skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Day 3 was equally as fun and tiring as it's predecessor and here's why... So you know how hotels have the hotel TV channel that talk about all of the fun stuff in the city, well we were watching that and there was this whole segment about how you can hire bikes and cycle from Fisherman's Wharf across the Golden Gate bridge, over to Sausalito and then catch a ferry back over to Fisherman's Wharf, so that's what we decided to do.
We set off bright and early on the tram/trolley and headed on down to get our bikes, and let me tell you it has been a significant period of time since either of us has ridden a bike (Anna rode one on her mission for about a month and I haven't ridden one since before my mission, i.e. a very long time). Additionally these were bikes with gears so to say I was a tad reticent before heading out would be an understatement, but we did just fine and had the most fun, and here's some pictures to prove it!
After cycling for a while we decided to take a stop at the Exploratorium and take a walk around, the Exploratorium is a science museum and while we didn't venture inside we did walk around and look at the cool building and grounds which house it.
After our brief stop we continued on our trek and got ready for the uphill part of the ride (which I'll be honest saw us walking and pushing the bikes for a while - but hey we were on vacation), taking us to the Golden Gate Bridge itself. This was my favorite part of the ride as we got to cycle across, and even though it was very windy and rather uphill the views were great and it was such a fun thing to do. One side of the sidewalk is just for cyclists, which was nice as we didn't have to navigate our way around the pedestrians. 
Once across the bridge we then took the coastal road to Sausalito, which is this rather quaint small town where rich people live. We had some lunch and walked around for a while and then took a very relaxing ferry ride back across the bay
Once back across the bay we gladly turned in our bikes and then used our jelly like legs to walk back to the hotel for another relaxing evening of walking around the downtown area, people watching, eating and some good ole cable TV viewing!
Are you ready for some stories and pictures - well then here we go! So day 2 saw us getting an early start and heading down to Fisherman's Wharf, we decided to take the tram/trolley (in my country it's a tram, here I guess it's a trolley...). We got to hang off the side - which was fun initially but those things get going pretty fast and cars don't seem to hesitate driving really close. Anywho here's some pics!
After walking around for a while we decided to head down to Pier 39 to see the Sea lions - which were rather cute and kinda reminded me of Georgie!
After that it was off to the Aquarium - which let me tell you - I LOVE aquariums (although I did have to try and not think about that one Jaws movie). We had so much fun, I particularly enjoyed the starfish - there were two stuck to the side of the tank that looked like there were dancing - I tried to, unsuccessfully, take a picture to share with you. The aquarium was so interesting and I just had a blast watching all the fishes and the like, I am a big fan.
We then went to do some shopping on the pier and ate some delightful mini donuts, one of which was snatched out of my hand by a pesky bird, but we did have 12 so one lost was probably not a bad thing. Anna was very tempted to buy some Cocker Spaniels socks but was put off by the crazy price - $15 - for a pair of socks - I ask you. Our next stop was Ghiradelli square, which needs no introduction, we had a delicious Banana Split and on the spur of the moment, I decided to order a dark choc raspberry shake, which as if I need to mention, was more than delightful.
Some more walking ensued and then it was over to In and Out burger - I admit that this does sound like a lot of food, but we were walking a lot and on a 'cheer up and forget about everything' vacation - so I don't really care. Anna had her burger 'Animal' style, which is from the 'secret menu' and as far as I'm concerned they can continue to keep it on the secret menu as it was pretty gross. The next stop on our 'lets do everything' day was a 1 hour harbor cruise, which I had actually been on last year when I was there with my work colleague, Kori, so it was nice to do it again this time with Anna! The cruise went up to the Golden Gate bridge and then round back Alcatraz. It was a really fun cruise, if a little cold, but getting that close to the bridge was awesome, my pictures don't do it justice as it was a little rocky by the bridge and thus hard to get a level picture. We were tempted to take the trip to Alcatraz but decide in the end to just take this cruise instead - and that was enough for us! - quite a scary looking place.
After we hit dry land we decided to walk back to our hotel, trying to counteract all the food we ate, so we headed back through the Italian District (it reminded me so much of Brussels - where I served my mission - it was quite odd really) and then up through China town, which was busy and so different, it really was like being in a different country. It was interesting to see all of the different foods that they have there and also a little scary as it made us wonder what Dr Ming (the acupuncturist we saw for a while in our 'family quest') put into the herbal remedies we took! Once we escaped and survived our China town experience it was back to the hotel for more cable TV and a good nights rest.
Our trip began after a not too fun airport experience, somehow we got 'randomly selected' to be additionally screened prior to boarding the plan. Pretty much, so far as I can tell, that just means that the people at the airport security get to use their power and treat you pretty crappily. So we got selected, which then meant that we got to stand in this locked glass pen/box area and wait for them to come and bother to 'additionally screen' us. Now I am all in support of heightened security at airports and have no problem with the process, however i do have a problem with rude people and people on a power trip. Anyway 'additional screening' just meant them going trough all our stuff and bossing us around - fun.
So then we got on the plane and off we went! The flight was fine and uneventful as was our transfer to the hotel (we did meet some very friendly people in the shuttle who gave us ideas of some things to do whilst in San Fran).
Then onto the lovely hotel, we stayed at the Westin St Francis on Union Square and it was awesome. I had stayed there last year while in San Fran for work and loved it, so it was fun to stay there again with Anna. We had a cool room in the historic part and here are some pictures of us living it up in our fancy hotel! (sorry for the dark pic - that's what happens when you give a camera to Anna)
So after we relaxed we went to explore the city and had so much fun, if you've never been to San Fran I would highly recommend it, most fun. Our first stop was H and M (an awesome euro clothes store), Anna really likes their clothes, their mens stuff is a little too fashiony for me, I'll stick to the Gap thank you very much. We also were so happen to find a store selling Orangina (a most delicious drink that nowhere in Utah seems to sell) and Anna was most happy to pose for the picture below, demonstrating just how much she loves said drink.
After enjoying H and M and Orangina (which combined made me feel like I was in Europe) we went further exploring and decided to hit up all the fancy stores that we could never afford to shop in, Bloomingdales, Barneys, Saks 5th Ave and Neiman Marcus. Our ploy was, so we didn't stand out too much as the poor people we really are, was to talk loudly that the item we wanted was not in stock in the right size, thus leaving us no choice but to head out empty handed! (notice how Anna is still holding the Orangina bottle - I was lucky to even get a taste!).
After all of that fun we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed some cable TV (my fave thing about staying in a hotel!) and got ready for day 2!
I thought that it was time to update the blog and keep you up with our adventures and such like. So as the title of this post indicates, last week wasn't the best for us, we had, yet another, setback in our seemingly never-ending quest to have a family. It seems that once we overcome one hurdle another is right there to try us again. It almost is laughable at how hard this whole process has been, and to think when we first got married we decided to wait a while before having a family, what were we thinking! Anywho I don't want to turn this post into a 'woe is us post', so I'll stop complaining and tell you all about how the week got better and about the fun we ended up having.
So like i mention we had a setback on Wednesday and we decided that we needed a break from work and everything so we booked a trip to San Fransisco - leaving the very next day. It was most exciting and we actually got quite a good deal booking last minute. So we booked our trip on Wednesday night at about 9pm and then left on Thursday at 1.30pm- fun stuff! We had a great time and really got a chance to spend some nice relaxing time together. There were only two downsides to the trip - 1 - was that i had a longstanding dentist appointment on Thursday morning that i needed to go to, so i spent the whole journey to San Fransisco with a numb face and - 2 - missing Georgie (who went to stay with Anna' parents), she really is very missable. Other that that we had a great time and i am going to write some more posts and share some of our experiences and pictures with you all.
This year Anna and I decided that we were going to make homemade Valentines Day gifts and I decided that I would post the wonderful results on our blog. Normally we just buy gifts, but this year it would be fun to make things ourselves and be all crafty, which took some imagination from both of us but I think that the results were pretty awesome! So I also have to mention that I decided to be a little mean and make a fake and ugly gift to give to Anna, and then see what her reaction would be and let me tell you - it was most entertaining. The picture below was my fake gift and I ask you - could it be uglier!
I guess it shows how much Anna loves me as she was very gracious in her response and told me how much she loved it and thought it was really nice. So after about 30 seconds of Anna trying to be positive about the ugliyness with which I had presented her, I decided to give her the real gifts - one is the 'HOME' sign (above) and the other is the little framed thing below (which from the picture it seems that Georgie wanted to get some Valentines kisses in too). The only problem with this little trick was that now I don't know if Anna actually does like what I made as she is so good a faking! Oh well - that'll teach me!
Anna also gave me a lovely gift - which you can see below. I love what she made for me, especially as I know how long it took her to make. It is so cute and now has pride of place on my nightstand.
All in all I had a wonderful Valentines day, as not only did we exchange gifts but Anna also took me out for dinner (it was her year - we switch off planning). We went to the same restaurant where we had our wedding dinner and then came home and ate tonnes of treats and watched a movie - what could be better! I had the best Valentines Day and that's because I have Anna - the sweetest, cutest, loveliest, funnest, most beautiful Valentine ever! And just to prove it - here is a really cute picture of my two girls.
So I thought that I would post some local media stories about the program that I work on. The program is called the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) initiative and this is such a busy time of year for me. There are over 50 places statewide that low/moderate income households ($40,000 or less) can go and file there taxes for free with an certified IRS certified volunteer. Anywho it's very exciting and a little busy right now so I will leave you to enjoy the stories linked below:http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2652952http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=2583193Don't read the comments on this one - people are crazy!http://www.sltrib.com//ci_8209059?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.comThis one even mentions me by name - fancy!
