San Francisco 2007

8/12/07

2007-08-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today we got up early and took a passenger van tour to Muir Woods and Sonoma Valley. Muir Woods is a National Monument with the last coastal redwood trees. We went on a nice two mile hike through the trees. Later we found out that part of Star Wars was filmed here - remember the Ewoks?

After Muir Woods we headed off to Sonoma for some wine tasting. Dave and I were a little disappointed because the wine people were only giving us splashes - that is not what happened in Sideways.

Here are some gigantic barrels of wine.
I am standing in front of some of the vines at Viansa Vineyards. This was our favorite vineyard of all. It was beautiful and meant to replicate the vineyards of Tuscany.
Here Dave is standing in front of some vines with the beautiful rolling hills of Sonoma behind him.
If you look behind him, you'll see olives! This vineyard also makes their own olive oil.

On the way back, we stopped at the Marin Headlands for this "postcard view" of the city. I tried to use the panoramic option on my camera, but I couldn't figure it out.

After our tour we had a quick dinner and did some last minute Wharf shopping.

Tomorrow we check out and have one more day in the city.

8/11/07

2007-08-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

Dave and I started off the day by walking down the crookedest street - Lombard. It was very pretty with flowers in the middle of each twisty section.

That night we went to Alcatraz during their night tour. It was really cool and we supposedly got to go places that you can't go during the day. We got to see the hospital wing, rec. yard, got put in "the hole" and saw a cell opening and closing demonstration once it got dark. Very spooky.
Doing the audio tour.
Dave with the nighttime San Francisco backdrop.

8/10/07

2007-08-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Dave and I undertook an adventure that we did not bargain for! We rented bikes and planned to ride to Golden Gate Park from Fisherman's Wharf and then go across the Golden Gate Bridge and have lunch and spend the afternoon in Sausalito. Well, we didn't plan on the map the bike place gave us being horrible (thank goodness I brought a real map with us) and the quick ride through the park and up the the bridge ended up taking 3.5 hours. We finally got in Sausalito around 1:30ish. We wished we could have stayed there longer before heading back to the ferry across the bay, we really liked it there. Our legs and feet barely moved when we got back, but we headed out to the Giants game and were impressed how beautiful and clean it was. The food was also unbelieveable....Fenway is horrible compared to this.

A picture of Dave before he knew what we were getting ourselves into.

Here I am at the bison paddock in the Golden Gate State Park. Notice how my arms are not quite the screaming red color that they are while I write this.
Dave is standing near the Cliff House which overlooks Ocean Beach. No swimming goes on here because of the dangerous currents.
Midway over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Dave and I sitting and having lunch and a restaurant in Sausalito. The view from the restaurant was beautiful (you can see San Fran over Dave's shoulder) and it was here that I believe I helped my sunburn get to its full potential.
Here I am in our nosebleed seats at AT+T Park watching the Giants and Pirates. Just as we got there Barry hit his 758th home run. We were a little peeved that he couldn't wait a couple of days and sell our tickets so we could become a little wealthier.

8/10/07 and 8/11/07

2007-08-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

The stupid server keeps dying on me and won't allow me to post pictures. I'll try again after our wine tour tomorrow.

8/9/07

2007-08-09T23:00:00.001-07:00

Today we rented a car (after much hassle) and drove down to Monterey and Carmel. We drove down scenic route 1, which wasn't very scenic and saw many organic farms. We stopped for a picnic lunch in a pretty park in Monterey, which has inspired David to open his own paddle boat/dippin' dots stand and a park with a pond or lake. We went to Monterey Aquarium, Cannery Row, 17-mile drive including Pebble Beach and Carmel by the Sea.

Here Dave and I are in front of Monterey Bay in Monterey. In the water there is a lot of Kelp, which we learned is perfect for cormorants, sea otters, sea lions and brown pelicans.

And you will be my squishy....we saw a lot of Finding Nemo animals at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We thought it was much nicer than the Boston Aquarium, but the millions of unruly children was annoying.
Here is a picture of me sitting on some rocks along 17 mile drive overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Apparently, early Chinese sailors would anchor here for the night and build lean-tos on these rocks. I think that it would not be a very pleasant night.
Here is Dave touching the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
Here we are in front of The Lone Cypress, which is the logo for Pebble Beach. Supposedly it is a symbol of strength, stability and fortitude-however, if you look closely, you can see that this pillar of strength is being held up by several cables.

Here I am calling my dad from the 18th green at Pebble Beach. It is $495+ caddy fees to play one round. Dave and I got 2 rounds in. ha

8/8/07

2007-08-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

Picture of the G.G. Bridge from Coit Tower.

Our feet are very tired. We started off the day in Fisherman's Wharf around 9AM, we were very confused because nothing was open yet. Apparently, Californian's don't get going until around 10AM. We did the whole Wharf thing. Here is Dave in front of Alcatraz and me at Pier 39 looking at the Sea Lions. (The seal lions sound an awful lot like giant guinea pigs.)

There are also two pictures from our cable car ride on the Powell-Hyde line. Then we walked through Union Square, Chinatown, North Beach, Telegraph Hill (picture taken walking up hill to Coit Tower).

Now we're just resting our tootsies before we head down for our complimentary beer, then off to dinner at North Beach (the North End of San Fran) and then off to see Beach Blanket Babylon. Off to Monterey tomorrow!

8/7/07

2007-08-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

Bridget was nice enough to drive us to the airport yesterday. After a 2 hour delay due to fog in Boston we took off at 6 PM, we eventually got into Detroit and then on to San Fran. We arrived at 12:30 AM Pacific Time - 3:30AM Eastern Time, which makes us very tired. More later.

8/5/07

2007-08-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

Dave and I have returned from the Adirondacks - he has shaved his beard slightly for the change in setting. He now feels ready to go on our next vacation - San Francisco!