San Francisco - Warning - Extremely long!

So I know this post is super late, but better late than never right? For Shay and I's one year anniversary we packed our bags and headed to San Francisco, California for a week. It was a much needed vacation for both of us. Shay was almost done with the summer semester and I had just taken the Praxis exam for my teaching license. Four hours of tearing my hair out haha. Although I didn't pass the Math part, I am going to retake it this December and will hopefully be able to put that behind me for a while.

Shay and I were both so excited to go to San Francisco. We had been planning it since last March and had a whole week planned out. The first day there we just took in our surroundings, checked out the hotel, and got to know our way around the city. Although we had gotten a rental car, it was a lot easier to walk to places nearby rather than drive, since the streets were SO small and cramped.

Bay Bridge. We flew into Oakland, then drove into San Fran

This was the view from our hotel room. So many buildings!

BIG TALL BUILDINGS.....itty bitty streets

 We were going to go walking around the first day, but because we were so tired from flying and the craziness of driving in California we decided to just walk around our hotel and explore. We went to some shops, ate at a not so yummy pizza place and then headed back to the hotel room to get some shut eye. We had a big day ahead of us and wanted to make sure we got plenty of rest.

The next day we headed to the Muir Woods National Park. We left the hotel around 745am so that we could be there around 8. We had heard the earlier you could go the better. When we got up it was so foggy and the Golden Gate Bridge was barely visible. We drove high up into the mountains and then back down. Although we could hardly see anything, it was still beautiful. The woods in California are definitely not like the ones back home.

The trees were so beautiful and because we went early we got in free!

The trees were gorgeous and there was hardly any people

Redwoods are amazing!

We could have stayed for hours

After Muir Woods we headed down to the pier and over to the Coit Tower, which is this really cool "tower of pisa" looking thing. You can see for miles. It was a little expensive and to get up to the top you had to ride in this creepy elevator thing with like 15 strangers haha with little to no wiggling room. However, once we got to the top it was worth it. 

Waiting in line

Really neat murals 

On the way back to the hotel we caught the Trolley! Super fun! 

The third day we were there was probably my most favorite, even though by this point I could feel a cold coming on and my throat was killing me. The third day, was the day of our anniversary. We got up early and headed to a bike shop by the Golden Gate Bridge. We strapped on our helmets and began our several mile journey to a little town called Sausalito on the other side of the bridge. From there we would take the ferry over to Pier 39 and then bike back to the Golden Gate Bridge. Although it was very chilly and foggy, biking the Golden Gate Bridge was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. The view was still magnificent and again, because we went earlier there wasn't that many tourists out and about. I felt like a professional biker too! Biking on the road and trying to share it with other cars was definitely exhilarating haha. Once we were across the bridge and we went down into the little town we decided to kill some time by walking around and looking at all of the shops. We bought some souvenirs for family back home and also stopped at an amazing art gallery where they had Dr. Seuss portraits displayed everywhere. They talked to us and told us how much they were and that they offered shipping if we were from out of state....we just nodded our heads and pretended we had more money than we knew what to do with haha. Looking was enough for us. After that we headed to a pastry shop that had really yummy desserts and than sat on a dock and looked out over the bay. I even saw a cute little seal who decided to pop his head up out of the water and if you know me this was a big deal.....I love seals! haha. The ferry finally came and picked us up and we headed back to the other side of the bay. From there we biked back to the bike shop, grabbed our lunch we had purchased earlier at the Walgreen's by our hotel and ate lunch on the beach with sail boats in the distance and the Golden Gate Bridge towering over us. It was the perfect way to spend the day of our one year anniversary. 

Tons of sail boats were there. They were practicing for the World Cup which was to be held in September 

Later that night we got all dressed up and headed to the Cheesecake factory where we stuffed ourselves full and had strawberry cheesecake....I'm drooling just thinking about it haha.

The Cheesecake Factory was really fancy inside! I loved the paintings on the ceilings. 

For the fourth day we went to Alcatraz. When we had bought our tickets in advance, we had originally thought we had purchased them for Saturday, but realized like a week before our trip that we accidentally had purchased them for Sunday! We were bummed, but it was too late to switch or to get a refund, so we made do with what we had. We rode the Trolley down to the pier in the morning and walked over to the ferry that would take us over. However, on the way we stopped at Pier 39 where all the Sea Lions like to hang out. It was awesome! There were so many and they were talking like crazy. I loved it. I could have stayed there all day, but we had to get going so we didn't miss our ferry.

Going to Alcatraz was amazing! I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to San Fran. It is an amazing piece of history where so much has happened. The best part was the tour was self guided. You received a pair of headphones and it was a recording that guided you all around the island. The best part was walking from cell to cell and room to room hearing about all of the different stories. About the break ins, the riots, and the prisoners. It really put things into perspective at just how awful it was. My favorite part was the recreation yard where the prisoners played baseball and other games. The recording said that this was the prisoners sanctuary and that many would stay outside even on the coldest days because it was their one piece of freedom they had.

This was solitary confinement. The rooms were pitch black!

On the fifth day we went to Golden Gate Park, which is massive and really cool! We started the day with going to the California Academy of Sciences. We weren’t sure how great it would be, but after reading reviews online thought it would be worth it. Plus we had heard they had a huge indoor rain forest! When we got there, it was right when it opened so again the tourist level was at a min, which was really nice because there was so much to see! They had a huge aquatic area with fish galore! They had sharks, stingrays, colorful fish, an albino alligator and creatures from the Amazon River! Needless to say I was in heaven. I love animals and learning new things. We also saw a movie in a dome shaped room talking about how the universe could be infinite! It was a huge testimony builder because we have read in the scriptures how Heavenly Father created multiple worlds…. worlds without end. To actually hear it in a different type of setting reaffirmed to me that the scriptures are true and that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us.

After the movie we went through the indoor rain forest. That was really neat. They had you step into a room where they shut the door behind you and then opened the one in front of you. It was to keep the room humid I'm guessing. They had butterflies everywhere too and they kept landing on people haha. It was three levels and each level represented a different part of the rain forest. It was really neat. When we were headed up to the second floor though they had a surprise waiting for me that I did not expect. As we were walking, Shay gave me this weird look and was like don't move. I was like what? As I said that I looked over my shoulder and like 10 feet away from me just hanging out, no confinement, no cages, no nothing, were these massive orb weaving spiders in their webs! I freaked and ran up the ramp to the next level haha I could not believe they were just letting these spiders hang out in the middle of the isle! Not cool....not cool. haha

But here are some exciting pictures from our trip at the California Academy of Sciences!

This is what was hanging from the ceiling...luckily this particular one was in a cage haha

Their living roof!

Coral Reef

When we were done at the academy we headed to a bike shop and rented some more bikes so that we could get around Golden Gate Park. I told you it was massive! That was really fun. We just followed the bike route wherever and ended up at this really pretty lake in the middle of the park. It was nice to just sit and relax and take in our surroundings.  After the park we headed back to the hotel and crashed. It had been a very long day and we still had one more event planned for that night…. the San Francisco Giants MLB Game! After resting for a bit we headed to the metro…under ground! And rode it to the game. We had been told this was the way to go. What a great experience. We accidentally purchased the wrong tickets that came to a total of 20 dollars! And when we tried to get a refund we were told that was not possible. However, this sweet lady and gentlemen that worked there gave us 20 dollars and bought the tickets off of us. We could not have been more grateful! Proof that there are still good people in this world…. or at least in San Fran haha. When we finally arrived at the stadium, it was freezing! It didn’t help that I had a cold either. It sucked actually, but I made the best of it and Shay bought a sweater for me to keep me extra warm. It was really awesome to see a MLB game in person and I am so glad we made the decision to go. Definitely a must when you go to San Fran, even if you don’t like baseball the view is worth it. 

Waiting for the metro

 

The next day we headed home. Although we were sad to go…. we needed a vacation from our vacation haha. No going to San Francisco was amazing and we both loved every minute of it and we feel very fortunate that we were able to go. If there is anything I learned from that trip is how blessed I am to have the Gospel in my life. I was thinking about that on the plane ride home. Although San Fran is a very beautiful city there is lots of poverty. You would be on one street and just a couple blocks over people were sleeping out in front of stores in sleeping bags and just wandering.  Every other block people were smoking or yelling at others for no apparent reason. It was then I realized how much direction the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has given me. It has given me purpose and each day it helps me to understand why I am here and what I should be doing. By listening to the Spirit I have been able to make decisions that have positively affected by life. I have still had my hardships and know I will but what has changed me and my outlook on those hardships is the fact that I know that I am never alone. Even if I had not been blessed with the life I have, if I had the Gospel and the knowledge that my Heavenly Father is always with me, I know I would have been okay and that I would have made it. Knowing that a higher being than myself loves me in my entirety, mistakes and all, is comforting beyond anything on this Earth. It provides me with a happiness that cannot be satisfied by the vain things of this world and I know that with all my heart that happiness that is true and everlasting can only come from living and putting into action the principles and qualities our brother Jesus Christ exemplified. I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ with all my heart. They have both given me so much and as I live my life I can only hope and pray that I am living my life in a way that pleases them. I pray for those homeless in San Fran and for those that were lost, that they will find light in their life, just as I have.