Sabbatical - Westward

Day 1 (10-5-06):

Arrived in Oakland and picked up rental car.  It was a 4 hour flight, so we were happy to stand on the ground.  We got a Chevy Trailblazer - so far, so good.  Took the Bay Bridge into San Francisco.  It's a cool bridge with one direction on top and the other direction of traffic underneath.  Great view of the bay!  The Omni is very nice and we had a great dinner with Jerry at Bob's Steakhouse.

Today, after over a 4 hour flight we landed in Oakland which is right outside of San Francisco. All we had to do is cross the Bay bridge to get to there( we rented a car). That night we stayed in the Omni,we also ate dinner there. It was a perfect first day of the trip.

Today we took a 4 hour flight from Nashville to Oakland. We rented a Chevy Trailblazer and drove across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. We stayed at the Omni hotel, which was very nice, and ate whith Jerry Donald at a restaurant in the hotel.

Day 2 (10-6-06):

Doc is off to his training in Napa Valley.  The kids and I walked to Mama's diner across town.  The concierge said it was a 10 minute walk; it took us 45 minutes!  But, in the journey by foot, we got to see Chinatown, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Northshore, and the Italian area.  Breakfast was awesome - best Eggs Benedict I've ever had.  When we walked back to the hotel, we stopped in a park for a while and watched some Chinese people doing some Tai Chi and a fan dance.  Then, we visited the first California church, St. Mary's Cathedral.  After a nap and some homework, we went to Union Square to try to find Hebo some boots.  He enjoyed the Nike store, and that was it!  It took an hour to get on a streetcar because it was about 5 o'clock.  We went to dinner with Doc, Jerry, and another Medtronic rep, Kayla, at The Tonga Room in the Fairmont Hotel.

For breakfast we went to Mama's diner. We got to walk through china town on the way there. On the way back to the hotel we saw the first church in California called St. Mary's Cathedral. After a couple of hours we went and checked out the niki store to see if there was any boots for heath. It was gigantic! 

Today we went to a place called Mamas for breakfast. On the way back we stoped in Chinatown were I learned my chinese name. When we got back to the hotel my mom took took a nap while my sister and I worked on homework. For lunch we ate at a place called R & G Lounge which had some of the best Mongolian Beef that I had ever had. We rode a cable car which was my first time to be on one. Unfortunetly we had to go shopping. We got to go in a Nike store which was huge. That night we ate at the Tonga Room with Jerry and Kayla.

Day 3 (10-7-06):

We spent the entire day at Fisherman's Wharf.  It was an absolutely perfect day:  the weather, the scenery, the activities.  It was fleet week so we watched the sailboats (old and new), fishing vessels, and Navy Ships sail into the bay.  Then, we watched the amazing annual Red Bull flying race where the best solo pilots in the world compete against time and technique in a flying obstacle course.  Following that, the Blue Angels performed for hours.  The highlight?  I rode a bike!  O.K., well, I rode a tandem bike with Doc.  But, we all rode from Fisherman's Wharf, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and ended in Sausalito...8 miles total.  You can imagine how beautiful the Blue Angels show was from the Golden Gate Bridge!  When we got to Sausalito, we had Lappert's ice cream because my mother told me to.  Believe me, it was the inspiration for the bike ride!  (I figured if I made myself go halfway, then I'd might as well finish!)  Ice cream was no disappointment!  After we rode the ferry back to Fisherman's Wharf and turned in the bikes, we ate at Fisherman's Grotto and had clam chowder in a bread bowl and dungeness crab.  Boy, did I sleep good that night!

This morning at about 11.00 we went to fishermans warf and saw the red bull airplanes fly in formation and race each other around obstacles. It was so cool! At about 2:00 we biked the Golden gate bridge but that was the easy part the hard part was getting to the bridge! But it was worth it, the view from the bridge was breath-taking! while we were on the bridge the Blue Angels flew right over us that was amazing!

Today we headed to the fishermans warf were we rented a bike.First we rode to a spot with a good view were we watched the Red Bull Race which was awesome.then we rode awhile till we got to the Golden Gate Bride to watch the Blue Angels which was even more awsome. We got some ice cream and went back across the water on a ferry. That night we had some good crab and went back to the hotel. 

Day 4 (10-8-06):

Left in morning to go to Muir Woods National Park.  It is a forest of huge, sequoias and redwoods.  It is very beautiful with creeks, wildlife, etc.  Had a fanastic apple pie (again mother made me) and got back on the road for San Francisco waterfront.  Doc and the kids did the tour of Alcatraz and I hung out at Pier 39 and surrounding area.  The crowds were terrible, but I managed to get a seat right at the end of the pier next to the seal lions.  The Blue Angels were giving an exposition so the view was stunning.  Doc and kids said Alcatraz was great and the view of the air show was spectacular from Alcatraz island.  After all of that, we headed towards Yosemite.  There was a 49ers game in town, so the traffic was horrendous.  We got to see part, but not all, of the drive to Yosemite.  Just after sunset, we saw two deer in the middle of the road, looking like deer in the headlights.  It was a doe and her baby!  There was much wildlife to see on the curvy, dark, road to Evergreen Resort in Groveland/Yosemite.  The lodge was very nice with individual cabins and peaceful surroundings.

Early in the morning we left to go to Muir woods. The trees there are over a thousand years old and they are huge. The type of trees there are sequoias and red woods. In Muir Woods there is also a creek, wildlife, and a lot of banana slugs. In the gift shop we were going to buy a baby seqouia but they were in a plastic holder and they could only be in the plastic holder for two weeks and we were not going to be home in two weeks. The last thing we did in San Frisisco was that my dad, Heath, and I went to see Alcatraz( my mom had already seen it). There were only three people ever to excape from Alcatraz and people think that they died in the rough mile long swim to land in 50 decrease water which is that cold year around. While we were at Alcatraz we got to see the Blue Angles again but this they were flying right over us and there engines were as loud as you can amagine . After Alcatraz we headed towards Yosemite National Park. We were still driving to Yosemite and it was getting dark, when all of a sudden two deer walk across the road. It was a doe and her baby and they were standing right in front of us. They looked like they were hypnotized. finally, late that night we got to our hotel which was the Evergreen Lodge in Yosemite. We had our own lodge. It was very nice!

Today we went to Muir Woods which had huge trees that thousands of years old. We headed back to San Fran and my dad and sister and I went on a tour of Alcatraz. We stayed on the Island were we got to whatch the Blue Angels again but this time we had the best spots possible. They would literally fly right over us and the sound of the engines were loud. On our way to Yosemite a doe and her baby jumped right in front of us. Today was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.