On the tour I got to cross the Golden Gate Bridge which is an amazing structure! I also got to pass over the Oakland Bay Bridge which was an amazing bridge too!

The dynamics of how the structures are held up is fascinating and going across was breath-taking and peaceful even with the people honking at us. (For no reason in particular )

Oakland Bay Bridge
Oakland Bay Bridge in the late afternoon.	Very little traffic!	An amazing structure!
Golden Gate Bridge
The sides were so high you couldn't tell how high above the water you were!	At the end of the bridge it was a highway leading to beautiful scenery.	On the way back the view was still breath-taking!

Joe's Crab Shack San Francisco

After arriving in San Francisco and finishing getting settled in at the hotel and whatnot, we ate at Joe's Crabshack since it was still open.

That specific location had been opened for less than six months and the traditional outgoing fun of the food servers was not lacking.  In fact we had such a great time the first night that we went back for dinner a second night!

The first night we ordered two appetizers and started off with beer, quickly moving along to Margaritas. I ordered a seafood pasta which was EXCELLENT!!! The food server on the first night went by the name, 'Princess', and she did a little dance for us everytime she brought us a Margarita which was served in a shaker. She brought the drinks by and shook like the hula dancer she was trained to be, and we ate, drank, and continued to be merry.
The restaurant closed at 11pm and we were there until they kicked us out at nearly 2 am.

On the second night, we returned and both food servers from the previous night were there, however they were not specifically waiting at our table, per sé.  They did come by to harass and tease us about the night before, and once again, we had an appetizer and just went straight for the margaritas.

We were both given bibs to sport, for when our food arrived. Not that we needed them or anything like that. I don't know about Rick, but I'm a professional eater!

So the food arrived and we joked back and forth with the food servers. Come to find out that one of them lived on the very same exact street for one year that I live on right at this very moment!

It was another fabulous time! (I can't stress that enough!)  I had a small sirloin and a side of BBQ Crab legs, and Rick had Dungeness crab and a salad. Messy!  One of the servers told me that I ordered the perfect meal when I chose my dessert (it's what he would have ordered from start to finish). No doubt, my perfection follows me everywhere! For dessert I had Banana's Foster, and shared that with Rick, along with a plate of Key Lime Pie. Yum!

We continued drinking...

They took pictures of us happily, and in this picture in particular, I'm looking over my shoulder as someone was trying to make bunny ears behind my head, so we took the picture over again, then another with everyone in it.

Much better.

We then had a picture taken with our foodservers for the evening and we continued to drink some more and then left for the evening to get some rest for the next day, which was the day of the car show.

Mustang Car Show

On the weekend of this trip was a Ford Mustang Car Show presented by Mustang's Plus. More eye-candy on a trip where I was already on ogle-overdrive! Rick drove us to Stockton where it was located, and we walked around the show viewing the autos.

The cars were beautiful and the owners were very proud of the restorations that were made, and restorations in progress. Looking at the engine of an older car such as a '69 Pony, I could see that they were fairly simple to work on and decided it was something that I could probably do myself once I learned the inside parts of the engine and stuff. I'm glad I got to see the car show!!! I was very impressed!

Mustang Car Show
Old Cobra!	Old Nascar!	A blue Mustang pic for my Mary!
Rick's fave, the "Bullet" Car	He was very very happy!	A beautifully restored mustang.
My favorite the 70 Boss 429	This one was awesome!	A fully restored Fastback.
Another pic of the Boss 429	Under the hood of the car on the right.	A much-loved car!

Going to the car show was fantastic.  It made it a much more enjoyable experience to be with someone who knew their stuff! My dad owned a couple of Mustang's, so I had to call and find out the year of them and verify the make of one of them. He wasn't home and my mom knew what they were. I was SHOCKED that she knew, and she even knew that my dad's 69 Mach 1 had a 351 engine. WOW! Way-to-go, Mom!

The drive over there was interesting too; Lots of greenery and windmills that seemed to be waving at us saying "yay" and "wow!" I saw a few horses and a few cow or cattle or whatever they were. It was a beatiful warm day again on that day, and my navigation skills seemed to be right on target, for once!

Bonus Photos of Clouds

Here they are! The bonus photos of the view of San Francisco from the friendly skies;  cloud pictures from the flight! Thank you for viewing the album of my trip to San Francisco!

My Head Is In The Clouds!
Leaving for home.	Altitude climbing!
Wow, no clouds in this one!	It looks awesome from way up high!
Bye Bye!!!	Almost looks like a computer chip!

Quite the bonus, eh? I knew you would like it! Please select another album below or use the navigating buttons on the bottom of your screen to direct you where you would like to go to next!

Arriving in San Francisco

The flight to Oakland Airport from Ontario Airport was the most amazing daytime airplane flight I've ever been on in my life!  I was mesmerized by the sea of clouds that stretched as far and wide as the eye could see. A blanket of fluffy clouds that was so awesome I wish I could describe it. Alas, it's beyond words. All I can say is "wow!"

Exiting the airport, the weather was chilly and windy, just as I had been told it was going to be.  It wasn't too incredibly cold for me, yet I knew that it was going to get a lot windier and a lot colder as we left the airport, since we were going to eventually head closer to the water.

Right away I noticed that everything was so green! Lots of tall trees and other foliage everywhere! Once we got to the city, the buildings were beautifully designed. I'm still amazed at the difference between San Fran and Los Angeles!

All throughout the trip people had their jackets and sweaters on mostly with their arms crossed or their hands in their pockets. The people in San Fran were seemingly friendly to talk to and the scenery of the skyline and the bay was beautiful!

We checked in to our hotel, and lucky us; our room was right on the first floor which made things so much easier!  Rick and I settled our luggage and stuff, and then headed to go find a place to eat on Fisherman's Wharf.

Throughout the first night I was "wow"-ing at everything in sight.   The place didn't feel like California, and it certainly wasn't what I expected!

Roller Coaster Stress-Out Streets

Rick was the pilot, and I was the navigator when it came to driving to the various locations that we wanted to get to. (God help us!) The roads were all in good condition, unlike some streets in L.A. that look like meteors have rained on them or land-mines went off! Anyhow, some of the streets along the city were so steep going up and down that it felt like riding a roller coaster. It caused me some stress and I screamed in fear for my life several times. Other than that, the scenery of the buildings, the bay, and the cable cars was awesome.

There are plenty of one-way streets down there, so navigating by going in circles around blocks was a challenge throughout the trip. Nevertheless, there was always something interesting to look at on the streets or on the buildings. I had visual overload for most of the trip there.

Several times I kind of screamed out in terror as we went down the streets that were so steep, I could have paid admission to a theme park to get the same experience. I think my blood-pressure went through the roof as my feet were pushing the imaginary brakes on the floor-board of the car. I'll also mention that I had the death-grip on the window handle with one hand and death-grip on the car seat with my other hand.

Worried and Confused Picture of Me Day 2

Fearful and Worried Scowling Picture of Me Day 3

Rick was taking unofficial counts of 'wrong' turns that he made, and I began to take unofficial counts of how many people honked in frustration and passed the car we were in. It was good for many many laughs. (At least for me it was!)  Rick was honked at at least nine times on one of our day excursions. I think he only ran two red lights on this trip¹. There was beginning to be a point where people were honking and neither of us knew what the hell for!  Rick is a safe driver. He drives as safely as a grandparent would if they were on the road. My navigation skills suck. In fact the reason Rick was piloting the way he was, was my lack of navigation skills from the passenger seat. I never claimed to be a human compass. And I probably never will!

¹The honking and red light story may have been underexaggerated to protect the feelings of other parites involved. The driver of the mentioned vehicle is a safe, confident driver with years of experience and previous experience driving the streets of SF.

Strange People (And Pigeons) at Fisherman's Wharf

While Rick was handling work during the day beginning Friday morning, I went shopping at Fisherman's Wharf in the Embarcadero.

I browsed the shops and the bayside to find souvenirs or other items of interest that I may have had. I had no cigarettes, and that was the first item on my list of things to find.

My freak-magnetism knob must have been set on 'high'. In the first store that I walked into, the store keeper was talking to me about the prices of items which quickly turned into trying to get my phone number for a date. His buddy who must have been the store owner was pressing the issue. I was able to get a cigarette out of the guy, since he said their store didn't sell any, which was cool, and then I bought a fleece pull-over that said "San Francisco" on it, and after much more banter with the sales guy about me not giving my personal details out, I left to go to the next store.

The stores along the stip of the wharf all pretty much had the same things:  identical sweatshirts to the one I bought, lots of shot glasses that said San Francisco on them, stickers, miniature cable car replicas, and Golden Gate Bridge souvenirs. 

At the end (or beginning) of that section of the wharf at Pier 41, I sat down on the benches to have a cigarette or two and rest my feet. The wind wasn't too bad and the sun was very warm. The view of the water was beautiful, and I could see Alcatraz from where I was sitting.  There were also a few homeless people hanging out, as well as the carriage handlers that did the horse carriage rides, a guy dressed in a dog suit matching the little dog he had at his side, telling people he was having a 'ruff' day, and a spectacle called "Boy Drag" which was this 6'4" dude dressed in a stylish hot pink and black tuxedo fanning himself with a pink feather hand-held fan and twirling a white lace umbrella. There was also a musician playing the drums and singing raggae, and a band that played very nice music.

They all worked for tips and had signs that said they would appreciate gratuities to have their pictures taken. That's the reason I didn't take any pictures at the wharf. I couldn't take pictures without leaving a gratuity in good conscience.

While I was sitting I also saw pigeons.  The prettiest pigeon I ever saw was there. It was a gorgeous brown and white pigeon. I also saw the fattest pigeon I'd ever seen in my life. It was healthy and so fat I thought it would trip and start rolling like a ball with all the weight it had to carry up top. There was also a pigeon I was fascinated with that had a stub for both feet practically, and he seemed healthy with the exception of his fucked-up feet. He got around pretty well!

Actually even the pigeons there in San Francisco had much different personalities than they do down here in Orange County, which was strange and odd. I knew SF was different, but I had no clue it was different right down to the pigeons!

Bonus Story: The Strange Dude at the Airport (on the way home).

Waiting in line to check in for our departing flight back to Ontario Airport from San Francisco was quite a nerve-wracking experience.

Rick and I were a dozen people deep in line and the dude in front of us starts yelling out in the middle of the terminal about why it's taking so long for us to get up there to check in for the flight.

The dude was ready to go hostile, and he was like WAY loud. The whole terminal got quiet with the exception of him and the airline employees at the front desk responding.

Apparently, a couple of the people checking in had a group of a dozen teens or so to check in with them (they were a school or church group or something), so they were checking all of them in. The flight wasn't being delayed or anything,  it was just taking a bit longer for the line to move. Why it was a big deal to the dude was beyond me, and probably to other people staring at the dude in shock, too.

Rick mentioned that it would have taken the same amount of time to get all 14 people to check in, if they were standing in line individually as it did having two people up at the front checking them all in at the same time.   Very, very true, Rick!

As we continue to stand in line, two people down from us, there is a man who gets a call on his cell phone and he begins bitching about his estranged relationship with his cousin or something like that. He's being awfully loud. The guy in front of us who raised his voice complaining about the people holding up the line was now seething.

I began to joke that the negative energy was coming from all sides!!! The lady behind me mentioned the same thing not too long afterwards.  I threw a couple more lame smart-ass jokes in there and probably looked like a school-girl doing a giggle-and-point.

More standing in line, more watching smoke come out of this guys' ears as he watches the group intently, and more bitching from the guy behind us on the cell phone. Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch for about 20 minutes 'til we get to the front.

...So the guy that did made the scene initially gets to the head of the line. He insists that he doesn't have to show his identification to receive his boarding pass since the school children did not have to. He begins to rant and rave very loudly and claims that they can arrest him if they choose to take that option. He also mentions that since nobody in line could move for as long as it didn't move earlier, that he would not allow it to move either.

Ding! Ding!  Round 1 ends. Round 2 begins...

The people in line had been telling him before the cops arrived to just chill and it was no big deal. The guy bitching about his cousin is still bitching on the phone behind us in line. The airline employee informs Hostile-Dude about the policy for children and although it was not required for them to show ID, the teens had identification on their person. Hostile-Dude asks for proof that all of the kids showed their idenfication and requests to see each and every one of them. The employee tells him that it is not necessary. Hostile-dude then asks if the employee remembers what happened on September 11th. (As if an airline employee would be the first to forget).

Then, Hostile-Dude begins to insist that he is doing it for personal safety of the passengers. Hostile- Dude then hands his ID to the airline employee and the airline employee informs him that he will not be taking this flight. At one point earlier he had threatened a lawsuit against the airline. Security and the police have arrived by now and they are all positioned near and behind the desk.  I'm still doing the giggle-and-point thing behind him and cracking smart-ass jokes. I'm also seriously very concerned at the same time that they will allow him to take the flight.

Ding! Ding! Round 3...

Hostile-Dude is issued his boarding pass eventually and he says thank you and proceeds to sit down after all of the explaining he did at the counter to the police on his side of the story. I am next in line. At this point I am quite a bit upset that he was allowed to be on our flight. That kind of energy would bring the plane down one way or another. (Either emergency landing for trouble aboard or  by death from sucky karma! ) By the way, I believe the cell-phone guy behind us was still spewing crap into the phone about his cousin.

I am up at the counter showing my ID to get my boarding pass.  A lady runs up to the cops upset and ready to cry, and says that Hostile-Dude is now sitting with the group that he was upset with, and is now harassing them. I'm totally not comfortable with the situation and I'm ready to talk to Rick about being too scared to get on this particular plane. Ass-Hole (aka Hostile-Dude) continues to stay seated and gabs on gabs on his cell phone. I get my boarding pass along with Rick and we sit and watch the rest of the story unfold.

The cops go over to where he is sitting and the kids in the group crowd around on the opposite side of where he is seated to listen in and witness what is going on, which is also the opposite side of the cops. For about 20 minutes they talk to him and take notes.

He's still ranting. I think the guy talking about his cousin was finished on the phone finally, but I don't know for sure. I'm still being a wise-ass with my comments in the terminal at that point. For Pete's sake, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

I notice a little ducky on my boarding pass and Rick doesn't have one. I point this out to Rick where his response was simply, "You're toast!", meaning that I was probably selected to be singled out to have my bags thoroughly inspected.   Really fuckin' great. Gee thanks...

Anyhow the dude ended up not being able to take the flight. I didn't end up getting singled out for inspection. The ducky ended up being a 'lucky' charm. I'd thank my lucky stars if I believed in luck. We got aboard the plane and made it home safely. YAY! What a way to end the trip! WOW!

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