A few months ago (okay, okay, back in January) I started brainstorming ideas for Doug's birthday. He is one of those people who tries purposely not to show too much of a reaction when receiving a gift, so it's always a challenge for me to get a grin out of him, let alone a "WOW this is AWESOME!" Most of the time he spoils the fun by either guessing what the gift well in advance or "accidentally" coming across it.
Well not this time, mister. I was super sneaky and started dreaming about taking him to see his favorite baseball team (the Braves) play. Flying to Atlanta was out of the question - waaaaay too expensive right now for us. The next best alternative was at a location within driving distance. Conveniently enough, they were set to play in San Francisco on Memorial Day. Score!!
So I bought tickets, sweat bullets when he was nearly laid off, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found a new job and our trip was still on. I laid out the guise perfectly. I presented it as a holiday weekend road trip to see my Aunt and Uncle in central California accompanied by a trip to Yosemite and then a couple of days jaunt in San Fran.
Did I mention I was brilliant? Because I am.
Here are a few of the photos from our whirlwind 1,800 mile road trip.
Tyson driving my Uncle Lamar's riding lawnmower. He got a kick out of it!
Lamar has had a lifelong love affair with trains. He has an entire room devoted to his 4+ tracks and the walls are covered with shelves upon shelves of trains.
Always the clown, Lamar copies Tyson's thumb sucking.
Clearly not much has changed in 26 years, because here is me at roughly the same age doing the exact same thing.
On one day, we drove to an old western town called Columbia. It was fascinating to read the history of this little town during the gold rush of the 1800s.
Tyson enjoyed the stagecoach ride, despite it being so bumpy I worried he would bounce right out!
Yosemite Falls view from the trail. This is one of the ten tallest waterfalls in the world.
At the top, the wind and mist were so strong it covered our glasses (and camera lenses) with sprays of water and blew Tyson's hair back!
Majestic Half Dome, which Yosemite is well known for. One of these days I will make the 17 hour roundtrip trek to the top and buy myself one of the shirts in the gift shop that proclaims "I made it to the top!"
Gigantic trees, although not the famed Sequoias that I had hoped to see. Now I have good cause to go back.
Sunday after arriving at our hotel in San Carlos, we drove to Monterey Bay to visit the Aquarium. It was crazy busy but we still managed to enjoy ourselves.
I love Tyson's expression in this picture. He didn't know what to make of the portal view.
He loved sitting and staring at his favorite exhibit - the penguins of course!
Dinner at the Cannery Row Pizza joint.
Five months of planning and lots of hype later, I got my excited reaction!
Even though the Braves lost the game, it was still a great experience to see AT&T Ballpark and watch a MLB game. It definitely makes Franklin Covey look like a little league field. There were 40,000 people at this game!
So to sum it up, we had a great time, spent a lot of time in the car and are glad to be home and back to our regular routine!
5 comments:
That is a great present! It's always so great when you give someone something they love.
great picture. I loved all the water fall!!! I decided that next year for my b-day Jeremy is taking me to Yosemite. I can't wait til he wakes up so I can't tell him. :) glad you had fun
Wow that looks like fun. I've always wanted to go to the Monterey aquarium and Yosemite. I might have to squeeze Columbia into that trip. Your husband does have an Awesome wife!
We are thinking of heading over to Wheeler farm now that the weather has been good. Do you want to meet up?
Way to go brilliant, best wife ever! Sounds like a super fun trip. I can't wait to have the wedding over so we can do something fun. All I do lately is plan, plan, plan.
As far as Wheeler Farm, I was thinking sometime this weekend Sat or Sun work. You don't have an email link on your profile and I feel a tad wierd putting my phone number out there for all to see. I have an email link on my profile if you will send me your phone or email and I can send you my phone so we can arrange a time. Maybe do a picnic lunch there? We can probably make it after work any day this week too. There were lots of babies last time we went there should still be some small guys.
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