Our Summer Vacation

For our summer trip this year, we decided to visit our neighboring state to the south, California.  We loaded up the Cruz/Torland caravan and headed out, stopping overnight in Grants Pass on the first leg of the journey.

Day 2 of our travels brought us to the scenic portion of our drive.  We took a detour west of I-5 into the great redwoods of Northern California.

Of course no journey through the redwoods is complete without driving through the chandelier tree!

Even Yaya and Papa Ron couldn't resist.

Climbing on some old stumps.

In some cases, climbing in some old stumps.

Siena and I in the bathroom line.  She's, uh, happy to be there?

So we had the bright idea to take the scenic route down California highway 1.  Well, it was pretty.  However, it was also incredibly long and windy without many towns along the way.  Thanks to some children's Dramamine and a good iPod playlist, our car made out better along the route than did my parent's car.  Needless to say, no one was happier to finally arrive in Bodega Bay than my mother was.

After the never ending trip down south, we decided to cool our heels at the beach the next day before meeting up with Deb and Lucinda on Monday for a trip into the city.  First stop: famous Pier 39.

I think the kids are more impressed with their own image than that of the awesome harbor view at lunch at the end of the pier.

One of Siena's many faces.  She announced to us that she has a different face for every noun.  I believe this is her brussel sprout face.

Waiting for our boat trip around the bay.  Unbeknownst to me, tickets to Alcatraz sell out a month in advance during the summer so we had to settle for getting close to the jail.  It was still a great ride though!

The family waiting for the boat to depart.

View of the city from the bay.

The famous Alcatraz.  I love abandoned buildings as it is and as such, this place is an urban spelunker's dream!  Note that the lighthouse on Alcatraz is the oldest on the West Coast.

The industrial buildings on the west side of the island where prisoners used to work.

The ruins of the officer's club or social hall.

Building 64: the residential apartment buildings.

Yaya and Papa Ron getting windblown.

The family at the Golden Gate bridge.

I may have taken about 50 pictures of the bridge.  Be happy I'm only including a couple.

The view from down below was pretty awesome.

Another group boat shot.

View of Ghiradelli Square from the boat.

Papa Ron looking befuddled.

Siena on a giant boat tie.

And snuggling with her Grandpa.

Aaahhhh, the best part.  Ice cream sundaes at Ghiradelli.  Papa Ron's working some sort of hot fudge and butterscotch.  Yaya has a big double scoop of Rocky Road.

Mason's rocking the cookies and cream.

Siena's got the cookie dough with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Deb and Lucinda, who seem to have escaped every other photo attempt up to this point, show off their concoctions.

In case anyone cares, I had a classic hot fudge.

Of course, we had to get a shot of Siena in front of the mermaid fountain.  The girl does love her mermaids.

The kids in front of what they referred to as the pirate ship.  Siena's showing off her souvenir San Francisco Helly Kitty.

Mason and Yaya checking out the view of the city.

Family shot with the city behind us.  Might have had potential for a Christmas card shot if we hadn't all been squinting at the sun and getting wind blown.

More kids.

Me and the bridge.

More of me and the bridge, though this time I'm sitting like a normal person. After a day in the city though, my hair is certainly looking a bit worse for the wear.

Did I mention I took a lot of pictures of the city?  Couldn't help it.

The next day we hooked up again with Deb and Lucinda and headed to Fairfield for the Jelly Belly factory!

We all received our official Jelly Belly tour hats.

These two look excited to be wearing hats.

Group hat shot!

There was lots of Jelly Belly art but Rosie was my favorite!  Nothing says tough broad like Jelly Bellies!

Deb trying out the chocolate covered bacon, which was better than one might expect.

Siena with yet another Hello Kitty souvenir.

Papa Ron mugging for the camera.

Fairfield also has a nice miniature golf course that we couldn't pass up. Yaya is teeing off.

Siena tries her luck.  Turns out both Cruz kids took to it pretty quick.

Studying the approach.

Siena checks out the crazy house hole.

Yaya shows off her winning blue ball.  We all learned to not underestimate the Ya-sters.  She was the winner of the day!

My tough look.

Papa Ron's "oh no I lost" look.

We couldn't get out of there without letting the kids get each other wet on the bumper boats.

On a hot 90 degree day, I think it must have felt pretty good.

And they did get a bit wet.

After two busy days, by Wednesday we were ready to spend some time relaxing in Bodega Bay.  In the later afternoon, we took a hike up and around Bodega Head which had amazing views of the California Coast.

Mason on the trail.

Siena.

Siena again.

The beach at Bodega.

Luis pointing out our rental house from across the bay.

Siena showing off that she successfully maneuvered the 1.9 mile trail.

What better place to stop off for some cold drinks than Mason's Marina?

Of course the towns of Bodega and Bodega Bay also serve as the famous back drop for Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds, which happens to be my favorite Hitch movie.  Here's the school from the film.  It's privately owned so we couldn't go in but was still pretty recognizable from the front.

The Catholic church in Bodega can also be seen in the background of a lot of the school shots from the movie.

Anyone home?

The kids with Hitch.  Siena seems a little unsure of the guy.

On Thursday my parents were ready to head back to Oregon.  We wanted one last trip into the city.

The cable car line had been crazy long the first time we came into town but was much more reasonable on this morning.

For some reason, the kids kept talking about Chinatown so we did a quick walk through it.

Siena mimicking the statue.

Waiting for our cable car ride back down the hill.

We had lunch then walked around Fisherman's Wharf.

We had dinner Thursday night with my high school friend Laura and her family who live in Santa Rosa.  I'll see Laura in a week in Portland for our 20th high school reunion.

And, finally, I leave you with the kids and their favorite hot tub duck "Dr. Quackers."

We're back home now and spending the weekend resting up from our busy (but fun) trip.