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Published: April 16th 2019
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Weather: Partly sunny, cloudy, sprinkles and 60s
States: Nevada and California
Miles: 218
Hours: 3 hrs and 26 min
Restaurant: Pompei’s Grotto
Hotel/Home: Courtyard Marriott Fisherman’s Wharf
Movies:
Audible: Escape From Alcatraz
After a nice sleep, we woke early to get head start to San Fran since Reno itself is a bit of an armpit. Sorry. Where we stayed, in Sparks, is nice. It is about 10 minutes from downtown Reno. On our way out, we stopped in downtown Reno to see what it was about. Pretty much a seedy pit of druggies and down and outs. We had the kids step over a couple of syringes to get a picture of the Reno Arch. Ben says sarcastically, “Now I can tell my kids about the time I was in Reno.” Similar to the trip Paul’s dad took to Mexico the family while they were in California. Paul’s mom suggested visiting Mexico while they were so close to the border. His dad unenthusiastically obliged. He drove across the border of Tijiuana, turned around in a parking lot and drove back across. Mexico.
We are now driving through the snowy mountains of California.
Roads are clear and it is 45 degrees at 9 AM. We are driving to the north of the Golden Gate Bridge from Reno so we can cross it. As the Golden Gate Bridge revealed itself over the trees, the kids gasped in awe. I was pleasantly surprised to hear them excitedly ask if we were crossing it though I told them multiple times that we were. Teenagers. We stopped at a park near the bridge. Everyone loved it. These trips take a lot of planning but I pretty much know exactly where goIng with little effort.
We have had a great first day in San Francisco. After the bridge, we found our way to our Courtyard by Marriott Fisherman’s Wharf, unloaded and took our van to the lot a block away. We can’t park in the hotel’s lot because of our size. The lot is in the heart of the Wharf so we started exploring. We had lunch in Japanese restaurant at Pier 39 overlooking the bay, the bridge and Alcatraz. We had some good sushi and sashimis. We appeased Elizabeth with a few gift shops. Then, I hiked them up a steep street to the bottom of
Lombard street. That sounds like an oxymoron. Hike up to the bottom. We hiked up to the top of the street. The kids liked this iconic street. We hiked down, down, down toward another steep street to our hotel with a stop at a Starbucks. It was chilly and there was a slight sprinkle so a coffee sounded good. Weirdos all got iced coffees. It is in the 60s but breezy and damp. If the sun were out, it would be warmer.
We got to our hotel when Paul announced that we were going to the Spy Store across the street to shoot guns. Yay (sarcasm). Cool store of spy stuff. Elizabeth played a virtual game and the boys shot air soft guns or whatever they are. Now we are back at the hotel waiting for my sister to come in from Oakland. Yay. Can’t wait to see her. It has been way too long. We are going out to dinner now.
We had dinner at Pompei’s Grotto in Fisherman’s Wharf. It was good food and we had a lot of laughs with Heather. We closed the restaurant. Heather and i sat and talked at the hotel until
late. It’s great to catch up. Tomorrow morning, Heather is going with us to Alcatraz. Now, I am going to bed. Busy day.
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