maddie wanted to run across the bridge but wasn’t quite up for running 10 miles, so when we got back she and Chris headed out to run the bridge and I got ready then took the kids to meet them. They ended up running 6 miles which was a great accomplishment for Maddie.
The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. I’ve decided September and October are the best months to visit the Bay area. We’ve mostly been this time of year and it is always beautiful!
After burning some calories, we headed over to Ghirardelli square where we enjoyed a few samples of chocolate and shared a delicious sundae.
While we were in San Francisco I happened to notice on my Instagram that my old roomie Meagan happened to be in San Francisco as well! She was visiting her brother who lives in Oakland. We got to meet up for just a few minutes that day and it was so fun to see her and give her a hug! What a crazy coincidence since she lives in Park City! Libby and her daughter Grace had met a few months prior when we were visiting Park City so they were happy to see one another!
I love the sights, sounds and smells of being in Fisherman’s Wharf. It never gets old.
The kids got a kick out of watching the “Bush Man” scare people with his branches.
On Saturday evening Chris took the boys to the King of the Rock event on Alcatraz island. It wasn’t something we could all go to. The weather is bitter cold on the island and there is some rough terrain. It also goes very late into the night, and there is only one boat back after the event. I stayed back with the girls while he took the boys. Carter and Sawyer were very excited to get a special tour of the prison and jail cells. They have talked about it ever since. Chris took a few photos and texted them to me.
While the boys were on Alcatraz the girls and I got dinner and went souvenir shopping. We went back to Ghirardelli to enjoy some more chocolate. Madeline met the silver guy and we went back to our hotel room to watch a movie. It was fun to have a just girls night in the city.
The next morning we took our time getting out on our way and headed back home. What a fun weekend it was! We love visiting San Francisco and San Luis Obispo. The kids can’t wait to do it again! Unfortunately this was the last year for King of the Rock on Alcatraz island. Apparently they are going to be doing it in Taiwan on a similar island that used to be used to house prisoners.
No comments:
Post a Comment