Stuff from the beginning of June

Whilst we were on vacation Holly got a call (I think she actually got the call when we were on Alcatraz) that one of the dentists in town wanted to interview her for a summer receptionist job.  She interviewed over the phone and got the job!  She started just a couple of days after we got home. 

She loves her job!  She doesn't work Wednesdays (and no weekends of course) so she's still driving a picker in the berries and also working some in the processing plant.  Last Saturday she worked an 18-hour day.  This college girl needs moola!
Katie decided to give Carly a bath.

I think she kinda liked it.

John got a new grill for Father's Day.

The girls and I went to the Farmer's Day Parade downtown.

It was super hot out so Katie really enjoyed her snow cone!  We have a new truck in town where you can put your own flavors on the ice...that's a pretty big deal to an 8-year-old!

After the parade I volunteered to help make the world's largest strawberry shortcake.  It was part of Lynden's 125th anniversary celebrations.  The shortcake stretched about four blocks (1,250 feet) and used all donated local ingredients.

The shortcake used 900 pounds of shortcake, 1,088 pounds of strawberries, 360 quarts of ice cream, and 1,020 ounces of whipped cream

The kids FINALLY had their last day of school.  I thought school would never end this year.  I guess it didn't help going on vacation while they were still in school!

Bring on summer vacation!

San Fran #6

Our last full day in the city we slept in.  After lots of mornings of getting up early and going to bed late, it felt good!

We walked back to Golden Gate Park again.  We came across this pond they use for model boats.  No boats today but we saw lots of turtles.

There's even a bison paddock in the park!  It was kind of surreal seeing bison in the middle of a big city.

Of course we had to take a picture in front of the Dutch windmill.

The ex-hippie in the observation tower had told us about a restaurant that made their own Root Beer so we got some and then headed to the beach.
This was the most surprising part of our trip.  I wasn't expecting the beach in San Francisco to be so nice.  The water was cold (that didn't stop the kids from getting wet of course).  But the sand....the sand was INCREDIBLE.  It was really fine and really hot and I just wanted to bury myself in it.   I think we could have spent the whole day at the beach.  It was everyone's "high" that night.

We eventually brushed off the sand and walked up the hill to the Sutro Baths.  The baths started out as a public bathing house for San Franciscans.  It later turned into a huge public swimming pool.  It burned down in the 1960s but the ruins of it are still pretty cool. 

When my mom, sister and I were here 12 years ago we took a bus tour and the Sutro Baths was one of the stops.  I remember we could see this sea cave from the top and my mom wanted my sister and I to go into it.  The weather was chilly and we weren't sure if we had enough time before the bus left so we didn't go.  Of course I had to go in it on this trip.

Inside the cave.

We hopped on another bus (thanks Doyle for figuring out all our public transportation routes).  Destination - Chinatown.  San Francisco's Chinatown is the largest outside of Asia.

Our goal was to eat in an authentic Chinese restaurant and not get sick.  Some nice Asian lady on the street talked us into this one.

I'm not sure how authentic it was but we had lots of fun and none of us got sick!  I love the look on Holly's face.  She was a little nervous that our dinner was going to come from the fish tank. Well, ours didn't but before we left someone ordered fresh fish.  The cook went to the fish tank, grabbed one out, took it to the counter and chopped the head off.  Doesn't get much fresher than that. Holly and I had a great view of the kitchen.

The best part was the lazy susan in the middle of the table.  We just ordered a bunch of different stuff and ate family style.

By the time we got done eating, it was getting dark and all the paper lanterns came on.  They were so pretty.  Most of the shops were closing up but we went in a few (I think they all sold the same stuff).

We headed back to the condo for ice cream treats.  We had lots left so everyone had to eat two!

Another 8 mile day!

I'm just going to go ahead and finish up here...

The next day was KATIE'S BIRTHDAY!  We started the day out by having a breakfast of chicken and cheese quesadillas, sausages, spaghetti and ice cream bars (trying to finish up the leftovers in the fridge).  We sang (English and Dutch versions) to the birthday girl and she got to open her presents.  Packed, cleaned up the condo and sadly said goodbye to the Beltmans. :(

I asked Holly if there was anything we didn't do that she wanted to do (after all this was her graduation trip).  The only thing was to see Mrs. Doubtfire's house so we googles the house, plugged it in to the GPS and headed over.  It was only about 4 miles from our condo and I'm so glad we went because we drove through some beautiful neighborhoods with amazing row houses. 

We then made our way (slowly) to the Golden Gate Bridge and crossed it again on our way out of town. 

John really wanted to take Highway 1 along the ocean.  It was a beautiful drive but Holly and I got sick on the curvy roads and it was long...very, very, very long (took us almost 7 hours to go 350 miles) so I don't think it was quite the family moment John had dreamed of.

 I have never in my life been so happy to get off a road.

We had a little scare when I could not find a hotel room for the night.  We hadn't really thought about it being Memorial Day weekend.  Finally found a yucky one in a yucky little town.  The only good thing was there was a McDonalds right next door - Katie's choice for her birthday supper!
The next day we were back in the car and with only quick stops for gas and slushies we were at Gene and Cindy's place in Salem by 5:00.  Had a nice visit with them.  They just sold their house after some major updating that they tackled all on their own.  They did a beautiful job and although we'll be sad to see the place go (the kids loved the zip line) we are excited for them as they start this next chapter in their lives.

Headed home the next morning.  Stopped at the hospital in Bellingham to visit Uncle Gary.  He decided to twist his colon while we were on vacation.  We were back at the Hiemstra House around 5:00ish. 

AWESOME vacation!  Just the right amount of sightseeing and down time, great traveling companions, good coffee shops, lots of ice cream, kids never complained, no one got lost, we laughed a lot (mostly at Susie), made lots of good memories and I GOT MY HOLLY BACK!! 

San Fran #5

Are you sick of seeing my vacation pictures yet?
On our fifth day in San Francisco we got up early in order to catch the 7:00 bus to Pier 33, otherwise known as Alcatraz Landing.  Doesn't everyone look happy in this picture even tough it's so early?  Notice I am not in the picture.

We were the first ferry to "The Rock". 

I had been there once before (12 years ago) and this was Holly's third time there but we both agreed we loved it just as much.  It has the best audio tour ever, it's actually former inmates and correctional officers narrating and you can go at your own pace. 

"Broadway" where new prisoners were marched down.

Some typical cells.  The first warden was very strict and didn't allow really anything in the cells.  As time went on though the inmates were allowed to have art supplies, musical instruments, games, reading material, radios, etc,

The view of the city from Alcatraz. 

 There are lots of flowers on Alcatraz.  The island is truly just a rock but the soldiers (Alcatraz started out as a military post) first stationed there started bringing over dirt to make gardens.  Later, trusted inmates were allowed to take care of the gardens. 

You can see the Golden Gate Bridge in this pic.

The recreation yard.

After the prison was shut down (it became too expensive to run) the Indians claimed it as their land for about a year.  They ended up burning down a lot of the buildings. #notcool

Famous inmates.  Alcatraz was never the first stop for a prisoner.  They were all brought there from other prisons because they were especially violent or had tried to escape. 

 Selfie in solitary confinement.

 Our traveling buddies.

There were 14 escape attempts from Alcatraz.  The most famous was in 1962 where three inmates used spoons to chip away at the concrete surrounding the vents in their cells.  The night of the escape they placed paper mache heads complete with hair taken from the barber shop in their bunks and made it to the water.  They used stolen rubber raincoats to make a raft.  The raft was found in the bay but the three men were never found.  It is presumed they drowned in the frigid waters. 

The warden's house looking from the dock.

Most of the correctional officers lived on the island with their families.  The rubble is where there used to be apartment buildings. 

 Stairs leading to the recreation yard.

On the ferry heading back.

Once back on the mainland we headed to Pier 39.  It's basically a big tourist trap with lots of shops and restaurants.

Katie really liked the sea lions that live there for part of the year (apparently these are all males and a couple of months later they will all leave to go mate).

She also got chosen to come onstage and help the magician who was performing there!

After Pier 39 we headed to another pier (can't remember which number it was) to check out the Musee Mecanique, a huge collection of antique arcade games.  Doyle proved he still had it when he got high score on Ms Pacman (yes, apparently Ms Pacman is considered an antique).

Susie had to put a quarter in this one because it was "Susie the can can dancer"!

And this is Laughing Sal.  You put a quarter in her and she laughs....a very scary laugh.

A laugh I still hear in my nightmares.

This was Katie's reaction.

She just stood frozen like this the entire time Sal was "laughing".

 She actually had to be comforted by Hannah when it was finally over.

Hey, look at that - I found the pier number!  It's Pier 45 we were at!
We took a little break from the waterfront and headed to Lombard Street, also known as the crookedest street in the world (although I don't actually think it is). On the way there we hopped aboard some cable cars.

Of course we actually needed to experience Lombard Street, not just see it so we walked up and back down again.

Some pretty houses along the sides but you'd have to keep your blinds closed all the time unless you wanted people looking in at you all the time.

We ended our day by heading back to the water and had dinner at Fisherman's Wharf.

Fish and chips of course!  Sam was pretty impressed that his was served in a fry basket.

Another 8 miles today.  Tomorrow we'll wrap up this San Fran adventure.