California!!!!

This past weekend Ben and I, along with his old roommate Ben Tingey and his wife Jackie road tripped it out to California! It was a really fun trip. We left on Thursday at 6am and rolled into Oakland, CA at about 5pm. We each took about a 3 hour shift at the wheel, and it helped the trip not seem so bad. The reason for our adventure was because Ben's other old roommate Ben Myers got married! We stayed at Motel 6 in Oakland and it was surprisingly nice! There was even a little Fisherman's Pier right behind it. Thursday night we all went to the 'rehearsal' dinner. It was at a little yummy restaurant in a place called Walnut Creek. It was so good to see Ben and Karin again, and the dinner was delicious! We sat at the same table with Ben's older sister Kristi and her husband Byron. It was so fun, they entertained us with stories the entire time!

After the dinner we went to the Oakland Airport and picked up DJ (another old roommate). Then finally after a long day of driving, we crashed! We woke up the next morning at around 6:30 to get ready for the wedding. The sealing was at 9, and we had to be there at 8:30. We got there early and kinda hung out and took pictures of the temple. The Oakland Temple is GORGEOUS!!! Seriously like the prettiest temple I have ever seen.

Karin's Grandpa sealed her and Ben, and I am told it was a beautiful sealing. Since the moment they walked out of those temple doors, i was smitten with this couple! Karin looked gorgeous in her dress, and they are just such a good looking couple! So exciting! They are finally married! Here are some shots of them and the group.

After pictures we walked around the Visitor's Center which was really cool. Then we went to Pizza Hut, got some food and took it back to our Hotel and ate and took naps. It was great. Then we had to go to the reception! It took FOREVER to get there! Traffic in California is so bad! But we finally got to Merced, and the reception was at Karin's house. It was awesome! They had a live band and a dance floor. I also ran into a family I used to babysit for in Highlands Ranch, the Spencers. It's a crazy small world!

SAN FRANCISCO!

Next up on our trip was San Fran. My back was hurting really bad, so I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I could have. But it was still really fun. We saw the Golden Gate Bridge, went to Fisherman's Wharf, and drove through China Town. It was really cool. The streets there are crazy! They are so steep! My car would have like died there, so it's a good thing we didn't take it. In Fisherman's Wharf, Ben got to speak Chinese with a shop owner, which he enjoyed thoroughly. We also ate lunch at Boudin, the famous Sour Dough Bakery! It was so good!

Ben loved driving through China Town! it made him miss Taiwan.

We ended up driving home right after San Francisco at about 3pm, and got home to Provo at 2:30am. Overall it was a great trip and fun to get away. :-)