California Dreaming...

We had so much fun on our trip to Cali! We went with Brad and Katie and had the best party ever. Claire stayed with Grammy and Grandpa Merrill so we were full speed ahead at all times! We drove through the night...I guess I should say that Jer drove through the night while I bounced in my seat with anticipation! I only slept for an hour and a half of the drive I was so excited to see my sister and her family, who we stayed with, and get out of the nastiness that has been this winter! We arrived at 5:00 in the morning and fell onto our comfy air mattress! HEAVEN! I actually was up again at 7:00 to play with my niece and nephew and to do my sisters hair. Running on an empty tank never felt so good. It was so fun to see my cute family! Here is a run down of the our trip so brace yourselves.

If you choose to skip the novel, you can just skip to the slide show at the bottom.

We had to start our trip off right so the first day we hit In-and-Out Burgers on our way to Monterey. Monterey was gorgeous and we went to the coolest aquaruim! We ate dinner on the pier at the Fish Hopper, and then grabbed some yummy Ghirardelli ice cream on the way out of town (Jerm had a bad hot chocolate experience. If you want hot cocoa ask for hot cocoa, and not the deceiving "liquid chocolate" on the menu...apparently the two are totally different and the latter completely lives up to its name).

The next day we hit San Francisco and Pier 39. we also got hit by a car! Now before you worry, we just got backed into in the parking lot by an incredibly nice BMW (I hope he can handle the repair cost..he he hee.) It could have been way worse than it was, but from that moment on I had to climb in through Jerm's door since my door no longer opened. Good times. Our happiness and good mood were in serious peril but our next adventure cheered us right up. As you all know we are Food Network Crazies and love to watch all the shows and on this trip it totally paid off! We had previously watched an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and found this sweet burger joint that grinds it meat daily so your burgers are fantastic! We headed to the address with Norm as our trusty guide (the GPS system that saved our lives more than once) and ended up in a slightly shady area, but the food at Joe's Cable Car was worth it. Brad even went as far as to say it was better than in-and-out. We even got a picture with Joe. Then we headed to Muir Woods to see the Redwoods. Incredible! There was also a secluded little beach that we played on (and when I say we, I mean "I" because the other three were too chilly to play in the water. LAME-O Ninnies I say.)

The next morning we went to breakfast with my sister's family and had the best leaning tower of blueberry coffee cake in the world. Tremonton is definitely in need of a Hobee's! We also went to the Oakland temple to do a session and sealings. After we returned from the temple we were headed for the crowning culinary experience, LA FONDUE! If you know anything about the Merrill family you know that we love our fondue (we even had our love for fondue printed in the text of our family reunion t-shirts!) It was sooooo good! We had a four course meal consisting of a wicked good salad, two cheese fondue's to share, yummy chicken, shrimp, and fillet mignot we grilled ourselves, and two magical chocolate fondues (and yes one of them was on fire!) It was the best three hour food gorging experience I have ever been a part of! Looking back, I should have worn sweat pants to the occasion.

After three days of pure fun and staying up into the wee hours of the morning chatting with my sister, we had to wake up at 5:30 am to get on the road and make our way back to Utah. Funny enough, the drive wasn't bad at all. We talked, listened to music, and just enjoyed the ride! Jer and I needed a vacation after the craziness that has been this past year and man, we had the best time. Thanks to everyone that made it wonderful. Especially my sweetheart of a husband, my angel of a sister and brother-in-law, and my wonderful parents who gave Claire her own mini vacation.

So, after that very long explanation the moral of the story is: If anyone needs vacation companions, give us a call because we are wicked fun!

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