California knows how to party!

In honor of our one year anniversary, Adam and I took the week to go visit my grandpa in (slightly) sunny California!  It. Was. Amazing.  My grandpa loves young love, so he worked really hard to make this a special trip for us.  We took lots of pictures, so I'll start posting them and narrate as I go!

After our close call with getting to the airport for our trip to Utah, we decided to play it safe and give ourselves plenty of time to make our flight.  It worked!  Unfortunately, the plane was almost full by the time it landed in Kansas City that Adam and I got split up and both had a miserable four hour trip trapped by the people next to us.  With that out of the way, we made it safely to the Oakland airport and were soon greeted by Grandpa, who after dropping off our luggage, took us to lunch at the Hickory Pit (where his breakfast club meets).  After a nap and catching up with Grandpa, he heard about Adam's love of seafood and took us to the swankiest place in town.  Adam and G-Pa got some kind of West Coast fish that was apparently really good while I walked on the wild side (for this Kansas girl) and ordered Alaskan halibut.  Not too bad!

My grandpa gave us his condo for the week while he stayed with his lady friend Jackie (no scandals...he slept downstairs, she slept upstairs...he made sure to make that clear!).  I love my grandpa for so many reasons, but especially his sense of humor.  This post-it note above the scale in the bathroom is just one example of it.

The next morning, he dropped us off at the BART station and gave us a map of San Francisco.  We tried not to look like tourists, which meant that we walked a lot in the wrong direction for 20 minutes before stepping into a Starbucks to memorize the map.  Our first stop was Chinatown.  Pretty cool, but it definitely had some interesting smells...I wasn't really excited to go back there for lunch, but Adam got some cool pictures.

While looking over the map, we noticed a few locations we wanted to check out: the "steepest street" and the "crookedest street."  They seemed to be fairly close by, so we began our journey.  And continued our journey.  I definitely was feeling the burn after 10 blocks of straight incline!

However, our detour was definitely a pleasant surprise.  We walked along Hyde Street (pictured below) for another 10 blocks, which was the most picturesque street ever.  We loved the trees lining the street, gorgeous homes, and cable cars still running.

After visiting the steepest street (which was very steep), we visited Lombard Street, the crookedest street.  It was beautiful!  We loved the brick road and gorgeous landscaping....we're just glad we didn't have to drive down it!

After our long walk/hike, we were definitely starving and somehow found ourselves in Little Italy (no complaints there!).  We found a cafe and ordered excellent panini sandwiches, then finished our meal with gelato.  Adam definitely picked the best flavors - fresh pear, guava, and pomegranate.  We then took BART back to Walnut Creek (just about three hours before the BART riots took place...talk about timing!).

When we got back, we shared our pictures with G-pa and had time to visit and relax, then back to eating - soup and salad this time...we had been eating a lot of food!  The next morning, Adam and I drove to Oakland and were able to go to the LDS temple there...the same one in which my parents got married!  It was really beautiful and a good reminder of the importance of families.  I love mine!

When we got back, G-pa's friend Jackie made us lunch - clam chowder and tuna/avocado sandwiches on Jewish rye (I'm telling you....this vacation really seemed revolve around food).  Adam definitely enjoyed the chowder while I really loved my sandwich!  Adam, G-pa, and I then took off on a scenic drive to get to an old auto museum.  I tell you what, those two boys went crazy in there!  I have to admit, there were some pretty nice looking cars.  We had just taught Grandpa how to use his new digital camera and he was just snapping away!

That night, we met up at a little Italian place with my uncle and aunt.  Adam had never met my mom's brother, so it was fun for everyone to get to know each other.  My grandpa introduced Adam as "Shorty Buhler" the entire trip...it was great.  We had a good time and good food.

The next morning, my grandpa had arranged for his buddy Skip to give us a limo tour of San Francisco.  What was supposed to be two hours turned into four - but it was great.

Adam and I fell more and more in love with San Francisco as we drove around its neighborhoods, parks, and sites.  There is so much to do and see!  We got some great pictures and did lots of brainstorming on how we could eventually move out here (you know...setting goals and making plans!).  We love it.

That night, my grandpa had made reservations for us at the Hilton right by the airport since we had an early flight.  We had some high hopes for the hotel, but were pretty disappointed when a day's worth of internet cost more than our monthly service at home.  Good thing we were close enough to get some from the unsuspecting Econolodge across the street!  We arrived the next morning safely in Kansas City, but were a little bummed our vacation is over.  Only three degrees, five years, and a whole lot of money to be saved until we can move there permanently!