DAY #1-JUNE 27
We left our house Friday afternoon. We drove to Reno (about 8 hours) and spent the night there. I was a little worried about Lincoln traveling that far, but he did really good. I sat in the back with him until Wendover, and then I drove the rest of the way and Dan sat in the back. Aside from one or two small tantrums, he did great.
DAY #2-JUNE 28
We left our hotel in Reno and drove to Lake Tahoe. Neither one of us had ever been there and it wasn't too out of our way. We stopped and ate lunch in a little town right on the lake. It was really pretty.
We got to San Francisco at about 4:00 that afternoon. We drove right to the pier and got tickets for a Bay cruise that went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. I really wanted to do a tour of Alcaltraz but I wasn't sure how Lincoln would do on something like that. We got a combo ticket that also let us go to the aquarium. So we went to the aquarium, which was okay. The Bay cruise was pretty neat, but it was so cold and windy. Lincoln had jeans and a hat on, but I hadn't thought to grab a jacket from the car but he cuddled up to Dan pretty good and just went to sleep.
After the Bay cruise, we got fish and chips from a little place on Pier 39--it was so yummy! Then we headed about an hour south of San Francisco and met up with Dan's family.
DAY #3-JUNE 29
We spent most of this day in San Francisco as well. It took us quite awhile to get down to the pier because there was lots of traffic. Our nerves were pretty rattled by the time we parked because of traffic and Lincoln was screaming the whole time. We went to lunch at Neptune's Palace on Pier 39, overlooking the Bay. The view was beautiful. The food was pretty good, for those who like seafood (I'm not included in that category). After lunch we went to a wax museum. I was the only one that had ever been, and I thought Dan's younger siblings would enjoy it. It was fun and nice to get out of the wind.
We drove to Oakland and stopped at the Oakland Temple. I had never been there before. The temple is beautiful and so were the grounds. We then drove to Manteca and spent the night.
DAY #4-JUNE 30
We drove through Yosemite National Park this day. I had been there once, briefly, on a choir tour but didn't see nearly as much as we did. It was so beautiful. By this time on our trip, Lincoln was crying every time we got in the car. Poor kid. But he usually calmed down with 30 minutes either by eating or going to sleep. We got out of the car a couple times to see things. We hiked to a beautiful and huge waterfall. Other than that, we mostly just drove through, taking pictures out the windows.
We camped just outside of Yosemite. I have to admit, I had a pretty bad attitude about camping. I was worried about Lincoln, mostly. When we got the campground we realized there was no running water. Luckily, between everyone's water bottles from the day, we had enough water to boil to use for bottles. We got Lincoln in his pajamas and mostly kept him in the tent because there were so many mosquitos. When he was out, I was busy keeping bugs off him. Which explains why the next morning I woke up with about 10 mosquito bites on my face (not even joking!) Lincoln did well camping. Woke up once in the middle of the night to eat and throw a tantrum, but hopefully he didn't wake the whole campground up!
DAY #5-JULY 1
We drove to Sequoia National Park. All I can say is I have never seen such massive trees in my whole life. It was amazing. Lincoln wasn't a fan of driving today. The roads on the way out of Sequoia were super windy--I was driving and I was getting sick. We think he may have been getting carsick and with the drop in elevation his ears were probably bothering him. He was crying so hard he wouldn't even take his binky, so there wasn't much we could for him but let him cry. He fell asleep once we got on the freeway to go to Anaheim, though.
Notice me standing in front of the trees--I look like a speck. Just to give perspecitve of just how big these trees are!
DAY #6 & #7-JULY 2 & 3
We spent these two days at Disney's California Adventure and Disneyland. Since we'd gotten to Anaheim so late the night before, the first day we slept in and got kind of a late start. We stayed in a motel about two blocks from the park entrance, so we were able to just walk. We stopped at Denny's for lunch and then got to the park about noon. We started at California Adventure. This was the first time Dan's younger siblings had ever been, so it was pretty fun. We spent about four hours at CA Adventure before heading over the Disneyland. The weather was perfect and we had such a good time. Dan & I headed back to the hotel after the fireworks around 10 p.m. Dan's family came back after the park closed at midnight. The next morning, they were gone by 7:30 to be in the plaza when the park opened. We met up with them at about 1:00 p.m. and spent another 8 hours at Disneyland. We pooped out--well, mainly Lincoln--at 10:00 that night and Dan's family stayed, again, until midnight. I think it's fair to say we totally got our money's worth. I love Disneyland. My favorite rides are the Matterhorn, Pirates of the Carribean (especially since it's been redone to fit the movie--it's awesome!), and Thunder Mountain.
DAY #7--JULY 4
We drove to Santa Monica State Beach to spend the afternoon playing in the ocean. It was kind of overcast, but still pretty warm. Dan & I only stayed for about an hour. Since we had an eight hour drive ahead of us, neither of us wanted to be all wet and sandy. So, we waded in the beach a little bit, put Lincoln's toes in the water, then just sat and watched the kids play. Then we headed to St. George. We got in at about 9:30 that night.
DAY #8-JULY 5
Today we were just able to relax. Hallelujah! We slept in, watched movies, read, played games, ate lunch at Cafe Rio, and swam. It was a much needed mellow day.
Lincoln was not happy about being slathered up with sunscreen!
DAY #9--JULY 6
Dan's family headed out early to be back home to Salt Lake by 2:00. Dan, Lincoln, and I were able to spend a couple of hours with Lincoln's birthfamily before coming home.
We had a great time, but I'm glad to be home. I thought traveling with a baby would be difficult, but Lincoln did really well. He loved being in his baby carrier, which was a blessing. The whole schedule we had established a month ago is now out the window. He doesn't sleep through the night anymore and his daily schedule is out of whack. Oh well...we'll get it back, I'm sure.
Anyway, sorry this was so long. Hope I didn't bore anyone!
8 comments:
Wow. I guess it's been a long time since I've seen Dan's family, because I don't recognize any of his siblings anymore.
Sounds like a fun trip, though. I'm jealous.
I am so glad that you had such a great time and that it was better than expected!
Looks and sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. That's so great that Lincoln did so well in the car, that could have made the trip really difficult. He's getting so big, he's such a cutie.
You are one brave woman!! I am glad that he was good for you. It looks like you had a lot of fun.
I agree with Elise. I still don't even dare go up the canyon to stay at the family cabin for fear of how miserable she would make me. what a little trooper he was though, that's awesome.
He definitely was a trooper but I don't think I'd do it again anytime soon! We are going to St. George for a few days in a couple of weeks--hopefully it won't be bad! I think he's a bit traumatized because he cries almost anytime we get in the car, which he didn't do before!
Hey Ash,
No wonder...I'd been looking for updates and it had been awhile...it's cause you were traveling! How fun. I totally agree the stress of traveling with a baby, but you've just got too...otherwise you'll never even leave the house! They get back to their own schedules eventually!
Girl, you are so brave and awesome for taking little Lincoln on such a long trip. Sounds like you all had a fabulous time, thanks for sharing. I miss you and love keeping up with you through the blog.
Post a Comment