Summer 2018 Day #31

Our last full day in California and I did some major lighthousing with my crew, or my posse as it was called today. 🤗

1st LH of the day - cute little Carquinez Straight. 😍

I ran out of time to Lighthouse like I really wanted to. And they were all open weird and different days. But I planned as full and productive a day as a I could. 

An out of order lightship picture? Sure. Because I don’t know how to move pictures around on my blog app for my phone. 
Oakland temple!

This beauty was closed for renovations, but we still wanted to check her out. 

They loved it, these missionary kids. 

And look at that view! I had no idea!

These girls sat and watched all the videos. 

They had their scriptures on their laps and sat and quietly listened, it was so sweet. 

Mini house = fav. 

Adorable crew. 

Next up!
Lighthouse # 2 - Oakland Harbor, also know as Quinn’s Lighthouse Restaurant.

I’m sure the restaurant manager thought I was nuts, but I am not to be deterred. 

We got loads of pics! 😍

This place was on a busy road and I had to do some maneuvering, but it’s all in a days work for a lighthouser. 

By this point the kiddos were a little rambunctious. I remember having to do a little talking to them about behavior. 

Lighthouse #3 of the day - Relief Lightship.

I can’t remember exactly the details here. I can’t remember if this was a day they weren’t open, but I approached the employees and asked if we could come aboard and look around - I think this is the most likely scenario. Or if they don’t give tours normally, but I asked and they let us. Or what exactly, but I remember it was an odd situation of some men outside cleaning and I asked if me and my ridiculously loud and adorable crew could come explore and they got the main boss for me to talk to and he kind of reluctantly agreed. Everyone was nice about it and I’m used to being an adorable nuisance. 

If you’ve seen one lightship, you’ve pretty much seen them all, but it’s still fun to check out  

We got a private tour. And always ready to eat. 

Fitting 5 under 10 into a picture, getting scenery, and not making my head look giant is not easy, and I am often unsuccessful. 

✔️ 

I traumatized some kids in search of our last light of the day. It felt like 100 mph winds at the vista point overlooking the GGB (as the cool kids dubbed it).

I wanted to find the ruins of this little lighthouse and I remember having to drive up and down the hill a time or 2. There are always lots of tourists around so it was trafficy, but this day was mostly calm and good in our little red minivan that could. 

They were huddled together for protection and warmth, and at least half of them cried. 🙄

They found this little safe space out of the wind so I could soak up my last few minutes of ocean view and try to figure out my lighthousing. 

I think they were all swept up in the excitement and drama of heights, beauty, and windy weather. They were really fine and sweet. And seeing this angle, we drove all the way around down to that inlet down there. Maybe more than once?

We finally dropped a pin and found the ruins of the sad little Lime Point LH under the GGB.

Chelsea has been saying that because of Covid she is so grateful and has no regrets for any of the trips and adventures she’s done recently, and strolling down memory lane like this is making me super grateful for these opportunities too. It was in some ways a difficult summer. I missed Matt and home, and the cousins had some growing pains and learning curves. But I’m so grateful we had that time to try to figure things out and get to experience so much together. 

2018 bonus - Cade was busy busy training in San Antonio. Lu had decided to finish school virtually and live there with him. It’s always fun getting these tough guy shots. 

And tonight, we pack. 😬😩

I feel like we fb dinner’d it this night too. After our very full day we bathed everyone, did a million load of laundry, and stayed up way too late soaking up every last minute of quiet sister time.