Dispatch 1: San Francisco

So, we're on vacation in San Francisco.

I meant to tell y'all about it before we left, but the effort involved in finding a house sitter and then spoiling my pets rotten and lining the house with plastic sheeting in case one orange fur-ball chooses to express his displeasure at my absence in a manner unbecoming to one who really DOES know how to use the litter box sucked all of my bloggy words right out of me.

My husband had a business trip out here the week of Thanksgiving. We decided that we'd ALL come and spend Thanksgiving soaking up some culture on the other coast.

It's an almost seven-hour flight out here.  We flew Virgin America, an airline I'd never flown before.  The airplane seemed new-ish and was equipped with all the new-fangled gizmos one could ask for.  We ordered and paid for our meals via a computer system. When I wanted a class of water, I ordered it the same way! We had wifi and satellite radio and movies.  I totally reminded me of this clip, which I searched for and posted on Facebook from 35,000 feet in the air.  Gosh, we live in amazing times!



I did some serious knitting. The plane was full of parents with two-year-olds, and at one point, the father in the row in front of me was so desperate for entertainment for his daughter, he sat on the armrest of the chair in front of me, holding the little girl, and they watched me knit for about 20 minutes.  Which was a little odd, but I was glad to help.

(But y'all, seriously?  I had forgotten all about diapers. Specifically, I had forgotten about Toddler Diapers.  After about the third time, when my eyes were watering and I looked over at my gorgeous, tall, self-sufficient daughters (who were, of all things, utterly consumed by their good old-fashioned books,) I realized that I had to add something else to my long list of things for which I am thankful this year.)

We stayed in a hotel the first night, and got up on Saturday to have such a great breakfast that we almost stayed another night. But we are actually house-sitting for a colleague of my husband, so we checked out, dropped our luggage at the house, and set off to explore.  We drove down Lombard Street, the curviest street in the world:

(It was raining, and we were dodging a busload of Tourists who were standing in the middle of the street. This image courtesy of Google.)

And then we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge,

through the Marin Headlands (where we saw people surfing. Because this is California, and people take their surfing VERY seriously.)

People surfing.  Terrible picture because, HELLO, IT WAS A MONSOON and I didn't want to get out of the car.

See?  People are nutty even about WATCHING surfing here.

 and then we drove into Sausalito. (Where a small bit of shopping happened. Shhh.)

Then we went to see some redwoods in the Muir Woods.

And, wow.

Then we ate lunch at another fabulous restaurant and during the hour we were there, watched the fog roll in and completely shroud San Francisco across the bay and then roll back out.  It was like some sort of beautiful performance art.

We came home, had a bit of a nap and went out for Sushi.  (I should warn you that there is something about the food in San Francisco that requires one to take pictures of it.  Really, I don't make the rules.)

Ana's cucumber rolls --the best she's ever eaten.

We ordered something and there was a communication breakdown and THIS came instead.  We did NOT send it back.

This is the face of a girl who is happy with her dinner.

On Monday, Coop had to actually go into work, so the girls and I went out for breakfast

My morning coffee, with bottle cap for size comparison.

bummed around the Russian Hill area of San Francisco, found a bookstore, and even walked to a yarn store.  (Some small bit of shopping happened. Shhh.)

Then we had lunch in a Chinese restaurant.

and this fish in a tank became transfixed with Ana. He was just staring at her and staring at her.  Naturally, this was creepy and hilarious.

That's a fortune?

We spent the afternoon at the California Academy of Sciences, where we visited rain forests, an aquarium, and space.  I cannot overstate the coolness.

Can you find the frog?  Hint: it's NOT green!

Then we went to dinner at a Cuban restaurant near Amoeba Records, which is a music store that defies description.  Some shopping DEFINITELY happened.

And then, we went to Whole Foods to buy supplies for our Thanksgiving dinner, as well as homeopathic remedies for the epic head cold poor Ana (13 and such a good sport) was rapidly developing. 

The next day, we went to prison.