Our final leg of our vacation was San Francisco. Notice I didn't say "sunny" San Fran...cause it was cold most of the trip - but that's okay - we were facing 95 degrees at home, so we didn't mind the chilly air. Our time in San Francisco started on Saturday, June 13th. We got there around 2:00 in the afternoon and we headed straight to downtown - specifically, the museum district. Our first adventure was figuring out how to get where we needed to be without making a left turn - apparently, those aren't allowed. The traffic was insane! There are electric buses and trolley cars that have taken over the road and a hundred million cars going in every direction (except left turns). We finally found a parking lot and headed out on foot. Our first stop was the Cartoon Art Museum. This small building housed comics and cartoons dating from way back to current day. It was interesting to see the different artwork - especially for Matt because he is a comic book fanatic! We ventured next over to the Zeum. This place was so much fun! The Zeum is a technology filled children's museum. Here you can create claymation videos, graphic artwork and music videos, as well as, a host of other really cool things. We focused on claymation and music. The pic above of Jack and Matt singing "Folsom Prison Blues". There was a green screen behind them and the video had a background. We brought home a dvd of all their videos. It was truly a fun experience. We hung around downtown some before checking into our hotel. I found a local diner and ordered food to go. We chilled out in our beautiful hotel suite (they upgraded us for free!) and enjoyed an evening before our busy next day. Sunday morning was brisk and beautiful. We got up early to enjoy Sunday service with our sister church in San Francisco. They were meeting in an outdoor amphitheater on the south side of San Fran. As we were walking into the service, we saw one of my good good friends (Paige Walters) from way back. She and her family moved from Houston to California about 9 years ago. I was hoping I'd see her that day. We sat with them and all the kids really hit it off. We made plans to hang out with them the next day. After an inspirational service of "Dreams", we grabbed lunch via a drive-thru and headed way north to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. It was fairly uncrowded and we enjoyed an afternoon of crazy rollercoasters and churros! Yummy! Exhausted from a day outside, we headed back to the hotel and relaxed. Monday morning started us early at Union Square. We had 9:00 reservations to rent "Go Cars". See the pic above of Matt and Bill. These little "moped" motored cars sat two people and were GPS guided tours around the city. I was scared to death to drive this thing (remember the crazy SF traffic?). We were driving in the same lanes! But, after a few blocks, it was easier and we thoroughly enjoyed this special tour of the city. We drove all along Fisherman's Wharf, by the huge Baseball Stadium and back through Chinatown. Yes...people were pointing and laughing...but it was a blast. Now, we had to wear helmets and my hair was never quite the same the rest of the day. The next plan on the list was to ride the infamous Trolley Car down to the wharf. We purchased our tickets then went to the line. Let me just tell you that the line for the Trolley Cars was wrapped around a couple blocks. It was going to take forever to get on this "ride"...so we asked some locals which direction to the water. They inquired if we were walking and we said "yes". They said "it's a long way and it's half way up hill". We thought, "we're up for the adventure"! So we headed towards the water. The walk was awesome! We had just climbed up mountains in Yosemite, we can handle the crazy streets of San Fran. Well, 27 blocks later, we were at the wharf! Remember it was chilly outside, so we survived. It was fantastic and we felt like such adventurous people. Once at the wharf we jumped on the boat and got a fantastic tour of the bay. We saw Alcatraz, the bridges, the islands and learned so much about the city of San Francisco. We loved it. See the pic of Matt and me with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Oh...did I mention it was cold. We made it back to shore where we went to Pier 39. We ate at a yummy restaurant on the water called the "Wipeout Grill". The pic above of Jack and Matt is at the table. Now some of the tables were surfboards - we couldn't get one of those, but we had a great view of the bay. The food was delicious!! Next on the agenda was the Aquarium - "I know - how many aquariums can one family visit while on vacation?" But, we had to go to an aquarium on the bay - it seemed only natural. This aquarium was really nice and we enjoyed the shark exhibits a lot. The pic above is Matt touching starfish. They were quite beautiful and squishier then you'd think. We had tickets for a 4:30 trolley tour around the city, so we had some time to kill before that began. We just hung around the main street at the wharf - there were street performers all up and down and they were quite entertaining. One that drew a lot of attention was "Frisco Fred". He did magic and was really funny. Bill was even pulled into the show and if you know Bill, he just loves that kind of attention :) Jack got to help, too. Our trolley arrived and we had the most enjoyable tour guide who drove that giant trolley around those crazy streets. We saw places in SF that we never knew were there and were grateful we found this specific tour. Now it's about 5:30 and we need to head back to our car by 7:00 pm in order to get the better rate on parking. We still needed to go to Ghiradelli Square for chocolate and ride the Trolley Car back (so we thought). Matt and I went for the chocolate ice cream, while Jack and Bill got in the crazy long line. We realized quickly that there was no way we would make it back by 7:00, so we needed to figure out plan B. We were at least 34 blocks away from our car and by now it's 6:15. Walking was not an option either. So, we asked some questions and walked two blocks to the bus stop. We hopped on bus #30 that would bring us pretty close to our car. This was quite an adventure as well - that bus driver was crazy as he swerved and dodged cars. He picked up all of Chinatown on one stop and we were so crammed in on the bus, that even when we got to our stop, we weren't sure if we could get off...but we did and it was a blast. Our kids are so amazing - they just go along with it as we figure it all out. We managed to get to the car with 25 minutes to spare - no problem! We got back to our hotel in plenty of time to await our guests - remember my friend, Paige? Well, she and her family came over for dinner and swimming. The kids swam and the grown-ups caught up. It was so encouraging! We didn't want them to leave - it's so great to have friends all over - especially friends that you can just pick up where you left off and it's like you were never apart. I loved it. She has a daughter who a few months older than Jack - they've been texting ever since :) Anyway...bedtime again - we had our final day still to come. We woke up Tuesday morning and packed all of our stuff we've accumulated along the way. We headed back over to the wharf for our tour of Alcatraz. The prison tour started off with the ferry ride over to the island, then a self-guided audio tour of the buildings. We really enjoyed seeing all the cells and the accommodations and hearing the stories. Now, we need to watch the move "The Rock" again :) Once this tour was over we ate at the famous "Boudins" for lunch. Matt and I got the Crab Macaroni and Cheese. Oh, it was mighty fine! We bought some souveniers and headed back to the car. Our final event for the trip was finding Lombard street - the most famous street in the world (I don't know about that - but it was really cool!). We drove to the top and swivelled our way down. I took video of it - you can see our drive down by clicking "play" below. We also drove down the steepest grade in all of SF - Filbert Street. 31% grade. It was so exciting. I cannot believe how they built homes and office buildings on these steep streets...but it sure looks cool to see the angles.
We now only had a short amount of time to refuel the rental van and head to the airport. We arrived and waited for our flight. The trip was over 3 1/2 hours coming home, but we made it safe and sound. The 12 days away as a family was truly a blessed time and we are all grateful for the memories and the experiences we had. Thanks for reading about our trip and being our friends and family. We're grateful to have you in our lives. We look forward to a fabulous summer with adventures that include all of you.
