San Francisco, Ca
September 8-12
(Author: Susan)

San Francisco Treat
We packed our bags and headed to San Francisco.We reserved a room at a small hotel on Hayes and Gough (pronounced Gof) called the Haye's Valley Inn.For being in such a good location, it was a pretty good deal.We had to share the shower and toilets with the other guests, but it was never a problem.Libby drove us their in the jeep to drop us off.She took us to lunch when we got there and then we said our goodbyes to Grammer.It was a teary goodbye even after 11 days on the road with each other. She and Dale were so good to us on the road trip.It was a great way to ease our way out of the country.That evening we went over to Leslie and Jim's and had dinner.It was good to see them and Leslie made dinner at their apartment which is located in the Mission district.We had a great time and the kids taught Leslie how to play a card game called "Speed" that they have been playing ever since their cousin Eli Cate taught them when she and our nephew Rory were in Texas this summerTuesday, Sept 9th , I decided to go for a little jog in the city.I figured that the streets were all pretty straight and all I had to do was make a big square to get back to the hotel.Well, I was wrong.I got so lost and veered off track to the point I was getting close to the water, which was not near our hotel.I had a walkie talkie, but they obviously didn't work well in the city, so I couldn't contact Brent, I had no money, i.d. or phone.I walked up and down some very steep hills and my 20 min jog turned into an hour and a half seek and find.I did decide to go into a donut shop for directions, but that didn't work out too well.I walked in and saw an Asian lady at the counter.I politely asked her where Gough street was and she responded with "what size coffee you want?" I decided to speak more clearly and slowly and said that I needed directions, to which she responded "Oh, we don't have any".I hoped this wasn't an omen for things to come in our travels abroad.If I can't get lost and ask for directions in the good ole USA, then how in the world (literally) would I make it in foreign countries.Well, I finally found my way back and was never so glad to see my little family.That afternoon Leslie and our gang drove to Marin County and walked around Muir Woods.The kids had fallen asleep in the car and were none too happy to be rousted out of their sleep to see some trees.I was excited to see the trees since just days earlier we were able to see the Sierra redwoods and now we got to look at the coastal redwoods, the tallest living things on earth.After that short tour, thanks to cranky kids, we headed for Yvette and Anders house in Mill Valley.Yvette and Anders have two kids, Alexander and Annelise.Alexander and Sam are the same age, so they started playing right away.Annelise is four, so quite a bit younger than Emma, but she and Emma soon started playing and Emma was reading to her after a while. It was very sweet.We had a great dinner and visit and then headed back to the city with Leslie Wednesday, September 10th,Brent and I took the kids and met Yvette and Alexander at SBC Park to watch the Giants play baseball.It was a nice day and Brent and Sam hung out with Alexander and Yvette after the game while Emma and I went to get our hair cut.We met Jim and Leslie at this restaurant near our hotel called Flippers and ate dinner that evening. Thursday, September 11th we made it to the SFMOMA to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit.Sam wasn't so interested. Emma enjoyed matching the paintings shown in the brochure to the actual paintings hanging on the wall.She enjoyed learning the meaning behind Frida's symbolic figures.It was a great exhibit.We found a sitter Thursday night, our last night before we left the states.We met Carl and Shelley, friends that recently moved to the Berkley area from Austin.Carl, Shelley, Leslie, Jim and Brent and I went to dinner at Little Star Pizzeria, it was some of the best pizza we have ever eaten.Then we went out to hear a friend of Jim's play in a band.He plays the clarinet and is part of this "Hornacopia" festival going on in San Francisco. We came home to find our children asleep safe and sound.Friday, September 12th we checked out of our hotel, went to Leslie's, washed clothes and packed for the real thing.We managed to get everything packed up and shed a few things that we left at Leslie and Jims apartment.We didn't have time to mail it before we left, so I found an empty ice chest and hid it in there so it wouldn't be in their way. We made it through check in and got to our plane in plenty of time.Shocking!