I'm Back!!

I am officially back from my five day hiatus as a wife, mother, housekeeper, chauffeur, cook, nurse, coupon clipper, boo-boo kisser, hug giver, dish washer, shopper, etc, etc, etc.

It was a welcomed break. And, I must say, that while I spent five days in California with my childhood friend, Kristal, Kevin did an amazing job on the home front. He even cooked, cleaned and did laundry too! :) Since he did so well, I am already planning my next getaway......

I took so many great pics on this trip, that I am going to have to break up this post. So today, you get to see "day one".

I arrived in San Francisco around noon, to a smiling face and a big hug from my old friend, Kristal ('old' as in going back a long time, not 'old' in a chronological way! We've actually known each other since kindergarten!). We spent the rest of the day sight-seeing in the big city.

Our first stop was Fisherman's Wharf. From this vantage point, we had a great view of the infamous Alcatraz.

We then walked over to Pier 39, where we had fun watching the smelly sea lions basking in the sun. :)

Next, we went on a mission to ride on one of the city's cable cars. The line was long, and not moving at all. The ride wasn't looking too promising, as we still had lots to see before dark. We saw a couple of empty cable cars sitting, with men from the Transit Authority working in the area, and we started to take some pics. One of the fellows called out to us that we couldn't take pics unless we were in them. He then came over and offered to take our photos on the cable car. It was great fun, and we got better pics than we would have been able to get while riding in the car.

The pic below is one of the two cable car 'turnarounds' in San Francisco (click the link to see a video). The cable cars are actually designed to go one way only. As a result, they must be manually turned using the turntables/turnarounds.

Above: one of the many streets with a 'crazy steep' hill! It is much steeper in person too.......hence, the need for the cable cars!

This is a pic of us traveling down Lombard Street, coined "San Francisco's Crookedest Street".

And, our last photos of the day (you can see it is getting dark!) are of the Painted Ladies....San Francisco's famous Victorian houses.

I think it is time to wind this up....it is getting rather lengthy! No worries, I didn't forget the Golden Gate Bridge. Those photos are in tomorrow's batch! :)

Hope to 'see' you then!