The trip was a big deal around these parts, mainly because it was Lyla’s first trip on an airplane. Yikes. Scary. But good news…it was a breeeeeze.

We used the Baby Bjorn at the airport to lug her around, which was honestly the best idea we had. They don’t even make you take it off to go through security, so it made everything so easy.

She was going nuts looking around and taking it all in. We fed her some food at the Burger King inside the terminal, then when we boarded about 90 minutes later, Jina breast fed her on the runway/takeoff, which kept her calm and then put her right to sleep.

And she slept for the next two hours and only was awake for the final 15-20 minutes of our decent into Tulsa.

It was completely easy and stress-free. She even smiled and laughed at the little girl behind us when we were pulling into the gate in Tulsa.

We were picked up by Jina’s parents and made our way to Grove, which was about an hour or so away. A nice little town next to Grand Lake. Golfed on Saturday morning, ate a lot of good food, and then I returned on Sunday afternoon.

Jina and Lyla drove to Texas with her sister, nephew and parents until Wednesday, when they’ll go to Memphis overnight and then fly home on Thursday.

Lyla was a hit all weekend…people couldn’t get enough of her, and she didn’t fuss or anything in front of them. The only hard part was getting her to sleep Friday night, and then a bit of “awake time” on Sunday morning around 3:30am.

We took her swimming, which you can see in the fun little video below. We got her a cute little swimsuit and she took to the water like a champ, even if it was just dipping her in up to her waist.

I’m home now by myself for four days and not sure how I feel about it. I missed them terribly Sunday night and the house just feels empty.

Praying for their safe return on Thursday…cannot wait to get my girls back!

So the video is below and you can see a bunch of pictures from the weekend right here!

Needless to say, we’re a little bit nervous about it. Not like “terrified” nervous, but just wanting to make sure we know all the ins and outs of flying with a baby before we get on that plane and have no idea what to do.

She’s a good kid, rarely cries for no reason, so I don’t anticipate any real problems, but we wanted to ask for advice from some of you guys on the best way to travel with a baby on a plane.

So how ’bout it? Anyone got some good tips or pointers?

• Fog is way better than 112 degree temperatures
• People never seem to like where they live
• A guy in a red shirt will be flipping off the camera behind home plate Monday at the Dbacks vs Giants game.
• If you don’t have cash to tip the valet, don’t pat him on the back instead
• Sometimes it takes a day or two to get into vacation “mode”
• Hotels should always have “hotel guides”
• Not all massage therapists have a sense of humor
• Some dogs will actually carry your slippers in their mouths behind you on a walk
• Seals like to play king of the hill
• If you stick your arm more than two feet outside a cable car, another cable car passing by will likely remove it from your body completely.
• The nicest restaurants in the nicest weather areas don’t seem to have outdoor patios
• There are literally Starbucks EVERYWHERE
• My poor little rear end loves stadium seating in theaters, and I will never again torture it with old fashioned seats
• Scott got an orange enV and I’m jealous

Thanks for following along with us on our vacation this week, it was a blast.

As a side note, you will all probably not be surprised that I purchased a little Sequoia sapling tree, which I plan to use to learn Bonsai, something I’ve always wanted to do.

I’d rather just plant the thing, but…yeah, a Sequoia in the backyard might get frowned upon someday.

Having finished I Am Legend and having a hard time with this H.P. Lovecraft short story collection, I wanted something else. I grabbed “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, something I’ve wanted to read for awhile.

The afternoon was naps and then the massages. My first massage ever, we only did 30 minutes and it seemed kind of short. But it was nice, and that coupled with a steam room before and after, plus a great shower, was really relaxing.

Dinner was good and we grabbed a slice of pie and a rice crispie treat from the cafe we love.

The best part of the day was after dinner. Before we left, we saw San Francisco covered in early evening fog already, and when we left the restaurant, we could see it trying to come over the hills sheltering Sausalito from the ocean on the West. It was pouring over some portions of it, but just couldn’t make it all the way in.

So we followed the main road in Sausalito, Bridgeway, south and then up over the mountain onto the east side. The change was utterly amazing. From sunny, 70′s and a light breeze, to high 50′s, dense fog and high winds in a matter of minutes. We stood on an outcropping road that looked down into the bay, the bridge and the east side of the mountains. You could see the fog rushing up the slopes and over us, and then flying across the road.

The best was seeing the Golden Gate Bridge covered in fog, with only the very top of the towers holding it up visible. Headlights of cars were visible, but that was it.

There really is no way to describe what it was like besides what Jina said: “It’s like standing in clouds.”

That’s what it was. If it hadn’t been so cold and me without a jacket, I could have stood watching the fog blow over me forever. It was chilling and awesome. Clouds pouring over mountains like a carpet of white mist. Suddenly dark and spooky out, blowing wind, icy blasts, the breaths you took in suddenly filled with moisture.

We both decided that you could try to explain it, but you really had to be there. I wont soon forget that.

It was a slow day of pics, but here are a few we took of Sausalito and views from it:

• Jina loves her coffee
• I took this one of San Fran with a bird looking on
• Sausalito looking north
• Sausalito looking south

The drive up there wasn’t far, but the roads were very twisty and winding. It was chilly in the early morning, which was perfect. We did about a two-mile walk through the woods and were just utterly amazed. It felt like being someplace secret and long forgotten. The trees were just so ancient and massive, some which have been growing for over 500 years. It really was something I’ll never forget.

Sadly our camera sucks in dark light, and I didn’t think we needed the flash, but we did, and many of the pictures came out fuzzy or out of focus. That is the only regret I have, but we will always remember it in my head

We left the park and decided to check out Muir Beach, but ended up seeing a sign for the Muir Beach overlook, which sounded cooler, so we just drove that way. It was one of the most amazing places we’ve been to. The overlook was atop this mountain range looking down into the ocean. The fog was coming up from the water and flowing up the slopes and over the top of the overlook. We had clouds just rushing by us, and the cool air from them was chilling.

You could look down and see waves crashing on big outcropping rocks and cliffs. The overlook was a long walkway to the edge and was breathtaking.

The rest of the day was relaxing. We had lunch from this great burger place by our hotel called “Hamburgers”. They were fantastic. We napped, read a bit and then watched Becoming Jane at the local art theater a few streets down.

One interesting note was that on Monday we thought we saw a guy who looked like Huey Louis and we kind of laughed about it. Well, we went out for ice cream yesterday and we saw the same guy eating at this restaurant below our hotel. And he was with this girl holding a Huey Louis autographed picture, so yeah, it was really him. We think he’s staying at our hotel too Huey Louis!

Pics belown (with some hotel room shots):

• We eat at the crappy place on Day Two
• Mike on a big tree (pretty fuzzy, but you’ll get the idea)
• Jina in front of a huge tree
• A vertical panoramic of a tree I patched together (really need a fish eyed lens)
• Jina walks out to the Muir Beach overlook
• Jina on the overlook
• Another of Jina
• Mike on the overlook
• Both of us
• A view below of the rocks and ocean
• A cool little picture of a small pine tree
• View from our balconey
• The view looking the other direction
• The room

Later we drove along the highway that ran along the coast on our way up to the Golden Gate Bridge. We saw some cool places, like the Cliff House and the old Sutro Baths ruins. The best though was the views we got of the bridge as we drew closer and closer to it.

It felt pretty great to drive over it, this icon of history. You see it in so many postcards, but finally getting my own view of it was an awesome feeling.

We got to Sausalito, missed our exit and then drove down some wild, steep hills backtracking into town. The houses are just crazy, the roads tiny. We made it to the hotel and it didn’t disappoint. Lovely views of the boats and ocean right outside French doors. The bed was soooo comfy that it didn’t take long before I was napping again

Dinner was…well, not great…but our lunch at this small Italian cafe was nice. They ran out of Fat Tire halfway through filling my glass, so I got that plus another glass of Sierra Nevada. Yummmy.

We decided to save the Redwoods trip for Tuesday, but did drive into another town to watch Superbad, which was just as good and hilarious as promised. Review later.

Okay, on to the pictures:

The wall of Shakespeare’s most famous quotes

Jina’s favorite quote on the wall

Tree in the Shakespeare Garden

Mike ponders the ocean at the Cliff House

The Golden Gate Bridge in the distance

Almost to the bridge

The bridge from the other side

The bridge with a pelican caught in the view

Driving over the bridge!

The license plate number on the document matched the Charger in spot 24, so we just jumped in and forgot all about the suckiness that is Dollar Rent-A-Car. And the fact that no Altima’s existed on the lot.

The first thing we thought about was that food was needed and since we were in California, In and Out Burger was THE first place I thought of. We found one amazingly quick and chowed down.

We headed for San Francisco over the Bay Bridge, which was a toll area and had hundreds and hundreds of cars waiting in line over about 16 lanes. I thought I was headed to Mexico or something.

My head was killing me so I took a short nap in our hotel room, which was pretty much a giant walk in closet. It’s a fun little place though, the service was great, and it had a great view of the old buildings around here. One thing I never realized about downtown San Francisco is how much it’s like Manhattan. We took a trolley (or cable car as we were told, even though it didn’t run on cables) to Fisherman’s Wharf, checked out the sea lions on Pier 39 and ate clam chowder out of bread bowls at the Boudin Bakery.

Was a great start to the vacation and today we’re planning on visiting Golden Gate Park and maybe the redwoods at Muir Park.

Here are some pics from Day One:

The tiny hotel room

Pier 39

A sea lion

A ton of sea lions

Mike and Jina on Pier 39

Mike eats clam chowder from a bread bowl

A break dancer does something I can’t do

Jina enjoys one of her favorite things…coffee from Starbucks

Riding on a cable car