Motherhood and Beyond

I have not blogged in a while about anything worth reading.  Actually nothing to really blog about. 

Craig had a conference in SF, CA and I decided to tag along with him as a vacation.  I have to say, I was nervous about it and really nervous since we were leaving Ellie behind with grandparents.  I am so grateful for them giving up their time to keep her while we were away.  I know she had fun with them and enjoyed each moment.

We got to SF June 26 and the weather was a balmy/cool day.  We had heard to take jackets with us in case the weather turned cold.  When I think of CA I think HOT.  Gosh was I ever wrong.  Craig says the weather was perfect.  Me?  Chilly, but much too windy.  I think they should give it the title, The Windy City instead of Chicago.  We stayed at The Palace Hotel.  This is a very old and historic hotel.  We were impressed with our room and loved it because it was downtown where all the action was. (More on that later.)  Since Craig did not have to be at any classes until Monday afternoon, we decided to make the most of our time over the weekend.  Saturday we boarded a loaded bus with many Chinese people and took off to the Golden Gate Bridge.  Now, I say Chinese people…I thought I was IN China.  The bus went through the heart of China Town and most got off.  When looking out the window, it brought back so many memories of my time in China.  The smells, sights, language, Tia Chi in the park…gosh, everything.  I was amazed.  Craig was able to get a taste of what it was like for me.  So we make it to Chrissy Field and decide to walk to the Bridge.  Remind you…it was windy and cold.  (for me it was)  We could see the bridge in the distance and the fog underneath.  It was really cool.  About an hour later, we made it to the entrance of the bridge.  Okay, stop…Did you know you could WALK across the bridge?  1.7 miles across!  I am not happy about driving over bridges, why would I walk it?  But, we took off and made it to the first pillar.  I was not nervous as I thought I would be.  It was really neat to do it.  On our way back off the bridge, we looked back and it was completely engulfed in fog.  Wow, how the weather changed!

When we got back to the hotel, there was a letter saying Sunday is LGBT parade and it will go by the hotel and all buses will be rerouted.  LGBT has to do with Pride Week.  We noticed all the rainbow flags hanging and wondered what was going on.  Now, I am from the East Coast, South, Small town…we don’t have these sorts of parades.  So, Sunday we decided to head to Alcatraz.  What a neat place!  After arriving via boat, we met with a small group and took the Landscaping/Grounds tour.  By doing this, we got to see and hear many different stories about the inmates that took up landscaping and plant care.  On one side of the prison the weather was nice and sunny.  Once you turn a corner, the wind picked up and almost picked me up and it turned cold.  So on the warm and sunny side was all the gardening the inmates did.  They still keep up the grounds to this day.  A few of the homes had been destroyed by fire.  But the main prison area was in great condition.  (too bad it is still not in use!)  We took the audio tour and it was perfect.  Alcatraz was a place I had always wanted to see and I plan on doing more reading about it.

For now, I will stop here.  I will continue the week later on.