Monday, July 6, 2009

In Only 5 Days

Even though it's late I cannot be outdone by my traveling companion this past weekend, so I'm blogging. He already has his post up from the weekend, and definitely brought back some good memories and some laughs for sure. Here's just the quick run down of the destinations from this weekend: Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe, Zypher Beach Lake Tahoe, San Francisco by Friday night and stayed through Sunday night.

SAN FRANCISCO! It was such an amazing time and town! I tried not to show my "country bumpkin" too much although I was sporting the Justin Boots and my newest bling belt from the Reno Rodeo a couple of weeks ago ;) I stuck out a wee bit, but I didn't care. We stayed in the hotel Nikko in downtown San Fran. Thanks to an invention called Priceline, the four of us stayed in a 4 star hotel for two nights for about $85 a piece. SWEET!

When we rolled in it was pretty late and we were all pooped from a day at the beach swimming and playing frisbee (I found out I can still pull a pretty good distance while being out in the lake- can't wait to play some real Ultimate again!), but we were excited to see the city. We walk down a few blocks and there was one of the famous San Francisco trolleys that you see in pictures, movies and awesome TV shows like Full House! We rode it the legit way by standing on the side and the overall experience just hit me! Lake Tahoe was beautiful and all, but I've seen my fair share of mountains recently, but being the first time truly to the West Coast for me and riding on a trolley in a huge city (remember, sporting the Justins)- I just did my best to take it all in.

The next day the four of us split and Lance (my traveling companion/ fellow San Fran explorer) and I took off for Fisherman's Warf on foot! That's right, we trudged up them there hills of concrete and back down! We took a different way than what the trolley had taken us before and caught the outside of China Town and a cool park where local artists were selling their work. This same park shared some locals practicing their martial arts skills very slowly and deliberately and the entire scene was draped with the backdrop of a beautiful catholic church. We stepped inside and it was a beautiful, traditional church. It was neat seeing different people praying and the sign on the wall that had the postings for the different masses- Chinese, Spanish and a few others. San Francisco is truly the New York of the West with all the different cultures that have merged into this hilly city by the bay.

We finally made it to the bay and bought our tickets for the Gold and Blue Fleet Bay Tour and the Aquarium at the Bay. For a mere $33 we had an hour boat cruise and saw some sweet fish. Lance being a fisherman was pretty pumped about the Sea Bass or whatever, lol, but I'll even admit- that was a HUGE fish! Over 7 feet long! And that is no fish tale folks. We grabbed some brunch to refuel ourselves after our hike/ workout/ torture session of walking those hills. Actually it wasn't that bad and there is something about seeing a city by foot that is pretty cool. We ate a "Surfs Up" a pretty sweet little restaurant on Pier 39 where all the shops and happenings were going on. Then it was time to catch the boat!

"I'm on a Boat!" which is some hip-hop song that is supposedly catchy and cool, was actually a pretty accurate statement to my excitement. We went up to the front of the boat (probably the coldest spot) where we could have the best view. The tour was about an hour long and it was full of nonstop picture action as it took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around the one and only Alcatraz Prison. That feeling from riding on the trolley from the first night hit me all over again! This was my first time seeing the Pacific, exploring a whole new city and seriously about to get up close and personal with the Golden Gate Bridge and "The Rock"- things I have only seen in pictures, TV and heard about! I could take a little chilly weather for that.

The rest of Saturday we wondered the wharf, admired/ laughed at the street performers and people watched. It was a great time for sure. Did feel kind of sorry for Lance though as the poor boy got pooped on by a bird- twice! I thought it was hilarious and he was in good spirits about it. Kind of like that new country song, "ssshhhh" "it" happens!

After some ice-cream as an afternoon treat, we decided to head back to the hotel and wait for my roomie Sarah and her friend Brophy to get back from their wine tours up in Napa Valley so we can all enjoy the FIREWORKS together! Thus, my first legit taxi ride back to the hotel. My boots were not in the mood to walk all that way back! Lance flagged this guy down and away we went. (Lots of firsts on this trip for me, one would think I didn't get out much.) The fireworks were amazing! From where we were standing, which might sound familiar because we were only a few blocks down from Lombard Street, we could see two shows going on and then the booms and flashes from another one. We ran into some British young adults who were on holiday in the States and one was extremely happy to be in the city of San Francisco for obvious reasons if you met him in person. Found it ironic that we were celebrating America's INDEPENDENCE DAY with some Brits, as in independence from England. I remember some of my high school history there.

Then Sunday rolls along and the Houston Astros have been in town playing the San Francisco Giants. We go to the Sunday afternoon game and snag some sweet seats along the third baseline. Lance being the baseball buff that he is was super pumped when we found out that Randy Johnson was pitching. Apparently this guy's nickname is the "Big Unit" and a pretty impressive pitcher that just got traded to the Giants. Too bad for Randy, he was having an off day and the Giants couldn't pull out the sweep like some of the hometown fans were preparing for by bringing their brooms with them to the game. But I got a free t-shirt out of the deal because we went early.

Let's see- some funny take-aways from this trip:

- Girls, just fyi we heard first hand that one gal was having better luck with the guys that she was picking up at bars than the guys that she was picking up at Renaissance Fairs at Eagle's Falls in Emerald Bay.

- You can make a killing by painting yourself silver, standing on a silver box and pretending to be robot.

- Probably the best for me- this crazy little ol clown balloon woman. She made some sweet balloon figures, but she tried to "entertain" while doing it. She had some mad rhyming skills for sure ;) Really to get the whole effect you had to be there and these lines are something I just made up, hopefully you'll get the idea. Just imagine a creepy, short elderly woman with a raspy voice trying to entertain kids.

"Why does Scooby need legs?"

"Scooby need legs, Gen Ho (the soon to be owner of this Scooby creation) my dear, so he can walk along the pier. With a twist and pull and a knot you see, we'll make Scooby quite handsomely."

"Now Scooby is ready to be free and run and play with thee. So take him with you today, and enjoy your time beside the bay."

Probably be more to come about this weekend and its many grand adventures, but I'm currently on another adventure called work! I have been blessed to stay in new places and see lots of cool things. Like right now, I'm in Pasco, Washington, starting a three day business trip to see three different dealers in Washington and Oregon.

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