Monday

Today was our last day in San Francisco. So much to see, so much rain the last few days, and so little time! To start our day we bought ferry tickets to get to Sausalito and then decided we'd somehow figure out how to get to Muir Woods. We bought our tickets and then had about a 30 minute wait so we decided to go check out the sea lions. Sea lions are crazy creatures. Barking, fighting, jumping into and out of the water and sun bathing.

On the ferry to Sausalito we had another view of the Golden (orange/red) Gate Bridge. So, like every tourist, we took another picture because 400 pictures of it wasn't enough but 401 was perfect. The sun was shining so it felt much warmer but the wind on the ferry was still a bit chilly.

We made it to Sausalito and stopped at the visitor kiosk to ask how to get to Muir Woods. We were told that she wasn't really sure but we should turn left to see a great view of the city (rolls eyes) and to check at some harbor place. So, we thought about checking out the "great view" and then figured we'd had enough "great views" for the trip and went to the harbor place. Good thing we did because a shuttle was just leaving for Muir Woods and it was only $18/person (versus about $70 for a tour). We hopped on the shuttle, driven by a pretty cool guy. After some interrogation, and paraphrasing, he's basically "living the dream" and spends his time doing crazy stuff like hang gliding, surfing, kite boarding, mountain biking, etc. Anyway, we were headed to Muir Woods and the picture is of Kelsey standing next to one of the giant redwood trees. Really cool place to go! Probably my favorite of the entire trip.

Notice how excited I am after seeing all of the giant redwoods and sequoias. Either that or it might have been when Kelsey said, "this is our last day in San Francisco" and it could be my "NO! NOT BACK TO FARGO!" face.

This is one of those huge redwoods. The picture does it little to no justice. In person they are GIGANTIC. I would have brought a specimen home but they confiscated my ax and saw at the entrance. Hopefully the wealthiest 1% in America finds a way to buy Muir Woods and sell the wood to help the economy. As beautiful as the park was I couldn't help but feel socialist, communist, and anti-American enjoying the trees as a piece of nature rather than enjoying them as a patio, porch, deck, or supporting the sheet rock in a brand new home.

If all goes as planned, we will be back in Fargo tomorrow. I would say, "hopefully we bring the 50's and 60's with us" but that would most likely put the city under water. So I at least hope we bring some almond butter and sourdough bread with us.

Sunday

Today we found ourselves venturing to the opposite side of San Francisco. Specifically, to Golden Gate Park. After taking the bus to the entrance of the park, we walked until we found the conservatory. As my friend Dustin stated while eating last night, the park is way bigger than you'd think it is. We did quite a bit of walking today. The picture is from the conservatory and was, if we remember correctly, a "double coconut." I'll leave it at that and move on to the next picture.

The flowers on the slope in front of the conservatory spelled out "San Francisco Recreation & Parks." Everything was green there! And smelled like living things!

The conservatory had a couple of different sections of different types of plants. This is a picture of some of the aquatic plants they had. There were also turtles in the pond, fish, and some really cool plants!

After the Conservatory we made our way to the Japanese tea garden. Everyone ahead of us had to answer a riddle to pass but I massaged the thorn in his paw and he let us go without any of the riddle nonsense. This was in front of the art museum while on the way to the garden.

Beautiful! The Japanese garden was really neat. We jumped into a free guided tour and the guide explained a lot of the design and architecture of the garden to us. When someone explains the choices of plants, rocks, etc. it really makes you appreciate the amount of work that goes into creating this type of garden. It was also interesting that the garden was started around 100 years ago by a Japanese immigrant but he and his family were put into internment camps during WWII.

Pretty flowers at the entrance of the park! We jumped into the tour group so we actually looked at the first section of the garden last due to missing out on that portion with the group.

After the Japanese garden we made our way to the Academy of Science. Inside they had exhibits about climate change, evolution, swamps with swamp animals, aquariums, a planetarium, and a man made rain forest with all kinds of different creatures. The rain forest actually had butterflies and birds flying around. No nets or screens or anything. They would fly right past you. Really cool! This is a picture of two sting rays in one of the "pools." They were in training for the Olympics. Michael Phelps will finally have some competition. Even if they aren't fast they can stab him with the stinger thingy and win the cheap way.

This was part of the rain forest portion. It spiraled up about 3 stories from the ground level "swampiness" all the way to the canopy. Really pretty neat!

This was from the underwater aquarium portion. Similar to the aquarium we went to a couple of days ago in Fisherman's Wharf but I thought this one was more "sciencey." The other one seemed more "touristy." Just my opinion. This picture shows Kelsey making a new friend. Oh, I should clarify that Kelsey is on the left.

Saturday in San Francisco

Our Saturday started out by perusing the local farmer's market. These are some fungi Kelsey took a picture of (aka mushrooms).

The market was rather large with both an indoor and outdoor section. Here I am looking at the containers of dried fruit. Mmm, we bought some and it was delicious! Items purchased by Kelsey... dried fruit, almond butter, Asian pear, lemon. Items purchased by Josh... lemon pepper lamb sausage. Kelsey wins! Oh, and I gave a dollar to the guy playing the tenor saxophone on the street.

Next we took the bus and transit system to the Palace of Fine Arts. The San Francisco Exploratorium is located in this area. The Exploratorium had hands on science exhibits on electricity, magnetism, light/vision, genetics/biology, sound, psychology, etc. Kelsey beat me at the reaction time game but was less than stellar at the "when am I lying" game. Maybe that's a good thing???

Our next journey took us from the Exploratorium back to the Wharf area. We used our one hour cruise tickets to journey under the Golden Gate Bridge, near the Bay Bridge, and past Alcatraz. This is a picture of the Skyline of San Francisco taken from the boat. Near the Golden Gate Bridge there were numerous kiters and windsurfers. Bryce, did you hear that? Kiting the Golden Gate should be next on your list.

This is the Golden Gate Bridge. It's orangish/red. VERY disappointing. We also found out the Bay Bridge is bigger. Golden Gate, more like the Misnomer Bridge! Psh! Actually, it was really neat and definitely an architectural masterpiece.

That's Kelsey on the left. She had her hood up. That's me on the right. I took my hood down for the picture because I have way more class. Notice I left my hat on and, therefore, you can't tell I'm going bald.

Our dream island is pictured above. Also know as "The Rock" or "Alcatraz". Ooooh, exciting! Hopefully we have time to take the Alcatraz Tour but if not at least we saw it! Kind of scary looking from the outside. The likes of "Machine Gun Kelly" and "Al Scarface Capone" spent many of their days on "The Rock."

And, to finish our post for Saturday, the Sea Lions on the way back from the cruise can be seen basking in the sun of the afternoon. Kelsey seemed embarrassed when I was trying to communicate with them. They were saying, "Hi!" with their, "Baarck! Baarck!" grunt/barks so I said, "Hi!" back. I guess it's embarrassing to be near someone being polite to sea lions.

San Francisco

Yesterday we made a long trek through various parts of Fisherman's Wharf in the pouring rain. Rain gear didn't do much to stop the water draining down our necks.

After drying out and making our way through the San Francisco Aquarium we ate at the Boudin Bakery (best sourdough bread ever!) We continue to devour the 1 pound loaf of sourdough bread and peach jam we bought. DELICIOUS! Today we made a trek through other portions of Fisherman's Wharf and then caught the trolley to China Town.

We walked through much of China town and Kelsey eventually bought a couple of interesting items. After making an executive decision to eat at a restaurant that was in a basement (if it's not out in the open and it's still in business it has to be good, right?), that had great food by the way, Kelsey bought some jade earrings and a jade bracelet. It was funny how much the lady wanted to sell the items. Kelsey, being the indecisive type, was doing the, "well...hmmm..." and the lady kept giving cheaper and cheaper numbers. It's not that Kelsey was driving a hard bargain she just can't make a decision :-) The same thing happened with a tea pot and cups Kelsey decided to buy. Being the fly on the wall it was rather entertaining. (Because Josh was no help at telling me what looked nice) The picture below is of the most crooked street! It was very steep and wove back and forth.

After getting back, we went to the entrance of our hotel for the "complimentary wine tasting" and eventually made it to the attached restaurant. While sitting at the bar eating our Bruschetta we met a few people visiting from Ireland. We had some interesting conversation. Now we are updating the blog and realizing it's after 9pm Central Time. Tired!

Cannon Beach...Last Full Day

On our last full day in Cannon Beach we drove to Seaside (about 8 miles up the road) and went to Ecola State Park. In Seaside we walked along the "boardwalk" and on the beach, and looked at some stores in their downtown. At Ecola State Park we walked down to Indian Beach and through the tide pools. We saw numerous star fish and anemones. Indian Beach is also a big surfer hangout so we saw a few people surfing as well! Even with a wet suit I couldn't imagine being in the water that long. One guy had a suit with a hood. That would've been mine! Walking through the water made your feet go numb! We ate at the same restaurant (Warren's Pub) and Kelsey got her favorite Manhattan Clam Chowder. It rained most of the rest of th evening and night so we stayed in and watched TV.

Cannon Beach Day Two

Today we had a busy day! We got up early and went to downtown Cannon Beach to look at the shops for a couple of hours. Then we rented fun cycles and fun cycled all over the beach for the next couple of hours. Break for lunch, then to the tide pools to look at the ocean creatures!

Kelsey on her fun cycle

Me on my fun cycle

A sea creature. Also known as anemone.

Some type of crab thing. I'm pretty sure it's a transformer but the government won't let them get large enough to take over the planet. They go from looking like a shell to walking and crabbing. Definitely a transformer and if someone hasn't started a conspiracy website they need to.

Pelicans up close.

The beautiful sunset and Haystack Rock in the background (farthest right).

Bend to Cannon Beach

Today we made the trek to Cannon Beach. It was raining most of the way but it was a very pretty drive! Our hotel is AWESOME! We have a balcony on the 3rd floor and it faces the ocean. Probably the coolest place we've ever stayed!

This was a picture of a forest that had a giant forest fire a few years ago. Many of the trees completely burned leaving the forest very bare.

This was a lake on the way to Cannon Beach. It was a great place to stop and reflect for a few minutes...

The beach right outside our hotel. Haystack rock in the background!

Our balcony is on the top. AWESOME view!

Bend

Today we drove to a festival titled "Balloons Over Bend." The problem was we overslept the balloon portion. We did walk around through the various tents and exhibits and Kelsey found a couple of good things to buy. She bought a t-shirt (botany themed, of course) and a bunch of locally grown strawberries. I'm pretty sure you could eat a 5 gallon bucket filled with the strawberries. They are SO good! After that we went canoeing and also walked downtown to see what stores they had.

The bridge to the vendor tents for "Balloons Over Bend"

The beard and mustache competitors walking down the street. Some REALLY good beards and mustaches. We thought Bryce should grow his creeper 'stache again and enter. Pretty sure he'd win.

Canoeing down the Deschutes River. We started going upstream. That was a STRONG current! It was nice floating all the way back.

The canoeist at the front takes orders from the canoeist in the back.

Kelsey finally got her fresh strawberries. They melt in your mouth!

Bend Oregon

This morning we woke up and had a buffet breakfast at our hotel. Mmm, delicious! Then we drove to Newberry National Volcanic Monument (aka Lava Lands) and drove to the top of a cinder cone volcano that last erupted a few thousand years ago and took a hike around the rim (with a North Dakota like wind!). After that we drove a couple more miles and hiked through a lava tube. A lava tube is a cooled lava river that's hollow. Basically like you're walking through a giant culvert underground. After a hike through a lava tube that was more than 2 miles roundtrip, we went on another hike to see a waterfall...it was more like a series of large rapids but still worth the hike. Then a little leftover pizza, a Trader Joe's trip for "snacks" (Kelsey's favorite...Trader Joe's and snacks), and a quick trip to use our free range balls on the driving range of the course adjacent to our hotel.

I took a picture of Kelsey with Park Ranger Josh. He was a charming man with beautiful hazel eyes. Kelsey begged to have a picture taken with him. She said, "that's the hottest Park Ranger I've ever seen!" It was taken on top of the old volcano.

Ice in the entrance of the lava tube. They used to "harvest ice" from the tubes and butcher things in them because it's like a natural refrigerator. They also said mammals (bears included) sometimes use the tubes to hide out. You know, to get away from the cops after they commit a crime. When we entered Yogi was hiding from the Park Ranger because he had stolen some "pic-a-nic baskets." He was worried that at this point of his life he'd stolen enough "pic-a-nic baskets" to change it from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Me with a lantern ducking under the low ceiling of the lava tube. Without the lantern there was no chance of seeing. Pure darkness.

The water fall/big rapids we hiked to see.

Some tree hugger we saw on the way back. I plan on gaining weight and making clothes out of bark so Kelsey loves me as much as that pine tree. There were some humongous trees that I couldn't imagine ever being cut down...unless I was the one making millions from cutting them down. I'd rate the tree 8/10 and the tree hugger 10/10.