I finally made it, but what an ordeal it was! I started out on Wednesday. My flight was at 2:15, so I hit the MAX around 11:30 for the hour's trip to the airport on light rail. Armed with my book and numerous crossword puzzles, I was good to go. Having confirmed my flight, checked in, and printed my boarding passes online the night before, I didn't think to confirm my flight before I left home. That was my first mistake. When I arrived at the airport, I found my flight had been delayed due to mechanical problems. Because they had to swap the problem plane out for a mechanically-sound one, we wouldn't leave Portland until 5:30. I would not arrive in Atlanta until 1:15, and would, of course, miss my connection to Mobile. I would have to spend the night at a hotel, and, after 4 hours, get up to make my 7:00 am flight to Mobile Thursday morning. I opted instead to simply delay my trip by 24 hours, and leave on Thursday instead. Back on MAX my suitcase and I went and rode for an hour back home, sitting next to a woman who talked non-stop in a high-pitched, self-proclaimed hillbilly voice all the way to my stop. Argh!
Thursday morning I told the kids good-bye again, and Larry took me back to the MAX station. I got to the airport, and my flight had been delayed again, but only by 30 minutes. No problem, because my connection in Atlanta was delayed, too. Weather problems over Atlanta. I had plenty to read and puzzle at, so I was in good shape. I was a bit uneasy because I had no seat assignment in Atlanta, but I was assured it would be no problem to take care of that once I got there.
Let me just say that all the fun has been taken out of flying. I felt like I was on a bus in a third world country with all the locals and their chickens. Because Delta now charges for the first bag, passengers opt to carry everything on the plane with them. Bags are frantically and resourcefully being stashed everywhere until there is no more room, and the poor souls who board the plane last have to gate check their bags. My bag was checked already - my second mistake? I got settled in my delightful middle seat - everyone's favorite - and almost immediately the snoring started behind me. This man snored from the time his butt hit the seat and his head hit the seat back until we landed in Atlanta. I, of course, had left my earplugs (that I always travel with) in my checked bag. Sigh... Then, the kids in the seats in front of me started fussing with each other. Mom tried to defuse the situation by giving them a video game to play - because you can do that on the plane now! How fun! Now I got to listen to the sound effects from the headphone-less video game AND the snoring man! Did I mention I didn't have my earplugs with me? Predictably, the kids started fighting over some aspect of the video game. Eventually, Dad got involved, and took the video game away. I wanted to cheer except that this caused the kids to scream and cry and beg Dad to let them have it back. I wanted to knock all their useless heads together and then call my own children at home and thank them for being such well-behaved travelers... I tried to use my headphones, but they wouldn't work on my armrest. After about an hour and a half, the kids finally calmed down, and I was left with the snoring wonder behind me - oh, and did I mention, no ear plugs!
I finally got to Atlanta just before 10:00 pm, and my flight was supposed to leave at 11:15. I grabbed a sandwich from the Slo-mo Sandwich Shop( don't they know they work at an airport where people have connections to make - and that I was starving?!) and headed to the gate. The six people in front of me had boarding passes that said "Need seat assignment", just like mine. They were all put on Stand-by. I was convinced I was looking at a night in Atlanta, and approached the podium ready to raise hell. "I need a seat assignment," I stared out calmly. Immediately, I was assigned Seat 1D - right up front. Finally, my luck was turning around! The plane was delayed further due to bad weather, so we waited and waited. I decided that when I got on the plane I would order a drink. I called Daddy in Mobile to remind him to check the flight status before he left for the airport, because, at this point, I had no idea when we'd get away. We finally boarded around 11:30, and I had a bulkhead seat - meaning no under-seat storage. No problem. I got out my book, crossword puzzle, and pencil and got comfortable, enjoying the extra leg room. The flight took off and the flight attendant came down the aisle with beverages - and I realized that my purse was in the overhead bin, and I couldn't get to my money to pay for my drink without crawling over the guy beside me and knocking the flight attendant and her cart out of the way. No prob; I didn't need a drink anyway.
Forty-five non-alcoholic minutes later, we landed in Mobile and I headed down to baggage claim. I had a sinking feeling that soon made me wonder if I'm telepathic. Sure enough, I had no bag. The perfect ending to two perfect days - lost luggage. I filled out the claim form, Daddy picked me up and we headed back to the house, where Daddy fixed me a double screwdriver that tasted divine. This party better be worth it!
Update: My bag arrived this morning and it never felt so good to take a shower and change into clean underwear!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
The Gaia - A Great Hotel
Since we were going to be gone for so long, we made it a point to stay in motels along the way that, shall we say, were not of luxury quality. Only the Parc 55 in San Francisco defied this rule - because that's where the convention was being held. Otherwise, I reserved rooms for us with a budget in mind. Our only criteria were that we have free breakfast, free parking and free internet. (This last requirement varied in quality from place to place; thus my inability to blog successfully while en route... Plus the fact that four of us were sharing computer usage with very limited time.) While most of our lodging was at familiar chains (Comfort Inn, Rodeway Inn, etc.), we found a great deal in Anderson, CA, at the Gaia Hotel. Not knowing what to expect, we arrived late that night with some trepidation.
Oh, my goodness! Were we in for a treat! Gaia is a new chain with only two locations thus far: this one and one in Napa. They bill themselves as a "green" hotel chain, and indeed have recycling bins in the rooms and outside the buildings; native landscaping that conserves water; rainwater recovery systems that funnel rainwater from the roofs back to the ground for watering plants; low-water usage toilets; and organic, locally-grown food featured at the breakfast bar; refillable shampoo, conditioner, and lotion dispensers (rather than individual, pilferable bottles); and a copy of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" in each room. It also espoused an acceptance of all cultures in that a drawer in the room not only held a copy of Gideon's Bible, but also a Book of Mormon and the Teachings of Buddha!
Despite this back-to-the-earth approach, the Gaia bills itself as a spa destination, and included spa services and a health/exercise room, pool, and hot tub, as well as convention and wedding facilities. The grounds were beautiful and included a koi pond complete with a footbridge and swans - two white and two black. Very la-di-dah! The complex consisted of a number of two-story, round buildings with 48 or so rooms in each one. Each room fronted on a central courtyard, and had sliding glass doors opening to a rear patio or balcony with Adirondack chairs. Ours had a view of the koi pond - just lovely.
Did I mention that this was where we got our cheapest room rate (well under $100) and our fastest and most reliable internet connection? I will be on the lookout for more of these in the future, and wish them much luck in their expansion plans. I don't expect their rates will remain cheap for long, though. Once they're "discovered", I suspect we won't be able to afford them any longer!
Oh, my goodness! Were we in for a treat! Gaia is a new chain with only two locations thus far: this one and one in Napa. They bill themselves as a "green" hotel chain, and indeed have recycling bins in the rooms and outside the buildings; native landscaping that conserves water; rainwater recovery systems that funnel rainwater from the roofs back to the ground for watering plants; low-water usage toilets; and organic, locally-grown food featured at the breakfast bar; refillable shampoo, conditioner, and lotion dispensers (rather than individual, pilferable bottles); and a copy of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" in each room. It also espoused an acceptance of all cultures in that a drawer in the room not only held a copy of Gideon's Bible, but also a Book of Mormon and the Teachings of Buddha!
Despite this back-to-the-earth approach, the Gaia bills itself as a spa destination, and included spa services and a health/exercise room, pool, and hot tub, as well as convention and wedding facilities. The grounds were beautiful and included a koi pond complete with a footbridge and swans - two white and two black. Very la-di-dah! The complex consisted of a number of two-story, round buildings with 48 or so rooms in each one. Each room fronted on a central courtyard, and had sliding glass doors opening to a rear patio or balcony with Adirondack chairs. Ours had a view of the koi pond - just lovely.
Did I mention that this was where we got our cheapest room rate (well under $100) and our fastest and most reliable internet connection? I will be on the lookout for more of these in the future, and wish them much luck in their expansion plans. I don't expect their rates will remain cheap for long, though. Once they're "discovered", I suspect we won't be able to afford them any longer!
On the road towards home...
One of the things that made traveling interesting on this trip was stopping and discovering all the things to see and do en route. Larry is a master at researching travel activities and he was no slouch where this trip was concerned...
We walked among the sculptures at the Rodin Garden at Stanford University. This is the largest assemblage of Rodin sculptures outside of his home in Paris - which we visited while there in 2001. In San Jose, Larry and the girls visited the Tech Museum while I enjoyed a spot in the sunshine with my book. We also swung by Moffett Field, where we fulfilled a long-time desire of Larry's by driving by Hangar 1. This was the home of the airship, Macon, in the 1930's, and has 8 acres of space inside. The sheer size of the hangar was quite impressive. This space is so big, it is known to form fog inside. The highlight of the day, though, was a guided tour of the Winchester Mystery House. Mrs. Winchester, heir to the Winchester Rifle fortune, designed, remodeled, constructed, and reconstructed this place for 30 yeas on the advice of a medium. She was told that the spirits of those killed by Winchester firearms would haunt her if she ever stopped building. This maze of a mansion, so beautiful and massive from the outside, has doors opening to walls and stairs going nowhere. How she and her servants were able to navigate it without getting lost is a mystery in itself.
We drove past the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, and walked out onto the Wharf. A family could spend days there and not run out of things to do: swimming, whale-watching, arcade games, rides, casino, fishing. We had ice cream...because we were on our way to Monterey and Carmel.
The 17-mile drive we took there was so beautiful. The ocean views were breath-taking, and ever-changing, with sandy beaches, rocky shorelines, sea lions and harbor seals, oceanside golf courses, gorgeous homes, and cypress groves all sharing the scenery at one point or another. The Monterey Bay Aquarium took much of one day in itself. We were especially taken with the kelp forest, jellyfish and seahorse exhibits. It must be extremely costly to keep up this kind of museum - must be why the tickets were so expensive!
At Redding, we stopped to walk across the Sundial Bridge. Truly an amazing piece of architecture, it is made completely of glass - and acts as a sundial. Finally, we crossed the border into Oregon and stopped to enjoy the sand dunes at Dunes National Recreation Area. As a native of protected Alabama coastal dunes, I don't really "get" the whole concept of ATVing on massive sand dunes, but boy, is that the thing to do in this area! These dunes are imposing in their size and it would be interesting to take one of the many dune tours available. Sarah and I stayed closer to the car, but Larry and Emily hiked across the dunes to the beach where they saw 8 vultures feasting on a sea lion carcass. Yum yum!
Roadside oddities/curiosities viewed along the road on this trip: burlwood stores everywhere; statue of a woman spilling water over her head from a washing machine ("The Body of Urban Myth"); an uninspiring giant ear of corn; a building in San Francisco with furniture and such exploding out of the walls and windows ("Defenestration"); a Bigfoot museum; Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe at the Trees of Mystery; the Prehistoric Forest with its dinosaur theme; One-Log House in the redwoods area.
We walked among the sculptures at the Rodin Garden at Stanford University. This is the largest assemblage of Rodin sculptures outside of his home in Paris - which we visited while there in 2001. In San Jose, Larry and the girls visited the Tech Museum while I enjoyed a spot in the sunshine with my book. We also swung by Moffett Field, where we fulfilled a long-time desire of Larry's by driving by Hangar 1. This was the home of the airship, Macon, in the 1930's, and has 8 acres of space inside. The sheer size of the hangar was quite impressive. This space is so big, it is known to form fog inside. The highlight of the day, though, was a guided tour of the Winchester Mystery House. Mrs. Winchester, heir to the Winchester Rifle fortune, designed, remodeled, constructed, and reconstructed this place for 30 yeas on the advice of a medium. She was told that the spirits of those killed by Winchester firearms would haunt her if she ever stopped building. This maze of a mansion, so beautiful and massive from the outside, has doors opening to walls and stairs going nowhere. How she and her servants were able to navigate it without getting lost is a mystery in itself.
We drove past the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, and walked out onto the Wharf. A family could spend days there and not run out of things to do: swimming, whale-watching, arcade games, rides, casino, fishing. We had ice cream...because we were on our way to Monterey and Carmel.
The 17-mile drive we took there was so beautiful. The ocean views were breath-taking, and ever-changing, with sandy beaches, rocky shorelines, sea lions and harbor seals, oceanside golf courses, gorgeous homes, and cypress groves all sharing the scenery at one point or another. The Monterey Bay Aquarium took much of one day in itself. We were especially taken with the kelp forest, jellyfish and seahorse exhibits. It must be extremely costly to keep up this kind of museum - must be why the tickets were so expensive!
At Redding, we stopped to walk across the Sundial Bridge. Truly an amazing piece of architecture, it is made completely of glass - and acts as a sundial. Finally, we crossed the border into Oregon and stopped to enjoy the sand dunes at Dunes National Recreation Area. As a native of protected Alabama coastal dunes, I don't really "get" the whole concept of ATVing on massive sand dunes, but boy, is that the thing to do in this area! These dunes are imposing in their size and it would be interesting to take one of the many dune tours available. Sarah and I stayed closer to the car, but Larry and Emily hiked across the dunes to the beach where they saw 8 vultures feasting on a sea lion carcass. Yum yum!
Roadside oddities/curiosities viewed along the road on this trip: burlwood stores everywhere; statue of a woman spilling water over her head from a washing machine ("The Body of Urban Myth"); an uninspiring giant ear of corn; a building in San Francisco with furniture and such exploding out of the walls and windows ("Defenestration"); a Bigfoot museum; Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe at the Trees of Mystery; the Prehistoric Forest with its dinosaur theme; One-Log House in the redwoods area.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Yosemite
While Sarah and I were attending the convention, Larry and Emily took off for Yosemite National Park. We've never been there before, so they were pretty excited. They took a tram tour up to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. While we'd seen plenty of tall redwoods so far on this trip, these are the trees that are renowned for their great girth.
They visited the Glacier Point viewpoint, where they looked down upon Yosemite Village and out at Half Dome and other famous Yosemite sights. They hiked to the top of Vernal Falls, where Emily says they really appreciated the mist coming off of the waterfall. It was in the 90's that day, so it was a welcome refreshing respite from the heat. From there, they hiked further upward to the base of Nevada Falls.
One highlight was a side trip to the ghost town of Bodie, California. A victim of the gold rush bust, it's one of the most intact ghost towns in the US. Amazing, since it gets 30 feet or so of snow each winter! That evening at sunset, they waded in Tanaya Lake alongside Tioga Road.
They report that they saw lots of wildlife (including deer and marmots), clear clean streams, and plenty of tourists like themselves!
They visited the Glacier Point viewpoint, where they looked down upon Yosemite Village and out at Half Dome and other famous Yosemite sights. They hiked to the top of Vernal Falls, where Emily says they really appreciated the mist coming off of the waterfall. It was in the 90's that day, so it was a welcome refreshing respite from the heat. From there, they hiked further upward to the base of Nevada Falls.
One highlight was a side trip to the ghost town of Bodie, California. A victim of the gold rush bust, it's one of the most intact ghost towns in the US. Amazing, since it gets 30 feet or so of snow each winter! That evening at sunset, they waded in Tanaya Lake alongside Tioga Road.
They report that they saw lots of wildlife (including deer and marmots), clear clean streams, and plenty of tourists like themselves!
Harry Potter!
One of the motivators for taking this trip was Sarah's desire to attend a Harry Potter convention. (San Francisco is a favorite city of Larry's and mine, so it wasn't hard to convince us to plan a family vacation around her convention dates.) She took every job offered to her for babysitting, housesitting, catsitting and saved like mad for a year to pay for her registration - and mine, since, at 15, she was required to have a chaperone.
Our first Harry Potter event was a midnight showing of the new "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" movie release with 600 or so HP fans. We started with a line party while waiting to get into the theater. Some fans (but not as many as I expected) were in costume, including 3 of our family members. I did not dress up (although I did wear a HP t-shirt), but Sarah was dressed as a Hogwart's student, Emily as Luna Lovegood, and Larry as the venerable wizard, Professor and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Larry was the most popular guy around; his photo is probably floating around on the web somewhere because so many people took his picture. Emily's Luna costume got her attention, as well. The movie was followed by a live podcast that we HAD to attend, putting us to bed at 4:30 am. It's been a lot of years since I operated on so little sleep the next day, but I was to learn that it's the norm at these things..
Larry and Emily joined us the next night for Wrock around the Rock, a cruise around Alcatraz while listening to four Wizard Rock (Wrock) bands play. Sarah is a huge Wrock fan, so we were familiar with the bands performing, including our favorite, "Ministry of Magic". (As it turned out, they and some of the other Wrock musicians were staying on our floor at the hotel! Sarah was quite amused!) As Emily was too young to attend the rest of the weekend's events, she and Larry took off to do some exploring on their own (more on that later), while Sarah and I stayed for the convention.
This was my first "fandom" convention, and let me say, these people are serious about Harry Potter. I was expecting mostly teenage girls, and there were plenty, but there were also adults of every age, race, and sexual persuasion. Most were women, some were teachers and librarians, at least 5 were in wheelchairs - and all were rabid fans. Remember the costumes I mentioned before? Every day there were more. Some people had a different costume for each day of the con, some got into their same elaborate makeup and costuming each day. There were witches and wizards roaming about the halls in groups. Going up and down the elevators with other non-con guests of the hotel was a hoot. I loved watching their faces! It was so commonplace, that after the first day, I stopped noticing. I made sure to wear an HP t-shirt of some sort daily, so I didn't appear to be a total Muggle, and I'm glad I did - I would have felt odd otherwise. I did dress up as Professor Trelawney (the divination teacher) for the Wizard's ball one night but that was it for me.
Sarah and I attended the Welcoming and Leaving Feasts and the HP Alliance Plenary Session together, we visited the Craft Faire and Vendor rooms together, and I stayed at the Ball for a little while (long enough to have a butterbeer or two), but mostly we went our separate ways, meeting up for meals and to go to bed. She stayed up late for the music and the PJ party and to hang with new friends she met there - I went to bed! During the day, she attended programming and really took the con seriously, studiously choosing her sessions each day, and discussing what she'd learned at her presentations and workshops. I soon found that my time was best spent volunteering, so signed up to work some shifts on a couple of days in the Common Room and at the Meet and Greet table. I did attend a session for parents of HP fans and another for teachers on using HP in the classroom, but I was really there for Sarah. It was a great mother-daughter bonding opportunity for us.
Did you know that Sarah designed the CD art a year or so ago for a Wrock musician's latest release? We got to meet her in person, and that was pretty exciting. You can see Sarah's art on "Accio Hot Guy" by the Butterbeer Experience below. We also got to see Lena (from the BE) perform her original Wrock opera "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" live one night, and that was fun, too. She is a talented young lady.
Sarah was really psyched by the whole experience, and leaving was a let-down for her. Now that she knows what it's like, she can save up again for another one, or move on from here. I know what I'll do next time. Leave her at the con, and go tour the city on my own!
Our first Harry Potter event was a midnight showing of the new "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" movie release with 600 or so HP fans. We started with a line party while waiting to get into the theater. Some fans (but not as many as I expected) were in costume, including 3 of our family members. I did not dress up (although I did wear a HP t-shirt), but Sarah was dressed as a Hogwart's student, Emily as Luna Lovegood, and Larry as the venerable wizard, Professor and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Larry was the most popular guy around; his photo is probably floating around on the web somewhere because so many people took his picture. Emily's Luna costume got her attention, as well. The movie was followed by a live podcast that we HAD to attend, putting us to bed at 4:30 am. It's been a lot of years since I operated on so little sleep the next day, but I was to learn that it's the norm at these things..
Larry and Emily joined us the next night for Wrock around the Rock, a cruise around Alcatraz while listening to four Wizard Rock (Wrock) bands play. Sarah is a huge Wrock fan, so we were familiar with the bands performing, including our favorite, "Ministry of Magic". (As it turned out, they and some of the other Wrock musicians were staying on our floor at the hotel! Sarah was quite amused!) As Emily was too young to attend the rest of the weekend's events, she and Larry took off to do some exploring on their own (more on that later), while Sarah and I stayed for the convention.
This was my first "fandom" convention, and let me say, these people are serious about Harry Potter. I was expecting mostly teenage girls, and there were plenty, but there were also adults of every age, race, and sexual persuasion. Most were women, some were teachers and librarians, at least 5 were in wheelchairs - and all were rabid fans. Remember the costumes I mentioned before? Every day there were more. Some people had a different costume for each day of the con, some got into their same elaborate makeup and costuming each day. There were witches and wizards roaming about the halls in groups. Going up and down the elevators with other non-con guests of the hotel was a hoot. I loved watching their faces! It was so commonplace, that after the first day, I stopped noticing. I made sure to wear an HP t-shirt of some sort daily, so I didn't appear to be a total Muggle, and I'm glad I did - I would have felt odd otherwise. I did dress up as Professor Trelawney (the divination teacher) for the Wizard's ball one night but that was it for me.
Sarah and I attended the Welcoming and Leaving Feasts and the HP Alliance Plenary Session together, we visited the Craft Faire and Vendor rooms together, and I stayed at the Ball for a little while (long enough to have a butterbeer or two), but mostly we went our separate ways, meeting up for meals and to go to bed. She stayed up late for the music and the PJ party and to hang with new friends she met there - I went to bed! During the day, she attended programming and really took the con seriously, studiously choosing her sessions each day, and discussing what she'd learned at her presentations and workshops. I soon found that my time was best spent volunteering, so signed up to work some shifts on a couple of days in the Common Room and at the Meet and Greet table. I did attend a session for parents of HP fans and another for teachers on using HP in the classroom, but I was really there for Sarah. It was a great mother-daughter bonding opportunity for us.
Did you know that Sarah designed the CD art a year or so ago for a Wrock musician's latest release? We got to meet her in person, and that was pretty exciting. You can see Sarah's art on "Accio Hot Guy" by the Butterbeer Experience below. We also got to see Lena (from the BE) perform her original Wrock opera "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" live one night, and that was fun, too. She is a talented young lady.
Sarah was really psyched by the whole experience, and leaving was a let-down for her. Now that she knows what it's like, she can save up again for another one, or move on from here. I know what I'll do next time. Leave her at the con, and go tour the city on my own!
Lombard St., Haight/Ashbury, and King Tut
We are home now, and had such spotty internet availability during our trip (and such busy days!) that I was unable to blog daily. I'm going to attempt to play catch up today and make some sense of our past two whirlwind weeks!
We finished up our time as tourists in San Francisco on Friday. Throughout the week, we joined the hordes as we walked/drove down Lombard St.
I also insisted that we visit the spot where the peace and love movement of my generation began - a history lesson for our kids! I wasn't the only person taking a picture of the Haight/Ashbury street sign! We returned to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, and got really good at taking the streetcar and trolley from place to place. Emily and Larry visited the tall ship Cuatemoc that was touring from Mexico. Sarah and I did far more shopping than we should have. There was a much more festive atmosphere there on Friday than on our Wednesday visit. Musicians and street performers were everywhere, and the whole place felt livelier.
We also spent time in Golden Gate Park, where we visited the Botanical Gardens. We barely made a dent in the place, but moved on to one of the highlights of our trip: the King Tut Exhibit at the deYoung Museum. Larry and I both saw this exhibit in New Orleans 30 years ago - separately, as we didn't even know each other yet! So, it was really special to be able to revisit it and share it with our girls. It was as magnificent as we remembered, and included a handful of new items not previously on display.
Sarah and I were able to visit Union Square at a later date, and continued our art education there. We caught a local artists' exhibit in the square, and popped into a gallery where we saw a number of works by Picasso, Miro', and Chagall. Pretty heady stuff..
We finished up our time as tourists in San Francisco on Friday. Throughout the week, we joined the hordes as we walked/drove down Lombard St.
I also insisted that we visit the spot where the peace and love movement of my generation began - a history lesson for our kids! I wasn't the only person taking a picture of the Haight/Ashbury street sign! We returned to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, and got really good at taking the streetcar and trolley from place to place. Emily and Larry visited the tall ship Cuatemoc that was touring from Mexico. Sarah and I did far more shopping than we should have. There was a much more festive atmosphere there on Friday than on our Wednesday visit. Musicians and street performers were everywhere, and the whole place felt livelier.
We also spent time in Golden Gate Park, where we visited the Botanical Gardens. We barely made a dent in the place, but moved on to one of the highlights of our trip: the King Tut Exhibit at the deYoung Museum. Larry and I both saw this exhibit in New Orleans 30 years ago - separately, as we didn't even know each other yet! So, it was really special to be able to revisit it and share it with our girls. It was as magnificent as we remembered, and included a handful of new items not previously on display.
Sarah and I were able to visit Union Square at a later date, and continued our art education there. We caught a local artists' exhibit in the square, and popped into a gallery where we saw a number of works by Picasso, Miro', and Chagall. Pretty heady stuff..
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Chinatown, Ghosts and More...
We started our day today on a Chinatown walking tour. Our tour guide left the touristy Chinatown for us to explore on our own, and took us into the parts of Chinatown enjoyed by the people who live there. We visited markets, an herb shop, a fortune cookie factory, a Buddhist temple, and more, and ended with Dim Sum at a Chinese restaurant.
We took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf - Sarah and Emily stood on the running board and hung onto the sides. So exciting!
We wandered around the Fisherman's Wharf area, had a decadent ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli Square, and I bought a sweatshirt that I'd later be glad I had. When we got back to the car, Emily kept saying she saw some green birds. We kind of blew her off, but she was insistent, and finally went over to the trees in question to investigate. Then, I, too, saw these vivid green birds with red beaks. We discovered that they are the "green parrots of Telegraph Hill" and are pretty famous around this part of San Francisco. Apparently, there was even a documentary film made about them (must find it!). They are impressive, and totally unexpected - and beautiful! Emily is one observant girl - and persistent!
This evening we went on a Ghost Hunt in the Pacific Heights area. The guide was knowledgeable and told us some engaging tales - but, alas, we saw no ghosts. I was, however, glad to have my new sweatshirt; I wore it and my jacket and was still chilly! I am happy to report that my back and hips are holding out OK, even after all of today's walking. I am, however, resting tired feet tonight, as are we all!
We took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf - Sarah and Emily stood on the running board and hung onto the sides. So exciting!
We wandered around the Fisherman's Wharf area, had a decadent ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli Square, and I bought a sweatshirt that I'd later be glad I had. When we got back to the car, Emily kept saying she saw some green birds. We kind of blew her off, but she was insistent, and finally went over to the trees in question to investigate. Then, I, too, saw these vivid green birds with red beaks. We discovered that they are the "green parrots of Telegraph Hill" and are pretty famous around this part of San Francisco. Apparently, there was even a documentary film made about them (must find it!). They are impressive, and totally unexpected - and beautiful! Emily is one observant girl - and persistent!
This evening we went on a Ghost Hunt in the Pacific Heights area. The guide was knowledgeable and told us some engaging tales - but, alas, we saw no ghosts. I was, however, glad to have my new sweatshirt; I wore it and my jacket and was still chilly! I am happy to report that my back and hips are holding out OK, even after all of today's walking. I am, however, resting tired feet tonight, as are we all!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
49 Mile Scenic Drive of San Francisco
I spoke too soon. We spent another day in the car, but it was worth it. We took the 49 mile scenic driving tour of SF, and saw all the major attractions and LOTS of beautiful architecture. I must say, by the end of the day, though, we were all ready to be out of the car. Tomorrow we'll home in on some favorites and go back to do some in-depth investigation of things we whetted our appetites for today. Today's favorites included lovely Victorian homes, Golden Gate Park, the view from Twin Peaks, driving down Vermont Street (proven by a travel show we saw to be twistier than Lombard Street - and as the driver, I believe it!), views of the Golden Gate Bridge, dinner at the Ferry Building, and a well-deserved soak in the motel's hot tub. Larry's driving tomorrow; I did my duty today!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Redwoods!
Today was Redwoods day! We drove through some of the most majestic forests I've ever seen. We made this same drive a few years ago when the kids were younger, and I remember being underwhelmed. I must have been blind then or so distracted with child care I couldn't concentrate. Today was different; the views were magnificent. Of course, we did all the touristy stuff: drove through a tree, walked among and inside the giant specimens and upon fallen logs.
We saw a house trailer made from a single log, as well as playhouses that we went into.
Had dinner in Mill Valley (which makes me think of BJ Hunnicutt from MASH. That was his character's hometown). It was a great day, culminating with our arrival in San Francisco. Woo hoo! No more day-long drives! Tomorrow we'll play a different kind of tourist and show Sarah and Emily the sights, while revisiting them ourselves. I think we had no children the last time Larry and I were here...
We saw a house trailer made from a single log, as well as playhouses that we went into.
Had dinner in Mill Valley (which makes me think of BJ Hunnicutt from MASH. That was his character's hometown). It was a great day, culminating with our arrival in San Francisco. Woo hoo! No more day-long drives! Tomorrow we'll play a different kind of tourist and show Sarah and Emily the sights, while revisiting them ourselves. I think we had no children the last time Larry and I were here...
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