The Hunts: Destination: San Fran

April 16th- 19th, Justin and I took a mini-vaca to California with our friends Jeff and Lauren Bryant.

We flew in to San Francisco on Friday morning and having our priorities in order, headed straight to IN & OUT for their infamous burgers.

Lauren and I were especially thrilled that they offered a lettuce-wrap option as opposed to a bun as it catered to my low-carb and Lauren's gluten-free diet. They were absolutely amazing!

Once our hunger was satisfied, we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge for a very necessary photo :)

and then continued up to Muir Woods.

Muir Woods is home of the 'tallest trees', the sequoias.

We wandered around the park for a while and then got back in the car enroute to Yosemite National Park. It was a LOOONG drive. We stopped for dinner at the Cliff House restaurant, which has been perched on the rocky cliff on the west side of San Francisco since 1863.

We arrived at our hotel around midnight and headed straight to bed. The following morning was spent in Yosemite.

We went to Mariposa Grove first, which was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. There are so many giant redwood trees there. They were seriously amazing. So huge!

We had a great time and took lots of pictures there. Unfortunately the paths were covered with snow and the roadway was extremely long. After a few hours there, we got back in the car again and went into Yosemite Valley. On our way we stopped for some photos of El Capitan and Half Dome.

Because of the recent snow-melt, there were lots of waterfalls.

That evening we met up with Justin's parents, who were coincidentally also vacationing in Yosemite. We went for a short hike with them and then enjoyed a delicious dinner at Yosemite Lodge's Moutain Room. Wanting to spend as much daylight out and about and NOT in a car. We drove back up to San Francisco after dinner. Another LOOONG drive. :) We checked into our hotel and again went straight to bed. The next morning we wandered around Giradelli Square and took another necessary photo on a trolley. :)

It was unfortunately a rainy day and as Alcatraz was booked for the day, we ended up going to Napa Valley. We went to Castillo Castle first for a tour of the 107 room castle and a wine tasting. The castle was really neat, as you can see.

PS. We are SO excited for Lauren & Jeff as they are expecting their first baby this October... and NO she is not drinking wine... it's sparkling grape juice. :)

We made our second stop at Peju winery.

Our server there was a riot and made the experience worth-while.

That evening we stopped for dinner at Buckeye Grill where we ALL got the Ribeye steak and tried the Artichoke appetizer. It was a new experience for all of us, but it was great!

The next morning we went straight to Alcatraz.... making it onto the ferry at the very last minute!

Alcatraz was an awesome experience. So interesting and definitely worth going to.

The rest of the day was spent trying to hit all the touristy things. We ate lunch in Fisherman's Warf and wandered around the shops there. We drove down Lombard Street.

Drove through Chinatown.

And stopped by the Painted Ladies, also known as the Seven Sisters.

(the opening scene for 'Full House').

We walked around the Palace of the Performing Arts, which was really beautiful and surrounded by some gorgeous houses.

While we were not in San Francisco long, I think we would all agree that we managed to squeeze in everything we wanted to, and we all had a great time.