Our San Francisco Treat

View from Coit Tower













San Francisco here we come!
Nick and I recently ventured out on a 12 day road trip; Destination: San Fran, Yosemite, St. George, Escalante, Moab and Salt Lake City. Thought I would post a few pics (yeah, that's right, I'm learning slowly but surely how to utilize this blog) for your viewing pleasure. Up first San Fran!

My beloved friend James acted as host, tour guide and photographer extraordinaire for the 48 hour stay Nick and I enveloped while in San Fran. As a 3 year native to the 7x7 mile peninsula, James has been encouraging me and all of his friends to come visit the diverse city he loves so much. So we did...rolling in after a 14.5 hour drive (but first stopping in Castle Crags for a sunrise viewing and intense hike), James warmly welcomed us and our gear, groceries and backpacks into his amazing 2 bedroom town home in North Beach District. After showers and a quick glance at the city from the rooftop (don't tell), we hit the streets walking! From Chinatown to Farmers Market at the Ferry Terminal, we were awed by the city's diversity, authenticity and architecture. We hit up the typical touristy spots; Fisherman's Warf (clam chowder in a sour dough bowl...of course) and the Ghirardelli Square (double cappuccino hot fudge sunday blast...naturally) while also enjoying the quaintness that San Fran offers...Saturday night church service, an amazing Tapas restaurant and enjoyable conversation with other friendly San Fran natives. Besides being awed by the accessibility that this fine city has to offer, Nick and I were taken aback by the diversity and things to do there. Walking, walking, and more walking pleased us to no end...a nice chance to stretch the legs before heading off to our next destination: Yosemite, a mere 6 hours away or 7.5 if I fall asleep in the passenger seat and neglect to assist in the navigation department. Oops!

A wonderfully enthusiastic Thank You to James for going above and beyond the line of duty to show two friends a city so near and dear to his heart. You are such a blessing!

Nick in Chinatown...he fits right in!

Our professional "shot" on California Street - don't mind the guy in yellow.














Farmer's Market and all their goodies














Letting out a little crazyness from a long car ride

Fixin' up the House

Sunset at Lariabee


This weekend, my adoring parents (and Brea of course - total momma's girl, freshly groomed doggie) came to Bellingham to swap their three days of freedom for three days of work on and around the new digs with Nick and I. That's why they call it Labor day right??? Work. So that we did. Dad asked for a prioritized list of projects and after scoffing at the three pages Nick and I mustered up, we narrowed it down to a few "need to happen now" projects that could realistically be done in 3 days: Repair the leaking dishwasher and dripping sink, replace the cracked toilet and living room light fixture, pressure wash the fence, and install shelving in the garage. Nick and I also had a game plan in mind to show them some of Bellingham's best features to perhaps swoon them into an ideal retirement location or at least have a better understanding of why we decided to move back up. Trips to the Farmers Market, Larabee for the sunset, ice cream break at Mallards, quick burritos at Banditos, bike ride to Whatcom Falls, swim at Padden and a hike to Yellow Aster Butte were all on the docket...unfortunately, only the first few on that list happened too; there is just too much to do in Bellingham. But hey, work had to get done and since we have 2 and a half more pages of projects to go, there will be many of opportunity to see all that B-ham has to offer. So as Nick hit the garage with dad to build shelves, and mom was dudded up in mud boots and earplug pressure washing, I was under the house, hanging ducting and spraying beams to keep the bugs out....all working hard. I learned a long time ago, taking breaks are essential while doing home repair, otherwise, people start getting grumpy (as in me) and decide to quit long before the project is done (oops, me again). This is when I would suggest a trip to Lowes or Home Depot for more supplies (completely work related, plus I get my Diet Pepsi on the way there). Silly me thought that would be a work break, where in actuality, it turns into a 2 hour tool shopping spree for Nick, tapping into dad's 30+ years of experience in the field as I stand there interested for about 30 seconds then make twenty laps around the store and start to sigh real loud to get my point across that I am DONE and ready to be back under the house. I was more exhausted leaving the store then working at home. Once again, affirmation that I need to seriously work on my patience. Don't worry though, we only headed back to the hardware store 2 more times and I stuck through it each time.
All in all , we had a fantastic weekend. We can now use our garbage disposal without whipping out the plunger and the dish washer actually cleans the dishes instead of being used as drying rack. I would have to say that the best part of the weekend was transporting Brea in a backpack as we rode our bikes downtown to the market. And since dogs aren't technically allowed in the market area, she continued to call the backpack home, with her newly fluffed head popping out of the top, taking in all the vendor's goods. I think Brea got more attention and photographs of herself in that two hour span than I have my entire life. People are suckers for cute dogs in backpacks I suppose. Perhaps next weekend, I will sit in Nick's backpack and see what kind of attention I get...probably not as many "oh that is sooooo cute" comments, but hey, a girl can dream.

The crew hard at work:


That's me...under the house. It's so ROOMY!

Mommasita doing her thang! Check out those hot kicks and hat...she is a trend setter you know!

Dad and Nick fixing the leaking sink...obviously, Nick LOVES plumbing!

Brea working the hardest of us all. Seriously, sometimes I wish I had this dogs life...go on a walk with mom, come back, eat mom's hamburger, nap, eat mom's icecream, nap, get belly rubbed by dad and Nick, nap, lay by mom, nap, go on a walk...