We braved a road trip with a 4 and 5 year old....and they were GREAT! We headed out in the wee hours of the morning and after an hour Ethan asks the dreadful "are we there yet?" which should have been a sign that it was going to be a long trip for him! Thank goodness he fell asleep for about an hour, but then woke up in a panic that we had already driven through San Francisco and didn't wake him up, then once he realized we still had miles and hours to go, he asked if we had to leave out planet to get there! I guess to a 4 year old 300+ miles might mean leaving our planet! Love a child's mind. Meanwhile Taelor sat quietly writing/drawing in her journal I bought her without much of a peep. We stopped in Santa Barbara and the kids remember that there are flowers in the middle of the freeway and that is about all they remember of our brief stop. Our next stop was Morro Bay to see the "big rock" and lunch time. It was chilly (just the way I like it!). Our next stop was Monterey...oh how I love this place! It was a brief stop and then we made our way up the coast to San Francisco! Exactly 12 hours later (yes I know, long, but that included stops and we drove part of the way up the coast) we were in San Francisco! An overcast evening was a perfect way to welcome us in (I LOVE a cold, chilly day).
After getting all snuggled in our hotel room, looking at the busy street below, I realized something was wrong with Taelor. No matter what we had told her what to expect in a city, it was very overwhelming for her! After many tears and a half an hour, she sniffled out these exact words " I thought it was going to be just like Palm Springs!"....I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or give her a hug! Sweet, innocent, real words of a 5 year old! After awhile she was finally OK, we were all exhausted and called it a night. The next few days we were up and out taking in all the sights the city had to offer. The Cable Car was by far the best thing the kids enjoyed. Just the look on their faces soaking up every sound and scenery around them was priceless. We walked Lombard Street and they laughed at me cause I was the one who was complaining and they had to keep waiting for "slow" mom...gees I just don't have the energy of 2 little ones! We walked and walked and they didn't complain once, I was so proud of them. They were in awe of the Golden Gate Bridge and how big it really was and of course they said "it's NOT golden!" We shopped in Union Square, ate chocolate at Ghiradelli Chocolate, had lunch at Sourdough Boudin (you can never go wrong with soup in a bread bowl in SF), we saw all fish and lobster down at the wharf, had some lemonade in the middle of Union Square and took a break. We ate on top of the Macy's building at Cheecake Factory and the kids loved the view! But most of all we had the BEST time! My heart was truly left in San Francisco.
On the way home we stopped in Monterey to drive the 17 mile drive, it was beautiful but we soon realized that from a 4 and 5 year olds point of view, looking at a "lone tree" was not something they found very interesting! We stopped at the beautiful Pebble Beach Golf Course, grabbed sandwiches at the little market and enjoyed a picnic lunch over looking the golf course and ocean. Even though the kids may not have enjoyed the scenery as much as we did, we still enjoyed every moment!
The best part of going on vacation is coming HOME to your own bed! And so, I left my heart in SF but we hope to be back again soon!
Until next time SF! Thanks for the great memories!
