San Francisco-Day 2...After Alcatraz

Sorry for the lapse. We staged a model home this week that had to be done today before noon. That means lots of shopping. Lots of shopping. $20,000 worth of furniture and decorations that then have to be assembled, hung, ironed, placed, and displayed. It is the perfect job for me so I don't mind! But being a mom, wife, cook, and housekeeper at the same time, wore me slick out.

So where were we?? Oh yes, I was in San Francisco and I took a lot of pictures.

So really, besides the state change, there wasn't much of a difference.

After we got off the boat we made that walk back to Pier 39 (because we know now that it's pretty stinking close) to go to lunch. Pier 39 is the tourist pier. They want you to be impressed. Thus, the foliage.

But you know what else it's known for??

Yep, the seals. The cute, entertaining, stinky seals. We joined the crowds and took several pictures. By then our blood sugars were bottoming out and we headed to Hard Rock.I'd never been to one. Can I just say...it's not much. First, they didn't have Diet Dr Pepper. Or Diet Coke. Seriously? I really thought a restaurant as big as them would have the more popular choices. Nope. And B, $15 for a hamburger and fries?? My 'dead', 'well done', 'black' $15 burger that bled real blood when I cut into it. And third, our waitress went on her break halfway through her service to us and we had someone new for the rest of the meal. I, in 29 years of eating out, have never had that happen. Never. But get ready for this. The table next to us had a waiter and we heard him say that he was going on a break and he introduced the new person. Guess who it was?? Our waitress! Our 'on a break' waitress was now serving the table next to us. I was so stinking confused. Confused enough that with my bleeding 'done' burger and the parade of servers, I decided not to tip. Who would I give it to anyway?

Soon we were full, me mainly of fries, and met up with two other Angels who'd talked to a local and had a map and a plan. MaryJean and Karreen and I didn't have a map or a plan. The man they'd sat by at lunch said tourists had to go to Ghiradelli Square. So off we went. Yep, not impressed again. Just different shops.

But we had fun along the way.

Did you know afros are back?? Only at the Fisherman's Wharf Gap though. This needs no explanation. Well, it needs a lot. But you're not getting any. Heather and Stephanie found 'Heather' and 'Stephy' name painting. Ummm.... And a cable car! Trolley car?? Which is correct? We heard both equally. These two sit on a street I guess for picture purposes. We waited quite a while to find someone we trusted with my camera to take the picture. We ended up picking a guy who was with his mom. They ended up being Danish tourists with a tiny bit of English they struggled to get out. The guy though was the most agreeable person I've ever met. He was so determined that we be happy with his picture taking abilities. To the point of hysterics. As we finally left them I said he was cute and I'd love to keep him just because he was so agreeable! Although I didn't love Ghiradelli Square, I did love the view of this pier. Soon we were worn out and looking to hop a cable/trolley so we could get back to the hotel and have the ride experience. We walked to the nearest stop, straight up I might add, and got in a really big line. The driver pulled up and said he only had room for 4 people. We were about 20 back. We watched it leave and decided to try another stop. Again, straight up. After about 10 minutes no historic ride selections had come by. We decided to hail a cab. That should have been easier. I mean come on, we were 5 beautiful women standing on corners. Finally we hailed a mini van cab and we were on our way. The driver gave us a little tour and history on our way. He was wonderful!

But my favorite part? He took us here.

Lombard Street! We didn't go down it, but we still got to see it. At almost every turn I was shocked at the hills. I asked the driver if anyone in town owned a manual transmission. Can you imagine?? I then made the comment that there weren't many SUV's. Apparently top heavy cars don't do well there. I can't imagine parking my Expedition on this hill. And the Corvair?? It would never survive there! With the engine in the back it would never make it up the hills.

And remember??? We're going to be running on those hills soon! We safely made it back to the hotel and started getting ready for the Pasta Party. LLS/TNT holds a dinner for everyone. Everyone that was participating in the race. Plus hundreds of spouses and family members. The space was massive. I wish they'd told us how many were there.

The biggest part of the evening was the entrance. We walked into what sounded like a mob. Yelling, screaming, clapping, noise makers, air horns. But what it really is is the entire staff of this amazing organization dressed up cheering for us. Us. All we did was raise the money. They work every day of their lives for these amazing organizations. But they make us feel like celebrities.

The most amazing part though??

This. I'm a survivor because of you. Does it get any better?? I cried from the moment I saw him until he was just a picture on my camera. That made it all worth while. And it already had been. During the dinner time pictures of Honored Heroes show on the walls. Those who are battling, have won, or have lost. Each state has several and we saw ours go by. One of our honored heroes was a few tables over. I'll tell you more about Ruth in a later post. Well, just a little now. The Oklahoma team met back at the hotel after some serious carb loading for pictures and race morning instructions. And then Ruth opened her bag. You see, not only is she a leukemia survivor and a wonderful fundraiser, she's an award winning baker, cake decorator, and sugar artist. This was our treat. The Angels got together for a quick picture and a 'Go Team!' before we all headed for our beds to get ready for an early start to race day. I laid everything out, set my alarm for 4:23, took my sleeping pill, put in my ear plugs, and was out.

What a wonderful day it had been! But that blasted boot wears you slick out. Well, that and every where I needed to be being straight up.

Maybe the race would be all downhill. A girl can dream, right?