Spring Trip 2016 - Day Two

IWe got up at 6:00 showered, packed, and were at the terminal by 7:15. By 9:00 we knew that we had not made the flight, which had 73 seats, but it stopped over in Hawaii, so it was a very popular flight for spring breakers. 

I appreciated Clint's buoyant attitude as he immediately began texting our friends Jessica Ellis, Rebecca Sandulli and Matt Asay about things to do in the Bay Area. There are certainly worse places to be stuck!

Our first outing of the day was to the Jelly  Belly factory.

It was fascinating to watch how few people were needed because of all the robotics. FYI, it takes 14 days to make a Jelly Belly bean.

After a stop at Jack in the Box (Jack's new favorite restaurant), we headed to Muir Woods. Clint noted, as we drove up Mount Tamalpais, that we were at the scene of the Titan battle in Percy Jackson's-- The Titan's Curse.

After a four-mile hike in Muir Woods we drove down to Muir Beach. We hadn't realized that Trace had no memories of ever having been to a beach. He and Jack were ecstatic, but we only stayed for 10 minutes because we wanted to get to the Golden Gate Bridge before dark. We assured him that we'd do the beach again.

On to the Golden Gate Bridge!

Glory be! All the days of my life I did not know that the Golden Gate Bridge was Art Deco! Look at that beautiful cloud lift! It makes me so happy that when they built such a massive structure they made the effort to make it a thing of beauty.

After we crossed the bridge we went to Crissy Park to get pedestrian access. It was a major highlight because the boys got to watch the waves crashing in and the surfers surfing the south break of the golden gate.

Do you see Alcatraz behind them?

Taken from atop an old battery from World War II. 

We had to walk on the bridge, but we didn't get very far because by this time we'd walked about six miles and feet were sore and boys were hungry. Trace, who had taken a fall in Muir Wood, looked really bedraggled, so I gave him a piggy back ride to the car. As we went, he told me, "I have six pains: my knee hurts, my hand hurts, my left foot hurts, my right hand hurts, my stomach hurts and I have to go pee!" But he said this with a smile on his face. I have to say it is so nice traveling with older children, they don't whine much and they know stuff which makes them enthusiastic to see things. Heck, the teens were taking pictures with their phones and posting it on social media.

The traffic was a bit of a nightmare on the way back. Got to our room at 10:00 with Chick-fil-a for dinner. Mom was a little grumpy about the late dinner, but the boys maintained a good attitude--they are growing up!