June 27, 2018 — Day 1: Time to pack and head to Omaha

Per usual, I am my own worst client. Leave it to me to be printing documents and pulling out the suitcases, the day we’re supposed to leave. No lie, I am a bit out of my element on packing with this one; but at least we leave at 10:55pm, instead of 6:00am.

I can have us packed, passported and beach ready in 20 minutes. But, rail suitcase, 60/70-degree San Francisco suitcase, 2-day busy backpacks and my office, + no storage on the train and it all has to fly home; okay, yea, who planned this?

Between work, packing, Mike’s doctor’s appointment, dropping dogs and last-minute yard work for the week, and we finally pulled out of Ankeny around 7:00pm for Omaha, almost made it to the zoo before we left, ha ha ha, yea, no.

We opted for Omaha because the rail station and the airport are super close, so the easiest way to deal with the car when leaving from one and returning to the other.

We grabbed Subway, for a rail station picnic (don’t touch any.thing) and waited for the train. We tracked it on the app all day and it was running on time, until it hit Osceola, IA and the delays started. We boarded about an hour late.

Mike took the kids outside to see the train arrive. This is the part that usually scares Govy but he was so excited. The conductor came into the depot and asked for tickets and we headed out to the platform to board.

There were a lot of staff to help with boarding, our coach 531 was coach 631, but whatever. We were in Family Suite, 15. Wouldn’t say there is much suite/sweet about it, but it was midnight and we were tired.

The suite is a couch that slides out to a double bed, 2 seats that make-up 1 of the kid’s beds, 1 kids bed that falls out of the wall and an adult bed that falls out of the wall above the couch/double bed. The kids love their little convertible beds (thank goodness they are not any taller) and because there is no.storage.what.so.ever. Mike and I are cuddled up in the double and we have to use the upper adult bed as storage for all.our.crap. The suite is the length of the car, so we have windows on both sides, which is nice and brightens up the room. There is ONE outlet, one. Thank goodness our super friendly, attendant Ainsley, brought us a power strip.

There are 3 slightly larger than airplane bathrooms + a shower room at the other end of our car. It’s all an adventure!

I think that Govy was asleep before his little head hit the pillow. Maddie was up for a bit, helping to get us organized and the minute her head was on the pillow, she was out too.

Mike and I stayed up to watch us come into Lincoln, by the stadium {Go Big Red} and into the Haymarket.

As we started out of Lincoln, it was on its way to 2:00am and we were done.

 

June 28, 2018 — Day 2: All Train, All Day

Good Morning Colorado! We were starting to move around 7:30am, 8:30am our time; which means our kids basically slept until noon. We laid around in the suite and and enjoyed the view until it was time for our breakfast reservation in the dining car.

I will have to say, I can appreciate the causal atmosphere on this rolling adventure, t-shirts and yoga pants are definitely part of our vacation plans.

We headed to breakfast as we were pulling into Denver’s Union Station. I got the scrambled eggs with roasted potatoes and bacon, Maddie had the same with sausage, Mike got pancakes and Govy got an omelet that Mike also ate and then had Cheerios when we got back to the suite. The food was good and included with the sleeper accommodations. We are also able to have 2 sodas with each meal and kids could have apple or orange juice, they both opted for apple.

After breakfast we tried the observation car, which was packed, and nobody looked like they wanted to move.  So, we went back to the suite and chilled there as we rolled through Colorado.

Maddie broke out the friendship bracelets, Govy and Mike were reading his new train book and got a bit of work done.

After enjoying the views, the kids loved the mountains and seeing the snow caps as the train rolled through the Rocky Mountains, we headed back up stairs for lunch, in the dining car.

We were traveling through a beautiful part of Colorado, near Parshall and Gypsum, along the Colorado River. A really very pretty backdrop for lunch as we rolled along. Mike, Maddie and I got cheeseburgers, adults with bacon too and Govy got a hot dog that was a Hebrew National; all of them came with kettle chips. Not a terrible burger and a great view. Our meals with the sleeper also include dessert, not gonna say no! I had the chocolate raspberry tart, nom mom nom; Mike got the pecan pie tart and Maddie had the cheesecake tart, all very good. We saw lots of rafters enjoying the rapids, water and sunshine. Might have also seen a moon or two…

In the later afternoon, after train naps, we arrived into Grand Junction where we were delayed for around 2 hours with engine problems. They shunted a Union Pacific diesel engine, to the front of the 2 Amtrak P42’s so that we could finally be on our way. {Impressed with all of my train lingo…don’t be, my 5-year-old is helping with the blog} Let me tell ya, as much as my littles love trains, they are not at all excited about delays…wonder where they get it from?

With the delay in Grand Junction, they had to power down the train for a bit which put dinner behind. We had reservations in the dinning car for 8:00pm which turned into about 8:40pm. Not a huge deal but Mike and I were really tired, so fairly zombie-like by the time we were seated. For dinner I had the Amtrak Signature Steak {yup, steak on a train} with mashed potatoes and green beans; it was surprisingly really very good. Mike ordered the Land & Sea, which was steak and a crab/scallop cake with baked potato and green beans as well. His steak was also good, and the cake was, eh. Maddie got the kids Mac and Cheese, which was Kraft, she won’t do that again. Gov was hoping to be able to get a burger for dinner but nope, only for lunch, so he got a hot dog again. The kids are not restricted to the kid’s menu, so that is nice but it only has two offerings; really limited when on here for 2 days.

By the time that we were done with dinner, it was close to 10:00pm and it was time to head to bed.

Beautiful scenery, fantastic, unplugged family time and Mike doesn’t have to drive!

Tomorrow, the city by the bay…hopefully…

 

June 29, 2018 — Day 3: Trains Trains Trains and San Francisco

Good Morning Utah! I was out last night and slept much better, thank goodness. The kids were up early and now we’re in the Pacific time zone, so earlier than early.

Mike tried out the shower and was surprised at how nice it was; I’ll wait until the hotel.  We started today by getting our stuff organized and together because we should arrive Emeryville, CA in the early evening. We’ll miss our bus to San Francisco due to the delays and it’s the last one, but according to Uber, we can still get there fairly easy…which I knew was pry going to be an issue, hello travel insurance!

Once we got everything together we headed up to breakfast. The dining car was full, so we got on the waitlist and found some space in the observation car to watch the northern Nevada desert roll by…not much to look at but at least we got to get in there for a little bit.

The wait was about 40 minutes, and then we headed to breakfast. They were out of a few things, quesadilla, veggies for the omelettes, so we stuck with what we had yesterday. It’s breakfast, so easy and hard to mess up.

After breakfast there was a quick stop in Winnemucca, NV, so according to Johnny Cash, we’ve been everywhere, lol.

Back in the suite, and on the way to Reno, I worked on the blog, Maddie on friendship bracelets, Govy trains and Mike tried to nap.

Remember that one time we almost got left in Reno…so we jump off the train; it’s a stop that allows a few extra minutes for those that want to get off and smoke, get fresh air, whatever. Mike and Govy head up to the front to see the engines and Maddie and I hang back to watch them, but we’re forward of the sleeper/passenger cars. We’re listening for the 2 whistles and then I turn around and everyone is gone off the platform and all the doors are closed, SHIT! I tell the Amtrak people on the platform that we need to get on and Mike is still up front with Govy. Maddie jumps on, starts crying. In the meantime, the train blows its horn, scares the life from Govy and he starts crying. I’m trying to calm Maddie and yell at Mike to get on the train. They jump on and before we are up 2 stairs, it’s moving. Yea, it would be us.

We’re all a bit shook up from the excitement of Reno, “Biggest, Little City in the World”, so we headed to see if we could grab lunch. Today, with the later arrival into Emeryville, they did a later lunch from 1-3.

We scored the last table in the dining car for the 1^st seating and all took a deep breath.  We’re heading towards Truckee, CA, near the Tahoe area; so once again, have had a delightful view as we enjoyed our lunch in the dining car. They are out of salad and the baked chilaquiles sauce, so it was cheeseburgers for everyone, again with kettle chips.

Since we’re rolling through the Sierra Nevada mountains, Mike opted to enjoy a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. You know, when in Rome.

Govy was about falling asleep at the lunch table so we headed back into the suite for naps and quiet time with beautiful views as we keep rolling towards Emeryville.

Family train naps for everyone! Even Maddie, I’m not tired, I don’t need a nap, Moore caught a couple of ZZZZZ.

I called the hotel to advise of our later arrival and Mike and I decided that we’re Ubering to the hotel from the rail depot. We’re not messing around waiting because ours was the last bus.

We went up to the observation car for a bit since the train has a lot less people now. We got to see a Union Pacific rail yard, so that was pretty cool.

We spent the rest of our time in our suite getting our stuff together and watching California roll by.

We arrived into Emeryville around 8:00pm…4:10pm would have been nice though…and there was a bus! There were so many people that still needed the service that by 8:22pm we were on way into San Francisco on the Amtrak Connection Coach. It’s a very nice, new, motor coach with powerful A/C.

We got boarded and had a beautiful sunset drive over the Bay Bridge into the city. There were 2 stops prior to ours at Pier 39. Once at the Pier, that was it, so we walked up the street to our hotel. It was about a 15-minute walk, not a huge deal and the kids did great; lil road dogs.

It was late, and we were hungry. We dropped our bags and headed back down the street to get food. It was after 10:00pm, so options were limited. We landed at In and Out, eh. Nothing to get excited about. There was also a Krispy Cream right next door that had the hot sign on, so guess who ran over for a ½ doz? Yup, Mike.

We took the food back to the hotel, had a hotel picnic and unpacked.

The Argonaut is located at the end of the Wharf area; in The Cannery, which is the old Del Monte canning plant. Exposed brick, exposed beams, blue nautical themed, Ben and Jerry’s and See’s Candies both in the building.

Our room 314, was nice-sized, we had 2 comfy queen beds with lots of pillows, bathroom with a large tub/shower and a nice large window with cute shutters that opened to a view of the Hyde & Powell Cable Car turnaround and the Golden Gate Bridge!

Showers and Time for bed!

We made it to San Francisco!

 

June 30, 2018 – Playing Tourist & Seeing Friends

Oh, the delightful feeling of waking up in a nice puffy bed, even though it was a queen, pure bliss. We got ready to get out and explore, first up, breakfast. Mike opted for a Lobster roll sandwich, but the kids, being kids, opted for McDonald’s. I opted for my usual, a Diet Coke.

Denali had gymnastics so, we were meeting them a bit later. It was a perfect, sunny, not-a-cloud-in-sky day, so we hopped on our Hop-on/Hop-off bus and took the loop around the whole city. It’s one of the best ways to get around and see and learn about the city. Our guide, Don was good and informative. We got some great pictures too.

We got off the tour at Pier 39 and met Hilary, Dave and the girls. Gah, so fantastic to see them. We headed back to the hotel because there were 7 million people out and about because its’ 68 and sunny, perfect!

After the kids completed the scavenger hunt at the hotel, the 6 of us walked over to Ghirardelli for ice cream. Mike’s knee was bothering him, so he hung back to ice it. I mean, who doesn’t want ice cream for lunch! I had Maddie so discombobulated, when I told her that her cookie dough ice cream in the Ghirardelli chocolate dipped waffle cone was today’s lunch. I’m usually the “NO!” Parent, so ice cream for lunch is a biiiiig deal. I got chocolate cuz, Ghirardelli and strawberry, also in a chocolate dipped waffle cone and Gov Gov got a bottle of water…he won’t even try it.

After ice cream Mike and Dave headed to the Buena Vista to get their famous coffee and Hil and I hung out in the lobby area with the kids and chatted while they played. It’s so nice to have time with friends that know you so well, wish we could do that more often. We had such a great afternoon together.

For dinner the 8 of us went to Cioppino’s, right across from the hotel. We were able to make reservations, which was nice with 4 kiddos in tow. The food was good and not too crazily priced. I got a Caesar salad and lasagna, Mike got the house special, the kids got spaghetti and meatballs and chicken tenders. We all enjoyed our food, but the company was even better!

Hil had asked if Maddie could come and spend the night with the girls at their house, and she was super excited to do that, so off they went back down to Emerald Hills.

Whew! What a fun day of sharing a new city with the kids (and Mike) and seeing and spending time with one of my bestest besties.

 

July 1, 2018 – Lazy Morning & California Academy of Sciences

We had plans to meet back up around 12:00pm with Hil at the Cal Academy of Sciences. The girls were having fun playing and Hil offered to take Maddie to her office to show her around her lab…YES. So, we pushed our meet up time to 1:00pm so they could do all the SciGirl awesomeness.

Mike, Govy and I walked back down the Wharf, he got another lobster roll and Gov got a cheeseburger and I went out on a limb with a Diet Coke.

Mike’s knee was still bothering him, so he hung back and Gov and I jumped in an Uber to head to the museum. We pulled up just as they were walking across the street, perfect timing!

We purchased tickets at the kiosks outside, $39 for adults and $29 per little; of course, there was no reciprocity with our SciCenter membership, figures. We started in the rain forest, went through the aquarium, then the kids played in the hands-on area to shake the sillies out. Then we went outside, and the kids played, ran and climbed a bit more, while we waited for the planetarium show, Expedition Reef. I think that everyone fell asleep in the show, except for Amelia, ha!

That was a great museum and very worth the visit!

Hil, Dave and the girls headed back home and the kids and I jumped in an Uber and headed back to the hotel. No lie, it’s nice to have a car on demand when you are used to jumping in your car whenever you need. Uber worked great to get us around the city.

Back at the hotel we headed out to grab dinner. We got the kids Chipotle, so adventurous in their tastes. I ordered a pizza from Carmel Pizza Company (prosciutto and arugula, nom) and Mike opted for one last lobster roll, he’s getting alllll he can get! We had a hotel picnic and started to get ready to head to Hilary’s for our last night.

Another super fun day experiencing new things with friends!

 

July 2, 2018 — Cable Cars and Hilary’s House

This morning we were able to get late check out until 1:00pm, so we had some time to do a bit more before we headed out of the city.

We walked over to the Hyde & Powell Cable Car Turnaround in the wharf, across from the hotel and got one-way tickets ($7) to check off the last quintessential San Francisco thing that we have time for on this trip, a cable car ride! The lines were crazy long over the weekend, so Monday morning was perfect! The kids both got a kick out of the Cable Car and the hills. Super fun to be able to experience a rolling museum!

The ride ended just south of Union Square and we walked around for a bit. We then caught another Uber back to Pier 39, I wanted to hit the Left-Handed Store.

We were starting to cut it close for check out, so it was a quick walk around Pier 39, Mike got the one of the most delicious and most expensive peaches that he’s ever had, Govy got a toy Cable Car and Maddie and I got pens from the Left-Handed Store.

We Ubered back to the hotel to quickly finish packing before our 1:00pm check out. We were on the curb waiting for the van a little after 1:00pm. The ride was uneventful but timed well as both littles knocked out for most of the 40-ish minute ride.

Dave was there to greet us. I worked out our ride for the airport, Super Shuttle won, I didn’t want to rely on Uber for a middle of the night pick up.

Dave, Mike and Gov took off to Amelia’s softball practice and Maddie and I waited for Hilary and Denali to get home. The girls played with the Osmo until it was time to meet the guys at the Canyon Inn for dinner.

The Canyon Inn is an iconic little, place near their house that has a little arcade area for the kids and beer on tap for the parents. We ordered at the counter and grabbed the table by the games. I got a French dip, Mike had a Ruben, Maddie got sliders and Gov chicken nuggets. They all come with Lay’s chips {Govy was delighted}, but we ordered a side of fries and mozzarella sticks to share. Super casual, fun place!

After dinner we headed back to the house to wrangle the kids to sleep. Our shuttle is supposed to there between 4:05am and 4:20am, ugh. Mike couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and went to sleep. We got them settled, got stories read and they were out too.

I got our stuff together and clothes laid out for the very early morning and I was done too.

 

July 3, 2018 — Sad Bus Day

The alarm went off at 3:15am and here we go. I got a confirmation text from Super Shuttle that the driver was on his way. I had gotten Maddie up and was about to get Gov when I got another text saying that the driver had arrived. Wait, what?! It’s 3:30am, 30 minutes early and I still don’t have Gov up. I send Mike out there to let him know that we’re not ready and will be out as soon as possible. I quickly get Gov ready and throw the rest of our stuff in the suitcase and off we go.

It was an uneventful ride with no traffic, one bonus to ridiculously early flights. The things you do for the best priced Comfort+ seats X 4. I knew when I booked them, that the low price was all great and everything, until it’s time to taaake the flight. I was right, but it’s also nice to get into Omaha at 4:00pm and not 11:00pm.

We’re standing in line for security at the San Jose airport and Maddie asks where her passport is. I said that we didn’t need them for this trip.  Her response…huh, that’s weird mom, we always have our passports when we go on vacation. Yea, Maddie, I know…I know…

Easy flights via Minneapolis. Mike was ecstatic over the seats, the most comfortable flights he’s had, in as long as he can remember. Delta Comfort+ for the win.

So odd arriving into Omaha, I can’t remember the last time that I flew from there. It’s still easy, which is a great way to end a trip! We walked right onto the Budget parking shuttle once we got our bags, loaded up the truck and headed back to Ankeny.

We did sooo much! What an adventure!