On Thursday, we decided to drive up to San Francisco for the day. We knew we wouldn't have very much time there so we just wanted to see some of the sights. Our first stop was at the Golden Gate Bridge. As luck would have it, we went on a very foggy, chilly day. Who would have guess that for the beginning of August?
We wanted to walk out onto the bridge a little bit. We knew the kids wouldn't last to go all the way across, but we didn't realize just how hard it was going to be. When we got started, the wind was blowing like crazy and there were lots of people on bikes zooming past us. The kids didn't like it at all. So we just snapped a few pictures and walked back.
Back at the look out area it was still pretty windy. We got a few more pictures. But Leah was begging to go back to the car because her legs and feet were so cold. In case you can't tell, that's the city and the bridge in the backgrounds of these pictures.
Next we drove back into the city and found a place to park for the day. We ended up at Pier 39. Then we set out to explore on foot for rest of the day. These are pictures overlooking Alcatraz and Pier 39.
One of the favorite things on the Pier was the seals and sea lions. We stopped to watch them for quite a while.
Corbin was especially fascinated by the seals and sea lions. He enjoyed watching them for a long time. I tried to snap some pictures of him watching them because he was so intently watching. But this was my favorite picture that I got. Now you might think that he was really excited about something the sea lions were doing. But I actually took this picture just as he looked up and saw his dad eating a granola bar. At that point he lost all interest in the sea animals and just wanted what his dad was eating.
After walking around the pier, we walked up to a cable car turntable so we could take a ride on the famous San Francisco cable cars. However, we had no idea that we would have to wait in a very long line before boarding a cable car. Luckily, the two boys had fallen asleep and were able to have a decent nap while we were waiting. I think it ended up being about an hour wait. And the girls actually did pretty well waiting so long. Watching them turn the cable cars around was pretty entertaining, so that helped pass the time for them.
When it was finally our turn to board, they packed us into the car like a can of sardines. But as we traveled along the line, people would get off and it would make it a little more roomy.
We did have one somewhat nerve racking incident while on the cable car. When we got to the top of a steep hill and were about to turn left a little smart car cut the cable car off and we had to make a sudden stop. The drivers were yelling at the other driver and trying to get the car back on line. And other cars were driving around us, making the cable car drivers more upset. Finally, they had to let the car roll backwards to the previous stop so that they could get the car back on course there. Going backwards down a steep hill was not my favorite part of the ride. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they wouldn't be able to get the car to stop.
We rode the cable car all the way to the end of the line. We decided that trying to get off anywhere along the way with four kids and a big double stroller would just be too hard. When we got to the other end, we had to get off and wait in line again to get on another car to head back down to where we started. The second car we rode dropped us off at Ghirardelli Square. So of course we had to go in and get a free sample of chocolate.
As we were heading back to the car, we walked along past Fisherman's Wharf. Ross saw this boat and wanted me to get a picture of it. This is definitely not a sight that we get to see very often. Next, we found a little pizza place to stop for dinner and then went back to the car to head back to San Jose.
It seems like the day went by quickly. There was so much more that we could have seen and done in San Francisco, but that will have to wait for another time. It would be fun to go back to San Francisco some day. I'd love to go to with just Ross and I. It would be fun to see and explore a lot more of the things with out worrying about the kids.
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