Grandparents Visit Take 1 - Bopi and Nona

So we got visitors about a month ago. My (Kara) parents came out to visit as soon as Mom got out of school. We had a great time visiting. We took at trip to Lake Tahoe as soon as they got here. We drove up to the North end of the lake to see Squaw Valley where the Winter Olympics were held. After lunch we drove down the road beside the lake stopping several times to take pics of the magnificent views and to stretch our legs. We spent the night in South Lake Tahoe at a Marriott Vacation property that we got for a steal b/c it was still considered the low season. Sun AM we got up and planned to go up the gondola to the top of the mts but as it was the low season (but AFTER Memorial Day, go figure) , it was closed. So Mom and I shopped and Daddy, Bopi and Clairebeth played golf, miniature golf that is. It was Claire's first time and she had been dying to try since we'd seen the course outside our hotel window the night before.

After that we drove to Coloma to meet up with some really old friends, The Wiericks. The Wiericks were our next door neighbors when we lived in Rogers, Ark. (That was 4-10yrs old for me.) The Wiericks' 2 daughters, Jenny & Susan, were the exact same age as Russ and me growing up. We did everything together. Russ and Susan even had combined B-day parties a lot since they were only 5 days apart in age. There isn't a lot of my childhood that doesn't revolve around a memory with one of the Wierick bunch. Over the years we'd lost contact with them as we moved and moved and moved and inevitably lives change. Well through the glory of technology, we were all reconnected on Facebook just before M&D came out here. Through a strange coincidence, Ron and Julie live out here now too (and also temporarily). So it was too good of an opportunity to pass up and we decided to drop in on them for the day. We had a blast!!! I, as an adult, learned a lot more about my childhood and about my parents...you know those things that go over your head as a kid b/c you are so naive. Well we laughed and talked and laughed some more. We just couldn't seem to make it end. Eventually when Claire passed out cold at the dinner table (luckily before there was a plate of food in front of her), we managed to wrap it up after we ate. I think we got back to the city that night about 1am. LOL! What a day!

But the trip didn't end there. We took a day to rest but then headed out the next day to ride the cable cars and eat some Kara's Cupcakes at Ghirardelli Square. Claire got to ring the bell on the cable car which made all the adults on board very jealous! Later that night we got to meet Cousin David for the 1st time and eat dinner with him at an Italian restaurant in North Beach. That was a fun meal b/c David new the owner so we got special treatment. It was fun listening to David and the owner chatter back in forth in Italian. The food was delicious but still not quite as good as Cousin Tiziana and Cousin Susanna's food back in Italy.

The next day Bopi had to leave so we took a girls' trip (b/c Jeremy was working). We drove up CA Hwy 1 to Fort Bragg. CA 1 is a very beautiful road, but a very crazy road to drive!! It hugs the shoreline for most of the way and I do mean hugs, there's not a shoulder on either side. So on one side you have a 75 ft drop to the ocean rocks below and the other side is a wall. And to top it off, the road is VERY curvy and steep. So you do switchbacks over and over and over. The distance isn't very far, but b/c of the speed you have to drive, it takes a long time. It's a good thing we weren't in a hurry! We just enjoyed the scenery and stopped different places to take pics or climb a lighthouse (which Claire climbed up all by herself and got a pin to prove it) or to dodge cows....yes, dodge cows! As if the road itself isn't scary enough, cows just roam free up there so you often have to dodge some cows crossing the road. We drove up, spent the night and then drove back. Quite beautiful.

Nona's last day here, I got the day off and had some down time. Jeremy and Claire took Nona to see Muir Woods. Muir Woods is one of the last unlogged groves of Redwoods and it's just outside the city of SF. It's a very beautiful walk and they all had a good time with Claire walking about half of it herself before needing to be "pack packed" (that's backpacked for those of you who don't speak Clairese).

But all too soon it came to an end and we had to take Nona back to the airport. We really miss Nona and Bopi but here are some pics from our time together.