Pier 39

We visited Pier 39 and watched the sea lions sleep... some played and that was entertaining. Others just slept and made weird noises. It was fun to watch them even though they weren't really active.

This was all after Alcatraz and we were starving so we went and had lunch. Bread bowl with clam chowder for Ryan and bread bowl and chili for me! YUM!

Trolly Car in SF

After Alcatraz we walked down Embarcadero St. and visited Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square and rode the Trolly Car. It was all so much fun! The sun came out too! Here are some photos of our Trolly Car ride. We rode from Fisherman's Wharf to Market Street. It was fun but now that we've done it I don't have to do it again... The main reason we rode it was to see Lomard Street which is the most crooked street EVER. We saw the top, but we were tired so we didn't want to get off and walk down it. Seeing it from the top was good enough... ;)

Oh yeah... I asked this guy to take our picture. He took my camera and took "our" picture! Then he took a picture of Ryan and I. He was pretty funny!

Alcatraz Island

We visited Alcatraz on our little trip and it was really neat! Here are some photos of our adventures.


View of Alcatraz from the boat.

Looking back at downtown.

Alcatraz from the water looking up.

On Alcatraz looking back across the bay.

In the shower room. EWE...

Cute Ryan next to one of the cells.

Inside the cell. We had a headset to take a self-guided tour. It was really interesting.

A really fancy cell...

From the top of Alcatraz across the bay. This is the Bay Bridge.

This is the Golden Gate Bridge and it was a really foggy day.

Ryan and the view to downtown and the Bay Bridge.

Some of the prisoners actually escaped by digging around the vent to make it wider. This is one of the cells that a prisoner escaped from.

If you get the chance you should visit Alcatraz. It was really a pretty island and a very interested tour. There were a lot of things to see - many that we didn't photograph. Just take a jacket because it gets cold and windy out there!

Oakland Temple

On our trip to SF we made our way over the Bay Bridge to the Oakland Temple. We got there when it was light to take a picture looking back at downtown SF. However, we waited too long to take pictures of the temple itself. Fun to see it though!

Golden Gate Bridge

S.F. Part 2

We wandered through Chinatown one afternoon. It was interesting. It looked pretty cool!

More photos at the Golden Gate Park. This is the Rose Garden. It was beautiful and smelled amazing. I didn't know they had so many different types of roses!

More Golden Gate Park.

From here Ryan decided we could walk to the Golden Gate Bridge. It looked like a few miles away on the map so we started our trek. After about 1 mile we looked for a bus. Luckily we were on the right street to catch a bus right up to the bridge!

Surprise Trip to San Francisco Part 1

DISCLAIMER: To all our friends in the Bay Area we are really sorry we didn't get to see you on our little trip up there. We thought about you, but we just needed some time together. We'll plan another trip to visit with friends.

Ryan and I have had some hard weeks this summer since we feel like we never see each other! Our work schedules couldn't be more opposite with him working nights, and me days. It makes life hard since he is bored all day, when he isn't sleeping, and I am bored all night, when I'm not sleeping...

Anyway, I decided we needed a getaway. I told Ryan to make sure he has this past Saturday available and I made plans for a trip to San Francisco. He had never been before, so I planned a whirwind trip and all we did was see touristy spots and relax in our hotel. The unfortunate thing was that it was freezing cold.

So, I booked our weekend trip and didn't tell Ryan a thing about it. He didn't even know we were going out of town! It sure was fun trying to keep it a secret. It was even more fun driving into the airport and watching him get excited for an adventure. He didn't even know where we were going until we got to the security check point and he saw our boarding passes. It was fun to plan a surprise for him, for us.

So, here are some of our photos. We only used public transportation while we were there and that was an adventure. We really came to like it though and wished there was something similar where we live. It sure would save on gas and maybe we wouldn't need 2 cars! Anyway, if you haven't been to San Fran. you should go! It was fun!

Union Square and our Hotel. Union Square is basically a TON of shopping and people watching. They had a big open "park" without grass and our first night they had a hugh blow-up screen and showed a movie! That was fun until we got too cold... Luckily there were plenty of starbucks close by to grab a hot chocolate or vanilla steamer. Yummy!

Ryan in part of the Golden Gate Park that has big Redwood trees. They were amazing. He was wishing he had his mountain bike in this photo. There were some good little hills and jumps. Here is Ryan near a lake in Golden Gate Park. Golden Gate Park is basically a huge, HUGE park with lots of neat gardens and museums. We barely made a dent in the park. SO much to see.