Vacation Part 3: San Francisco

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Sunday was our final day of vacation (since Monday would be spent mostly on the plane). We packed most everything there is to see in San Francisco in on one day. We started off taking the cable car from Union Square down the Fisherman's Wharf. We took a Cable Car tour that was a great overview of the city and took us through Chinatown, Little Italy, Union Square, Russian Hill and by the waterfront. For lunch we had sourdough bread bowls with clam chowder or chili at Boudin. Joel and I took a tour of the USS Pampanito submarine that is in the harbor...which Joel enjoyed a little more than I did. We walked around Pier 39, saw the sea lions and had a funnel cake, went to Gharadelli Square and the Palace of Fine Arts before taking our night tour of Alcatraz. This was the highlight of the day! The audio tour was really great, and since we were on the night tour they do some special talks. We finished out the night with dinner at a restaurant on the wharf. We certainly had a packed vacation! Joel and I have decided that we will have to alternate active vacations like this one with relaxing vacations like Jamaica. I think I'm ready for my relaxing vacation any day now...

Vacation Part 2: Napa Valley

Day 5:

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We were so ready to be done with camping, we were packed up and ready to go by 6:30. Pretty impressive since we were all limping around! We fueled up with some outrageously expensive gas and were on our way to Fairfield, CA. Spotting a Burger King to get breakfast was one of the highlights of the day--it was literally the only fast food (or restaurant, for that matter) for probably 2 1/2 hours. We got checked in and had lunch at a fish and chips place before our factory tours at Jelly Belly and Budweiser. It was our 4 year wedding anniversary, so Joel and I had dinner on our own at Black Angus Steakhouse--which was really good!

Day 6:
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Our Napa tour included Sterling Vineyards, Beringer (were I found my perfect drink-"fun in a bottle" and lunch at V. Sattui. Still very sore and tired from our 17 mile hike, we called it a day and drove to San Fransisco. The guys took the rental car back to the airport while Liz and I took naps and relaxed in our rooms. We went to dinner in Little Italy and rested up for a big day of sightseeing on Sunday.

Vacation Part 1: Yosemite!

Day 1:

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We got in San Fransisco around 11, picked up the rental car, and made the 4 hour drive to Yosemite. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner, and basically just set up camp for the night once we arrived.

Day 2:
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On this day we hiked in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. It was a nice hike (about 7 miles) and helped us get acclimated to the elevation (or so we thought)...we then drove to Yosemite Valley to set up or camp for the next three nights. We went to the store in the valley and since it rained we watched a movie on the portable DVD player in the car for a while (roughing it, I know)! It rained after dinner too, so we called it an early night.

Day 3:
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We had a low key day on our third day at Yosemite. It was still pretty wet and overcast in the morning, so we decided to do some sightseeing from the car. We took a morning drive and then did the small trail to Lower Yosemite Falls. Our patience for cooking was gone, so we had a nice meal at the Mountain Room restaurant. We went to bed as soon as we got back from dinner--had to get some rest for our big hike the next day!

Day 4:
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This was the big day we had planned--hiking up to Half Dome. We set off around 6:45--8.5 miles and six hours later, Joel and I had reached our breaking point near the top. We decided not to venture up the 2 dozen switchbacks and 800 feet of cables to get to the very top...the view from where we stopped was perfect for us! Another 8.5 miles back to the bottom and four hours later we were back to the car! Hallelujah! We had some yummy pizza for dinner and put our aching bodies to bed!

Up next: Napa Valley!

I know....

everyone wants an update....it will likely be the weekend before I get around to doing a proper post on the trip and my trip back to NC last weekend.

Stay tuned...