The Davenport Family: California Trip Day 2

May 22nd: Sacramento, to San Francisco, to Anaheim.

We woke up in Sacramento and headed to the Jelly Belly Factory to do a tour. Seth did it once when he was a kid and we thought it would a fun stop on our trip. Before we left on our trip we watched a documentary called Candy Man: The David Klein Story, and that story almost made us cancel going to the factory. If you haven't watched it, you should. It is the story of the inventor of Jelly Belly jelly beans. Despite my anger towards the company who stole Jelly Belly's from David Klein (sorry, I just spoiled the movie for you) we decided to still go on the tour. We got there right when they opened and were the first group on the tour.

Waiting in line outside before they open up

The candy shop!

Waiting in line for the tour to start

wearing the required "hair nets"

Nice hat!

The tour was fun, we got to see how they made the Jelly Belly's and even sample a few flavors. Unfortunately, you weren't allowed to take any pictures along the tour, so you'll just have to go see it yourself!

After the tour we piled back into the car and headed to Oakland/San Francisco. It was only about an 1 1/2 drive, so not too bad. Our first stop was the Oakland Temple. GORGEOUS!!! I have been there once before with my Mom and sister, Tina, but this was Seth's first time there. We walked along the temple grounds and stopped in the Visitor's Center for a little bit. The kids loved walking over the little bridges and seeing the water. My favorite part is the view of the Bay from up top, you can see everything! It is such a beautiful temple.

Isn't it beautiful!

Cute kids!

Kimmie took this picture, it turned out pretty good!

walking over one of the bridges

Up top

the view

Inside the Visitor's Center

Next we stopped at the Pixar Studios. You can't go inside unless you are an employee, so that was a bummer, but we stopped and snuck a picture.

The entrance

I stuck my hand inside the fence to try to get a picture of the Pixar ball, but the soccer net was is the way.

After Pixar we drove over the Bay Bridge. The craziest thing about that bridge is the are building a new bridge along side it and the workers were sitting up super high, on a very thin board, having their lunch. It gave me anxiety just watching them. I dont' know how they work up there, it is truly amazing they can build such things!

Once we were over the Bay Bridge, our first stop in San Francisco was the Full House House. But, I did not get a picture of that:( Next we drove to Lombard Street. I had never heard of it before, but Seth just kept telling me I would have to see it to understand it. And once I saw it I knew what the hype was about...

View from the top where you start your drive down, doesn't look so bad, does it???

View at the bottom looking up

Lombard Street is known as the "crookedest [most winding] street in the world" It has eight super sharp turns that wind you down the road. We were the only car driving down it and there were tons of tourists along the road taking pictures. The crazy thing is people actually live there, this road leads to their driveways. You can see on car parked right there in the driveway. Crazy!

After Lombard Street we headed to Fisherman's Wharf. We planned on getting out and walking around, but the kids had all fallen asleep and when something wonderful like that happens, you don't disturb it! So instead we just drove along the Wharf. We were able to see some street performers and the entire strip of shopping.

After Fisherman's Wharf we made our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. This is what I was most excited about. I have never driven over the bridge, only seen it from a distance. So, this was the one thing I said we HAD to do (and of course Seth is amazing and planned beyond everything I wanted to do, he really outdid himself on this trip!).

The kids were so excited to be in San Francisco, can't you tell:)

Alcatraz

I can finally say I have driven over the Golden Gate! Next trip I want to get out and walk across it.

A Rainbow Tunnel...only in San Fran!

This was our last stop in San Fran. From here we set off on the long drive to Anaheim. It pretty boring along the way. We stopped once to stretch and once to eat.

One of the views between San Fran and Anaheim

I have to tell the story of how we found where we stayed in Anaheim. One of our friends recently had surgery and was unable to do any heavy lifting. They needed to get some work done in their yard, so Seth spent about a week helping them with some projects. One day I went down to visit while he worked and we were talking about our trip. Somehow it came up that we didn't have anywhere to stay in Anaheim yet and they mentioned they might be able to get us their timeshare for super cheap. And the best part, it was right down the street from Disneyland! So, that night they called and it just happened to be availale for the night we needed it. Talk about lucky! They booked it for us and when I tried to pay them, they refused saying it was Seth's payment for helping. They really did not need to do that, he was happy to help them out for free. It was such a blessing and we were so grateful for them doing that for us.

The place was so much nicer than any hotel we could have gotten. It was just a couple blocks from Disneyland, you could see the park from the rooftop!

But the best part of where we stayed was...