Saturday, October 6, 2001

We saw Barb's plane getting ready to land as we drove north up Highway 101.  Brian deposited me at the foot of the escalator and, as he continued to circle the terminal area of San Francisco International Airport, I rode the escalator to the top of Terminal C.  Barb's arrival at the gate was only a few minutes later-- both of us had perfect timing!!

That night, after arriving at the house, we went to dinner at Hunan Gourmet and she and I sat around talked and talked and talked while we drank a bottle of champagne (to celebrate her arrival, of course!).

Sunday, October 7, 2001

When we awoke Sunday morning, I made a big breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, and American fried potatoes (all with low-fat ingredients, of course).  We devoured our breakfasts and, after everyone had showered, we set out for the Golden Gate Bridge.  Brian is a really good tour guide-- he remembers to point out the highlights as we drive along.  (I always seem to forget probably cuz I'm looking at it and take it for granted that everyone knows the sites around here!)
 

Golden Gate Bridge looking toward San Francisco from the Sausalito side.	Golden Gate Bridge . . .  again . . .	. . . and again
Alcatraz Island from the Golden Gate Bridge with Yerba Buena Island in the background on the right.	Alcatraz Island again	Kayaking fools in the Bay (roughest part of the bay is at the Bridge!) below the Golden Gate Bridge
A sailboat in almost the same spot as the kayakers but at least the sailboat is bigger than a kayak!!	A speedboat that thinks it makes a difference if they go fast.	Marina on the Sausalito side of the Bridge.
This cove is just in front of the marina on the Sausalito side of the Bridge.	The Presidio in San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge	San Francisco - over  the San Francisco Bay from the Golden Gate Bridge
Hmmm, interesting signage, don'tcha think?	At the edge of the Bridge!!	Proof that she was there!!

After leaving the Golden Gate Bridge, we drove north along Highway 101 to Mill Valley where we made the turn-off to go to Stinson Beach and Muir Woods, finally ending up in Novato, driving over the Richmond Bridge to the East Bay and down 880 through Oakland.  We put over 200 miles on the truck that day and, of course, had lots of fun!!

Monday, October 8, 2001

This was the longest day of Barb's entire week!!  We started out at 9am and didn't get home until 7:15pm!!  We went to the City via BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) which is a train powered by electricity that runs above and below ground; she'd never ridden anything like it!!  When we got to the City, we rode a cable car-- something else that she'd never done before coming to San Francisco!!  Then, after walking around Ghiradelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 for a bit, we went on a boat from the Blue & Gold Fleet to Alcatraz Island-- again, something Barb hadn't ever done!!  After a very full day of touristing and shopping, we took a cab back to the BART station and, of course, that was something she'd never done before so there was another first for her!!  All together, Barb and I used five different forms of transportation that day and only one (my truck) was one that she had ridden in prior to her visit to California!
 
 

The cable cars of San Francisco are an interesting means of transportation.	At the end of each line, the cars have to be manually turned by the gripman.	The views from any of the routes of the cable cars are spectacular!
We got off the cable car at Lombard Street ("The Crookedest Street in the World") and walked down the stairs.	We watched the cars drive it-- and were glad we didn't have a vehicle with us!!	Its neat to watch the cars drive it and, as you can expect, they all drive it very slowly!
Those switchbacks are too tight for me to be comfortable driving!	We walked the distance from Lombard Street, downhill to Ghiradelli Square-- our legs were sore for days!!	See the guy with orange hair?  He's holding a sign that says "Get your photo with a freak-$10.00".  Only in California!!
After walking up Fisherman's Wharf from Ghiradelli Square, we boarded a  Blue & Gold Fleet ferry to go to Alcatraz Island.	The views of the City were gorgeous!!	On our way out to Alcatraz, a container ship passed in front of us!
Alcatraz, as seen from the ferry as we're pulling up to the dock.	There was an Indian (Native American now) takeover of Alcatraz in 1969; I vaguely remember it.  It isn't covered in the basic audio tour so I know of no other information about it.	Many of the buildings are broken down and crumbled-- its only been 40 years but there is so much that is run-down.  Its really too bad considering that it is a National Park!!
The audio tour starts in the main hallway of the jailhouse known as "Broadway".	This is an actual cell-- they weren't very big!!	The gun gallery was used as a "look-out" for the guards.
The kitchen . . .	. . . the recreation yard . . .	. . . and the shower room.
Because its empty, this picture shows the size of the cells.	This is an isolation cell-- you'll notice the size is bigger than the standard cell.  That's because the prisoners in these cells spent 23 hours of every day in them so they required more room.  The other cells were occupied no more than 18 hours per day, if the prisoner had a job in the jailhouse.	The view from the dining room hallway.
These three pictures were taken for the benefit of Barbara Thompson--	I thought she'd like to see the two bookcases that were in the library.	Pretty sparse, huh?
Remember the movie "Escape from Alcatraz"? Well, this is Frank Morris's cell!	There is a display and lengthy explanation  of Frank and his cohorts' exploits in "escaping" from Alcatraz on the audio tour.
And then there was this one . . .		. . . and this one, too!!  Both horrible, hardened criminals, I'm sure!!
In recent years, the docks that used to hold beautiful sailing ships, now are home to sealions . . .	. . . hundreds and hundreds of sealions!!	They draw a lot of parents to Pier 39-- mostly because the kids demand to see them on a very frequent basis.

Tuesday, October 9, 2001

In an effort to help our legs recover from the downhill strides of yesterday, we decided that we would go shopping before and after meeting my mother-in-law for lunch.  Martha took us to a wonderful restaurant in Berkeley and then showed us around the outlets on 4th Street a bit.  After we exhausted our feet-- not our legs-- we moved on to the outlets that we'd seen in Oakland, on our way up to Berkeley.  Yes, Tuesday was a busy shopping day!!

Wednesday, October 10, 2001

On Wednesday, I awoke with a really sore knee-- I was concerned and so were Brian and Barb.  Barb and I decided that we would go shopping for her to find quilting fabrics and things.  If I couldn't stand standing up anymore, I'd go out in the truck and read a magazine or something.  Well, I never did end up reading a magazine but, we went to a couple of fabric stores, a couple of quilting shops and another outlet that we tripped over (literally, in my case) and, I found that as long as I kept moving, it was sore but it was okay.

Barb is big into quilting and sewing her own clothes.  I used to do a lot of my own sewing but got out of the habit a few years back cuz it was easier to buy off the rack.  When you spend less than $10.00 for a current-style wool skirt, you remember why you like sewing-- really quickly!!  Yes, there is my time involved but no more time (in the case of a skirt) than the time it takes to find one in the store of the same quality as the one that I'm going to make.  Barb's next effort is to get me "into" quilting and I'm contemplating it-- it can be pretty but we'll have to see since I have so many projects currently underway!!

Thursday, October 11, 2001

Brian took Thursday off and the three of us drove to Monterey Bay Aquarium!  It was again, beautiful scenery on the way down to the Aquarium and, of course, wonderful viewing of the fish at the Aquarium.  Brian went a little over the top with photos there but I so enjoy the time that we spend there that it is worth it!!

The photos are below-- some with and some without comments and in no particular order.  Enjoy!!
 
 

The skeleton of a whale- suspended from the ceiling of the Monterey Bay Aquarium	The Leopard Shark!!	An octopus!!  (S/He's moving so that's why its a little blurry.)	Otters!!
	Jelly fish are my favorites!!
			Penguins!!
Tourists!!			There we are again!!

Friday, October 12, 2001

On Friday we made up for not doing anything "tourist-y" on Wednesday by going to Chinatown in San Francisco!  Again, we drove to the BART station in Colma and took the train up to the Embarcadero station of BART in downtown San Francisco.  From there, we took another cable car ride up to Chinatown and Grant Street-- by the way, did I mention that cable cars are Barb's favorite means of transportation?  She could just ride them all day-- loves 'em!!  They are fun and the gripmen keep it lively to say the least.

We were too busy shopping to take very many pictures of San Francisco but we had a lot of fun roaming in and out of the shops!!
 

On the cable car, looking up California Street on our way to Chinatown!!

Further up the line on California Street, going toward Grant Street and Chinatown.

The official "entrance" to Chinatown

Chinatown is centered on Grant Street; this is where the majority of souvenir shops and restaurants are located.

Saturday, October 13, 2001

And, on Saturday, Barb left to go back to Michigan.  We sure had fun and are already planning her next trip out to California!!
 
 
 

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