Yay!! Vacation pics!! ^_^
This was taken on Tuesday, our first full day there. We were staying in Berkeley, CA, which is right across the San Fran Bay from the city of San Fran. Our hotel was right next to a Marina, and in this pic, you can see the many boats there, as well as our hotel (the tan building in the right/center of the pic).
This was also taken on Tuesday. It's a stereotypical downtown San Francisco scene. Hills and townhouses! Lol. That day, we went to Pier 39, a major tourist hotspot, and also to Chinatown. Since I'm really stupid and can't figure out the concept of distance on a map, I convinced my parents to walk from the Pier to Chinatown. I think my legs about fell off during that walk.
On Wednesday, my parents and I took a day trip to Monterey Bay, which is about 2 hours south of SF. While my parents golfed, I went to the MB Aquarium. It was so awesome! It was probably the best aquarium I've ever been to. However, about 95% of tourists there didn't speak English. I'd like to think that I'm a very tolerant person, but when little children push me aside and say, "Que?" when I say, "Excuse me!" I just got sorta annoyed. So after about 3 hours of hanging out in the aquarium, I left and went shopping. And also met a cute French guy. Unfortunately, he didn't speak English either, and my French is only about as good as a 5 year old's.
Here's a picture of a wild sea otter at the MB aquarium. The aquarium had created a realistic tide pool for children to scuba dive in, and this little guy climbed over the rocks and into the tide pool, and ended up falling asleep on the concrete foundation. I guess he figured that there was nothing there that would have eaten him. Lol. But he was adorable, so I took a picture. ^_^
On Thursday, my family and I went to Sonoma Valley. While my parents and sister went wine tasting, I went horseback riding (as I'm not exactly 21 yet and wouldn't have been able to participate in getting toasted ^_~). Anywho, the guide put me up on this huge Percheron, which is a type of draft horse. She was the biggest horse I've ever ridden. Her back was about as high up as my nose. But she was the cutest thing!! Her name was Belle.
Friday was another downtown San Fran exploration. We went down Lombard Street (that crazy twisty road that people actually live on) and over the Golden Gate Bridge. We passed by this restaurant, which I thought was hilarious. I mean, come on..."Bob's Sushi"....*bursts out laughing*
Here's a pic of the Golden Gate before we drove over it.
On Saturday, we went north to Muir Woods, which is a giant redwood forest. It was amazing!! I've never seen such huge trees! Lol. The tree that I'm standing in was hollowed out by forest fires, but it was still alive. Mom and I each bought a Giant Sequoia seedling to plant in our backyard. We figured that in 2000 years, when they're like 300 feet tall, people will see these trees in the middle of Missouri and they'll be like, ".......wtf??" Lol.
Sunday was our last full day there, but it was also the most fun. We took my sister and went down to Monterey Bay again. While my dad and sister went to Carmel, mom and I went whale watching. On the way out to the bay, we saw a lot of California sea lions on the wave breaker.
We also saw whales!!! First, we saw a blue whale, but he was really far away, and he didn't surface much. But, after some more searching, we saw a humpback whale! And he surfaced a lot, which was awesome. After he was down for a few minutes, we were wondering where he was. The next thing we knew, he was surfacing about 10 feet from the boat!! I was like, "WHOA!!!" I think the whale was just as surprised as we were, because he immediately swam under the boat and surfaced a ways away, which was when I took this picture. Never in my life will I forget that!! ^_^
This was my last picture of downtown San Fran as we made our way to the airport Monday. "Goodbye, San Francisco!!"
So yeah...that was my vacation!! Fun fun!