Falling in love with Norcal

This past July Ryan had to travel to San Francisco for work.  He decided it would be a perfect trip to bring his lovely wife along with him. Needless to say, I was happy. We found someone to watch the kids for a few days and we were off. As many of you know, Ryan grew up in San Jose so he was very excited to visit his old stomping ground and check out the neighborhood. It was a blast taking a trip down memory lane with him as he reminisced about his childhood memories and the fun they had. One particular place he wanted to visit was Super Taqueria, a Mexican food joint he remembered as being super delicious. Thankfully, his memory served him correctly and we enjoyed some of the best tacos ever. I actually went up and ordered one more because they were sooo good and exceeded my expectations. What's a trip without delicious food?

That afternoon we drove through the Santa Cruz mountains. It was beautiful but I was glad Halle wasn't with us or she definitely would have been puking in the backseat.

Santa Cruz. Beautiful beach, freezing cold water.

Walking on the beach at Santa Cruz. For the record Ryan is holding his flipflops, not an alien baby by its head, as this picture may make you think. When a friend pointed that out, we had a good laugh. 

Thursday we hit the Redwoods. I had never seen them before and Ryan insisted I wouldn't want to miss them. He was right. They are so magnificent and pictures definitely don't do them justice. Amazing. 

Later that afternoon we drove through downtown San Francisco and hit the tourist stops of Pier 49 and Ghiradelli Square. Alcatraz Island is in the distance. 

That night we enjoyed dinner at a restaurant right on the bay with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. It was so beautiful. 

We had an amazing seafood dinner and Ryan even convinced me to try oysters. They weren't as nasty as I had imagined. I might even eat them again sometime. 

The next morning I had made a request to go for a run together across the Golden Gate Bridge and Ryan gladly obliged. It was foggy and a bit chilly and definitely super memorable. 

Pre-run

Post-run. It was only about 3 miles total. 

I totally fell in love with Northern California while we were there. The Golden Gate Bridge will always be a favorite landmark of mine. We never plan to live there but I would love to take a trip back there anytime. 

We had such an amazing time together. I always forget how much I love trips with just the two of us without our darling children. Even sitting in traffic was enjoyable because it was just us. I sure love this husband of mine and love spending time with him. I'm already pining away for our next getaway.

I had to include a pic of the random flowers (if you can call them that) that were outside of our hotel that I admired everyday and talked to Ryan about every day. He was sweet to humor me and not get too annoyed with my constant babbling about this cool plant. Anyone know what it is?