Saturday we drove through the Mojave to Fresno. Sunday we went to Mark and Shari’s church, had pizza for lunch, and relaxed through the afternoon. Theresa and Jeanette each took long naps. On Monday Theresa and I took Mark and Shari out for lunch. After getting back, we finished packing, said our goodbyes, and started out for San Jose.
We got to my sister Heidi’s house at 4:30. We’ll be here until next Monday. Heidi has a large addition on the back of her house, and having six extra people in the house isn't too much of a hassle (at least, that's what she tells me). There are doors that close off the back of the house, and we’ve got our own little area to stay in, complete with a bathroom.
Tuesday we spent the day relaxing, doing some laundry and shopping. While the girls were at the mall I took the boys to a park nearby and we had fun there. Wednesday we toured San Francisco.
We started at Pier 39, next to Fisherman's Wharf. This is a large pier jutting out into the bay that has been built up with every conceivable type of tourist store you can imagine. At the end of the pier are many floating docks that sea lions climb onto and either sun themselves or fight each other, trying to push each other into the water. Just over the breakwater you can see Alcatraz. It was too foggy when we started out to see across the bay to the Golden Gate bridge, but things gradually cleared.
We ate a picnic lunch in a park across the street from the Ghiradelli Chocolate company, and had a nice view of the bottom 2/3 of the bridge from there. After eating we drove over the bridge to Marin County where we had a nice view of the bridge from the overlook. After returning to San Francisco (over the bridge again, thankfully Theresa was driving because I don't like driving on bridges) we went up Lombard Street. You've seen movies where people drive on the hills in San Francisco. Lombard street is probably the steepest street in the country. The speed limit on the way down is 5 mph. The street winds back and forth in very short switchbacks. The brakes on the van were squealing by the time we got to the bottom. We knew they were getting soft, but this noise had us concerned.
We went to Chinatown next, but couldn't find anywhere to park, so we decided to scoot out of town before the traffic got too bad. We were back in San Jose by supper time, and made plans for where to take the van today to get the brakes looked at. The squealing sounds we're hearing and the softness of the pedal mean we'll have trouble with the Rockies on the way home next week.
Today our van has been in the shop. Theresa and I borrowed Jeff and Heidi's van to bring our van in, did some shopping, and then came back home without our van, since the parts needed weren't available today. Our plan is to fly to Seattle tomorrow morning for my nephew's wedding. We've got a ride arranged to the airport with Connie, a friend of mine (and Heidi's) from when we were kids. Connie lives here in San Jose and does a lot with Heidi and her kids. Thankfully she is free tomorrow morning to drop us off. Either Jeff or Heidi will pick us up Saturday. Our kids will be staying in San Jose, helping out by babysitting for Jeff and Heidi.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment