Long, Strange Trip: San Francisco Continued

Dad

7/29

Waking up in San Francisco was a slow process for everyone but Finn and I. This was Finn’s big day. Most are aware that Finn broke his hand just prior to the start of our trek, requiring surgery and the insertion of two pins to fix the bone in place. There has been no (virtually) swimming for Finn. But, this morning Finn has an appointment with local Dr. Gary Solomon to (hopefully) remove the cast and pins and replace with a removable splint and this is just what he does. Finn and I returned to the hotel after the appointment to begin exploring the parts of San Fran that we didn’t enjoy yesterday. We started by visiting the original and legendary Boudin Bakery next to Fisherman’s Wharf for breakfast. We proceeded to the pier to take in the sea lions lounging around on the floating docks. The rest of the morning consisted of a hike up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower and a stroll through China Town, the highlight of which were $4 t-shirts souvenirs, pre-release pokemon cards and exotic fruit such as dragon fruit. We had extended our check out time to 1pm and hurried back to the hotel for checkout. Once checked out, we drove down the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building Market Place. Parking was a hassle but we found a spot next to what turned out to be a great place to enjoy a picnic lunch. The food we had purchased at the market hit the spot, a seared salmon sandwich, an assortment of cheese from Cowgirl Creamery and bread from the Acme Bread Company. Once sated, we began our drive out of the city to Yosemite National Park. The 3.5 hour drive had us at our campsite within the park around 6:30pm. The drive into Yosemite was spectacular, with many cliffs and valleys that gave hint to the rest of the marvels within the park. This is the first national park that is new to Carol and I and though I balked initially at including this destination on our trip, it seems that perhaps it may be worthwhile. We had enough time to set up camp and then head out for our first hike, a trek down into the valley to lay eyes on several giant Sequoias. As was the case with the redwoods, their epic size made them appear unreal, more a set piece than an actual living tree. We returned to the campsite after our walk and turned in for the evening.

Silas

Boudin Bakery was exquisite, I had always wanted to eat food out of a Bread bowl and I finally managed to check that off my bucket list with a delicious bacon and pepper egg scramble. I had been very persistent the whole morning about returning to Pier 39, much to my mother’s distress, for the bakery. I didn’t realize it was Boudin as well and it was more crowded than the flagship restaurant. My other favorite part of this San Fransisco trip was the Sea Lions. The large marine mammals were very interesting and I would have had no qualms about watching them for hours. We could easily identify a bully in the pack, herd, flock? This bully would growl and fight with many of the others. It seemed they would play king of the dock and it was very amusing to bet on and watch who would fall off the dock first and have to relocate. I also enjoyed the shopping in china town where the merchandise was very inexpensive but I am still unsure of the quality. Still, two T-shirts for $8 are too good of a deal to pass up.