UEA Vacation

UEA vacation was October 20-22, 2011.  We decided to take a trip to California to visit my brother Kenneth.  We rented a vehicle and my brother, Dennis, came with us.  We left Wednesday night after school, drove through the night and arrived at Kenneth's house at 4 am.  We would have been there an hour earlier, but the freeway came to a stand still due to an accident.  A semitruck jackkniffed and there were live chickens all over the freeway.  There was an exit behind us, so the police were backing cars up to get off.  It was pretty cool to watch big semi's turn around on the freeway.  We quietly were greeted by Kenneth and Heidi and went off to bed for a few hours of sleep.  Dennis drove the whole way and Allen's job was to keep him awake.  Joslynn didn't like sleeping in her car seat, so there were a few screams that helped Dennis stay awake. 
Thursday morning we headed to Natural Bridges Beach.  It was really overcast in the morning, but by afternoom the sun came out and it was beautiful.  The water was FREEZING, so we just got our feet wet.  Kaylynn was a little scared of the waves, so she stayed away and played in the sand a lot.

Dennis and Kenneth decided to get to the rocks and provided us some entertainment.  Kenneth slipped on the rocks and was drenched by a wave.  Dennis slipped coming back to the beach and was soaked.  Allen and I went over earlier in the day and didn't have a problem. 

Kenneth & Heidi

Everyone slept better Thursday night and were grateful for beds and airmattresses to sleep on.  Friday morning we got ready and headed for San Fransisco.  First stop was the Golden Gate Bridge.  We walked half way across and then the kids were tired.  We went back to the parking lot and had a picnic lunch at the one picnic table there.



On the bridge.



We drove down the crookedest street (Lombardee street). They had beautiful Hydrangias along the side of the road.  We also drove down the steepest street.  It looked like we were headed off a cliff and then went straight down.  The amazing thing is there were cars parked horizontally on the road.  It was an interesting site and I'm glad I don't live there.

 

 We then headed to Pier 39 to see the seals.  The kids loved them.  They made plenty of noise and we saw several jump on the docks.

Alcatraz

On the way back to Kenneth's we stopped at the Oakland Temple.  Any temple is a beautiful place to be!  This temple has a terrace that visitors can go on and walk around.  You could see the whole city, even the bay bridge and golden gate bridge in the far distance.  The kids liked playing in the water and luckily no one got more than their hands wet.
                       

This picture is walking on the terrace.

Alyssa and Emma

Saturday we lounged around Kenneth's.  It was nice to stay and visit with them.  We had a chicken barbque, which was delicious and brought back good memories of home.

 We left Kenneth's house around 5 pm and arrived back in Smithfield Sunday morning at 5:45.  Once again Dennis was a trooper and drove all night for us.  We are so glad we could go and visit.  Kenneth was feeling pretty good.  He will have another PET scan just to make sure there are no cancer cells and is waiting to meet with the gastroenterologist to figure out the problem with his liver.  We love Kenneth and his family and it has been wonderful to have them live closer to us so we can see them.  Know I just have to figure out how I can get the rest of my siblings closer.  This business of us living so far apart is for the birds.  I guess it really makes us appreciate the times we can get together and we sure have fun.