Dave and I always love traveling and so it’s no surprise that for our one week holiday we chose to travel to the most interesting and affordable place that we could get to. For this year that meant San Francisco! The decision was made easily due to the fact that my good friend Erin, her husband Paul and almost 2yr old daughter Emma live 45 minutes from San Francisco. So off we went…
We had our first breathtaking adventure before the plane even landed in San Fran. This occurred as Dave ran down the airport corridor with one hand holding his pants up and the other holding the open laptop, his belt and baggie of liquids as we raced to catch our connection in Calgary. We made it just in time to board. We arrived safely, retrieved our trendy rental car (a white ‘gangster’ mobile-aka Chev HHR), and drove down to Sunnyvale to Erin’s place. Little miss Emma graciously gave up her room (well, maybe it was more that mom and dad gave up their room…) and we settled in for the night.
The next day Dave, myself, Erin, Emma and our surrogate daughter Laura (17months) headed down to Prunedale. Why on earth did you go to Prunedale you ask? And who is this Laura girl? Well, you see my other good friend Sarah and her husband Andy and 2.5yr old daughter Isabel moved there just 2 weeks ago. Erin has become friends with them via me and so a visit was in order. Laura is the daughter of a friend of Erin’s who needed a babysitter for the day and we were the best option. The day was spent with much singing, doll playing, napping, snacking and diapers, but it was a good one and Dave was a good sport about it all. We finished the day with dinner including Andy and Paul.
Our second full day we walked with Erin and Emma to one of our favorite local stores-Trader Joe’s where we got Dave’s favorite snack-Thai lime and chili cashews. Later in the day we went to the outlet stores in Gilroy to spend some money that was given to us from Dave’s parents-thanks Lynne and Peter!
The third day the four of us headed to Santa Cruz, which is one of my favorite Californian destinations! I worked at a camp just outside Santa Cruz for a full summer and we spent most of our free time there. So, we went and looked at the boardwalk, walked the beach and the pier, gazed at noisy sea lions and finished off our journey with an ice cream cone from Marianne’s.
The next two days were spent in the city of San Francisco itself, just Dave and I. We quickly discovered that it was surely NOT economical to keep our gangster mobile and so turned it in early and opted for public transit. Our hotel, The Sir Francis Drake, had a very fancy and impressive entryway, but the room was a bit lack luster. The room walls are a puke green and off-white stripe pattern and the toilet is wobbly, but for $70 a night, it was the perfect spot. Plus, we were right next the street car line making transit to the Wharf easy. Our first day in San Fran we first went to the Golden Gate bridge. I could not believe how clear and blue the sky was. As well, there was no wind!! What a perfect day. We caught the trolley down to the wharf and took a ferry to Alcatraz where we took in the old prison; a very interesting and informative journey. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on our ferry back. After refueling at the Hard Rock Café we sauntered down Pier 39 for a look see and then headed back to our hotel for a good night’s rest.
Our final day of vacation was started with a trip to the Ghirardelli chocolate shop for a sundae and then some more wharf viewing. We also had a delicious bowl of clam chowder for lunch before heading back to the hotel for a break. In the afternoon we walked downtown to take in the sights. We finished off the day by having dinner with Erin, Paul and Emma at the Rainforest Café by the Wharf. All in all it was a great trip!!
