And Then We Went to Prison

Our second day in San Fran was just as eventful as the first. We caught the morning bus from Piedmont into the city, only to discover the full extent of the locals' friendliness. Everybody we encountered was pleasant and helpful. Nobody was gruff or hurried or too irritated to help us find our way. The bus people were the most impressive. All we had was a $20 for bus fare and the cost was only $4.20. Rather than see us have to pay an outrageous price for the ride, a fellow passenger offered to pay for us in the moment in exchange for the return payment on PayPal. When we struggled to load PayPal on the bus, the other passengers happily searched their pocketbooks to find ways to break our single bill. We paid the man who had helped us and thanked the rest. To them, this seemed to be a normal course of events, but for us New Englanders, it was like pigs were flying over a frozen Hell. We were so struck by the kindness of San Franciscan strangers, we almost forgot that we were in an unfamiliar city. It gets better. Not only did these people have radiating kindness, they all knew each other. Yes, we know that they ride the same bus everyday and so are bound to recognize each other, but these people took their proximity to a whole new level. Not only did they know fellow faces, they knew each other's names, jobs, recent plans, children's names, etc. An adorable Chinese family boarded the bus with bouncy two youngsters and the entire front crowd of the bus greeted them by name. The children in turn greeted them and dove into stories about their recent vacation in New Orleans. It turns out that this family had been in the French Quarter at the same time as us! What are the odds! (To us, it seemed those odds were probably as high as finding a bus full of delightful people in New York.) By the end of the bus ride, these happy riders knew our names too, as well as our travel plans. They even went as far as to give us recommendations in our upcoming cities. We left the bus feeling rather dazed. We were promised gentle people in the city, but we didn't actually expect any. This was just marvelous. 

I could have left him there. He wouldn't have noticed for days. 

In the morning, we hit up the Exploratorium on the pier. There should be a warning on the front of that building: "Will Turn Boyfriends Into Wide-Eyed Children." Pete was in heaven. The museum was full of gizmos and gadgets, inventions and discoveries. We had lots to do and more to learn. Some of the exhibits focused on the human brain, allowing us to test our capacities of hearing, sight, memory, and emotion. Others were about physics, mechanics, and other sciencey stuff that was cool by my standards, and off the chart on Pete's. You'd think he was a greedy toddler on Christmas morning the way he was excitedly going between exhibits and explaining the mechanics of the different whatchamacallits. I suppose the Exploratorium to him was like the Georgia Aquarium to me. It was a great choice for us to go there, definitely worth the ticket, even for two (almost) adults. 

We spent about 2.5 hours there until we realized we were starving. Pete came back down to Earth and we decided to walk down the pier to see where we'd like to go for lunch. Along the way (and several more times that day) we stopped at Pier 39 to see the sea lions. They were too funny, it was like watching a blubbery episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. These creatures reminded me more of an angry Italian family than my own! (Love you guys...) They were climbing all over each other, barking, shoving, bickering and pushing each other overboard. They were also snuggling like there was no tomorrow and seemed to prefer to be close to one another. The sea lions had completely taken over the docks and decided to turn them into their own personal living room. They were sprawled out in clumps, enjoying the sun and the constant attention from onlookers. We felt more like we were watching a sitcom than a live, unrehearsed reality. Again, I wanted to take one home and love it. I'm such a sucker for animals, it's amazing I don't have a house full of them already. Give it time, folks, give it time... 

Keeping with the theme of the day, we ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Colorful in both decor and atmosphere, the restaurant made us feel like we could be in the rainforest...with cocktails. The food was good, the environment was great, and it completed my animal fix for the day. Who doesn't love a roaring tiger and rumbling thunderstorm overhead while they eat? If I could design my whole house to look like that place, I would be one happy girl. 

<3

After the Rainforest, we realized that we'd both gained about 20 pounds and were both completely exhausted from our busy morning. We didn't realize we'd been walking for miles up and down the pier. Not that we can complain, the weather was gorgeous and there was lots to do and see. In fact, on our way back to the bus, we stopped at a little carnival at Pier 39 to ride the carousel. I know it's geared at kids, but Pete and I are pretty much big kids anyway, and I've always had a soft spot for the merry-go-round. It was whimsical and magical and I loved it. Pete looked very manly riding the big plastic dragon, but I preferred my zebra. We were by far the oldest (and coolest) people there without children of our own, so we earned some quizzical glances. But, funny looks are nothing new for us since we started driving around in a moving billboard. YOLO. 

"Nooooo!" - Carla

We saw the curviest road! It was literally a zig-zag down one of San Francisco's steep inclines. Lombard Street is the most crooked road in the world, so naturally Pete's first inclination was to want to inflict it on Carla. Honestly, we would have if there had been any hope of her making it up any of the hills leading there. They were so steep, we knew she would probably explode to put herself out of her misery. It would be cruel and unusual and we can't have her give up on us now. We're so close! Pete will have to live with having seen it and walked along it instead. I'm sure someday he will take some poor, unsuspecting car there to zig and zag, but it won't be Carla. 

Gorgeous campus! University of CA, Berkely

After returning to Piedmont, we showered, changed, and headed out with Aunt Ellen for a tour of Berkeley. Now I will forever be kicking myself for not going to college there. The campus was lovely, full of inviting greens, beautiful buildings, and exciting history. We could tell she took a lot of pride in the university and were happy to have had a chance to see it. It was exactly what I would had expected from a west coast college. There was a lot of history about student protests, there had been a naked man attending classes, and there were people doing tai chi and yoga on the grass. It was very cool, dude. But, we could tell that the education was of high value there and that it's students were dedicated and prestigious. Pete may have his fancy piece of college-issued paper, but I don't earn mine until December so I felt a pang of envy as we watched a few students skip through in their caps and gowns. A few last minute graduation ceremonies, perhaps? Either way, I would love to be in their shoes. Though, perhaps not... After all, I did just drive across the country in a car that is older than I am. That piece of paper can wait :-) 

We had a great time with my aunt at dinner, catching up on the family news, chatting about her experiences and future plans as well as ours. She has a very warm and intelligent way about her that I've always liked. She and her husband were all too kind to host us this week and we felt so comfortable in their home. If it hadn't been for Ellen's advice and directions, we would still be wandering aimlessly around San Fran without a hope and a clue of what to do. So, thank you Ellen and Gene! You both are just wonderful and we can't wait to visit again. 

Right where he belongs ;-) 

In our final morning in San Francisco, Pete booked us a tour of Alcatraz. I always knew we'd end up in prison, I just didn't think it would be so soon. We had so much life left ahead of us... Shouldn't have robbed that bank, evaded our taxes, or kidnapped that government official. Ah well, hindsight is 20-20. 

That tour was so fascinating. Creepy, for sure, as the place is essentially in the same condition as it was when it was filled with criminals, but extremely interesting and informative. We both followed the audio tour through the cell blocks, the dining hall, the rec area, and the library. It was haunting to think about convicts like Al Capone shuffling down the same hallways and peering through the same  bars. We can't lie, he is a person we would have like to meet. After he was imprisoned of course, definitely not before. The audio tour even took us through the solitary confinement block and we got to step inside. It was certainly unsettling, but we had to admire the gorgeous view outside of the prison. We know it would be a horrible place to be and dangerous circumstances too, but if you had to be imprisoned somewhere, wouldn't you want it to be somewhere with a view? I mean, wouldn't jail in Siberia be so much worse? Of course, prison is prison, but it wasn't as barren and Azkaban as we expected it to be. There weren't even any dementors. We even learned that the families of guards used to live on the island in quaint communities! How sweet. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining and we almost forgot we were in jail. In fact, the breeze and scent of the ocean coming through the windows was quite lovely. If you ignore the fact that those windows are all decorated with iron bars and cobwebs, the place is actually quite nice. I bet the rent is cheap too... 

Overall, our San Francisco adventure was very successful. Aside from asking for directions about a billion times and walking for a mile or two in the wrong direction, we got where we needed to go. We also somehow managed to get back to Ellen's today, despite the fact that the bus we were familiar with wasn't running and we had to take two transfers just to get to a street we recognized. The bus drivers thought we were idiots, but we were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves after that. We never even had to hail a cab. Not like there were any, because apparently they've all fled to New York where honking is allowed. Did we mention that this lovely city is not only full of nice people, but also nice cars? There was rarely a honk or any shouting. Nobody was flipping anybody off and the streets didn't smell like the back end of a mule. It was a surprisingly delightful change from east coast cities and it melted our cold, bitter New England hearts. We'll be back for another thawing... 

We've returned to the road and to our beloved Carla. She's been resting in a posh neighborhood for a few days, getting some funny looks and probably a fair amount of suspicion. We like to think she missed being driven and that means that she'll tough it out for the last 800 miles of our trip. That's right, folks, we are down to the last 800 miles out of over 5,000. We just really hope Carla makes it... She's overheating and Pete doesn't really know why. Whenever we pull over and he has to tinker with her, he tells me it's all ok, but then when I am typing he let's me know the contrary. This is why you can never trust your mechanic, ladies. This is why. Even just now he said "Nah, we'll be fine," but he's never been great at lying to me. He and Carla are better off just keeping secrets from me in general until it's too late for me to do anything about it. But, you know what? That's just fine, I'm on vacation. We're on our way to Napa as one of our final three stops on this trip. Just get me some wine and show me some scenery and I'll be good. 

To wine country! 

~Liz, Pete, and the little Carla that could