California, Day 3

Monday we spent in San Francisco. And Y'all are just gonna have to deal with the annoying splotches on some of the pictures.... They bug me. 

I've never been to a city with so many suburbs! And yet there are places in this huge city that feel like the country! I love the country. I love people. (there are a lot of them in San Fran...) But I love the quiet country too.

So many hills!!

There is a block on Lombard St. that has eight curves!

A man in a condo window.

There were two places that I desperately wanted to go to while in CA: Yosemite and Alcatraz. I went to Yosemite (see my next post... when I get a chance to post it...) but I never got to go to Alcatraz... But I did get to see it! Next time, right?

Ok y'all. This kid was the cutest. I could have taken him home. Though he was pretty attached to his Dad. Hmm. He might wouldn't have liked that too much... But isn't he adorable?!

I toured San Fran. in my Dallas shirt. :)

 The only problem with leaning against the bridge was that the points on top kinda hurt my arm.... ;)

 So, I have not only been across the Golden Gate Bridge, but also under it! That was one of the scariest things I did the whole trip! Not even crossing a waterfall was as scary! There was some kind of metal thing that the cars above were crossing over and it was SOOOOOO loud that even though I knew it wasn't going to, I felt like the bridge was gonna collapse! But it didn't. or else I'd probably be dead. And I wouldn't be writing this.

After touring San Fran, we went across the mountains to visit the beach. So beautiful, though hard to enjoy when I had a headache and the sun was sooo bright!

California, Day 2

I woke up to a banging outside my window and found these guests lounging outside. We saw them almost every day after that. 

We rented a house for our stay in CA. This was our gorgeous yard. 

 You can see part of our driveway below. It was soooo steep!!

 Flowers in our yard...

 There are palm trees in CA!! I didn't know that before. :) Learn something new every day! They are huge. too!

We went to church with Josiah and Cindy and then we went out to eat at a Chinese place called the Mayflower. No, not a seafood place. Chinese. :) And since Cindy lives in CA, Sunday was the first time I ever met her in person! At the restaurant I got to meet her family. We became fast friends. They wanted us to get an authentic taste of Chinese, so they ordered chicken feet... Among other things. The chicken feet.. tasted.. kinda like... chicken feet... But I liked everything else, and loved using chopsticks, a thing I don't do very often at home.

 There we are!

 After saying goodbye for the day, we headed over to a park they suggested.

 So many houses.

I think these are persimmons, but Dad is skeptical. He is used to NC's tiny ones. What do you think?

California, Day 1

My brother Josiah got engaged to Cindy in July and that was when I first knew we'd be going farther across the country than I'd ever been: California. The time flew and finally the day cam when we had to leave. It was Lydia's first flight!

She had fun. :)

 We flew so high in the sky that beautiful crystals formed on the plane windows.

 Because there was a "small" problem (the brakes and steering not working) on the first plane, we missed our connecting flight and had several hours to spend in MN. Airport floors aren't very comfortable to sleep on, but it is fun to watch the people hurry by as I tried to rest. :)

 Our next plane was the biggest I'd ever been on: two aisles with eight seats across.

Apparently they have earthquakes in Seattle. :p I'm glad there weren't any while we were there or while in CA....

 We traveled about 19 hours total that day. I was exhausted, but happy to finally be there!

An Autumn Morning Walk

Saturday morning I got up and cleaned my face and drank my water and looked out the side door window as I do almost every morning but this time the outdoors looked so inviting. So I stepped outside expecting it to be chilly like most mornings in this season. But it was't. It was gorgeous! And the sun streaming through the fog onto the soaking wet trees and ground was way too inviting. So I got my camera and my journal and my Bible to have time with God in His creation. I walked through the mist down to the creek to sit in the one dry pipe and read and write. It was so peaceful. So relaxing before a hectic day. I love fall. I love when the leaves are changing colors and when they fall to the ground, littering the road. I love driving behind a car on a country road and seeing the dry, brilliantly painted leaves being whisked into the air, tumbling over each other, and hitting my windshield in gaiety. I love the days when its not too chilly but is cold enough that I have to dress a little warmer in fun fall colors. But then I love winter, too. And spring. And summer. Every time one season ends I'm ready and happy for the next to arrive. 

Autumn

Today, though a little chilly at times, was absolutely gorgeous!! Yesterday I noticed that the creek was cover with colorful leaves and I thought it would make a pretty picture if the sun had been shining on it. But it was too late in the day to do that so today I went down there when the sun was at the right angle. On the way I couldn't resist capturing other beautiful autumn scenes.