San Francisco

It has been a few years since we have been in San Francisco (seven years, in fact).  We are not much of big city folk, but we decided to make the effort to go because we were so close (about an hour away).  The kids were excited and Greg and I geared up for the day trip.
Aunt Jai and Uncle Clay were so nice to lend us their Land Cruiser so we didn't have to drive the motor home through the city.  Geez!  Can't you see us trying to navigate that monstrosity through San Francisco?  Greg remembered his Dad driving their motor home through San Francisco when he was a teenager.  If he has memories of that, you know it had to be good.
Our first stop was Lombard Street.  This charming, brick-lined street is known as the crookedest street in the world.  We thought it would be fun to drive down it.  We didn't anticipate the maze of one-way streets to get there and then the 30 minute wait just to drive down it.

Enoch was a bit worried.  He kept asking Greg if it was safe and if we should be doing this.  By the time we got to the end, he thought it was pretty cool.  It was an unique experience and I'm glad we took the time to do it.  Where else would you find a street like this (I've heard there are a few more in San Francisco)?

 

Gavin was convinced he needed to go to Ghirardelli Square.  He didn't have to talk to long or hard to have Greg on board.  While we were trying to find parking, we came across the San Fransisco Maritime Museum just down the street from Ghirardelli Square.  The Museum was on our Passport list, so we stopped by to see what it was about.  It is very small, but on the water.  It had a few displays, but the best thing there were some cute kids!

 

We didn't stay long, but we did get our Passport stamped.

We then walked a short block down to Ghirardelli Square.  

 We didn't stop for ice cream because it was so cold, but we did browse through the store.  I'm not sure if they have this all year long or just at Christmas, but we stumbled upon a pretty sweet deal.  Fifty squares of assorted chocolate for $15.  Kate and Enoch liked the raspberry, Gavin and Greg liked them all and I liked the sea salt caramel.

I love how Gavin is gently cuddling his chocolate.  It was the highlight of his trip.

Next up was Fort Point.  This was Enoch's favorite part of the trip.  We let him run wild and he loved it.  He really struggles with being told to go here and then go there and look at this and don't touch.  At Fort Point he could run and explore.

Fort Point is located right on the Bay under the Bridge.  It is an amazing century-old fort, built from bricks, that protected the Bay from the Spaniards, Japanese and other enemies during various wars.  It has numerous cannons and cannon windows (I know there is a better word for that!), that point right out into the Bay.  It was very impressive.  And, we got our Passport stamped!  Twice, in fact, once for Fort Point and once for the Golden Gate Bridge. 

It's a great place for pictures:

Guard slept through the entire visit, but we did find his room!
Whew!  A lot of pictures and so much fun.
We drove a short ways up the hill and stopped to see the Golden Gate Bridge.  Greg stayed in the car to feed Guard and the kids and I got out to look around and snap some pictures.

 

Back in the car for one more stop.  By now, the kids were done, but we really wanted to see Muir Woods.  It was so much fun the last time we were in town.  Unfortunately by the time we arrived, it was dusk.  If you've been to Muir Woods before you know that the tree canopy creates so much shade and then add to it the late time and it was rather dark.  Pictures didn't turn out well and the kids walked through as fast as they could.  Oh well.

 

We finished up the night at Malin's home for dinner and visiting with family.  It was a bit overwhelming for the kids after such a long day, but it was fun for me to see my family and catch up with them.

We decided the rest of our short stay would be more relaxing!