IT SUCKS TO BE ANYONE ELSE OTHER THAN US

Gary and I had taken a cruise with some good friends four years ago. Well since that time, we didn't lose track of each other, we just lost what was important, and that was enjoying each other's company again.

So we planned a trip to San Francisco, Dennis, Connie, Guy, Judy, Joe, Annette, Gary and I. Dennis and Connie had been there several times before so they were the tour guides. What great tour guides they were. They had the hotel, the transportation, the thought of where to eat, what to see and definitely what to drink.

I had been there 26 years before when I was pregnant with my last baby. Oh boy has it changed. The tourist traps have become plentiful; the restaurants, a million of them; and the skyscrapers not only grew up, but out. So off we go for our little three day tour.

The world is an amazing place and when I start traveling in it, I realize how small and minuet I am in this world. Just getting on the plane I was sitting next to a guy that was from Brooklyn, NY. He was about 35 years old, owned his own small shop in Brooklyn for most of his life and he said he was "home sick" because he was so use to buildings and people being in every square inch of his existence and now between NY and CA there was too much property it made him feel lost. I am sure I would have felt totally opposite. It's all in your eyes of the world.

When we got there we checked in, went for a quick lunch, and then the rest of them showed up. We headed for Fisherman'sWharf. It was fun walking down the wharf and it was funnier to see the sea lions out on the dock.





We then just walked and saw the trolley cars and the rest of the wharf. We finally left and headed for dinner at Spengers. Gary and I were dying for good seafood and that is what we got from a 120 year old establishment.

San Fran in a Whirlwind

We headed again towards San Francisco and our first stop was Golden Gate Bridge. It was an absolute beautiful day with the water glistening and the bridge in clear view. Off to the redwoods, "Muir Woods." These redwoods were a lot smaller than I expected, but still pretty amazing.
Keep on trying honey you might gain your wings.


Sausalito for lunch, out on the patio, and boy were we hungry. The food, drink and dessert were amazing.

Lombard Street (Whindiest road in SF)

Trollies, trollies everywhere...
Coit Tower (a special tribute to our SF firemen)

Haight / Ashbury (the 70s keep on coming)



The painted ladies (the boys in the car, thought we were going to some ladies-of-the night museum, jk on them)

The old cliff house baths and the ocean, loving it.

We drove through China Town several times.
The Stinking Rose - the best food yet, a little too much garlic for Gary and I, but we still loved it.

Is the night over, we are all so tired.

The Sweetness of the Vine

I have always heard about Napa Valley, and I realized why the rich flock there, where there is limos everywhere and why I felt sort of out of my class. I can definitely hold my own, but you know you are with the rich and spoiled when their faces look like they come out of some plastic factory, even the men, and their clothes look like they come off of Rodeo drive, unlike mine. In spite of the rich, we had a great time.

We first stopped in at the High Flyer wine tasting building. The girl was sweet and we totally enjoyed the wine. She directed us to "Hurleys" for lunch. Very good.

We then drove up through the valley to Beringers Winery, that is where I fell in love with wine and chocolate. I told Gary I could totally turn into a lush from this combo.

Then off to dinner to the CIA, Culinary Institute of America. This school took over an old winery and put in its place a school, a very gourmet cooking equipment shop, and a restaurant. This would be our final dinner with the group and we totally enjoyed it.

Thanks to my friends for inviting us along. Let's not wait another four years.

A LOT OF RED FUN

I can't think of anything cooler than a trip to Southern Utah, and Northern Arizona in the summer. I can't think of anybody that is cooler than our two sets of friends from Idaho and Canada that decided to join us in the summer.

I think there are certain things in this world that you should put on your bucket list and some of those are going to the national parks in Utah and Arizona. In planning this trip I realized, and shocked, that my husband, and my friends had never seen these parks. So we planned on meeting in SLC and heading out to St. George, Utah for a few days and then off to Zions, Grand Canyon, Page, AZ, and Bryce Canyon.

The next thing cooler was mine and my husband's Spyders. They are three wheel motorcycles. So we rode those along with our Tahoe to store the rest of the travelers away from the elements.

We couldn't have picked a more perfect week, the weather in St. George is usually in the 100s and it was in the upper 80s. Most of the trip was the same without any rain, we did have some major wind the first day but for most of the trip it was perfect weather.

The entire road trip down we shared in the driving of the motorcycles. Gary and I were a little worried about the rest of them since they had never owned a motorcycle nor really drove a motorcycle. But we soon realized they were doing great on them.

The first night after arriving in St. George we drove over to Springdale which is just outside of Zions to see a movie in the Imax theatre, "Zions Treasure of the Gods." It was a great movie and I highly recommend it to those that will never hike past their car in the park.

This was our first view of the red cliffs of Zions National Park.

A LOT OF MONKEY BUSINESS

Second day into the trip we were in St. George and I had scheduled a roaring game of golf at Sky Mountain Golf Course for the boys.

While the girls sort of slept in, I got up got ready to go see my Aunt that lives there. She is 85 and when I drove over on my motorcycle, being the nurse that she is, she had a few words for me, but I encouraged her to get on the motor to have a little spin around the neighborhood. She had a blast.
The boys came back and the girls headed for shopping. First stop was seeing the Mormon Temple of St. George, Wonda and I were waiting for the bolt of lightening, but funny it never came. Then we headed for a fine Mexican lunch. We shopped until we ran out of time and then quickly got cleaned up and headed to the open air stage "Tuachan."
I love Tuachan, with the red rock as being the background for the stage, and the stars shining down on you during the play, it was beautiful. The play we watched was "Tarzan." The singers were amazing, even though the play was a little immature it was still great.
Whose are those three monkies

We picked up some friends on the way out of the theatre.