San Francisco!

I've been neglecting the poor Wet Donkey for too long. But guess what? I'm a day shift nurse these days, so let's hope I'm a little more awake and able to blog! Monday was my first day shift, and it's amazing how I worked 12 hours and didn't feel like the chewed up shoe at the end. And I slept at night, and woke up refreshed at a decent hour! Truly amazing.

Ok. So after Sara's reception we drove back to Mountain View and stayed with Kaylynn. Sunday we saw pretty much all of San Francisco. I loved it. It was freezing, which I did NOT love, but overall a very great day. Actually, the day started out beautiful. No fog, nice and sunny, warmish. It wasn't until the trip out to Alcatraz that it really started to cool off. And by cool off, I mean plunge into practically sub-zero temperatures.

We started out by taking a trip to Treasure Island. My family used to live there when I was like 2. The view from the Island was incredible. You could see the whole city. It was really cool.



We headed back into the city and got in line for a cable car ride. We got lucky and got spots right in front! The views were great, and it was a crazy experience to hang off of a moving trolley!

We ended our trolley ride in Union Square, grabbed a snack and then took a cab up to the Coit Tower.

The view from up there was great, especially since it was such a clear day. I was surprised how packed the buildings and houses were. They were practically on top of each other. I've never been to Jerusalem, but that's what it reminded me of--just tons of houses with no space in between

We decided to walk from Coit Tower to Lombard street. I think at this point I may have broken a sweat. Probably the warmest I felt all day, that's for sure.


This is one of my favorite shots from the trip.

We then drove through the Castro District, Haight and Ashbury, and over to Alamo Park, where Full House was shot. (I know, talk about doing ALL the touristy things!!!)

We then drove through Golden Gate Park and across the Golden Gate Bridge. I don't know what it is about the bridge that I love so much, but I do. Maybe because it's red. Who knows.

Then we booked it to Pier 33 to make our boat to Alcatraz. The trip was absolutely freezing. But the views were, of course, amazing.



We did the whole audio tour through the prison, which was told by prisoners and guards themselves.
Even though the dudes serving time in prison were criminals (and by the way, Al Capone was one ugly cuss), I started to feel really bad for them. I mean, the prison was SO COLD and damp and dark and just a really crappy place to live. Then I remember they killed people and stole and I laughed an evil laugh and cursed their dead names.

Don't you love the power I have over making people pose for my crazy pictures?


After the trip back to shore, we headed to Pier 39 for dinner. You can't go to San Francisco and not have clam chowder in a bread bowl, or so I'm told. So that's what I did.

Doesn't it look tasty? It was.


Yes, I look like an Oompa-Loompa. I'm telling you, I froze my tail off.

We checked out the sea lions, which was loud and entertaining.


Who do you think was more entertaining? The sea lions or me??? The answer, of course, is me.We walked through Fisherman's Wharf and over to Ghirardelli Square to partake of delicious chocolate sundae-ness.


The next day we headed over to Half Moon Bay and walked around by the Ritz-Carlton for a bit.

Derrick thinks he's Asian and I'm loving my farm stand cherries.


Our gracious and very accommodating hosts for the weekend! Thanks guys!!!



Back in Mountain View we stopped by Google's headquarters. I'm not ashamed to say that this was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. I'm a geek, I know. I just can't help myself. I'm a GoogleFreak.


At the reception desk there's a screen of continual searches going on all around the world. Nuts.

We topped off the weekend with a little Rockband action. I really liked the drums, but they were hard! Our little band did ok, though. We're rockstars.


Oh, and just so I don't disappoint the Connors, here's a picture of me with the Jelly Belly man in Old Town Sacramento. This one's for you, John & Ashley!


So there you have it, the longest post in history. It's been 5 days in the making, hanging over my head. I've had so many other post ideas, but I haven't let myself do them until I finished this one. So expect a plethora of posts very soon. Hopefully.

If you made it this far, you're either very dedicated, or very bored!!!