Happy Monday, friends!
Liz and I are currently safely back in MO. After plane delays and an awful snow storm, I didn’t think we’d ever make it home.
I’m so thankful for safe travels!
Anyways, I am here to share all about the first few days of our California trip with you!
Be prepared- It’s a long post!
Ever since I’ve had the girls I have known when they turn 13 that I wanted to take them on a surprise trip.
It would be a special trip full of bonding and memories made.
This past year I’ve secretly been asking Liz where she would want to go if she could choose anywhere to go. (Without her knowing why I was asking)
She always said California and never waivered from that, so I knew that’s where I was going to take her.
I have had this trip planned and booked since early May of this year.
I was proud of myself because I was able to make it a complete surprise to her! She was so shocked she was speechless!
Best surprise EVER!
I made her go to school for 1st hour Thursday because she had a math test and I didn’t want her to miss it. #meanmom
I picked her up from school and we were off to the airport!
This was her first time flying and she loved every minute of it! 
We landed in San Francisco 6:00 Thursday night, but it was really 8:00 our time.
Our bodies told us we were hungry and tired.
We rode the BART system from the airport to downtown SF. (I don’t recommend this)
We tried to go into a Subway when we made it downtown and the lady couldn’t understand English very well and then a homeless man came in ripping papers up and digging through the top of the trash. FOR REAL?!? We got out of there QUICK!
I instantly realized that we weren’t in MO anymore and wondering what the heck I had gotten us into.
We quickly called an Uber to take us to our hotel and ate supper out of the vending machines. I promised Liz it would get better and I’d take her out to a good birthday supper the next day!
She didn’t mind though. We were exhausted from traveling all day and excited to be in San Francisco! 
Friday morning we slept in and then walked to Fisherman’s Wharf. Our hotel was near here and we were able to walk around everywhere with ease.
Unlike the night before with some sketchy people, we didn’t have any trouble all day in San Francisco and felt safe everywhere we went. I was RELIEVED!
This day was cool and foggy and a chance of rain that afternoon. When I asked Elizabeth what she wanted to do she said she wanted to shop and explore, so we did just that!
Fisherman’s Wharf was a great area.
The sea lions on Pier 39 were so cool to see! 
Fisherman’s Wharf had a lot of cute shops and we were able to souvenir shop like crazy. 
We even found a store just for Emily Grace and other left handed people. We picked her up a cool gift that I know she will love. 
After Fisherman’s Wharf we decided to just walk some more.
We walked to the famous Ghirardelli Square where they make the famous chocolate. YUMMY! 
Next we walked to the famous Lombard Street. It’s the most crooked street in the world. We had to walk up a GIANT hill to get there, but it was worth it. So cool to see the cars driving down it.
Our last destination for the day was to shop in Union Square. This area had the BEST shops and we did some damage shopping! Liz had a lot of birthday money that was burning a hole in her pocket.
Union Square was decorated so pretty for Christmas and the Macy’s there was so BIG! 
We took an Uber back to our hotel after shopping because we were EXHAUSTED and I didn’t want a repeat of the night before.
After resting a minute at our hotel, we walked again to Fisherman’s Wharf for supper at Fog Harbor Fish House restaurant. I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant. It was excellent!
On the way back to our hotel the rain caught us. We were soaked but laughed the whole way!
We walked a total of 10 miles that day and my legs and feet felt it by the time we made it back to the hotel. 
Not the best “adventure” day because of the weather but a day I will always remember simply for laughing and walking and talking with Elizabeth through the city of San Francisco!
I’ll hopefully be back tomorrow for more about our trip!
Enjoy your Monday!
That sounds like so much fun; even if it did get to off to a somewhat rocky start. What wonderful memoires you made together.
It was amazing!
That surprise was just the best. You could see in the video her mind just trying to process and total shock. So scary about the first night at Subway, but I’m glad it got better. I’ve heard that SF has a huge problem with homelessness and that they don’t prosecute thefts less than a certain amounts. So there are people who just walk into a Starbucks etc and grab food and leave. Crazy! The big city is definitely a different kind of place! Can’t wait to hear more about your trip.
Yes, I don’t think she believed it at first! The homeless situation is awful in SF. Every street you walked pretty much had at least 1 homeless person on it.
Sounds like was fun. BART is sketchy. Is there no homeless in MO? I am glad you both got to see the good stuff!
There are some homeless in our bigger cities but none where I live.
SO perfect! I love that video, and I love that you pulled this all off for such a special birthday! I would definitely have been nervous traveling to a big city w/o Joe, but you did great! I can’t wait to see the pictures from the rest of the trip. Have a great Monday!!
It was a little scary at first, but then I got the hang of it! We loved the big city life.
This is something I want to do with my kids also, though I am worried about how the younger ones will react when they find out they aren’t going. How did Emily take it? If we did a 13th birthday trip my younger two will be almost 11 and almost 9 when I’d take my eldest, then the youngest would be 11 when I take my middle daughter.
Emily was a little sad at first knowing she wasn’t going with us. Then when I explained it will be her turn soon and Elizabeth won’t be able to go, that made her feel better!