So the consensus is we are not city people. The traffic, crowds, lack of parking for big trucks and rudeness is too much for us. Have you ever read “Country Mouse, City Mouse?” If you have it explains it all. The smallest truck we have out of 7 is a ’73 Jeep Wagoneer and we were driving Rocky…the biggest truck. When we arrived to park to travel into San Francisco via the BART we were informed that they do not have the “problem” of duallies to park in the city so we were on our own. Mind you we were not in San Francisco but in the BART parking lot in Richmond trying to catch the public transportation because traffic and parking in San Francisco is bad! Trying to keep track of 3 kids when you’re out numbered is stressful enough without worrying about parking a land yacht.
Riding the BART was an experience all in its own. It stands for the Bay Area Rapid Transit. It is the closest we have ever been to riding a subway. We started in Richmond, CA and ½ hour later we were on Market St in San Francisco. This was much easier than trying to drive a crew cab dually through the city and finding parking.
We then caught a cable car to the Cable Car museum. Brad and Zac got to stand on the edge and hold on just like in the movies. The girls sat with me on the bench. Once at the museum we saw how the cars are powered and how big the cables are. We even got to learn the history of cable cars, the first models and different tools needed to build them.
From the museum we headed to the Palace of Fine Arts. The architecture was beautiful; there were columns that stretched to the sky. The dome was larger than one could imagine. We then headed to the Exploratorium http://www.exploratorium.edu/ to let the kids check out the hands on science experiments. When we got to the door, we learned they were closing early for a special event. If you are ever in San Francisco this is a must. We got to enter for about 15 minutes, just long enough to see what we were missing out on. Note: 1st Wed of the month is free, a savings of $55 for a military family of 5.
We saw the Golden Gate Bridge. Very cool and amazing to think how it was built. The kids got to play in the Pacific Ocean water for the first time today. The kids loved the sand as it was very soft. Kaela was even prompted to lay in the sand like of making a sand angel and rubbing the sand on her face. Zac, of course, began to dig into it making different tunnels and forts. Kenzie found some glass that had been tumbled in the water for while. She is convinced it is a rock. She headed back out to look for more “rocks” when she got drenched from a wave that snuck up behind her.
We ate at Johnny Rockets for lunch. It’s a 50’s style dinner that was small but very cute. The grill is in the middle of the restaurant so you can watch your burger being cooked.
The Becker Bunch even braved Lombard Street; “America’s most crooked” street in San Francisco. Not with the truck and RV but on foot. It seems incomprehensible but cars were driving on it while we hiked down and then back up.
There were 2 young guys in a little yellow 2 seater scooter that we kept seeing all day that were having too much fun, dancing and singing while driving the scooter thingy. While driving down Lombard St, they jumped out, dancing and switched places. They even did the Night at the Roxbury thing. The kids cracked up and waved each time we saw them.
We had a long first day in San Francisco with some crazy events, like being sworn at by a homeless man for not giving him money and punk kids trying to scare us after getting off the BART to head home. Not like we looked like tourist, with our proud Air Force hats, Keens and Camelpacks! We are heading back tomorrow to explore Alcatraz; we’ll see how many kids we leave there.
Riding the BART was an experience all in its own. It stands for the Bay Area Rapid Transit. It is the closest we have ever been to riding a subway. We started in Richmond, CA and ½ hour later we were on Market St in San Francisco. This was much easier than trying to drive a crew cab dually through the city and finding parking.
We then caught a cable car to the Cable Car museum. Brad and Zac got to stand on the edge and hold on just like in the movies. The girls sat with me on the bench. Once at the museum we saw how the cars are powered and how big the cables are. We even got to learn the history of cable cars, the first models and different tools needed to build them.
From the museum we headed to the Palace of Fine Arts. The architecture was beautiful; there were columns that stretched to the sky. The dome was larger than one could imagine. We then headed to the Exploratorium http://www.exploratorium.edu/ to let the kids check out the hands on science experiments. When we got to the door, we learned they were closing early for a special event. If you are ever in San Francisco this is a must. We got to enter for about 15 minutes, just long enough to see what we were missing out on. Note: 1st Wed of the month is free, a savings of $55 for a military family of 5.
We saw the Golden Gate Bridge. Very cool and amazing to think how it was built. The kids got to play in the Pacific Ocean water for the first time today. The kids loved the sand as it was very soft. Kaela was even prompted to lay in the sand like of making a sand angel and rubbing the sand on her face. Zac, of course, began to dig into it making different tunnels and forts. Kenzie found some glass that had been tumbled in the water for while. She is convinced it is a rock. She headed back out to look for more “rocks” when she got drenched from a wave that snuck up behind her.
We ate at Johnny Rockets for lunch. It’s a 50’s style dinner that was small but very cute. The grill is in the middle of the restaurant so you can watch your burger being cooked.
The Becker Bunch even braved Lombard Street; “America’s most crooked” street in San Francisco. Not with the truck and RV but on foot. It seems incomprehensible but cars were driving on it while we hiked down and then back up.
There were 2 young guys in a little yellow 2 seater scooter that we kept seeing all day that were having too much fun, dancing and singing while driving the scooter thingy. While driving down Lombard St, they jumped out, dancing and switched places. They even did the Night at the Roxbury thing. The kids cracked up and waved each time we saw them.
We had a long first day in San Francisco with some crazy events, like being sworn at by a homeless man for not giving him money and punk kids trying to scare us after getting off the BART to head home. Not like we looked like tourist, with our proud Air Force hats, Keens and Camelpacks! We are heading back tomorrow to explore Alcatraz; we’ll see how many kids we leave there.
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