dreams come true in san francisco

i think there is something beautiful in the pre vacation storm. 

suitcases being drug out from under the bed swirling dust bunny memories of the last big trip.

 stacks of maybe clothes filling the top of the piano, kids throwing random toys they haven't played with in months into the 

'can't live without..must bring with me' stack.

it is a mess of possibility.

i always have such good intentions of leaving the house neat and cozy. 

i have visions of walking back in, worn out from travels to a house that gives me a hug of calm cleanliness. 

this never happens. 

except for this time...we had a housesitter.

we left our house spotless.

we were running late, as per our usual routine, and nate was running around being responsible when he stumbled upon me with my camera.

"what are you doing?"

"i am taking pictures because the house is so clean."

"uhh.. alright. we'll be in the van."

that's a man who knows more than the question why? could ever answer.

my glorious traveling planner/sanity protector produced all important documents, passports, numbers, directions and confirmation codes that i asked of it.

we survived the ushering of three small children across half a country on 2 planes over 8 hours...

we gracefully hauled all our luggage ourselves by forcing the little people into pack mule submission.

we successfully found a taxi van that could fit us and our gargantuan amount of luggage and zoom across oakland to the RV rental center.

check.check.check.

i leaned over to nate and whispered that i was starting to get nervous.

it was all eerily perfect.

i had planned perfection. and it was happening. 

we were doomed.

he said i was over reacting.

the RV rental lady asked for our drivers licences.

i pulled mine smugly from my glorious travel notebook and nate produced his from his wallet...

and she furrowed her brow.

doomed.

she looked up at nate and said, 

"you know this is expired?"

he snatched it back and just kept staring at it.. willing time to turn on itself and give him back the 4 months since his birthday that he should have been standing in line at the DMV.

"yeah.. you aren't going to be able to drive the RV."

that is the definition of shock and awe.

the one detail i didn't personally check. 

kill.me.now.

i signed as the only legal driver of our 28 foot RV for 2 weeks of california driving...

dying.

after that we had to watch an instructional video on how to drive the RV and do all the other weird RV stuff that we didn't know how to do. like drive it. 

like the fact we were so big we were required by the company to have someone get out of the vehicle during all backing up times and use hand signals to make sure you didn't crash into something. like the fact we had 4 different side view mirrors but there was no way to look behind you. 

nate kept saying how sorry he was.. i kept saying that he wasn't allowed to talk to me.

there were a few magical marital moments shared let me tell you. 

most of them involved me crying, him saying he was sorry and me telling him he wasn't allowed to talk. 

it was beautiful.

so now not only am i driving this beast of the road in oakland rush hour traffic to find a house that i've never been to.. nate is my direction giver. 

the one telling me to merge! merge! punch it! go! watch out! turn here! it was ugly people.

he wanted to move on once we hit the freeway. 

he said "it is what it is let's not ruin the vacation." i said that was crazy talk.

he said "are you going to hate me the whole vacation?" i said maybe. 

he said "what do i have to do to make this better?" i said feel really terrible and grovel and not stop talking about how terrible you feel and maybe cry.

he stopped talking.

we were supposed to run in to target but we weren't in the right lane to turn. so we skipped it. 

i was getting too frazzled trying to find this house on the tiny dollhouse streets filled with parked cars. i said forget it, parked it and made him just get out and go look for the house on foot.

grace in action let me tell you.

when he came back having located it.. our friends weren't home yet. they told us to go ahead in if we waited. now let's not forget... these are our imaginary friends. computer friends. blog friends. i sent him and the kids in to brave the giant wolf dog they had warned lived in their yard and find their potty. it's awesome to meet your new pretend friends after a cry fest and using their potty when they aren't home. yeah. 

i sent them in and had myself a little mama moment in the RV.

me and God had a little cry.. a little chat.. a little pep talk. and then a little conviction clarity.

it's easy to pick and choose your refining moments. 

i never would have chosen to drive an RV for 2 weeks. nightmare material. my minivan overwhelmed me for a solid month. but the RV chose me. here i was... no opting out. 

now the choice is either do i let it grow me or not. 

it would seem like an easy choice.

i was in the RV for awhile.

but when i came out i had decided that it was going to be okay. i could do this ridiculous thing and not let it ruin our vacation. i could love my husband even when he makes a mistake. Lord knows he loves me through all of mine.

it is always a miracle the way God can sift my heart.

20 minutes.

He can do in 20 minutes what i would have stewed over my entire vacation. i know this because once upon a time i would have. i can hold a grudge like it's my job. 

my God is good to my soul and my smile.

His peace is for the big and for the little and for the recreational vehicles. 

amen.

oh you can't see jess's house with my large and in charge house on wheels blocking your view? her neighbors loved us.

the wolf beast welcomes you.

and you want to know my favorite part of the story? after being told that he wouldn't be able to renew his licence online due to it being expired... the next day.. the day after i decided i was okay with being plopped in the drivers seat.. the story changed. he could renew it online and his mom overnighted us a copy. cue angels singing now.

our gracious hosts/computer turned real life friends let us borrow their car... 

and we got to see...

san francisco.

we went down to pier 39 and arianna insisted that i was supposed to take her picture with this sign. it is, after all, a photo spot. cracks my stuff up.

there were a few classic dishes that i had on our san fran list. 
the sourdough bread bowls with clam chowder was one of them. 

salty knows where to go...

except the sea lions liked to hang out pretty far away. but i heard they can smell pretty bad so i wasn't too sad.

that's alcatraz grayson is looking at. or a seagull flying really high above alcatraz. :)

one of the best parts of our days was coming back to our host driveway families.
these guys have two hilarious little girls. my kids loved them so much they kept asking when we would be done looking at stuff in the city so we could go home and play with our new friends. 

jessica and dave run a silverware optional house. weird.  just kidding.

their kids used silverware most of the time. ;) 

ari and kayla's handiwork. no school vacation for these guys.

back to the city for day two-- 

we went to leavenworth street.

it is rumored to be one of the curviest streets int the world. hmm.. maybe. i don't know about curviest. i think if you combine the curves with the elevation then you might be on to something. i am pretty sure i have been in parking garages technically curvier. 

but it was really pretty.

we picnicked in a certain park.. which reminded me of a certain TV show.. okay let's not lie. i was recreating in my head the opening credits for full house pretty much the entire two days.

i told them to run and frolic and channel their inner 80s child.

this was probably one of my favorite things we did in the city. i had never fully realized that since 1988 i had been in possession of a secret dream to be candace cameron in san francisco. weird bucket list moment-- check. 

arianna got her head stuck in a fence. this was preceded by grayson getting his head stuck in an airport chair. i am getting really good at unwedging heads. 

the classic first drive over the great red bridge was met by major excitement in our car...

the two littlest slept it off in the car with daddy while arianna and i went for the bridge experience.

this is her saying.."look at san francisco!" and flashing the appropriate gang signs that would encourage you to do so. love that girl. :)

and this one is for you who were requesting a braces shot. they are the ceramic ones on top and the metal ones on bottom. i still can't say things that start with an F. my address has a four and a fourteen and first in it. humble pie served up real regular around these parts. :)

we drove up the mountain to see it from the top and lucky duck grayson woke up just in time. he was overjoyed.

i am certain this is his 'my goodness that is an impressive bridge' face.

we went down to fisherman's wharf for dinner to hit up my other must have. 
ciopinno aka fish stew. 

i scored us this cute little table outside on the corner. nate missed 3/4 of dinner trying to find a parking space. the cioppino and sangria were perfect and we were even-steven for driving frustrations. the night ended happy. :)

jess and i share a mutual love of target. we had blog dreamed about strolling target together. dreams do come true. when reviewing this picture i said oh we're blurry and target's in focus. she said.. 'as it should be'. friends for life. ;)

i can not even describe to you how genuine and sweet these people are. you should stalk them down and meet them. no.. don't do that. but even if you did they probably would let you park your RV in their driveway. good people.

we have loved meeting and keeping up with you johnsons! we have loved hearing your hearts and seeing your messy garage. we miss you and your giant wolf dog. :) 

and then it was time to hit the road... with nate driving. :)