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Published: August 21st 2007
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Arrrrrrgh its a pirate
Down at fishermans wharf i had a good laugh with a pirate. Welcome back to Part 2 of “Matt’s Super Fun Summer Vacation”.
After a quality nights accomodation we checked out of the Discovery Inn fairly early on Monday morning; with only 2 full days in San Francisco we wanted to make the most of it. On the way down to Monterey we took ‘The Interstate’ which is a highway with no stops and lots of lanes. The quickest way from A to B, but not too much too see. On the way back however we missed the turn off and ended up taking the scenic highway all the way to San Francisco. It kind of reminded me of driving at home a bit as the roads were only 2 lanes wide, and followed the contours of the coast.
So we got to San Francisco and “The Cow Hollow Motor Inn” about midday. It was a nice motel situated not too far from a lot of the sights. That afternoon we took a bus tour of town that took us to the golden gate bridge and to the “twin peaks” which overlook the bay area. It provided lots of good photo opportunities and showed us things we wanted to go back
Jesse at Golden Gate Bridge
I had to post at least one photo of San Francisco, and here it is and see again. San Francisco also had a fisherman’s wharf, completely different to the one in Monterey. A lot of the water front stores were selling souvenirs and knock off products. I got myself a pair of 'designer' sunglasses for $10.
There are a lot of transport options in San Francisco. The tour guide from the day before said San Francisco is the 3rd worst city in the states to drive in. So I wasn’t all that keen on taking our rental car out of its stall. We managed to use all the different modes of transport in the 2 day span. The next morning we caught the bus down to the pier and checked out the aquarium but not before missing our stop and riding all the way across town and back. The aquarium had some nice features like some pools where you get to touch baby sharks, but was considerably smaller than the aquarium in Vancouver.
We then caught the f-line street cars to the Asian art museum to look at the Astro Boy exhibit (Well actually an exhibit of all the work by the artist who drew Astro boy.) I wasn’t familiar with Astro Boy,
but Jesse said she had watched the cartoon series when she was growing up. It was very cool, and they had some very cool comic strips posted on the walls. Sadly no cameras allowed in that exhibit. But that didn’t stop me taking Tui in to the other exhibits and getting his photo taken with priceless artifacts.
We then went shopping in Market square where all the big fancy shops are. On the way back to our hotel we caught the tram and I rode part of the way hanging off the side. It was a lot of fun although probably not recommended if you want to get somewhere in a hurry. So back at the hotel we grabbed some warm clothes and baseball gloves as we were off to a San Francisco Giants game, I was pretty excited about this. For those of you who don’t know Barry Bonds was going for an all time home run record and was 2 home runs short of tying the record the night we went. The game the night before was sold out, and we were lucky to get some great seats at the last minute. Sadly the game turned out
to be fairly uneventful; with most of the excitement coming when Barry came up to bat. Everyone got to their feet hoping to catch the lucky ball, but it turns out he didn’t hit any home runs that night. It was a great experience and Tui enjoyed himself too, getting his photo taken with a lot of strangers in the stands.
So with one out left in the final inning we thought the game was pretty much over. San Francisco was down 4-0; it was getting cold and we wanted to get at the front of the line for the bus ride home. So we left early. As we were going down the exit ramps we saw on TV that they had finally got a run in. When we got to the bus stop we waited for large numbers of people to start queuing in behind us; then a guy decked out in ‘Giants gear’ with his portable radio informed us that the game had been tied up. We still caught the bus home, and the game continued for another hour and a half before Atlanta finally won. I caught the end of the game on tv in bed
in our hotel room; much warmer than those who stayed for the whole game.
Wednesday we checked out of our room and went to the airport. We were flying to a small town called Kimberly in British Columbia; Canada for Jesse’s friend Letitia’s wedding. I saw this as a kind of trade off for me taking Jesse to bike racing; but in the end I enjoyed going to the wedding, and i'm sure Jesse got something out of going to bike racing.
We got back into Edmonton on Friday. I had been a bit air sick flying in to Kimberley on Wednesday so took some travel sick pills. About half an hour later I was out to it. I slept through the 2 flights, I slept in the airport lounge between flights; and when we got home, I slept for the rest of the afternoon.
We went out to Jesse’s cabin the next day for the weekend. I hadn’t been for a swim in the lake by this stage, so Sunday I had a ride behind their boat on a tube. It was a lot of fun, and as you can see from the photo you can
get a bit of speed going.
The following weekend we were off again. It was a long weekend (yes another one) so we went to cold lake to our friends family cabin. It was a 3 hour drive north east of Edmonton, almost on the Saskatchewan border. Another one of our friends bought a Seadoo out to the lake (its like a big jetski). I had a ride on the back when it was being taken from the boat ramp round to the beach by the cabin and was scared sh*tless holding on the back of this thing going flat out across the water. Later I had a go riding it with my hands on the handlebars and enjoyed much more. The fun was short lived though as some small rocks got sucked in to the impellor putting it out of action for the weekend. But I still went for a swim every day. Surprising for someone like me who’s not so keen on the water.
So that about brings me up to date. My work is currently applying for me to get my visa extended 2 more years. So i’m kind of in limbo and cant leave
Me and Jesse at the wedding
The both of us all dressed up at the wedding the country until my new one comes through. But that should be sorted in a few months. And I’ve booked tickets home to NZ for me and Jesse for Christmas, so thats another trip for us to look foward to.
I probably wont have any more exciting stories for a while, so take care everyone.
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Emily
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I love the pic of you two at Cold Lake!!! Tui is getting much better at taking photos.