San Francisco Adventure

I had to go to San Francisco for work and when my pal Amy expressed an interest in coming with me and watching Rachel Claire, I decided to go for it. I hadn't been there for over 20 years (yikes) and thought it would be fun, particularly a trip to Chinatown. We also added a bike trip over the Golden Gate bridge suggested by uber athlete Carmen -- what was I thinking! :-) Amy and Rachel Claire got to explore Union Square and other stuff around our hotel (including the pool). We also squeezed in a visit to Golden Gate Park which I hadn't been to on my last visit. All and all it was a great trip, and even our long flights went well!

I'm always inclined to photograph strange things in and around the street....this was in the sidewalk in Chinatown

This man was playing an unusual instrument which you can't see because its behind his shopping basket.

Of course we got some adorable things in Chinatown!

It was very crowded and hilly!

This was in a park where they had a kids play area and an adult hang out area

Rachel Claire fit right in....but she wanted to play with a bigger kid who wasn't too keen on it...when she started crying about that (it had been a long day already) it was time to go check into the hotel.

Golden Gate Park - a huge park with lots of amenities, including a Chinese pagoda and an awesome kids playground!

There was an older Asian gentleman who had some bread crumbs to feed the ducks and he was sharing with Rachel Claire...it was so sweet.

Check out this cool slide built into a hill -- Rachel Claire loved it!

She got the hang of sliding on some cardboard, like the other kids, right away.

Note the leggings Amy had to buy for Rachel Claire because I didn't bring her any tights because I thought she wouldn't be that cold...

It was one cool kids area!

Here's the refurbished electric cable car we took down to Fisherman's Wharf instead of the packed touristy cable car, much quicker, cheaper and less crowded (at least on the way there)!

This was our bike ride from Fisherman's Wharf, across the Golden Gate Bridge and down to Sausalito...fun and beautiful but exhausting and sometimes nerve-wracking (on the bridge)

These people were nuts, I'm sure the water was freezing!

Unfortunately for Amy, she had to carry Rachel Claire as the bike rental place wouldn't put her seat on a bike my size... :-(

That's a pelican in the foreground in the water

Next to this heron in the other side of this small puddle/pond.

It was beautiful, clear weather every day -- highs in the 70s

This seagull wanted to share our snack

We stopped to nourish ourselves for the bridge part of the ride...and we needed it!

Looking out from the bridge, which had lots of dawdling touristy bike riders trying to share a narrow two-way path with serious fast-riding bike riders who weren't very patient...next to cars going highway speeds....way up high over the bay/ocean with the wind blowing!

Rachel Claire fell asleep just before we got on the bridge...probably a good thing for her to minimize the fear factor

The other side was beautiful and much warmer!

And mostly downhill...except for this part with these neat looking, unusual trees

Sausalito, I can't imagine how expensive it is to live there and how long it must take people to get to work...not to mention how long it must take the people who work there to get there, because surely no one who works there can afford to live there.

But it is definitely a beautiful little town, if a wee bit too touristy.

The windy, crowded but fun ferry ride back to Fisherman's Wharf...we couldn't even imagine riding back...whew!