The Gypsy Turtle: San Francisco with the Niece

Stephanie, our niece (my sister's daughter), came to see us the first of the month for about a week. Yes, I know. November is almost over and I'm just now talking about this, you're saying. (Especially you, Ricky Mason. This one is for you! :)) It's been so busy! So much to do. So many naps to take. :) Actually, it has been pretty busy. One of our co-workamper couples has been out of commission for the past couple of weeks so we've been picking up their shifts. In addition, I've been sitting through a number of webinars, catching up on continuing education hours for my PMP certification. (Fellow PMPs out there, if you need some free hours, visit the IIL website at http://engage.vevent.com/index.jsp?eid=1022&seid=984 for their archived International Project Management Day webinars. They will be available until December 7.)

Now back to the fun stuff---

Arrival picture - for her mom! Goes to show
Baby Girl will always be baby girl. :)

We had such a lovely time while Stephanie was here. We picked her up at the San Jose airport. It was her first time to fly alone, so we decided that that airport, with a layover in Las Vegas, was a better route than going through LAX. Thank goodness for that, as the day she flew in was the day the TSA agent was shot and killed at LAX. What a horrible thing to happen. What a scary mess that would have been for her.

We left the truck at the airport and rented a car. Max didn't want to drive the truck through the downtown streets of San Francisco, and I sure didn't blame him. That city was not designed to accommodate dually pickups. We spent four days and nights in San Francisco and then drove here to the Turtle for another couple of nights before sending her back home. So much to see...so many experiences...so many memories. Here's a photographic tour down our memory lane.

Open top bus tour around the City

Union Square

Found at Williams and Sonoma on Union Square -
Pecan Pie in a Jar from San Saba Pecan Company!

Sourdough bread characters at the
Boudin Café. We ate there about three times. Breakfast...
late night snack....all good!

We stayed at the Sheraton on the Wharf.
They have these wonderful sitting places outside
complete with fire pits.

Max and Stephanie in front of the
Exploratorium, a hands-on science museum. So much fun!

At the Exploratorium. This special little treat was supposed to show you
how the right- and left-hand sides of your face are different.
No kidding!

Transamerica Pyramid Center

Making fortune cookies in China Town

An apartment building window. If you can't find
all the dried fish you need at the market, make your own!

They have the best farmer's market at the Wharf

Ripley's Believe it or Not

Love this billboard!

Doug, our tour guide on the Big B Tour Bus.
He was awesome!

I have wondered before if I look silly when I use Bluetooth phone.
The answer is yes.

In the movie "The Pursuit of Happiness",
this is the church outside of which Will Smith stood in
line for their soup kitchen and a place to sleep.

And this is the line in real life. The homeless situation
in San Francisco is so very sad.

I wanted to get off the bus and walk around the
Haight-Ashbury "hippie" region of San Fran.
Max and Stephanie would have nothing of it.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in the open-top bus was a
cold and windy affair. Doug, the guide, said,
"Hang on to your caps, your wigs,
and your false teeth. We've had people lose all
of the above!"

In the "Pursuit of Happiness", this is the building
where Will Smith interned as a stockbroker.
"Every office is a corner office."

Steph's first cable car ride.

All bundled up for the nighttime
bus tour. Man, it was COLD.

Inside all those layers is our Steph!

Stephanie said the one place she wanted to make sure
she visited - the house from the TV show Full House. We found it!

The mosaic Moraga Stairs in Japan Town.
A little man we met there said he thought they
told the story of creation.

Muir Woods - redwoods about 10 miles outside of San Fran.

We've been here before, but this was the one place Max definitely
wanted to visit again. It's so beautiful and so peaceful. Who
would dream it was just outside such a huge city.

Stephanie and Coit Tower.
See those cute boots?
One evening when she took them off,
she found a needle stuck in the sole of one.
A syringe needle. Gives one food for thought.

Our time ran out in San Francisco and we headed back to the Turtle for a couple of days. We took Highway 1 from Carmel south to Cambria, through Big Sur. It makes for a really long drive going that way (one averages probably 35-40 m.p.h. for that 145-mile section of highway), but it's so beautiful....