"I Left my Heart in San Francisco"

Yesterday Travis and I traveled to San Francisco. We were worried about driving around the city and being able to find parking, preferably free, so we decided instead to take the Bay Area Rapid Transit. Also known as BART. They have free all day parking at their stations so we drove to the closest one and took a 40 minute ride into the heart of San Fran. Once in, the rest of our journey was on foot. I thought it would be no big deal since I spent a whole weekend walking around New York city, but I forgot that S.F. is very famous for its hills. I was surprised at how steep some of their hills are. Sometimes it felt like we were walking straight up! Anyway, we walked through China Town, which I must say is nicer and prettier than New York's. We also went to North Beach (Little Italy), Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf, Boudin sourdough bread factory, saw Coit Tower, Transamerica Pyramid, and walked all the way up Lombard street. Luckily we went to S.F. when we did because than evening on Jeopardy they had a question about the Boudin bread factory and one on Fisherman's Wharf. Unfortunately, we got both wrong, but at least we had been there a few hours prior. Transamerica Pyramid Bay Bridge Coit Tower The Rock. Aka Alcatraz. Boudin Bakery. They made a crocodile out of sourdough bread.

Lombard Street

Kayaking Trip

We spent the weekend in Pismo, CA with my family camping. Most of us went kayaking Saturday morning. The group was my mom, dad, Kris (brother), Heather (his girlfriend), Martin (brother-in-law), Chris (his son), Timmy (his other son), Travis and me. Most of us have been before so we didn't expect this time to be as crazy as it was. My mom and dad got flipped on their way out into the ocean so I guess we should have known what was coming. All together they flipped four times. I got knocked out once as did Heather. Bother Kris and Travis stayed in tact for whatever reason! On our way back to shore to end this crazy adventure my mom and dad went down which by this time was expected (sorry mom and dad), my brother-in-law and Timmy went down four times in a row!! And both our tour guides ate it while trying to help all of them back into their kayaks. Travis, Kris, Heather, Chris and I were safely on shore watching this whole debacle take place. My brother took pictures of the mess but you'll have to wait while we get those pictures developed.

Yes, that is a sea otter rolled up in the kelp massaging his head.Beach full of birds.There were swells that they had you try to ride to go between rocks. As you can see it was dangerous because if you missed the swell you would be shipwrecked on the rocks until another one came to push you off. We made it but once we were through a wave hit us and I got knocked out.

Santa Cruz

Saturday, June 2nd, Travis and I decided to drive to Santa Cruz to spend some time on the beach. Weather.com said that it was going to be a chilly day so we decided to forgoe the sunbathing and just walk around and see the sites. I did a little research online and found that there is a street with some very pretty Victorian houses. The drive is only 30 minutes which is nice and short. We found the street that was supposed to have these amazing Victorian houses on it but it was closed off because they were having a little street fair. They weren't charging money to enter so we decided to walk through. It was very small but it was hard to see the houses because they had booths set up on the sidewalk and there was a dancing team doing some routine in the streets. So needless to say we didn't see much of the houses which is why there are no pictures of them. Maybe next time. We continued down to the beach and found free parking! I think that's always an accomplishment these days. We walked down the pier seeing some seals and a bunch of boats sailing. While on our way to the Beach Boardwalk we stopped to watch some hardcore sand volleyball. They have about 10 courts set up. This two on two team we watched was pretty intense and could have took on Misty May and Kerri Walsh. Anyway, it was a fun day and the weather was actually perfect for a day on the beach!