10-12, SanFran Day 6

I have a Headshot Crew friend that I met at Headshot Mania who lives in Oakland.  He's spent the last year becoming the zoo photographer and a certified docent.  Our 'maybe we'll come see you at the zoo' theory became a reality on our last day of vacation.  He suggested we plan our visit to the zoo for Friday as that significantly increased our odds of seeing multiple lions due to the rotation of the animals.  He wanted to make sure Emalie got to see her favorite animal.  It was another gorgeous day.  We were there just before the zoo opened at 10am, and we left the grounds after closing at 4pm.  It was the most fun and pleasant zoo visit we've ever had anywhere.  Steven gave us a personal tour of the zoo;  he really knew his facts and shared lots of interesting information about the animal behaviors (as well as most of their names!).  It was the perfect ending to a nearly perfect vacation.  

Our family with Steven

Steven was right- Em got to see THREE lions!

The Oakland Zoo sits atop a hill with panoramic views of the Bay area.

Who knew a bear climbed trees like this?! Steven has some amazing photos he's taken of this scene  with mama bear up the tree and her babies lingering on branches below.

This poor guy is a two-time widower.  The marks on his face appear to reveal his sadness, but you can see it in his behavior as well.

A train ride for everyone.

Steven spoiled the family and Emalie this visit.  Even tickets to ride the amusement rides before leaving the zoo.  Look at that happy girl!

A perfect day was topped with a perfect afternoon ferry ride back to San Francisco.  This entire trip I was enthralled with the water and how much I miss it.  It was fun to reminisce about days gone by, but it also highlighted how much I miss the living by the ocean.  If we ever leave Denver, I can promise you it won't be for another landlocked place!!

Waiting for the ferry.

The gantry cranes at the Port of Oakland.  I haven't laid eyes on this place since I was 20!

The President Roosevelt.  When I was a deck cadet, I sailed on the President Harrison and the President Eisenhower.  Seeing this scene was like looking through a window of time.

A beautiful scene indeed.

Well, that's it!  That sums up our fall vacation to San Francisco.  What a great vacation to a beautiful city.  I'm definitely looking forward to another visit in the future!

10-11, SanFran Day 5

We spent a good deal of time on our second to the last day in Chinatown.  Instead of it being a passthrough experience or mealtime destination, we (as in Emalie and I, lol) chose to spend a few hours strolling the streets and shops.  Chinatowns are always my favorites, no matter which city they are located.  Here are some scenes from our day.

I thought this only existed in the movie BIG!

A souvenoir for Shihan as he's always asking the kids if they know who Bruce Lee is.

Bruce Lee could be found on practically every street corner.

What a delicious lunch this was.  I think we were the only non-locals in there.  (That's how you know you've found the right place!)

Playing cards in the park.  This scene truly reminded us of our experiences in China.

He doesn't quite play on playgrounds like he used to.  While Em was busy monkeying it up on the monkey bars, Nik entertained himself with his phone (and what teenager doesn't?).

There's Bruce Lee again... and a little girl who is missing her karate!

Another colorful Chinatown mural.

A brother and sister duo from England asked if I could take their photo.  I did and asked if she could return the favor.  I had to (sadly) laugh when I saw that our memory incorporates a Ryder truck.

10-10, SanFran Day 4

In contrast to the previous day, this was a fantastic day!  We rebelled against the bus and walked everywhere (and I do mean everywhere!).  We headed from our hotel to the Yerba Buena park area, down through the financial district to the waterfront.  I believe we covered about 5 miles.  Some of the SanFran hills really tested us, but it was so worth it.  We laughed, joked and bonded as a family.  Isn't that the point of a good vacation anyway?  This is the best anniversary celebration we've had in a long, long time!

A picture of Sven and I for every stop on our day's journey.

Em declared she couldn't walk up this hill, so Nik swooped her up and carried her the rest of the way.

Coit Tower

Alcatraz view from Coit Tower

Golden Gate Bridge view from Coit Tower

Emalie took this photo!

And this one as well!

Look at how big they are....

A great family dinner on the waterfront for our anniversary.

Pier 39 in a different light.  It was too chilly to stay long here this time.

10-9, SanFran Day 3

This was a strange day- definitely not the most successful one of the trip.  Good intentions rapidly fizzled.  We purchased tickets for the Big Bus tour of the city.  It sounded like a great way to see the city-- hop on, hop off.  Well, the hopping off part was easy, but the hopping on part not nearly so as the buses that passed us by were either full or the waiting line too long.  We made it only one stop before abandoning this method of transportation for the day.  We learned an important lesson the hard way:  vacation is too short to be spent waiting around wasting it!  As soon as we had this realization, we salvaged our day and the rest of our vacation (the passes were to be for 3 days...oh, heck no....).  Here is the little we saw that day on our Big Bus tour (I highly recommend you don't do it for your next vacation-- I do believe they are worldwide.)

A happy beginning (that smile didn't last long into the tour).

They had us fooled that we would get to see the Full House neighborhood, but in reality it was a 30 minute walk from the bus stop.  We made it as far as the Painted Houses.  On the plus side, we spent time in this tranquil park with a view and Emalie got a chance to play.  And, how many pics do I have of me with Nik (and wearing Em's hat, lol....)?

The Capitol

Oh, words to describe this portion of the ride.... hmmm..... cold, cold, cold!!  The SanFran fog I had been hoping to see found us as we approached the bridge on the top deck of the bus.  It is crazy how flippin' cold it was up there between the fog and the wind.  We made it over the bridge (we didn't dare get off and lose our seats on the bus) and back across.  It took hours to thaw out!

We made the bus tour one full lap around the city--  2.5 hours of bus time.  Ugh.  No more bus for us.  Back to our feet and Uber for getting around the city.  Look at how red Em's cheeks are!  But, that didn't stop her for another "Take a picture of me" opportunity.

The beautiful, warm weather we had the day before for our Alacatraz tour was gone like the wind.  It was damp and cold.  Look at how eerie Alcatraz looks in this light!

10-8, SanFran Day 2 - pm

We did everything we could for the rest of the day to surround ourselves with the sights and sounds of the sea.  

The sea lions at Pier 39 were a riot-- literally and figuratively.  Boy, did those things cause a ruckus, but they were so much fun to watch!

Little boats, big 'boats'.... I think we need a Dr. Seuss book for mariners.

I've seen many of these in my day (a double bollard, by the way), but I never did think to use one for this purpose.  Lol.

See that green water taxi (adjacent the boat with the creepy skeleton in the life ring)?  Here are some of the sights and adventures we saw from our evening ride around the bay on it.

We didn't get a tour of the Jeremiah O'Brien this trip, but we did get up close to it. 

Rising and setting sun pics of the Golden Gate Bridge in one day. It was a FULL day!

Look who got to drive the boat!

Look who is so happy about driving the boat!

Both kids got their turn at the helm.

Could we get any luckier than a sushi restaurant located right across the street from our hotel?  Sushi was Nik's #1 request for the week.  That request was granted many times over due to the proximity of the restaurant to our hotel and the quality of the food there.