San Francisco at Night...

The sun went down shortly after dinner, giving us more photo ops.

We had intended to take public transport back to the train station, but instead we decided to walk the entire way along the Embarcadero, which meant we walked past the light show on the Bay Bridge.

In total, we walked over 11 miles in the city and then another 1.25 miles from the train station back to my parent’s house. Lots of miles and lots of fun!

Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf...

We wandered through Ghiradelli Square and Fisherman’s Wharf, where we visited the Musée Mécanique, which houses one of the world’s largest privately-owned collection of 20th century mechanically operated musical instruments and antique arcade machines.

Then we headed to Pier 39 to see the sea lions. According to the history on the Sea Lion Center’s website, the sea lions didn’t appear regularly at Pier 39 until after the big earthquake of October 1989.

It was fun watching the sea lions crawling over each other.

We had dinner at Boudin’s, maker of the best sourdough bread in the world. Veronica enjoyed her sourdough tacos...

...and I enjoyed my standard clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.

Cool Views...

Veronica had hoped we could walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, but between the fog and wind it didn’t make sense to go the distance. Instead, we walked to the horseshoe-shaped Aquatic Park Pier in front of Ghiradelli Square. This municipal pier has clearly seen better days.

Despite the crumbling walls, it had incredible views in every direction.

Haven’t seen the results yet, but Veronica chose a unique vantage point to photograph Alcatraz Island.

The Crookedest Street....

We made our way to Lombard Street. Built in 1922, the crookedest street in the world has eight hairpin turns within just 600 feet intended to reduce the hill’s 27% grade. We both enjoyed the chance to walk up the stairs alongside the street, a first for both of us.

There were incredible views across to Coit Tower, built in 1933 as a memorial (it only coincidentally looks like a fire hose as it is not a memorial to firefighters).

Selfie at the Top of Lombard Street

Off to San Francisco...

The next morning, Mike dropped us off at the train station so we could catch a train to San Francisco. We walked to Union Square where we met up with Shellie, an American who will be doing her advanced diving certification and then a four-week marine conservation volunteer program along with Veronica in Mozambique this summer. Although she looked just 24, she’ll be 40 by the time they meet again on the same flight to Africa in late June. It was great getting to meet her over a yummy Indian lunch.

After lunch, we walked through Union Square through an art fair. It’s no surprise that the city would choose hearts for an annual fundraising effort.

This one especially evoked the famous song I Left My Heart in San Francisco.

While we originally had thought we’d take the cable car across the city, we decided to walk after seeing the long lines. On the way to Chinatown, we popped into a cool art gallery that had these koi painted on the sidewalk outside.

Hummingbirds and Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches...

It’s always cool to see the hummingbirds right outside my parent’s kitchen window. Luckily Veronica was around to take some photos.

My dad proudly wore his new UEA baseball cap. 

Although we were offered the car, Veronica and I opted to walk the 11 miles to Leigh and Mike’s for dinner and a sleepover.

We stuck to back roads other than stopping on University Avenue in Palo Alto at Cream for vegan ice cream sandwiches (my parents actually took the news very well about Ashlynn going vegan). Leigh made us a delicious dinner, we went in the hot tub and we watched a movie. Fun night!

Half Moon Bay...

On March 15, Veronica and I met up at San Francisco Airport to begin our first family trip to California in nearly five years; because of her school schedule, Jimmy and Ashlynn weren’t able to join us until March 24. Dad picked us up in his swank Tesla, which Veronica had been in before, but I hadn’t.

We did lots of relaxing, shopping and eating. We also did a little sightseeing such as the day that we went to Half Moon Bay for lunch.

After lunch, we walked over to the pier to look for seals; we only spotted two in the water. As usual, Veronica really got into taking some photos...

 ...and being in some photos.

The scenery was lovely and the weather was perfect.