to San Francisco, CA

We woke up to the continued terrible news from the earthquake in Japan. Just shocking watching the videos. We also saw warnings for the Pacific coast and parts of our planned route would be closed but we continued northward. I tell you driving PCH 1 and 101 were both just unbelievable as far as the views . . . still shocked at how beautiful it is in California. The most fascinating thing to me was seeing the artichoke farms . . . they were amazing and well the prices were so cheap too; 10 for $1 . . . in Texas one cost about $2! Anyway, we planned to detour from the 101 and head to the Monterey and Santa Cruz area to just check it out. It was the plan to eat on the water in one of the two towns . . . we decided on Santa Cruz and well that is the town that was suppose to be hit the hardest from the tsunami surge so when we arrived the road to the water was closed so we found a neat burger place called Betty Burger; it was tasty! Colin was having a moment and just tired of the car so he was in such an outstanding mood during lunch. We got back on the road to SF! I was enjoying the scenery but was just ready to be there and start checking things off my 'to see list'.

We finally arrived and one of the 'landmarks' was within my view . . .

The weather was just gorgeous beyond belief! Colin really enjoyed getting a close up view and it only cost me a quarter!


We saw Alcatraz Island in the distance and tomorrow will see it up close . . . if you plan on visiting be sure to buy your tickets as far in advance as possible. I bought ours about 3 weeks before and when we arrived they were sold out; so plan ahead!

We snapped our photos and headed down the street to the Presido area . . . you could so tell it used to be a military post and I can't imagine living with those views! On our way to the hotel we drove down one of the crookedest (Is that a word?) street in SF . . . pretty neat but I would so hate to live there since so many tourist were driving and walking down. I loved our hotel . . . it had to be the most kid friendly and pet friendly (not that I used that feature) hotel I have ever stayed. It was part of the Kimpton family and called The Argonaut Hotel. I found a very good deal so went with it . . .

I loved the color scheme in the room and that star pillow sent me over the top! Colin loved the overly energetic doormen (sort of annoying to me) and the fact he got to get a 'prize' out of the treasure box each day . . . I enjoyed the free wine hour nightly too, LOL.

We put down our bags and headed downstairs; can't miss our first free wine tasting . . . we grabbed a glass and Colin had cider which he drank quickly. We strolled along the Fisherman's Wharf area enjoying the cool night breeze and ended up checking out these critters . . .

. . . Colin loved watching them and I can't imagine how many are there during the summer months. They were fun to watch . . . there was one that was swimming around the pier but would come up and pester those trying to sleep. We found a restaurant that served crab legs and had dinner . . . tomorrow is the marathon tour of SF so we need some rest!