Day 3 in SF - cable car ride and Lombard (crookedist) street

A ride on the cable cars was on the agenda for today. We got up and had breakfast at a little place near our hotel. We then walked down toward the wharf to catch a cable car. Long line to get on a car as this was the main loading area. But it was well worth it - so cool.

goofing around at breakfast



my grumpy looking children on the cable car



Ghirardelli Square

Lombard Street - crookedest street

Day 2 in San Francisco

Today we started our day a little later than yesterday but still got a pretty early start. We grabbed breakfast in the hotel restaurant and went off to catch our hop on/hop off bus. It was within walking distance of our hotel. The first was a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge and a stop on the lookout point to take some pictures. It was alot foggier today than yesterday. We were riding on the open top of the bus and let me tell you, it was cold coming across that bridge.

Me and Angel by the bridge


















After a brief stop at the bridge, we went back over (shiver) and went to the Golden Gate Park. This park is bigger then Central park and has some wonderful features. We decided to visit the Japanese Tea Garden that is within the park. It was beautiful and so peaceful. If you ever get a chance to go here, it is well worth it. And very reasonable, it was less than $10.00 for all three of us to get in.











Angel and Josh climbing this strange bridge. It is completely round. Believe it or not,I climbed it too.



















After the Tea Garden, we hopped back on a bus. The next site we saw was the famous row of Victorian Houses called the Painted Ladies. One of these houses is used for the TV show "Full House".
Painted Ladies with San Franciso skyline in background


Full House house






















Next stop, Chinatown!! We all wanted to get off at this stop. We walked around, shopped some and then it was time for lunch. I asked a shopkeeper for a recommendation of a good restaurant. She recommended Great Eastern and said that is where locals eat. It was a nice restaurant and indeed, there was only one other family that looked like they may be tourists. It was yummy. We had dim sum, fried rice and chicken.

Enjoying lunch!


















Our Book Club read Fortune Cookie Chronicles and it mentioned the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory so we decided to try and find it. Turns out, it was right around the corner from our restaurant, in this little alley. Just a few steps into the place, you could see a lady making fortune cookies by hand. It smelled amazing. We bought a small bag of fortune cookies and they were so good and fresh.





Gate at entrance to Chinatown















Walking down to see the gate at the entrance of Chinatown, we stumbled upon this treasure. I had read about it when researching SF, but didn't make a point to find it, so it was nice to see it on our journey. It is the oldest Cathedral in California.

Fisherman's Wharf Pier 39

After our tour ended, we headed over to Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf. We rode the carousal, visited the sea lions and had dinner.

Sea Lions hanging out



us on the carousal

Hard Rock Cafe

Muir Woods, Sausalito, Alcatraz tour

Today we headed out bright and early for our first tour. Our bus picked us up at our hotel and we headed off to Muir Woods, the closest redwood trees to SF. It was amazing. The drive there was a little scary, in this huge bus on those small winding roads but it was worth it. Gorgeous place. To get there, we had to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Amazing.

First glimpse of Golden Gate Bridge


Angel and Josh by one of the redwoods









































After Muir Woods, we went to the nearby town of Sausalito for a short visit. Very pretty town but quite expensive. Our tour guide said that if you find a house for sale here for $1 million, there is probably something wrong with it!!
Fountain in Sausalito

Sausalito

Next was a visit to Alcatraz. We took a short ferry ride over to the island. An audio tour was provided and was very helpful in telling the Alcatraz story. We really enjoyed this tour.

Alcatraz island

View of San Francisco from Alcatraz





Let me OUT!!

California - here we come

We headed out to Cali today - flight delayed - long trip - we arrived in San Francisco - luggage didn't - it arrived at 2 am. Love SF already.

Suns game

Today we joined some other families, members of the cleft group, at the Sun's baseball game. It was REALLY hot but we were in the shade and had some nice breeze. There was free hotdogs, hamburgers, popcorn and sodas. Angel ate so much popcorn!! We saw a couple of other families with children from China, one family we already knew and one family we had not met before. It was a very nice event.


Angel and her new friend Owen, he came home from China last year.

FCC Dinner June

Tonight we had a great turnout for the monthly FCC dinner. So many cute kids there!! There were over 50 people there tonight. The kids enjoyed crafts again - seems like a big hit. See everyone next month!


Playing sleeping kitty or something like that

Annabelle looking cute
K excited about her ice cream