San Jose and San Francisco

July 11^th-July 18 Morgan Hill ( San Jose)  CA  By:Ally 

Mom and Gretchen 

Tori and Julia 

Sunday morning we woke up and went to Venture Church, the church that we used to go to when we lived in San Jose for a year. Afterwards, we had lunch at the Sitter’s house; they were a huge blessing to our family when we lived in San Jose. They would watch us kids so my parents could go on a date a couple times a month. Monday we went to our good friend Mrs. Gretchen's house to visit her and her sweet family of seven kids. We had lunch together, played with the kids, and had long chats with Mrs. Gretchen. 

Chit Chat 

Lacey, Collin and Sarah 

Tuesday we did some schoolwork and that night went to our friends the Phillip’s house for dinner and to visit. We played capture the flag and four square with Sarah and Hue, the Phillips 17 year old twins. 

Wednesday we hung out at Mrs. Gretchen’s house to play in their pool and visit some more. That night we had dinner with them and ate some of Mrs. Gretchen’s yummy food that she cooked, Pesto chicken and coconut salmon with coconut sauce….. oh sweet deliciousness! Mrs. Gretchen also made her famous smoothies, and cinnamon rolls. 

Purisima Creek Trail 

Thursday we woke up early and drove to Half-moon Bay to go on a hike in the Redwoods with Mrs. Gretchen’s family. After the beautiful green tree covered hike, we drove to the bay, got some strawberries from a local market, and ate them on the sand and admired the gorgeous view of the water.

 Friday we did more schoolwork and in the evening Gretchen and her kids came to our RV Park to see our RV and hang out for a while. We went to the park, and walked around. Mom made dinner for everyone and then we had a campfire and ate s’mores. It was  sad having to say goodbye to them. They are an awesome family! 

While we were in San Jose we had to stop off at our favorite ice cream place “Sweet Retreat”.

July 18 - July 25

Where: Pacifica, near San Francisco, CA

We arrived at the RV park in awe,t he park was right on the cliffs of the ocean! We could see the ocean through our door from our site. It was so beautiful! Sunday we went into the city of San Francisco and went to the Fisherman's wharf. There, we went to the Ghirardelli factory and bought some delicious dark chocolate.

We walked along the streets, went to the bay and saw the Golden Gate Bridge, and drove past Pier 39. Monday Dad flew to Utah for a business trip and the kids were sick, so we stayed home and did our school work. Tuesday me and the kids that weren’t sick went to the pool and walked on the little walkway the RV park provided that was right on the cliffs, where we could see the ocean. While walking we saw whales spouting water. Dad was still on his business trip. Wednesday, dad was in San Luis Obispo for a site walk. We woke up early and got some hot chocolate. Afterwards we did more some school work then walked down town Pacifica to a little bookstore. We got some new books for a dollar! Hooray for books! :) Thursday mom drove us kids to Devil's Slide, a two-mile hike along the cliffs that drops off into the ocean. It used to be a highway but they shut it down because of landslides; now it is a walkway for the public.

Devils Slide walk 

 Dad came home that night and we watched the sun set over the ocean with him and then Mom and Dad went out. Friday the family all went on a walk next to the Pacifica Pier. We walked on the beach, with strange black sand, and enjoyed the noise of the waves. After this outing, Dad and all of us went out to eat at a pizza place with one of Dad’s relatives named Mike. Mike is GG’s nephew. We visited with him for a while over some pizza lunch. We went home when we were done, to go swimming. The next morning it was time to leave. We were off to wonderful Lake Tahoe!