San Francisco

I haven't been to San Francisco for about 21 years! Sad, but true. I can't believe how things have changed there. When I was 7 years old, I lived there for a year. This is what happens to a Hawaii girl when her dad works for the airlines. You move when you have to. Anyway, at the time, besides me the only other Asian kid in my class, maybe even the school, was Jason. He was another airline kid. We were Asian, but we are both 3/4 Japanese and 1/4 white. Zoom forward to now...I think there are more Asians than any other group in the bay area.

So, on to our vacation. The sad truth is I hadn't seen my dad in 16 years. Not since my wedding day. It was about time. My two younger children had never met their grandfather, step-grandmother, aunt, or cousin. My Oldest was out in California last year and got to see everyone.

We got some great deals on airfare, so we pulled the kids out of school for a week. Oh, again about the school district. I received a letter today stating that they had to send one out when a child missed 10% or more of school attendance days. Maybe if their parents had all summer off like the teachers and most school staff, they could go on vacation then. Maybe we should just go to all year school to take care of that. What do you say school district?

We also got some hotel deals. We decided to split up our trip by staying 3 nights in the SF area, one night in Monterey, and 3 more nights in the SF area. We had an awesome time.

Yes, time for some lame-when-it's-not-you type photos. Did all the tourist stops: Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli, Pier 39, Ripley's Believe It or Not, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, Japan Town, Treasure Island, Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay Aquarium. The kids had a great time and want to go back soon. We had a good visit with my dad and family.



Can't forget a pic of the official bird of Fisherman's Wharf, the rat with wings, the squawking, annoying, seagull. Here is my attempt at getting as close as I could while walking backward and taking a self portrait. It didn't work that well.