California Trip 2017

It was a trip we'd been thinking of and saving for for months. Even long before I became pregnant with Cooper, Kevin and I reeeeeeeeally wanted to take a bigger trip together. What started off as an endeavor to just GET AWAY simply because we can, soon became a "baby moon" of sorts after we found out we were pregnant with our second in the midst of all of the planning. I've been meaning to post about our trip to California last September for a while now. How appropriate that exactly one year ago today Kev and I were enjoying the last full day of our kidless vacation together. Naturally, these photos bring all sorts of emotions to the surface, but one thing is for certain. Despite the way this trip ended, it was AMAZING. Absolutely. Amazing. California is gorgeous, and we barely scratched the surface of all there is to explore. We did and saw A LOT. But our pace was also restful and intentional. Our time spent there quickly got covered up and almost forgotten in light of the turn of events in the days that would follow. But we've been super purposeful over the past year about letting ourselves reminisce and go back to what was without a doubt such an incredible week together. 

We had THE most fun driving around exploring parts of California with my 21/22-week belly.

We actually chose Cooper's name while on this trip.

And I want to remember!

I'm so thankful I kept track of all that we did day-by-day in my phone:

FRIDAY, September 15

left Savannah

layover in Atlanta

arrived in San Jose'

pizza for lunch at Frankie, Johnnie, and Luigi Too!

drove to San Francisco

napped in the hotel room

impromptu San Francisco Giants game (Go Braves!)

SATURDAY, September 16

breakfast at Hollywood Cafe'

walked to San Francisco Maritime Marina, Lombard

Street, Ghirardelli Square, and around downtown San Francisco

checked out of hotel

drove to Golden Gate Bridge

drove long, scenic route to Carmel
late lunch at The Barn
ate ice cream and a pretzel for dinner at Carmel Bakery (pregnant much?)

SUNDAY, September 17

slept in

hotel breakfast

Starbucks date

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Dippin' Dots snack

17-mile Drive

beautiful sunset dinner at Roy's at Spanish Bay

MONDAY, September 18

walked around and shopped Carmel

In-N-Out for lunch

drove 3 hours to Mariposa

dinner at Charles Street Dinner House

ice cream/dessert at Yosemite Treats

TUESDAY, September 19

early morning to Yosemite National Park where we spent the entire day

lunch at the park

sunset at Glacier Point

Burger King back in Mariposa because it was LATE

WEDNESDAY, September 20

early morning to Yosemite for fly fishing

back to hotel for a nap

shopped Mariposa

dinner at "1850"

THURSDAY, September 21

(in hindsight this day shouts of God's sovereignty)

slept in

checked out of Mariposa Hotel Inn

(we were super bummed that they were all booked up for that last night of our vacay)
Mexican for lunch in Mariposa

drove to Fresno since we were flying out of there the next day

(the Lord knew this is where we'd need to be)

read and relaxed at Woodward Park

went to See's Candies to get souvenirs for us and friends

quick dinner at Panera

saw a movie (Brad's Status)

CFA milkshake for dessert

FRIDAY, September 22

We should have been flying home to reunite with our big boy the next day, but let's just say this day didn't go quite like we had planned.

Clovis Community Medical Center