The San Francisco Treat

Ah, finally another blog post. I know it has been a while. Hopefully I will get some comments this time around!!!

Well, lets try to put a week into a blog. To start, my Uncle Tim (and a cousin I had never met before) suprised me with a visit this past Wednesday (June 22). He was staying in San Francisco so I ventured down there to help him with his site-seeing. Unfortunately, Alcatraz was sold out so we had to wing our day. Denny (my cousin) seemed to be down for anything and so was Tim. We started with the Aquarium of the Bay. This particular aquarium gets its acclaim (if an aquarium can get acclaim) from being under the bay, offering its guests a true view of the San Francisco Bay. Alas, there was no view of the true Bay. No bodies afloat here, just your average aquarium ... that costs $13.00 per person to enter. Yes, I am sorry to say that if you would like the ultimate experience of the Bay you will have to jump in yourself. No admission required.

Dennis still managed to have fun ...

Onward through our day. From there we took the MUNI to downtown San Fran and walked down Market Street. Then off to the orignial cable cars! We stood in line for what seemed like hours to ride the original cars of our past. Dennis managed to get an outside standing position while Tim and I were forced to stand on the inside of this extremely small contraption. The ride was semi pleasant until the car started uphill. (For those of you who have never travelled to this fair city, the hills are a bitch to ride or walk up, especially if you are holding on for dear life.) Half way through our 3 dollar ride across town, the car broke so we decided to get out and walk since the rest of the trip was down hill. Luckily, it stopped right in front of Lombard St.! So we took a walk down the world's most crooked st. Something I thought I would never get a chance to do (parking is horrible in that area).


Lombard in all of its glory.

We walked all the way back to Fisherman's Wharf from there only to receive a $30 parking fee (for 5 hours of parking!).


Me, Tim and Dennis with Alcatraz in the background.

The best part of the day was going to see the Golden Gate Bridge. All of the buidings in San Francisco are remarkable, but the Golden Gate bridge is an architectual masterpiece. We started at the bottom and actually walked up to the bridge ...

Dennis and I in front of a tunnel leading to the bridge. Look I'm actually taller than the opening!!!

Taken from the bottom of the trail up to the bridge.

The walk was long and hard but worth it!
All in all the day was great. Spending time with my Uncle and Dennis was really great for me. I do not get to see my extended family often and this was a step in the right direction (as far as keeping in touch, etc.). I'm glad to have met Dennis. He is a wonderful kid ... I'm still not sure exactly how we are related but we are cousins to some degree.

The downside to this excursion: After our day, I dropped the two off at their hotel in Japantown so they could get in their rental car and get off to the airport to catch their flight to Australia. While we were sight-seeing, someone broke into their vehicle and stole $4,000 worth of electronics.

The reason I am telling you this: The hotel knew it had a problem with people breaking into rental cars and no one told them about this before they packed their things into the car. Someone from the front desk could have warned them, but no one did. Their things were packed neatly and were not left in the open. Their car was also only 4 spots away from Security. So please, if you do travel and need to leave your things in a safe spot while out and about (and you had to check out that day) a reasonable hotel will keep your belongings behind the front desk for safe keeping. (Once your belongings enter a parking garage or parking lot, the hotel waives all responsibility.) This way, if something does happen, you can hold someone accountable!

That's it for now ... I'll finish the week up a little later ;)