Slowing down to Catch Up!

Well, it has been several days since my last post.  The reason is we have had to make an unexpected drive back to Oklahoma after taking 6 days to get to San Francisco due to a death in the family of a very dear friend.  

The good thing is before we got the message that this wonderful lady had passed away, I was able to have a long overdue 2 day reunion with my brother who lives in California.  My brother is 11 (or 12) years older than me and left for the Air force when I was very young; perhaps 5 or 6.  I never saw him again until the death of our father in 1976.  I was 17 and he was close to 30.

I didn't recognize him and never had the opportunity to speak to him as he left so suddenly afterward.  So, to be able to reconnect with him after 43 years of a gap was like being in a movie....:-).  We had it set to meet the day before the Super Bowl for lunch.  This is our first look at each other after so many years.....:-).  And the beautiful lady beside him is his wife Susan....:-).  Scootard had the task of capturing as many pictures as he could....:-)

yay!!  We meet again.....:-)  After such a long time....

And I met my niece for the first time.  She is almost an adult and we are just laying eyes on each other for the first time.....:-).  Very cool indeed.

After a few moments of....well, taking in the moments...ha...we headed for lunch.

Scootard and I had never been to this place, but it didn't take long before we connected the name with the place!

I mean how often is a person greeted by safari creatures when they go out to eat?  Cool-eh?

We ordered our food and then made plans to meet again the next day and watch the super bowl together.

 
Needless to say that I didn't sleep that well that night with everything whirling around in my head.  The morning came quickly, but for some reason it seems we got a late start.

Since I was too excited to really think of anything else, Scootard and I decided to make our way to the second largest flea market in the US which is located in San Jose, California to pass some time before the big reunion.

We thought tennis shoes were probably our best bet if we were going to make a whirlwind trip around the market before the reunion....

And as flea markets go, there was something for everyone.....

I tried my best to get a snap shot of this instruments without the people in my shot, but I waited, and waited and waited and although I was standing there poised with my camera, I could not get the shot without these people in it......oh well....:-(.

I'm not sure of what these were.  Everything there had a Hispanic "flare" to it.  Pinatas maybe??

And there were these stove like thingees that could have made a cool outdoor grill depending on what you wanted to cook.

The plan was to meet at my brother's house and then go over to some friends to watch the game.  We didn't have much to eat that morning and decided that we had better grab a little something before heading over there.....

on the way out, we saw that they even had a rock climbing wall set up!  Who does that at a flea market?? haha  Wow!

Farewell, sweet fleas!

  
One of the things that I learned about my brother was that he is a professional race car driver.....:-).  And he even let me sit in his "baby" who was parked  and covered.

Scootard got a chance to sit in it as well......:-).  Although, I don't know how he managed with his long legs.....

It was a tight fit for me, but not because I'm tall!  haha

I saw all of these stickers under the hood and remembered that "Ms Vickey" (my scooter), still didn't have a sticker to cover her "sore" from the tie down straps rubbing against her paint job.......

It was Sunday and time to head over to a friend's house to watch the game...

There was a lot of food being prepared in the kitchen and we didn't want to be in the way.  Scootard and I decided to give ourselves a sort of tour of our new friends backyard.  She was growing a Meyer Lemon tree.  At first glance they look just like oranges.......

 

This is what happens when you bite one!  hahaha......I DID NOT follow suit........for obviously reasons.

Scootard decided that the next thing he would eat should be a cupcake instead! haha.  The cupcake had a football ring sitting on it which Scootard took the opportunity to use as a proposal of marriage to me again......ahhhhhh...:-).  Well, I figured since we were already "hitched", I might as well say yes...again.

I am not a sports person, but enjoy watching other people get their knickers in a twist over their respective teams.  My brother and his friends are 49ers fans.  Needless to say, it was quite "intense" in the room....haha.  I kept telling them to root for whoever was winning.  That way, you can't lose!

 It was a good day and I am glad we had that weekend to spend with my family.  Because the very next day at noon, we were unexpectedly on the road headed back to Oklahoma. We hope to see them once again on our way back to Canada when we leave.

Big City Adventure- San Francisco! Day 6

A few years ago, I downloaded a "hidden objects" game that required you to find objects in a list that were strategically placed in the screen shot showing at the time on your computer.  One game that I particularly enjoyed is called Big City Adventure San Francisco.  They also have Australia, New York, and a couple of others.  I played the game so much that I knew where just about EVERYTHING was and decided that one day I was going to visit all of the places that were featured in the game.  My blog today will be pictures of those places!  We finally made it here....:-).

Of course we had breakfast before starting our day.  We were both tired, but determined to get on with it.  Scootard was tired and still half sleep from all of the driving....poor thing..

We got done and drove over to the train station where we purchased a one day pass of some sort and also paid for the stall where we left the car for the day.  We were told that the Sheriff's department was in charge of the parking in that lot and that you had to call in the number of the stall when we purchased the ticket.  I mean when you purchased the ticket, you had to punch in the number of your stall.  They come around and check it later...

It was really a small building with kiosk in them that we went to for the tickets.  No people there to service you.

it reminded me of Europe.....

And when we got there to the kiosk, I thought our stall had one number and Scootard was sure it was another!  Not good...ha.  Soooo, he made the trek back to the car stall to get the right number and made the trek back to the station....

you see that lonnnnngggggg yellow strip?  See the little blue dot to the right of that on what looks like a little house with a roof?  Well, THAT'S where we were SUPPOSED TO BE!  The train was coming and we were on the wrong side of the tracks!  We had to make a run for it....haha.  OMG! Not the high light of our day, trust me.

This is me AFTER the marathon run.....trying to catch my breath!  I shouldn't have eaten all those Vanilla waffers.....:-(.

the train had two levels.  There was also a compartment for bikes which was down stairs.

But guess who wanted to go UPSTAIRS??  ........do you see the size of that space.??  I needed a jar of lard to get through there!  But I made it......

We finally got settled and started our travelogue.  I think Scootard missed a snap shot he wanted to take....ha

this is me with my "wind" back.....hhahaha.  I will live afterall!  haha

This hillside said "San Francisco Industrial Park".  I was trying to catch it before it got past me.....

this is the Brisbane Lagoon......

Scootard taking in new and wonderful scenes....:-).

Our trip took about an hour by train and when we finally got there, we were ready to see whatever we could in one day. this is the train station..

And this is where we were let off at.  It's very busy down there and a lot of stuff to see.

But first, since there aren't any bathrooms on the train, we ran into this coffee shop right across the street and decided to make use of it....

Then we had to walk a block or so and go into the Walgreens drug store to by a 3 day pass with something called a "clipper" on it.  This kind gentleman's name was "Jonnie"...  He explained everything to us about how the different passes worked, what they cost and even the transfer and where to catch different buses.  He is holding one of our "Muni" passes to pose for the pic....:-).  Thanks for all of your help, Jonnie!

I bought this before we left the store since we were getting ready to do some walking....

This is a "duck".  They have these in Seattle and they are amphibious vehicles that drive on dry land and can drive right into the water and float just like a boat....:-).  Very cool.  We rode one in Seattle before.

We used our Muni Passes and rode the bus for several blocks until we arrived at what seemed to be the most expensive zip code to shop in. You take your card and lay it against the scanner and ...bingo...your good to go!...:-)

I guess every major city has its scavengers.....:-).

Do you remember this name; "Hearst"?  Patti Hearst, born in 1954 was the granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst.  She served a prison sentence of two years for joining the Symbionese Liberation Army and was granted a pardon by President Bill Clinton as his last official act in office.  If you Google her name, you can read the whole history of her crime.  When being booked into jail she listed herself as an "urban guerrilla.
 

and here is some information about her grandfather.....

Here is a look down the street at

This "Lotta" was a fountain and also a place where people gathered during the great San Francisco fire.

We started coming upon some of the "bigger" name brand stores where people with "bigger" money shop....:-).

See what I mean.....:-)

You can't see it, but the sign on the building says Neiman Marcus...

Even the dogs were "bigger"!.....hahaha

and directly across the street was one of the stops in our game called Union Square.  We sat there for a while and made some friends before setting out on foot.  Scootard is excited about going up those stairs....I was still traumatized from squeezing up the stairs on that train!

After making it up the stairs, I decided I needed to take a few shots of the area.  So, here the are.....

It puts you in the mind of Central Park or some other place where people sit around on their breaks from work to soak up the sun or read a book...

And this is a picture of the inscription that was on monument in the center of Union Square...

Scootard has some mini wheats in his pocket and decided to share some with our new friends....:-)

who is that lovely couple???......:-)  They seem to be having the time of their lives...haha

Another place we wanted to visit was the cable cars.  This is one of them and we had to go to Powell street to be able to actually ride one.......YAY!!  We were on our way.....:-).

TADA!!

at the far end of the street was the "turn table" that they use to turn the cable cars around so that they can head back in the other direction...

You wouldn't think this thing would be able to make a turn since it's in the middle of the turn table, right?

Well, they unlock this thingee on the ground and they turn it...by hand!  Can you believe that??


                                 

This is used cable that once pulled a car.  They use this now for a barrier to keep people from walking out into the track path and getting hurt.  We waited on the far side of it waiting for our car to come and take us to the Fisherman Wharf's area of town....

and while we waited, this guy was playing a tune on the harmonic.  He got aggravated with me because I took his picture and didn't put money in his jar....So, Scootard did.

 

I looked across the street and saw a building named after us!  whoo hooo!!

and here comes our car.....:-).

the streets are soooo steep there that I don't know why anyone would want to walk on them.  If you look closely, you can see some of the different levels of the road going up the hill......

So, there we were riding cable cars for the first...well, for me it was a first, but not for Scootard....

(not to be confused with "trolleys", either).

because you are allowed to ride standing on the step outside of the main car, it was difficult for me to get the pictures I wanted.  I had a couple of folks standing right in front of me and they greatly obstructed my view....:-(.  But here are a few shots of some historical homes....

hey, I could do this for a month or two.....:-)

We were just about at the top of the hill.  In the back of these buildings is Alcatraz Island.  Last home of Chicago mobster, Alfonzo Capone.  It is no longer in use and is only used for tourism.

 and we are at the next destination.......All of the cars stopped here and were ready to go back in the opposite direction.

yeah, that's me alright.....:-)

Scootard is happy......:-).

We walked over to the beach and the view was quite striking......:-).  I love being near the water....:-)

Ghirardelli Square was directly across the street from us......:-).  Sounds like chocolate to me!

it was very nicely layed out and had flower boxes and all kinds of things to make it beautiful in view....:-).

here is one angle from just outside of the square.....

here is one from just inside the square....

as beautiful as it was, the temperature was starting to drop and I don't do well in the cold....:-(.  So, I was thrilled when I saw this!  yay....:-).  We sat here for a while and then decided to find somewhere to eat dinner.

Scootard came across this penny bender machine thingee and wanted to get a penny squished.  It cost 51cents to get a penny squished!  Talk about inflation.....!

we kept walking and hit about 4 art galleries along the way that were just fantastic.  One gallery told us that the artist had sold some of his paintings for as much as 16,000,000.  I politely replied; "oh, we won't be doing that today"....hahaha

 

then we came across our place to eat dinner.  It's in the far right hand side of the screen.  I was really trying to get a shot of the historic homes when we spotted the place...

Somebody is VERY happy to be having Sushi for dinner....:-).

this looks like a street shot, but it is actually the inside of the resturant.....

and here is dinner for the evening.....:-).  Spicy tuna and some other kinda of roll.  And I actually used chop stix!  I usually starve trying to use those things.  Then when I realized I was doing it right, I couldn't do it any more and asked for a fork...haha.

I don't know why we didn't notice this striped car when we went inside, but there it was when we came outside.... it's an MGA 

We walked over to where we needed to start our 2 hour ride back to the hotel and caught a glimpse of this church.  The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul....

the night scenes where quite pretty along the way.....

We first had to catch a surface car that would take us to the last hour of our trip

then we got back to the train station and the escalator was in repair, so we trekked in down the steps....

 we had an hour to go, so I plugged our "dohicky" into the jacks and we rode and listened to music that almost put Scootard to sleep....:-).

I was sleepy too, but somebody had to get up at the right stop! ha

We finally got back to the car at the train station where it had all began that morning.....:-).

See ya soon...!