Monthly Archives: March 2014
San Francisco – a city of hills, ferries & prisons
We arrived in San Francisco after a very long day of driving from Las Vegas (11 hours), with one stop to change a flat trailer tire. We were tired and grumpy yet also excited about the 2 days to come. We had a plan and everything fit very neatly in it. Glitch #1 – the Candlestick RV Park did not live up to expectations – it was crowded, loud and expensive. Glitch #2 – Alcatraz tickets were sold out for Tuesday so we could not go until Wednesday morning. Glitch #3 – we had to find a place to get the trailer tire repaired as the last one is ready to go anyway and we don’t want to be left without a spare.
Not too worry – I am resilient (I have said that a lot to myself this week)! After an hour or so of online research, I came up with a plan B… By 8:00 am Tuesday morning I was on to plan C due to the challenge of finding a trailer tire but it all came together. We got our 2nd night fee refunded and were out the RV park gates and off to Albany (north of Oakland) to get a new trailer tire. The goodyear dealer there was fabulous and we were in and out in under 30 minutes. Then it was off to the REI store in Berkley (no luck in our search for a deck bag) and then on to the California Canoe & Kayak store in Oakland, where we picked up Hunter’s new (gently used) 2Fun whitewater boat.
After a yummy lunch at Jack London Square in Oakland, we caught the ferry over to San Francisco and started our tourist life. It was a moderate downpour for the first hour and we were seriously questioning what we were doing planning on walking around the city all afternoon. Luckily we found some fun things to amuse ourselves as we wandered down the waterfront.
The Exploratorium had a really neat outdoor exhibit on skateboarding that caught our attention. It taught you the science behind skateboarding (how you turn, composition of wheels, size of wheels and the physics of doing an ollie) and had real skateboards to play with and experience.
- skateboard exhibit at the Exploratorium
- reading about skateboards & physics
- learning to do an ollie (and the physics behind it)
By the time we got to Fisherman’s Wharf the rain was slowing down and we were able to hang out and enjoy the sea lions.
We knocked off another Junior Ranger badge by exploring the San Francisco Marine National Park – it celebrates the heritage of the city as a shipping port.
- getting started on our junior ranger badge
- they historic Hyde St. Pier
From there we wandered up steep hills of Hyde street (the one they show the car chases going down on TV), checked out the cable cars and the worlds windiest street (Lombard).
- bottom of hyde street looking up
- top of hyde street looking down (Alcatraz in the background)
- Lombard winding street
We stopped in at Ghirardelli square to check out the chocolate store and then wandered back to Fisherman’s wharf for dinner before catching the last ferry back to Oakland.
- fisherman’s wharf dinner
- closest we got to surfing in San Fran
We were up bright and early the next morning to catch the 8:10 am ferry from Oakland to San Francisco so that we could catch the 9:10 ferry out to Alcatraz Island (the main reason we stopped in San Fran). The National Park Service limits the number of visitors per day to 3,000 so the ferry tickets sell out quickly. Having a National Parks Pass provides no discount (similar to Fort Sumter) as the ferry is run by a 3rd party concessionaire) and they have no junior ranger program, which was a bit of a disappointment.
- Al Capone – famous resident
- The Yard – fresh air & exercise
- life in a cell
- the famous break out – using a spoon to dig that hole
- visitation windows (prisoner side)
- cell
- cell
- cell
- Isolation Cell’s
- inside isolation cell
- famous prisoners
- guard weapons
The orientation film is well worth seeing and gave a great overview of the history of Alcatraz. From there we wandered up the hill and did the audio self guided tour, which was impressive. It rained off and on all morning so at times some of the spaces felt very cramped as people didn’t really spread out to explore the full island.
Alcatraz has amazing views of San Francisco in all directions.
Although our visit was quick and there were many things we didn’t see, it was still a fun whirlwind and gives you a taste of the city.
18 hours in Vegas
On our last Friday night in Oceanside we were at the movie theatre to see Mr. Peabody & Sherman. There was a preview (one of a zillion) that showed the Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. The boys were intrigued so we did some quick checking on distances, timelines and tickets and TA-DA – Vegas was added as a quick stop on our way home….
We left Oceanside Sunday morning at 9:00 am, after a last breakfast burrito at the Buccaneer cafe (a must stop in oceanside, great food, great views & great prices). We landed in Las Vegas by 2 in the afternoon at the Oasis RV Park. In typical vegas style, it was gated, had a HUGE lobby and 2 swimming pools. It was 3 miles from the strip ($20 cab ride) so not as convenient as I would have liked for a quick stop, but it was very clean, well maintained and safe which are high priorities these days.
After a quick swim we cleaned up and pulled out the stash of “good clothes” (first time they have been out all trip) to head off to the theatre. The show was GREAT. Hunter has never been to a Cirque show and his eyes were wide open and mouth was grinning from beginning to end. Everyone was busy pointing things out to ensure that no one missed a single fun thing. The music was fabulous and a neat story line to the show.
We spent some time wandering south on the strip after the show and stopped to enjoy the lights at the Bellagio – another new thing for Hunter (we were in Vegas 3 years ago with him but did not catch this). He loved it so much we stayed for a second show before heading back to the campground.
This little side adventure made for a very long day’s drive to San Francisco (9 hours) but we all agreed that it was well worth it!
A bowl comes to life…
Hunter has been asking to do pottery on a pottery wheel since we started the road trip. He saw it on TV at some point at home and thought it looked really neat. Thanks to AB Fine Arts in Carslbad, California we learned the art of wheel pottery from Mrs. Susan one afternoon. It is amazing what you can create in 30 minutes with one on one instruction!
- Hunter & Mrs. Susan shaping the ball
- Hunter getting the hang of shaping the ball
- starting to see a bowl in there
- fine tuning the bowl
In our thirty minute session Hunter was able to learn how to use the wheel, shape the ball, create an opening in the ball and turn that opening into a bowl shape. He had a fabulous time and it was neat to see how quickly it could all come together.
- after painting it ourselves, before firing & glazing
- STOP
- Hunter’s Bowl
- Hunter’s BPP (Bacon Peas & Pasta)
- Finished Bowl – WOW!
We took it home to dry and paint and then dropped it back off at Mrs. Susan’s house for firing and glazing. I was amazed at how much the colours changed and came to life.
This is one pretty proud young man. He’s interested in doing it again so I’m hoping we can pick it up in Whitehorse this summer.
Week Two in Oceanside – the Beach House
Grandma Lynne generously rented a beach house in Oceanside for a week as everyone’s Christmas present this year. It was a great chance for Hunter to catch up with his cousins and for all of us to just “play”. Being right on the beach, everyone could just come and go from the ocean all day, which was also helped by the hot tub… where you could just chill out – or eat ice-cream!
Everyone had a great time out in the water surfing or boogie boarding…
- Isabella with Uncle Tim
- Isabella with Uncle Tim
- Tim
- Tim looking stylish
- Tim – surfboard go pro
- Lee in my ninja wetsuit
- catwoman on the surfboard!
- slowly getting better – had some stellar crashes
- Tim & Hunter hanging out
We also had lots of sand castle building, kite flying and bubbles throughout the week.
No family trip to Oceanside is complete without stopping at Legoland, which never disappoints and always has some new experience or highlight.
On our way home we stopped at the local strawberry fields for bargain priced strawberries fresh from the field!
No family vacation is without it’s ups and downs, especially with twelve people in one house. We all survived, finished happy and are grateful to have been able to spend quality time together again this year.
Oceanside California – week one back at the beach
We are back in Oceanside, California for three weeks, splitting our time between the Paradise by the Sea RV Park and a fabulous beach house that Grandma Lynne rented for the entire family.
- Tim on our walk during the storm
- HUGE storm surges really shifted the beach
Week one was kicked off by a major winter storm that blew in and brought 3 days of rain, wind and big waves. Hunter spent those 3 days hanging with his local cousin and Tim and I were left to amuse ourselves with walks in the rain, multiple games of ping pong and pool at the RV Park games room and lots of reading.
- Hunter heading out into the surf
- Rockin ocean wave surfing
- Lee with great optimism 🙂
- Lee continues with her learning curve!
- Hunter loves his new surf/boogie board
- It is just the right size for him
- It was a great garbage day find
When things finally cleared up we all hit the ocean with a vengeance… We have a little wagon that we bought when we were here in October and now load it up with everything we need for the beach, while also carrying kayaks and surfboards.
Tim has a love/hate relationship with his new Mega Proton Surf Kayak – it has the potential to be amazing but he has to get through the learning curve first!
Tim bounced between his surf kayak and my Jackson FunRunner all week. Some days were great and some days we all got quite beat up by the surf… We’re still learning how to read the surf report correctly (winds, waves, tides etc.).
- Dolphins are always a treat
- Skies are clear enough that all the birds are back
The storm churned up the ocean quite a bit and it seemed to take about 3 days for things to settle back down. It was great when we saw the dolphins, seagulls and pelicans back.