Stephanna McKee

Sanny Franny

We're back! Have been for a couple days, so I figured I should finally blog about it. San Francisco was a blast....for the most part. It was so nice to get away just Stephen and I and remember why we loved each other and decided to get married. haha Just kidding! But seriously...it was nice to just be alone without having to worry about Bails 24/7. Shoutout to grandma and grandpa by the way for taking care of him for the week!! Couldn't have done it without you.

So day one. Unfortunately day one deserves its very own post. The trip did not start off on a good foot to say the least. I'm over it now...but it was a rough go. Our flight left Great Falls at 5pm. Normally Stephen has a tough go at the border. They just don't like him. So I planned a good one to two hour layover. Ummm we got right through. Nicest border guard I've EVER had. He was very intrigued by my job, and Stephen loves every chance he gets to brag about how cool my job is, so we chatted it up with Mr. Border Guard for a good 3 minutes and then he let us right on into the land of the free. And you better believe Mr. Neil Diamond was blasted as soon as we arrived in America. It's tradition

So now it's about 12:30 pm and we have four hours to kill in podunk Great Falls. yay us. So we went to lunch at Cafe Rio. Ugh...not our finest moment. I loved Cafe Rio up until then. It did not treat us well and we spent the next four hours trying to feel better before the flight. We went to some crazy outdoor/workout/hunting store where we oogled the amount of guns and dead animals on the walls. We visited Bed Bath and Beyond and received chair massages. Highlight of the morning without a doubt. Then we just walked until my feet were sore.

So by 3:30 we just went to the airport to wait it out and watch Netflix.

We flew to Salt Lake and had a three hour lay over. So annoying, but whatever. We dealt with it. So by the time we fly into San Fran it's 11pm and we are spent. The flight didn't treat either of us well. Stephen's ears hadn't popped and the baby did NOT enjoy the flight. I was beyond nauseous. Yay for vacations!!! So needless to say we're both a little on edge. Now to rent a car and drive in one of the biggest cities in North America....to our hotel in downtown San Fran. We had no idea what to expect.

We soon discovered the downtown streets of San Fran are full of one ways, drunk partiers, and trains that come out of nowhere and stop for no one. Throw in a hotel with NO parking, and no parking ANYWHERE for that matter and life was just a blast. We finally found the hotel after circling the block three times and narrowly missing hitting four pedestrians. Honestly, pedestrians own the streets there. It doesn't matter what color the light is. It drove us crazy. Anyway, we found the hotel crammed inbetween a gadget and gizmo shop and a chinese takout place. No joke. By the time we finally found parking we were madly in love with each other. haha oh wow. So not true. I may have started crying walking into the hotel lobby, and Stephen may have taken on the role of my father and told me to get a grip. That didn't help my overall feelings of love towards him, but he was right. I needed to get a grip and just check in so we could get some sleep. I don't even want to know what the reception guy was thinking as I stood there blurry and puffy eyed in front of him. But I'm pretty sure he thought we were in some sort of abusive relationship. haha

Stephen was so fed up with the night he wouldn't even bring the luggage to the room. So I couldn't even brush my teeth. How rude. Trust me...brushing my teeth was the least of my worries. I just want to say that Travelocity gave this hotel 4 out of 5 stars! And there were NO complaints in the comments. This hotel was something to behold. It was built in 1915. Full of charm and character, right??? No siree. There were pipes sticking out of the roof, the halls were maybe a meter in diamter, red streaky lighting everywhere. It felt like a dungeon. Then we opened our door. Literally two steps to the bed. Sit on the bed and literally another two steps to the bathroom in which the shower was a drain in the floor with a curtain and a sink that looked like it belonged in a prison cell. The window was barred, which was probabaly a good thing because I'm 97% sure I heard a gunshot during the second of three bar fights we heard that night. Stephen assured me it was not a gunshot, but I'm fairly certain it was. We couldn't even watch the fight because our window faced a brick wall that if our window DID open I could have reached out and kissed it, it was that close. Do you get the gist?!? It was horrible. It was my nightmare. I lost it. I was a hysterical, bawling mess.

Here I had planned this awesome getaway for Stephen's birthday and this is where we're staying?!?! Oh no. I'm a horrible wife. Well, this just wouldn't do, so the good ol' Jim Steed came out in me and Travelocity got a call, and and earful. Unfortantely I could only understand about 50% of what the oh so helpful lady on the other end of the conversation was saying, but somehow I managed to cancel our reservations and get a full refund. I also was able to book us the next three nights at the Sheraton on the Wharf. **Insert sigh of relief as we walked into the lobby. It was a full 180. It was heaven on earth. NOW our vacation could begin.

These pictures honestly don't do the situation justice.
Here we are in Salt Lake waiting to board. So far so good.