Our California Adventure, Part 4

And finally the San Francisco leg of the trip from Monday, June 6 to Wednesday, June 8.

WELCOME TO SAN FRANCISCO
We left Oakhurst early Monday morning and headed back to the coast and the City by the Bay. As we got close to San Francisco we saw wind turbines up close for the first time. We don’t have enough steady wind for those here.

We crossed the Bay Bridge by 1:30 and after stopping at the visitor information center walked to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf to look around. This was our big mistake because we underestimated the distance from Union Square down Market Street and around the Embarcado to our destination. We did see a lot of the city up close and personal though. After supper we rode the bus back to our van and drove out to Vacaville where we had hotel reservations.

The next morning we had a better plan of attack for the day. We drove back into the city and parked in a more strategic location and then started with a bus tour through the Presidio, across the Golden Gate Bridge, to Sausalito and back. Going across the bridge the first time was foggy, cool, and windy. We rode on the open air top deck of the bus and I was glad I had my jacket. Visibility was a bit better on the trip back.

What was really interesting were the microclimates around the city. I think the bus driver said there were about three dozen and we got a small taste of that on the tour. By the time we got off the bridge and into Sausalito--a very short distance--I could have taken my jacket off.

When we got off the bus we did a little shopping as we headed back to Pier 39 for lunch and a visit to the Aquarium of the Bay. This was a neat stop as it features a 360-foot-long acrylic tunnel where the fish can swim around and over you. This and the playful otters at the end were fun to watch.

From there we did a bit more souvenir shopping and then enjoyed a bridge to bridge boat tour of the harbor. This had a very informative audio tour as the boat took us from Pier 43 under the Golden Gate Bridge, then around the north side of Alcatraz, under the Bay Bridge and back. Every bit as interesting as the bus tour.

All too soon our time was over and we were heading back to Vacaville.

HEADING HOME
Wednesday we headed to the airport where we caught a plane to Los Angeles for our connecting flight home. It was 11:00 pm CDT by the time we got to our van, stopped in White House for essential groceries, and got to our back door. No rest for the weary travelers, I had to get Ben to school by 7:30 for basketball practice which felt like 5:30 to us.

MAKING MEMORIES
One thing about making memories like this are the pictures and videos. With four smartphones among us we snapped a lot. I haven’t downloaded media from Jenna or Ben yet, but between Vicki and I we have 985 images filed away now and we really need to go through and cull those down a bit more. We also have 64 video clips which I’m guessing adds up to an hour of footage.

We learned early on that Nate needs some training. Given a phone to take a picture he left his finger on the button too long and snapped 403 pictures in 30 seconds. And Ben became our family photo-bomber. You have to watch out for him because he’s sneaky. Then when you want him for a picture he can’t be found.

I am trying to find an easy way to share photo albums privately, works with mobile devices and computers, and for reasonable a cost if not free. If anyone has a suggestion I’m all ears. So far everything I’ve found either doesn’t fit my budget, won’t work with all devices, or has terms of use I don’t agree with.

ANOTHER NATE STORY
Since I have told several stories on Nate in this series I’ll end with one final tale.

We were in line to board our final flight to Nashville when we heard the sound of paper ripping. Nate had purchased a snack and was absentmindedly ripping up what he thought was his receipt. Fortunately there was enough of the bar code left intact on the boarding pass for them to let him on the plane. Jenna videoed the poor boy sheepishly confessing his rookie move.

So there you have it, our California adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as we enjoyed doing it.

Joe