San Francisco

We arrived home late this evening from our family vacation to the Bay Area.
For daughter #1's birthday we spent the day in San Francisco. We brought our children here often as they were growing up, and everyone still loves to do the touristy thing in the City.


We parked our car and rode cable cars and public transportation from place to place.
When ever I go to San Francisco, one of my favorite things to do is people watch, because I see such interesting people!

We stood in line for the cable car and I met this woman from Washington, DC. I asked her how long she had been growing her nails and she said 21 years! Believe it or not, she is a postal worker and can do quite a few things with her hands, despite the nails. I wondered what motivated her to grow her nails so long, and she said she is one of a set of identical girl triplets and wanted to be unique from her siblings.

Then there is Bush Man who hides behind these cut bushes and scares people as they walk by. Groups gather across the street to watch, and howl with laughter every time he gets a passer by to scream. He's so popular, he's even been on late night TV shows.

And then there are the statue people who cover themselves in gold or silver.

Some tourists see the city by Segway.

Others are driven around in these GOcars.

In our family, we consider ourselves "foodies". There are certain foods we HAVE to have when we go into the city. Sourdough bread is one of them.

We had clam chowder on Fisherman's Wharf at Boudin's.

And hot fudge Sundae's at Ghirardelli Square.

Looking out onto the bay with Alcatraz Island in the distance.

We visited the Art Museums and saw a Salvador Dali exhibit.

But my favorite part of the day was walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. I have driven across many, many times growing up, but for some reason, never WALKED across.

Our three daughters, Aubrey, Amy and Elizabeth.

I was proud of Amy for being willing to join us on this 1.7 mile walk. She is almost 7 months pregnant with baby #3, and yet did very well.

It had been beautiful weather in the city all day, but by afternoon the bridge was windy and cold.

My brother also joined us on the walk. He lives nearby and we stayed at his house.

Mr. Cactus

Me with my brother.

He knows this area well.

The Golden Gate Bridge was built in the 1930's and has only been closed 3 times because of bad weather.

38 painters work on the bridge and are touching it up continually.

A lot of people like to bike across the bridge also.

Brrrr... cold and foggy.

As you cross the bridge, you enter Marin County.

I thought you might like to see what it looks like underneath the bridge.

We walked through the beautiful city of Sausalito and had dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant.

And then in the late evening took the ferry back to San Francisco.

A wonderful ending to the day as we watched the sun go down and the fog drift back over the hills of Sausalito like a heavy blanket.