Thursday, July 27, 2010
After staying a couple of nights with the in laws, we flew out of Austin to head to San Francisco. We awoke at 5 am, left for the airport at 6am, checked in at 7am for a flight that left at 8 am. Can you tell by looking at our tired faces? (And yes, we flew Jet Blue.)
The cool thing about flying west is that we arrived at the SFO Airport at 9:30 am. It was awesome because we had the entire day ahead of us, and Shareen, our wonderful friend/hostess/tour guide/driver to get us started.
First stop: Chinatown! I'd never been to a "real" Chinatown, so I was interested in what was ahead. I quickly learned about the steep streets of San Fran, so we decided to hop a cable car to make it down the hill. I swear every single Asian visiting SF was on that cable car. I didn't understand a word that was being spoken, so it was almost like being in a foreign country. Can you see everyone in that car???
Going back up the hill was much smoother with very few people sharing the car with us - especially since we moved a few people to get a good shot. :)
Chinatown has such ornate architecture and decor, and I had to get some shots. Although I am not really in to most things Asian, I found some of what we saw to be very interesting.
We decided to shop some. Of course the jewelry and trinkets were the most exciting for us girls. There were also figures carved from ivory. This was hand carved from one tusk of an elephant - just one:
There were also Kama Sudra-esque figurines in the window as well. Hey, kids, check this out!
After shopping, we made our way to Ross Alley.
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| Ross Alley - some chick, Shareen & Todd |
It's not a pretty site, it is an historical place and houses a great place - the Fortune Cookie Factory! After waiting in line in the very crowded doorway/shop, we were greeted by a smiling old man who gave us broken cookies to sample. We bought some chocolate fortune cookies and "adult" fortune cookies, then paid the shopkeeper fifty cents to get our photo with one of the cookie maker ladies. This photo makes me laugh because it's the best of a few we took because I was trying to get the lady to smile!
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We found another place and stopped in for some Dim Sum and TsingTao beer. Everything was really good and the beer hit the spot.
I'll have one of . . . THESE! This MUST have been what I had, or does it appear that I was guessing?
After heading back up the sstteeeppp hill from Chinatown, we headed to the amazing and famous Golden Gate Bridge. I took a few shots from the open sunroof as we crossed the bridge towards Sausalito.
After a few posed shots on a windy afternoon:
. . . it was time for "jump shots!" Can I just tell you how--much--fun Todd had taking all of these shots? Would you believe me if I told you that Todd kept yelling, "MORE! Let's do more!!!!" Hahaha! Uhhhh, no. It definitely was not like that, but Shareen and I didn't seem to care. I was so busy trying to perfect my landing that my jumping skillz suffered. You may also notice that I had difficulty in keeping my clothes and sunglasses on! We took so many trying to get a good one, that I just put them all in a slide show so you can laugh as well. :) The funniest part of our time at the Bridge was when Todd figured out that we were finally finished with our semi-futile attempt at the perfect jump shot, a very kind man walked by and said, "Would you like me to take some of the three of you?" I was laughing so hard that I'm truly surprised that I didn't pee my pants.
As we left the amazing Golden Gate Bridge, we headed back through San Fran to take the Oakland Bay Bridge to our friends' house. First, we had to drive the Crooked Street and get some really cool shots. I can't imagine how/why people live on that street, but they do.
As you can tell, we were still a good ways up from the Bay.
Next stop: Casa Pacifica. Casa Pacifica is the name our friends gave their home since they have so many visitors. Really, who wouldn't want to visit a place with such beautiful weather, an orange tree outside your window, and amazing hospitality! We made it into Niles (a small suburb of Fremont) in time to drop off our bags and head over for our 4:30 massages. Todd and I had a couples room where "Andy" and "Rita" (their American names, I'm sure) gave us some amazing deep tissue massages. I'd been having problems with pain and numbness in my arms and hands and gave Rita a heads up to work on them. Rita, who spoke no English, beat the hell out of me. I was literally crying out in pain, but I needed it. My main concern was taking away from Todd's relaxing experience. He said that he almost asked if I was okay and then thought, "Hey, she's a big girl," and resumed his massage. :) After a short time, Rita said something to Andy who said to me, "Rita say you have lots of problem." Dude . . . what a loaded statement that is! "You want 'nother thirty minute?" I declined so Todd and Shareen wouldn't have to wait on me, and Rita continued her ass-kicking. Let me just say that the fingerprint bruises all over my arms for the next few days did the trick. No more numb hands or arm pain! There were no photos of me practically naked screaming in pain. I know, I'm a bad blogger. Get over it.
Next stop: Casa Pacifica. Casa Pacifica is the name our friends gave their home since they have so many visitors. Really, who wouldn't want to visit a place with such beautiful weather, an orange tree outside your window, and amazing hospitality! We made it into Niles (a small suburb of Fremont) in time to drop off our bags and head over for our 4:30 massages. Todd and I had a couples room where "Andy" and "Rita" (their American names, I'm sure) gave us some amazing deep tissue massages. I'd been having problems with pain and numbness in my arms and hands and gave Rita a heads up to work on them. Rita, who spoke no English, beat the hell out of me. I was literally crying out in pain, but I needed it. My main concern was taking away from Todd's relaxing experience. He said that he almost asked if I was okay and then thought, "Hey, she's a big girl," and resumed his massage. :) After a short time, Rita said something to Andy who said to me, "Rita say you have lots of problem." Dude . . . what a loaded statement that is! "You want 'nother thirty minute?" I declined so Todd and Shareen wouldn't have to wait on me, and Rita continued her ass-kicking. Let me just say that the fingerprint bruises all over my arms for the next few days did the trick. No more numb hands or arm pain! There were no photos of me practically naked screaming in pain. I know, I'm a bad blogger. Get over it.
After scraping our relaxed bodies back to the house, we headed back to Casa Pacifica with a brief stop by the famous "Taco Truck." I've never bought food from a truck/trailer before, but it was good!
Todd, Shareen, and I enjoyed our taco appetizers and beverages while we waited for Greg to get home from work. Entertainment was also provided by the awesome Dexter. "Dexie" (as I called him) became quite close during our visit, which helped me get through missing our babies so badly. He's such a star that every time I took his photo, he blinked!
We were later treated to a delicious dinner on the back patio. Greg lit up the heaters --- yes, heaters in July! --- so we'd stay warm enough under our blankets while we ate and chatted. We then began telling stories and catching up when Greg introduced us to a new friend: Amarula. What a delicious little drink it was, over and over again!
After a long day of travel, sightseeing, shopping, relaxing, and hanging with friends, we settled in our new home away from home. Windows open, fan on, and comfy covers provided us the first of many cool nights to come.
Next: Day Two - Monterey and Carmel
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1 comment:
those jumping pics are the funniest things i have seen in a while. i am wiping tears of laughter out of my eyes. you guys rock the house that jack built!
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