San Francisco - Day 2

The morning was cloudy with a light rain. We decided we would still go to Muir Woods which is a redwood forest. The drive is on a two lane windy road. We went up into the clouds and then dropped down into the forest. The mist made strange shapes with the trees. When we got to Muir Woods there were a few people there and we parked right up front.

The light rain made the greens even greener and the forest had a wonderful smell.

We did a looped trail that took us from the floor of the forest up along a hillside. The redwoods are amazing trees. Even with holes in the base they still stand strong and tall.

The forest floor was covered with ferns and delicate flowers and moss hung on some of the trees.

 By the time we were near the end the rain had stopped and it was sunny. As we left the parking lot the line of cars parked along the side of the road stretched for a mile. We got there at the right time.




 We then made our way to Stinson Beach. It was overcast and there were not many people at the beach.  We got lunch at a local diner and ate on the beach. We strolled along the edge of the waves trying to keep our feet out of the cold water.  The sun came out and so did the people so we moved on toward the city.

We approached the Golden Gate Bridge from a different direction which gave us a view of the bridge and the city together. The last spot was from an old gunnery location that overlooked the entrance to the bay.

We drove to Golden Gate park and looked at the various gardens there.

 On the east side of the park was the Haight Ashbury district famous for the hippie movement in the 60's.

 There are some great Victorian homes along with the remains of the hippie culture.

We then went to Lombard Street and drove down the "crookedest street" in the world.
 To take the shot looking up at the street you have to park perpendicular to the street so your car won't roll.

We tried to find a place to eat on North beach but there was no place to park so we decided to leave for our hotel that night which was in Salinas that was about two hours south of the city. Try to get out of the city even at 7 p.m. was backed up forever but we finally made it out and were on our way.

Celebrating our 35th anniversary- day one

35 years ago on March 15th we were married. It was spring break from college so it was the only time available if we wanted a honeymoon. We had to wait for elementary school spring break before we could celebrate our anniversary this year. This was a week and a half after the actual date. We went to San Francisco which is where we went on our honeymoon. A few things have change over those years. When we first went we had to borrow Cindy's Dad's car, the red Ford Pinto, because I did not trust the car I had to make it there and back. (This is a picture when it was new. As you can see Cindy was a little younger then.)
35 years later we flew to the bay area at $210 a piece and it only took an hour and a half. 

Back then we were a little younger; now we are more "mature".

We flew into Oakland and then rented a car and drove over to Sausalito.
We were going to stay the night in Mill Valley and thought it would be better to take the ferry over to San Francisco and avoid driving and trying to find parking. Also that day they started a cashless crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge. I had to get on line to register the car we were in to drive over the bridge and I had not done that yet. You think it would be simple to park the car but they had an automated parking area that would not take my credit card. When we called they said the machine was broke and would just take coins but I did not have $20 of coins on me so then we had to do a phone registration which I had to do about three times to get it completed. Finally we got to the ferry and then headed across the bay.










Once we crossed the bay we came to the Ferry Building.

Inside there were various shops that we visited. We then took the street car to Pier 39 and watched the sea lions that have been at this pier for 24 years.

 From there it was over to Fisherman's Wharf for a crab cocktail and also sour dough bread.

We went to a art gallery that was displaying original Dr. Seuss artwork and some of his hats.
















Since we now needed dessert we went over to Ghirardelli Square for a sundae."You wanted me to share?"

We then stood in line for 35 minutes to take a cable car and watched many cars come to the end of the line, get turned around, and leave without us.

Finally we made it on the car and rode up to California Avenue and switched cars and then went down to China Town. On the way the buildings made a great frame for a Bay Bridge Tower.









 We then walked over to China Town and looked around. We remembered years ago when we were here with the family and decided to eat meals in China Town and had some interesting experiences with greasy carpets and ducks hanging in the window.

We then continued to the end of the cable car line and walked around, over and through the water feature at the plaza.

It was dinner time and we went back to Pier 39 for dinner before then going back to the ferry building to catch the last ferry home. 

 The ferry was delayed coming over so it gave us extra time to watch the sky get darker and the Bay Bridge light up. There is a two year art display that is happening on the bridge. It is lined with LED lights that make different patterns. At first all we could see is one tower and we thought the lights were interesting.

 It was only after we walked a little further on the pier that we noticed how all the bridge started to display a whole picture that went the mile length of this portion of the bridge. Pictures of fishes swimming from tower to tower or clouds moving. It was very interesting.
 

 Finally the ferry arrived and we left the city. The fog was rolling in and created a haze. We left the city and now were in dense fog . The ferry kept blasting its horn and not a light could be seen. What a dramatic change. We finally arrived on the other side of the bay and our first day was done.

Megan and Nate's wedding

I don't often cover the extended family events in detail but I couldn't help put in a few pictures of Nate and Megan's wedding. It was a great event and very enjoyable. We waited outside for a while for the couple to come from the temple. It was a cold and windy day so we tried to huddle for warmth.

The professional photographer and I had a shoot out while we were waiting but I am sure she won.

Nate and Megan's smile didn't indicate that it was cold as they came out glowing from the Logan temple.

There were some family pictures with grandmas and grandpas and then we headed to the car where it was warm.

There was a nice dinner at Maddox that most of my family was able to attend. Cameron had started a new job the day before so he could not be there and Nic was in Moab. Maddie was able to make it near the end of the event as she also was the only one in her office that day but at least we coaxed her to come and see Megan before she left.