Muir Woods, the beach, and San Francisco

Ivy spent the morning making something yummy while we packed up the condo and loaded the car.

 

The morning of the 5th day (Wednesday) we woke up and packed up our condos for another drive.  We were heading to a place called Muir Woods in Mill Valley, California, about an hour outside of San Francisco.  My mom had reservations for the afternoon for us.  The reservations were for a specific time to park in the parking lot.  We got there early so we drove down to the beach for a quick look.

Muir Woods was a hike/walk through a forest of redwoods.  It was dense and quiet and so peaceful-even with our crazy bunch.  I loved how the sun came through the trees and made patterns on the forest floor.  So pretty.  It was also really quiet there-almost had a reverent feel to it.  I'll let the pictures speak for how beautiful it was.  So glad we included this in our plans, even though it was a little out of the way.

Tessa, Brynn, Christopher

Chloe, Josie, Tessa, me, Ivy, Brynn, Grace, Gavin, Grant, Seth, Stockton

ferns grew abundantly on the forest floor

Jeff, Ali, Seth, Gavin, Lucy, Erin, Spencer, Ben, Grace, Bryce, Abby, Brynn, Ivy, me, Chloe, Harper, Tessa, Justin, Josie, Molly, Grandpa, Grant, Stockton, Grandma, Erin, Christopher

Josie and Molly

this is where it looked like two trees had grown together

Brynn, Tessa, Harper

Josie, Molly, Justin, Tessa, Brynn, Abby

Grandpa, Grant, Ivy, Gavin, Harper, Stockton

Stockton, Grant, Ivy, Harper, Jeff

me, Abby, Josie, Molly, Lucy, Ivy, Brynn, Justin, Tessa, Grandma, Jeff

Molly, Chloe, Abby

Grant and Stockton

Harper, Lucy, Brynn

All the kids were super excited to see the beach so we drove down to Muir Beach before starting on our way to the condo for the night.  You can probably guess what happened...everyone got in the water.  With their clothes on.  The pull of those waves was too strong.  I don't think there was a single dry, non-sandy, non-freezing kid when we finally made it back to the car.  For our family, it was get all the sand off that we could, get in the car, drive the hour to the condo, find some dinner, shower, and to bed.  The kids snuggled in the king sized bed and watched Wipeout, which they found hilarious.

Harper, Brynn, Justin, Ivy

Josie, Ivy, Lucy

Grace and Ivy

Stockton, Grant, Seth

Gavin, Molly, Tessa

 

The next morning we went on a hunt to find a decent beach.  We had asked the clerk at the condo and she recommended a beach called Goats Rock so that's where we headed.  We drove 45 minutes through vineyards.  When we got to Goats Rock beach and saw the signs, we were so confused why anyone would recommend this beach, especially to a family with 16 kids in their group!  It was pretty, yes, but had signs all over saying that it was the deadliest beach on the California coast line because of a hidden drop off.  There was a coast guard there that warned us not to even step on wet sand.  Well, that for sure was not going to work!  We were waiting for the Broadbent's (we didn't have reception) so some of our group walked down to where was a little river/inlet and saw some sea lions.

Brynn and Harper

We got back in our cars and drove down the coast a bit until we found something more suitable and safer for our crew.  We ended up at Doran Beach and that was just what we were looking for.  Soft sand, good waves, no hidden dangers.  This was a really fun beach, although not like a Southern California beach.  The air was windy and not very warm.  I don't remember many adults going in the water-I certainly didn't!  I don't think I even took my jacket off!  But the kids had a lot of fun jumping the waves, playing in the sand, walking along the beach, hunting for sand dollars.

Grace, Lucy, Ivy, Josie

Grace, Ivy, Josie

Tessa and Molly

Gavin, Stockton, Grant, Molly

Stockton and Grant

Abby, Christopher, Tessa, Molly

playing pickle-Justin, Stockton, Gavin, Tessa

saw this as we were leaving-we were right on the San Andreas fault line

We left when it was getting close to dinner but we found a little place close by that served fresh fish tacos and fish 'n chips.  Stockton loved the fish 'n chips and the tacos were yummy too.  It was a cute little find and we made sure we found a sticker for our rooftop carrier to add to our collection.

The next morning was our last day before driving home.  We were driving to San Francisco and spending the day there!  Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge was so cool!  Glad Justin was driving with all those cars and on those crazy California streets!  Our first stop was Crissy Fields for iconic pictures with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.  You can also walk down to the bay and see Alcatraz.

Grant, Stockton, Gavin, Ivy, Brynn, Seth, Jeff

Abby, Molly, Chloe

Ben, Spencer, Seth, Gavin, Grace, Grandma, Chloe, Stockton, Lucy, Grant, Grandpa, Josie, Ivy, Tessa, Harper, Molly, Brynn, Abby

Alcatraz

We didn't stay too long since we had been warned that our cars weren't exactly safe where we parked-lots and lots of break-ins.  We drove a mile to Golden Gate Park, a little bit safer.  We took our chances.  We went on a small hike to the Golden Gate Bridge and walked on the bridge to the first column.  The traffic was crazy!  Stockton didn't love the height.  He was one of the first to turn around once we made it to that first column.  We explored a little bit at the museum before going back to our cars.  All cars were still intact!

me, Erin M., Chloe, Molly, Harper, Grace, Tessa, Ivy, Ali, Erin W., Christopher

Stockton wouldn't go close to the railing but felt much more comfortable against the tower

Stockton, Spencer, Harper, Ivy, Grace, Abby, Erin M.

I don't know who this statue is

 

We drove around downtown San Francisco until we got to Lombard Street.  Lombard street is a steep down-ward cobblestone street with these crazy hairpin turns.  You can only go about 5 mph.  People live along the street and the foliage and flowers are thick! No photos here but you can google "Lombard Street" for a visual.

Driving in downtown San Fran was no joke.  Justin did a great job.  We spent a long time trying to find a parking spot close to the pier that would fit the rooftop carrier-harder than you would think.  We finally found a spot and were off to Pier 39!

Brynn, Ivy, Abby, Molly

Lunch was first on the to-do.  Jeff had told us about the amazing sourdough bread bowls at Boudin's Bakery so Molly and I made a bee-line for that location.  Our clam chowder + sourdough bread bowl was amazing...and so big!  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Ivy and Brynn had some amazing pizza on the same sourdough.  Justin and Stockton had fresh fish 'n chips and were very pleased with their lunch as well.

 

We kind of split up here and each family did their own thing for the next few hours.  Our time was mostly spent walking along the pier, visiting all the shops, and picking out souvenirs.

At one point we decided to meet back together and go to Ghiradelli Square.  It was a packed house but we thoroughly enjoyed our ice cream.  The kids got to see how they make the chocolate as well.

me, Ali, mom, Erin W., Erin M.

Josie, Justin, Brynn

Gavin, Molly, Brynn, Harper, Spencer, Lucy, Tessa, Grace, Ivy, Grant, Seth, Stockton

 

We did a little more shopping on the way back to the car.  We stopped at the big Boudin's and watched them shape their loaves.  They make traditional sourdough loaves as well as fun shapes like turtles and teddy bears.  The guy who was working was a ham and put on a quite the performance for us.  We even got a thumbs up from him when taking a photo!

Ivy, Jeff, Seth, Lucy

Seth, Molly, Stockton

Stockton, Molly, me, Gavin, Brynn, Ivy

Molly and Gavin

Molly, Stockton, Brynn, Lucy, Ivy

 

We drove back to Reno that night and home the next day.  What a trip!  We saw some really amazing parts of the world and made great memories with our family.  I am so grateful for my parents (ahem, mom) who plan these trips for us and spend money on the lodging to make it a little easier for the rest of us.  I know my kids had a blast and won't be forgetting this trip any time soon.  My brother added up the amount of time spent in the car and how many miles we traveled...by his estimation, we drove approximately 2300 miles and spent 40 hours in the car over the week.  Whew!

 

And as a sidenote, the only license plates we didn't find were North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Georgia.  Between the 5 cars I think we found them all!