How true that is!
This summer we went on a trip to San Francisco, then down to Sequoia National Park, including King's Canyon, and then back to Reno. We hit every temple along the way, and visited (well, tried to visit--it was under construction) where the Donner Party wintered after they were stranded by a freak snowstorm.
We shared the story with the kids, but Adrienne didn't believe it really happened. You never would guess something as terrible as that would have happened at such a beautiful place.
This photo is of the kids and Burke overlooking the spot where the pioneers crossed the mountains.
This photo is on the grounds of the Oakland Temple. The view is of Oakland, the San Francisco Bay, and the smog.
We crossed the Bay Bridge and got to see a working seaport. Burke and I were impressed with the barges and big cranes, but the kids were more excited to get to the hotel and the pool.
Once we arrived in San Francisco itself, we decided to explore outside of downtown and visit a cool park that was described in my travel guide. It was actually a hiking trail that led through the cliffs to the ocean. It was gorgeous and much cooler than the heat of Oakland.
This little trail and the time we spent in the ocean ended up being my favorite part of our stay in San Francisco.
This pic is at the trail head of Land's End.
We actually got separated when Adrienne had a little potty issue and Burke took the kids one way along the trail, and I took Adrienne the other. The older kids got to see a nifty little spiral on top of the cliff. It was probably good that I didn't go up there, or they wouldn't have been running around on the top of a cliff. It was pretty steep.
You can see from this photo (or maybe not, Burke zoomed in to get this picture) how high he was compared to the ocean below, where Adrienne and I were hanging out.
This is the zoom out of the same beach from Burke's vantage point.
You can see it was a pretty quiet and peacful place. I didn't see a lot of tourists there, so hopefully it will remain a hidden gem that we can visit again in the future.
We spent a while there and let the kids play in the water. We didn't have them wear their swimsuits because the ocean was so cold, so we weren't prepared for the sopping wet mess that resulted. It was worth it though, we all loved it.
A video of the kids playing in the water, except for Nathan who didn't want to take off his shoes. (Crazy kid).A few miles away was another much more crowded beach. It was also very pretty, but so cold. I couldn't believe that there were people swimming in bikinis.
After a long day of traveling and playing, we decided to head back to our hotel. We swam, ate, and rested up to come back to San Francisco the next day.
