Finishing up here in California

Hey guys!!!

Here are the pics I promised you a while back! These are pics from San Francisco, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, and the coast of California. We have been having a great time. We are finishing up here and will be heading to Mankato, Minnesota next. I start there on July 31. We thought it would be fun to try the Midwest and see how things are different there. We are getting pretty excited, even though we are a little sad to leave the friends that we have made here.

We have tried to make the most of our last weeks here. We have made 2 trips to San Francisco which were really fun. We did alot of sightseeing the first day. We went to Fisherman's Warf, Coit Tower, Haight-Ashbury (where we saw some interesting things including the house where Charles Manson recruited his followers. That was a little creepy), Chinatown, Alcatraz, Lombard street (the crookedest street in the world) and other really cool things. The second time, we went back to Fishermans Warf, rode a cable car, and biked across the Golden Gate bridge!! Yep, thats right, we biked a total of about 10 miles (up and down hills!). It was pretty awesome. One of the cool things was that the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer was going on along the same trail and so we passed the women who were walking. There were people dressed up as all kinds of crazy people to encourage the walkers. It looked like a really fun event. FYI: the boobs you see in the picture are plastic fake boobs! Noone was flashing anyone! There were over 2400 men and women walking. They walked 26 miles on Saturday and then another 14 on Sunday. It was incredible. One thing I did learn is that San Fancisco is VERY hilly!!!!! Im talking BIG hills to!!! But i did it!YAY!! Here are some pics of those trips. You will notice in the bike pics that I am the responsible one who wore a helmet! (Points for me! Of course, Im still a little nervous about any activity that revolves around moving vehicles!)) Anyone who would like to lecture Shane on the importance of NOT having your head cracked open by the pavement is more than welcome! LOL

These next pictures are from the road trip we took to Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur. We drove Highway 1 down the coast line which was amazing! We also took the 17 mile drive which goes to Pebble Beach (for those of you who are clueless like me, that is a famous golf course). We also saw the Lone Cypress which is a tree that has remained on rocks by the water for over 200 years and is the trademark for many things. You see it alot in movies and such. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive. Here are the pics!

So there you go! (Yes, DJ and Julie you FINALLY get an update, LOL!) We really miss everyone back home and cannot wait to get home and spend time with you all (unfortunately that will be November for many of you) :( very sad, i know.

Pray for us. we will start a very long road trip to MN next week. I will update when we get there!!