"Wicked" in San Francisco

A day after getting home from Seattle, I repacked my bags and set off for a "girls trip" to San Francisco. The attendees included my mom, my sisters, my sister-in-law Casie, my friend Sue Ann. The main objective of the trip was to see the musical Wicked, and while it was absolutely great, the entire trip was great as well.

Fifteen minutes after our plane had landed we were already getting scammed. I was the first to fall for it and was taken for $1.45 which was the change from my subway ticket. A guy posing as a BART employee was really working us over. After that little incident we became a bit wiser. Besides that we had Casie along and she was ready to take out anyone who tried anything!

Immediately after taking our bags to our hotel we set out to find food! After walking up and down the street a few times we finally decided on Lori's Diner. It was so much fun. We even ate breakfast there the next morning.

DeAnn and Melinda flew in later on Monday and so we decided that we'd save the BIG stuff for them and shopped instead. We were drawn into a HUGE Ross store and spent probably 2 1/2 -3 hours there. Even then, we only hit two out of the four levels.

We met up with the stragglers just in time to eat dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. The view from the restaurant was pretty cool. It over looked Union Square and our hotel on the right.

The next morning after breakfast we boarded a bus and began our day as tourists. First we went to Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies (the row homes that are a well-know San Francisco icon)


From there we rode through China Town (with hopes of returning) on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. From there we went to Hyde Park, got some munchies and played with the pigeons.


From there we boarded a cable car and went to Lombard Street, the crookedest (is that a word?) street in the world.
From there it was time to go back and get ready for what we were there for, WICKED. Since we had spent most of the day playing we were short on time and so we ended up eating at the mall eatery, and I must say it was one of my most favorite meals of the trip. It wasn't your typical eatery with cheap food chains. I had tri-tip sirloin that was soooo good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
I didn't want to bother with having to have my camera checked in incase they did that at the theater so I don't have any pictures of attending the event. I'm sure someone does though!
The next morning we woke up early and everyone of us had songs from Wicked playing in our heads. We had made reservations to go to Alcatraz and on our way to get on a cable car we stopped to eat at various places. Since I have an keen eye, stomach, and craving for food I feel like I made a VERY good choice when compared to a few others.

We all agreed that going to Alcatraz was worth doing. It was really interesting to see and hear about. From there we spent the rest of our time in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf. We used our time up until the very last minute. It was truly a great trip. I think it should be a tradition!

P.S. Thanks Mom!

Zipping Around Whistler

I thought I'd add a few more pictures of our vacation. These are pictures of our time in Whistler, BC. Canada. It was beautiful there.

George and the kids braved the ZipTrek zipline. It looked like a lot of fun. I'm definitely in next time!There they are, being shuttled to the top of the mountain. All dressed up in their special gear! A black bear down below, luckily they were high above it! Proof that George really did it. Yes, he's hanging on tight!

While the rest of them were having fun on the zip line, Nixon and I were having some fun of our own.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Two days after having my new ticker installed we headed off to the Great Northwest. It was just what the doctor ordered. Truly! I know myself and had I been at home I would have never been able to relax and take it easy. The long drive to and from Seattle alone was more rest and relaxation than I probably would have had at home. And while we had a wonderful time and did a lot I really felt like I took things pretty easy for the most part.

Evidence of me relaxing

Conner and Kylee planned a wonderful vacation for us in Conner's hometown. They worked out a great itinerary and we didn't miss out on a thing. His parents were extremely generous. They put us up in their home for a few nights and then we stayed in their condo in Whistler, BC for a couple nights as well. They treated us to great seats at the Mariners games for two nights, boating for two days on a beautiful lake, FOOD, beautiful views, and we were even lucky enough to get to see Conner's little sister, Lauren, perform in a ballroom dance production.

Kylee & Linzy,Karson & Conner, & George
They were having some great fun with all the floation devices, especially the SUMO tube!

Conner had some VERY impressive

moves! He was fun to watch.

Enjoying the Mariner's game

Nixon just taking it all in

Eating treats at Pikes Place

I've got more pictures I want to download but they are on Kylee's camera. She is still in Seattle so I'll do it in a few days.

There was a down side of the trip. Kaydee, Launey and the kids weren't able to make it. I thought about them a ton. I hope they know that we missed them.

Some Heart Pounding Excitement

It feels like I've got so much to talk about! We've had a bit of excitement around here and elsewhere the past couple of weeks and more to come in the days ahead, but I wanted to quickly post and first of all tell everyone "THANK YOU" for all the thoughts, prayers, cards, gifts, dinner, service, etc. I am always so amazed by people. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!
And, just so you all know, I am feeling great. Getting used to the new piece of equipment living inside me is going to be my biggest hurdle. I didn't realize how much I'd notice it. I'm sure that over time it will become very normal but as for now I seem to feel more than I really want to. It still kind of gives me the "he-be-ge-bees." Dr. Wang said that I can start back running after two weeks but that I need to start out at half the amount of what I had been doing. I am getting so anxious and apprehensive about getting back out there but at the same time I'm worried about feeling it a bit too much for my liking. But once again, I know I'll get used to it over time.
The true fact of the matter is, I am very grateful that I have the pacemaker in place to feel at all. I'm amazed and very blessed by the way everything feel into place with this whole thing. It's very obvious that the Lord has His ways of taking care of us. He took care of me when I didn't even realize I needed the care.