Catch Up Time: San Francisco

Wow, where to begin. I've been such a terrible blogger that I feel the need to play catch up.  Since I use this blog as our family scrapbook as well as an easy way to let family and friends from afar know whats going on in our lives, I want to tell you about our fabulous trip to Northern California.

We took a week off and flew to San Francisco in late October.  It was my first visit to North Cali, but with the help of some thoughtful friends here in Utah who are from that part of the Golden state, we planned a fun filled vacation. Our first stop was San Francisco, a town with which I am now in love.  It was unique and beautiful. Here is a peak at what we did:

We walked around downtown San Fran and saw the famous Cable Cars

Ghirardelli Square

David especially had a great deal of fun at Ghirardelli.  They had 3 or 4 chocolate shops around the area and in each one you got a free square of chocolate to sample.  Needless to say, we may or may not have gone into each store more than once. The chocolate was delicious.

Cool boat in front of Alcatraz

Alcatraz

On this trip, this picture is as close as we got to the famous Alcatraz Island.  We didn't take the boat tour, but that is something I'd like to do in the future.  I've heard that it is a really great, unique experience. 

Fisherman's Wharf

Fisherman's Wharf was a lively waterfront area with lots of people, restuarants, and shops. David ofcourse loved all the boats.  He still hopes to buy a sailboat this spring.

Crookedest Street in the World

We walked up the crookedest street.  Surprisingly there are residential homes along each side of it.  I would hate to live there because I think it is often a traffic jam with people attempting to drive down it.

City Overlook

At the top of the crookedest street.

From one of my favorite childhood shows - Full House!

Ofcourse I couldn't visit San Francisco without seeing the famous Victorian Painted Ladies. 

Golden Gate

We spent a good deal of time walking around Golden Gate Park. 

There were great hiking trails and a cool little pier and cafe at the bottom next to the water.

One afternoon we stopped for a snack and glass of wine at this amazing restaurant

View from our table

Then we traveled along down the beach to find these

crazy hang gliders

Random girl on the corner of Haight-Ashbury

Visiting this area makes you feel like your living in the flower-power, incense-burning,

tie-dye-wearing, peace-and-love-vibing era of the 60's.

In the 60's this was one of the most famous intersections in the country.  Apparently, young people came to it from all over the world in search of love and peace

More beach time

 Hubby and I enjoying the dazzling beach

Lovely

Stay tuned for our next stop...

Lately...

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger.  These last couple months have been extremely busy for us.

After the holidays things have started to slow down a bit.  Lately we've been doing a lot of skiing and hiking (in addition to both working full time, but who wants to read about work).
We've continued our Sunday afternoon tradition of hiking in Millcreek Canyon - about a 10 minute drive from our house. Peyton loves these afternoons.  Finally she's able to run free and boy does she ever.  I think she gets 3x the amount of exercise that David and I get by running circles around us or running ahead of us and then back.

Here are a few of our Sunday afternoons...

The Holt Family

 She's having a blast on the Pipeline trail.

Hiking with her friend Lucy.  Our friend Laura's dog.

 Beautiful Sunny Day on Neff's Canyon trail

 Back on Pipeline trail

I promise to try and update more often.  I plan to catch you all up on our fall and holiday vacations soon!

Bryce Canyon

My best friend, Emily, had a big birthday recently which we celebrated in Southern Utah.  Unfortunately, my camera took a dive in to some water, so I don't have many pictures to show you. I do have a few from friends.  We spent a night in a super nice cabin outside of Zion National Park (Thanks James).  Although I love camping and sitting outdoors next to a fire, I have to admit it was great to be able to sleep on a nice, soft mattress and wake up to a warm shower the next morning. 

We spent the day in Zion then came back to the cabin, cooked dinner, ate cake, and played catch phrase. There was also a pinata beaten for its candy.  

Blowing out her candles.  Of course its Funfetti cake!

 With her family

The next day we went to Bryce Canyon - 

Yet another beautiful place we've come across in this state full of surprises.  

 Henry lets us know what he thinks of Bryce Canyon.  That face is saying this is no Zion!

 Even though it was no Zion NP, it was still quite beautiful.

The Weekend Group

 A good time was had by all.  Unfortunately it was a bad weekend for my things.  After my camera took a dive in the Narrows, my car got stuck in some mud and a tire was gashed while trying to get it out.  It all turned out alright - I ended up getting a new camera and four new tires the following week which may have been a blessing in disguise with all of this snow we've had here lately. Its nice to have good tread while driving on this slippery stuff.

Scary, Fun, New Hobbies

Since we live in one of the most beautiful states with so many outdoor activities at our fingertips, we are trying to take life by the horns and experience everything it has to offer.

Some sweet friends of ours are quite the outdoorsmen and on a weekend trip to Zion National Park (my most favorite NP), they planned a rappelling adventure.  David had done some rappelling in the past, but I was a rookie.  Luckily, they were patient with me.  

This was the beginning of the trail. We hiked and rappelled down cliffs for 5 miles into that crevice.

Our fearless, skilled leader Andy

In one of the narrow parts of the canyon, having a blast...

Dave

I'm starting to get the hang of it

At first it is hard to let go and give all your weight to the rope, but once you've done that its an amazing feeling.

Cool view looking up from the top of one of the long rappels

James on the first long rappel

David - dropping over 100 feet!

Me - only slightly terrified!

The last rappel was into water. This is me dropping in to the Narrows - a gorgeous hike in Zion NP

Notice all of the people stopped to watch and take pictures of the crazy people jumping off the cliff, haha.

View from the bottom.

We had such a fabulous time and we can't wait to try out some different canyoneering trails.  Now that winter has set in, we won't be heading back out until spring.  

In Laws

In September, David's parents traveled from east Tennessee to visit us in Utah.  They had fabulous, warm, sunshiny weather during their stay.  It was great to have them with us.

On their last night in town, we went to this wonderful little restaurant called Log Haven. David took me there for my birthday last year and we fell in love with it.  It is an old log cabin almost hidden in Millcreek Canyon with picture-perfect views of the stream, waterfall, and cliffs. We had great food, wine, and enjoyed each others company. 

Check out their website here.  I highly recommend it for anyone visiting the Salt Lake area.

Cindy, Dave, David, and me at dinner.