San Francisco/Napa

What a crazy couple of days!! Yesterday we drove around Crater Lake; what a beautiful place. The lake is unbelievably blue and there is still snow on the ground! Sheala remembered learning about Crater Lake in 4th grade, so she had to get some postcards for her teacher. The water is so still and clear that you can see perfect reflections of the amazing formations around the lake. The only drawback was the windy roads; reminiscent of Mesa Verde . . . After that, we drove to Napa, CA. We happened to drive through Weed, CA; but we didn't see anything to verify the reasoning for the name . . .

Today, we left Napa to visit San Francisco all day. We spent 45 minutes trying to find parking and had to spend $40 to park the rv for the whole day. Putting that in perspective with the two $30 ferry trips, I guess it wasn't that bad. We went on a cruise around the bay, under Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. The trip was cold and windy, but we went inside after awhile to keep warm. Wonderfully, no one got sick on the boat trip even though the water was pretty choppy. After the boat trip we toured a World War II submarine; the girls had tons of fun turning all the knobs and switches. For lunch we all had clam chowder in bread bowls, even the girls. They have been a lot more adventurous with their food lately; I'm so proud!! Then we went on a "Trolley" tour around the city. It wasn't a real trolley, it was a bus made to look like a trolley. We were all a little thankful for that when we noticed how loud the trolleys were. The trolley tour was fun, especially for the girls, though not so fun for Scott's back. He's okay now, but he was a bit sore for awhile. We meandered around Fisherman's Wharf for awhile, played in the antique arcade, sampled some Ghirardelli chocolate, and bought some Chinese dresses for the girls. Now we're back at camp playing Life and having microwave s'mores, no fires allowed :( . Tomorrow we're on to Yosemite, maybe . . . Don't forget to forward the blog and the facebook pics, Love You All!!

Sheala's Spot: I thought Crater Lake was cool because of Phantom Ship, and the reflections were awesome because the water was so blue. The cliffs feel like you're about to fall off because they're so steep. I thought the wild life was cool and pretty. I was very, very surprised there was actually snow there in July!! In San Francisco, I liked the boat, the submarine and the trolley because we got to see so much. I also liked the town because it was so big, you thought you could get lost but it also felt like you knew every corner.

Cameron's Corner: At Crater Lake I saw squirrels. The lake was awesome because it was cool colors; blue and green. San Francisco was AWESOME!! I loved the dresses we bought. I also loved the boat, the trolley and the arcade.