Spring Break- San Francisco

The second half of spring break was going to be in San Francisco. We left Turlock in the morning but wanted to drive to some fruit stands we saw on the drive yesterday morning. The area was covered in almond orchards so we stopped to see what almonds look like growing on a tree.

We then went to this stand which had all sorts of almonds and fruits and vegetables. We got something that had almonds here for each kid when we came home.

We next went to a stand that was selling fresh picked strawberries. We knew they were fresh because they were still out in the field picking them. We snacked on them as we drove to the Bay area. We went first to Fisherman's Wharf area and had some crab cocktails and chowder in a sour dough bowl. Then we went over to pier 49 and looked out to Alcatraz and then the pier to see how the sea lions were doing.

We then went a did something new and walked the Filbert Street steps to Coit Tower. There are around 400 steps and they lead through the side yards of homes and their yards. There are parrots in the trees squawking all the time and it is hard to believe you are in the city with all the trees around.

  We then headed back over the Bay Bridge to our hotel in Oakland and the promised Sizzler dinner I promised in Turlock but never delivered.

We turned our car in on the morning and then rode BART into the city. We took the cable cars and then made it to the Ferry Building to a farmers market and had lunch and then rode the street car to Pier 49 again. This time we rented bikes to go over the Golden Gate bridge. We stopped at several locations along the way to take pictures.

 We then started across the bridge and stopped along the way to look at the ocean below us.

We went down the hill into Sasalito with the intent to catch the ferry back across since that is what the bike rental encouraged you to do; that and 400 other people. We thought we would have plenty of time to get back and then go to a Gaints game that evening. We spent three hours waiting in line to get onto a ferry. We were not going to ride back up the steep hill so we waited and waited. By the time we got back the rental place had closed and we had to take the bikes to a different spot. We will never do the, "take the ferry option" of the bike ride because the bike companies could care less. They get to charge you for extra hours.

We got back at about 8 that evening and then went and had a late dinner and then caught the BART back to the hotel. Even though we had the one bad experience we enjoyed this spring break and saw some wonderful sights. They next morning we were on the plane and on our way home.