5/6/2009 San Francisco!

I looked out the kitchen window this morning before we got on the road and saw this HUMONGOUS rabbit! This picture really doesn't show the true size of this bunny that surely must be on steroids. Trust me friends, its H U G E!!! Bob has asked me several times, "Have you noticed the size of the rabbits here?" The ears alone have to be a good seven to nine inches long.

We got on the road a little later than what I thought we would have been. I don't know why, we just didn't get moving.

We stopped at a rest stop on the way and I couldn't help but take this picture of this tree. Now I'm not sure if its dead or not LaVon, I don't see any leaves or even buds, but it will do for your dead tree picture for today. (Yes, dear readers, I even take the camera to the bathroom when I go, you just never know when a photo op will present itself)

I don't know what amusement park this it to the right of the tree but it sure looks like a fun one with that roller coaster!

As you can see from the picture above our day started out cloudy and overcast.

Here we are in four lanes of traffic going over the Bay Bridge.

A shot of Alcatraz as we passed over the bridge. Its not really this dreary, its the fog that makes it seem so.

Here, is what I am convinced, is a faked picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. Faked in that the ever present fog has been airbrushed away and the blue sky photoshopped in. And why do I think this? Think back to a few days ago when I posted a picture of the bridge when we drove over it. It could hardly be seen.

Well, today I took another picture of it from the Bay Bridge as we were crossing over that. Look here, just above the land you can almost make out the columns of the bridge. (Double click on the picture to enlarge) I'm convinced, picture above was photoshopped! (Mr. Wiggly Red Line from the Dictionary doesn't like the word photoshopped! He keeps underlining it as I type, practically screaming at me,,THAT'S NOT A WORD! Well, it my blog and its a word if I want it to be)

Here are the piers as seen from the bridge.

Wouldn't you like to have a dollar for every window in this picture? Actually, I'd like to have a dollar for every DESK in these buildings.

We finally got into downtown San Francisco and it was totally nerve wracking for Bob trying to drive The Beast in what appeared to be narrow lanes along side taxis by the score, tour buses, regular buses, cable cars, hordes of people crossing the street and not having a clue where we were or where we were going! All the while I was trying to read a street map from our Rand McNally Road Atlas. You know, one of those where they enlarge a city in a 5 x 5 block on the page and expect you to be able to read the street names where the letters look like no more than specks on a sheet of paper. But I wasn't so busy with that that I couldn't take a picture. This whole building is a mural.

Unfortunately, this is the only downtown shot from the truck I got. There were so many more that I wanted but I couldn't take pictures and TRY to read the map at the same time. There was one other time I was going to take a picture, of course just as I got ready to take it a tour bus came up along side of us and blocked my view and by the time it passed us we were out of range.

Our GPS, Doris, kept losing satellite connection while we were in between the tall buildings so she was of very little help to us. Stressful? You bet! Nerve wracking? Without a doubt! Glad when we found a parking lot? Absolutely! Parking cost a lot less than what I expected it to be. I figured we would be taken to the cleaners because, well, because they could. Thankfully, we found a lot not too far from Fisherman's Wharf for $10.00 all day. Flat rate. There was not lot attendant so we had to fill out an envelope with vehicle info, insert $10.00 and drop it into a tube that sticks out of the ground. Whoever owns this lot is very smart, he doesn't even have to pay a lot attendant and is making a fortune!

We spotted our first cable car! I have to admit I was disappointed that it wasn't advertising Rice a Roni on the side of it.

We also saw this mode of transportation....Ride a Duck! This was the only one we saw which kind of surprises me. You would think with Alcatraz out in the middle of the Bay there would be all kinds of these vehicles running the streets.

We walked the few blocks to the famed Pier 39.

Now I have to be honest here. I'm still a little confused about the Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf thing. I still don't know if they are one and the same. I've heard that Fisherman's Wharf means the "area" and then I've heard it means Pier 39. I truly don't know.

Anyway, we "did" Pier 39. This pier is a shoppers dream and hungry person's heaven. One of the most notable restaurants was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company but it was far from being the only eatery!

There were shops that sold all the traditional tourist-y things and jewelry stores galore with most of them offering clams in which to find a pearl.

This store sold all things San Francisco.

There were several topiaries around and this was my favorite.

There were pretty flowers everywhere.

Of course I had to get a close up. Aren't they pretty?

I wasn't expecting to see a carousel on the pier.

Handcrafted in Italy, it is intricately hand-painted and depicts famous San Francisco landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, Chinatown, Lombard Street, Alcatraz and the popular California sea lions at PIER 39. It is the only carousel in the country that has artistic renderings of its home city. Eighteen hundred twinkling LED lights illuminate this carousel, which features 32 animals to ride, including sea dragons, sea lions, dolphins, panda bears, and of course, horses.

Amongst the intricately designed animals are chariots, and for the more adventurous riders there are spinning tubs. During the ride everyone hears the traditional organ music.

A picture of the Bay Bridge, not to be confused with the Golden Gate Bridge, from Pier 39.

We could see Alcatraz. Ahh,, a patch of blue sky.

Alcatraz Island, commonly referred to as simply Alcatraz or locally as The Rock, is a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay. It served as a lighthouse, then a military fort, then a military prison followed by a federal prison until 1963. It became a national recreation area in 1972 and received landmarking designations in 1976 and again in 1986.

Today, the island is an historic site operated by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area and is open to tours. The cheapest tour I found was for $56.00 for the both of us. Sorry, this Queen of Cheap is not gonna spend that kind of money to go look at an empty building regardless of its history.

Alcatraz has been home to the likes of Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone.

Robert Stroud, who was better known to the public as the "Birdman of Alcatraz," was probably the most famous inmate ever to reside on Alcatraz.

Our next stop was the Candy Store. See the baskets just inside the door?

After you have your basket in hand you go on a shopping spree!

Every imaginable flavor of taffy that you can think of!

Done with taffy? On to the hard candy!

Remember penny candy? They had a barrelful of my favorite!

Back outside we watched this fellow juggle while balancing.

Pretzels. Hot Pretzels. I could smell them, what we know as Philly Pretzels. Hmmm, warm out of the oven, just a little mustard....ahhh, heaven! I'm thirsty all over again just looking at that salt.

There was an observation deck so we went up to see the views. Pier 39 from the deck.

On our way off the pier I noticed this fruit stand. Red, ripe cherries...

....B I G strawberries.

I snapped a couple of pictures of some metal art.

A metal tribute to the crab.

Seeing Pier 39 was enjoyable and we're glad we got to see this famous San Francisco landmark. It's here where the day went downhill, when it all went to hell in a hand basket. Where the rest of the day was the pits. Do you get the feeling I'm not a happy camper at this point?

Let me tell you what happened. We had a list of things to see and do all within two miles or so of each other. Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradella Square, Union Square, China Town and of course ride a cable car. Our thought was PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. Buses. Cable Cars. Modes of transportation for the masses. Modes of transportation that should EASILY get you from Point A to Point B. Uh-uh. Nope. Didn't happen. I went to the Information Desk on the Pier, asked for directions and best way to get to China Town. "No problem" the guy says, "go to the corner of Jefferson and Beach and get the # 15 bus." "Hey, thanks" I replied. Walking back to where I left Bob I kept repeating, Jefferson and Beach # 15, Jefferson and Beach #15. We found Jefferson and Beach with no problem. One block down and one block over. This bus is supposed to run every 7 minutes. So we waited. And waited. And waited. This fella with a uniform from one of the local businesses passes by and I stopped him. "Excuse me, can you help me please?" "Sure" he said, "what do you need?". "We were told the #15 bus comes every 7 minutes and we've been standing here forever it seems." I told him. He thought for a moment and said, "Oh, the 15 doesn't run anymore, where do you want to go?" "China Town". "OH, ok, you need the 9 Express, go to Such and Such Street where it intersects with Whatchamacalit Avenue.... and that's where he lost me. We asked a few more people where to go and we couldn't get a good answer from anyone. By now I'm frustrated, aggravated, oh hell, I'm pissed! I'm ready to go home. I've had enough. I am absolutely miserable. Probably the only time I'm going to be in downtown San Francisco and we can't figure out how to get from Point A to Point B and nobody seems willing to help us. We looked into one of the tour buses. $35.00 each and we would get to RIDE BY the attractions. Uh. NO! I'm not spending $70.00 to ride by the attractions I want to EXPERIENCE. I tell Bob I've had enough, let's go. Reluctantly we went back to the truck. I was throwing away an experience that I'll never have again and I was just miserable about it but didn't know what to do anymore either. We left. It was a real quiet ride home.

So we got to see Pier 39. I'm thankful for that.