So now that the Guatemala story is over {still a little sad about that}, I thought I'd move on to what's been going on post-Central America. A few weeks after Guatie, we made a major trip to the west coast with Brent's family. His parents invited us to come along for a few days to San Francisco. We packed up and flew across the country to hang out to "The City by the Bay" Or "Fog City" or "Rainy Rancisco" {I created that one on my own}.
When thinking back on this trip, this best depicts how it went down:

I literally just have to laugh when I think about it: the day before we left Middle TN, it was 79 degrees, beautiful, sunny. Awesome.
The day we arrived in San Fran, the rain came too: most every day it was 50 degrees and literally raining the entire time - thankfully it wasn't pouring all the time, but definitely the majority of our days were spent under umbrellas and rain jackets.
Getting to the West Coast is quite the adventure when traveling with a toddler. Brent and I say that you can't truly appreciate how simple life is without a child until you have a child. We love her, but gone are the days of 2 carry on bags and boarding at the last minute. Flying looks like this these days:
Gabbie did so great flying. She had her own seat on all but one of our flights which meant she could sit in her car seat and actually napped most of the time.
When we arrived in SF, Brent's sister and her family had been there for a few days and would be leaving the day after we arrived. We spent their last evening doing a few activities that they had not gotten around to enjoying, including the infamous Lombard Street and Ghiradelli square!


Notice the lovely rain gear that we're already donning on night one.

After partaking in entirely too much chocolate and ice cream, we made the trek back to our hotel to turn in on our first night in the big city.
Our first day, we took a 3 hour drive to Monterrey and Carmel By the Sea. When we first arrived, it was rather yucky, rainy, San Fran weather. Thankfully as the day progressed it became an absolutely beautiful day. Still rather chilly, but at least the sun was shining and GASP - no rain!
This was Gabbie's very first time at the ocean. I would have loved for her to have actually gotten to get in the ocean, but it was freezing. Brent carried her out to the waves, but she wasn't a huge fan once they started rolling in.


I can't say I've spent much time at the beach in as much clothing as I had on this trip. Usually I'm in a bathing suit and soaking up the sun. I'm pretty sure I've never worn a toboggan on the beach. wow.

Brent's dad's plan was to find where Clint Eastwood lived in Monterrey. We were walking on the beach when out of no where this guy appears with his two beautiful golden retrievers

We might not have seen the actual Clint Eastwood, but this guy was a close second. We got up the nerve to ask if he could tell us where Clint lived. The closest he could us was to Clint's restaurant and country club. We definitely hopped in the car and made our way to find this spot - I've definitely decided that Brent gets his "Star Watch" love from his parents.

We hoped to get to eat at the restaurant, but it was closed for a private party. Here's Brent in front of the sign:

We left the beach and ate a quick lunch at this incredible Italian restaurant. One of those great Hole in the wall kind of places that was true, authentic Italian. YUMM-O food.

From there, we drove to participate in the 17-mile drive which boasts the most beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean. Thankfully the weather cooperated and we truly got to witness some incredible views. Here are a few shots (I took ohhh about 50 - literally)


And this is Brent's crazy dad. This squirrel was hanging out on the rocks on one of our stops - he was trying to "feed" his car key to him.

Another one of our stops had this sign posted - this is a tad scary given the tsunami that had just occurred a few weeks prior in Japan.
The waves at this point were literally crashing in two different directions - hard to explain in words, but we all stood for a few minutes watching the scene.

Annnd then right as I'm about to take another picture - a 4 legged friend wanted to get in my picture:
After the 17 mile drive, we kind of "happened" upon Cannery Row. This was a really great little spot with a lot of shopping and restaurants - definitely a big touristy spot, but we had a great time.

We ate an incredible meal on the water {pictures from the restaurant are above on the bottom right - Gabbie with the birds in the background and then a group shot of us at the table}

This was the view walking away from the restaurant where we ate. Absolutely beautiful and the food was awesome!

We headed back to San Francisco and wrapped up a packed-full touristing day.
The next day was raining - of course - but we made the most of it and hopped the Muni {public transportation} and headed to Chinatown. When Brent and I were in SF a few years ago, we spent about 2 hours in Chinatown so we were looking forward to spending more time shopping and enjoying this very unique spot.
Of course it rained LITERALLY the entire time we were there and we just had to continue laughing at the terrible weather. Here's a few shots from the day -
Top Left: Brent and Gabbie in her rain-proof (almost) stroller set up
Top Middle: I found it so interesting - this shop owner unloading their inventory then storing it under the sidewalk.

That night, Brent surprised me for our 6 year anniversary and took me out to dinner. I was so pleasantly surprised that he had made reservations at this SUPER awesome restaurant. Of course, he led me to believe we were eating at this mediocre place and that he hadn't made arrangements, but instead we walked out onto the pier and hopped onto a boat that took us to a floating restaurant. It was such a unique experience and the food was INCREDIBLE!
Here are a few shots from our awesome celebration:


We got some incredible pictures from the top of the light house overlooking the bay.
Surprisingly, we even got pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge which never happens because of all the fog.



The next day, we got to meet up an old friend, Stephanie, who lives in SF and who is actually who we stayed with three years ago during our first visit. She works at the University of San Francisco so we met up with her there then headed out for lunch. The campus is BEAUTIFUL - here are a few pics from our date with Stephanie.

So no trip to SF is complete with a ride on the trolley. On our last day, we were able to catch the trolley back to our hotel and it was such a fun experience. Gabbie is quite the social butterfly, so she enjoyed waving to everyone that we rode past. This time around on the trolley was quite different from our first trip when we were able to just hop on and off - a little different this time with a toddler in tow.



Last night in SF looking at the walruses on Pier 29 making "barking" noises.

It was finally time to travel back home. We packed up with Pop Pop and Ti Ti and headed to the airport. We were able to take a different flight so that we could get on a flight where Gabbie would have her own seat again.
Just a few more minutes left with Pop Pop and Ti Ti at the airport....



and of course we made a friend - these two had fun looking at all the planes and sights to be seen outside:
It was such a great trip - bad weather and all, but we made fun memories of course!
Now it's back into our own time zone, getting settled back in to life as we know it...hopefully.