Friends Touring San Francisco

About forty six years ago I met Alice through my Russian Baptist church friends in the Los Angeles area. She lived in San Francisco and would come down and stay with her good family friend, another Alice she was named after. When she visited we had some fun adventures. The photo above is of Kathy (a New York Russian friend) myself and Alice at the Rose Parade in Pasadena. This was New Year’s Day in 1971. My friend Alice’s family came out of China to the United States years ago.

Fast forward to January 2016 and since I was in San Francisco I messaged Alice to see if she had the time to get together. Happily she was more than willing to pick me up at our hotel and take me on a incredible driving/walking tour of the city she knows well. We started by driving the scenic route to Golden Gate Park to see what we could see. We started at the Conservatory of Flowers but were very disappointed to find it was closed for maintenance. We found a great alternative at the botanical gardens in the same park.

Magnolias were the feature of the day. I also captured this great Blue Heron.

We left the park and drove through the Presidio where there were some good views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

China Beach past the late Robin Williams’ home gave us another great view of the bridge. The stone reads Since Gold Rush times this cove was used as a campsite by many of the Chinese fishermen who worked in and around San Francisco Bay. Their efforts to supply the needs of a young city helped establish one of the areas most important industries and traditions.

At this point we headed to China Town to have lunch and walk about and shop. It’s good to know what garage to park in because parking is difficult in China Town. Alice chose a restaurant nearby and suggested the Dim Sum sampler. “Dim Sum” refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food, traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. It reminded me of High Tea. We had fun shopping about the streets of China Town with all the special wares offered for Chinese New Year (Year of the Monkey) that is coming up in early February. Many of the celebrations start the last weekend of January. I bought some fun items in hopes of setting a Chinese New Year table. This year Chinese New Year will be competing with the Super Bowl and all the preparations for that. I will share more from China Town tomorrow.

Our last stop of the day was at Twin Peaks high above the city of San Francisco. You can see that the city is going all out for Super Bowl 50!

The views from Twin Peaks were incredible. From here we drove through lots of traffic and made it back to the hotel in time for Dear and me to walk a couple blocks to dinner.

My visit with my old friend Alice was so good. We had so much time to catch up as we drove around the city. So much life happens in 46 years! Thank you my friend for spending the day with me and showing me your beloved city!

I’m linking to Sunlit Sunday at My Little Home and Garden and Amaze Me Monday with Cindy at Dwellings (The Heart of Your Home).

San Francisco Day One…

We arrived to San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon and hailed a taxi to take us to our hotel in the theater district. Anytime there is a conference going on hotel prices seem to get jacked up. Since we had to find our own digs for this conference we found a better cost option with a boutique hotel. The rooms are smaller and no room service but at half the price we are good with that.

We got checked in and headed out on foot to the Moscone Convention Center to pick up Dear’s badge for the conference. After Dear was all checked in we came back to the hotel to drop off his materials and started our uphill walk to the Mark Hopkins Hotel. We wanted to experience the view from the “Top of the Mark”.

You know the streets are steep when they put in stairs! We were huffing and puffing by the time we hit California Street.

The Top of the Mark affords beautiful panoramic views of San Francisco. The prices are a bit steep but we planned for it enjoying small bites, a drink and beautiful views!

The sun set and we got some evening views, too.

I will share the photos we took of Grace Cathedral later that happens to be on California street, too. We walked through it on our way back to the hotel. Downhill all the way, woohoo!

It was a wonderful beginning for our time in San Francisco. We had some dessert when we made it back down the hill in the restaurant connected to our hotel.

I’m posting this now because today has been a rainy day in San Francisco and I’m spending the evening in my hotel room while Dear has a business dinner. I was quite the Seattlelite today venturing out on a hop on hop off tour of the city in the rain…on the top deck of the bus!! I’ll share the raindrop photos later!

I’ll share the rest of our San Francisco experience next week. Tomorrow we are being picked up by my first year college roommate and her husband for a few hours to catch up on what’s been going on in our lives the last 35 years or so before they drop us off at the airport for our trip back home.

Postcard from San Francisco Day 2…

Today was a full day of sight seeing with an old friend from my college days who grew up in San Francisco. She happens to be Russian/Chinese and knows the city well. We had several stops and enjoyed lunch and shopping in China Town where everyone is getting ready for the Chinese New Year. I don’t think I need to tell anyone what bridge they are looking at in my photo…

Postcard from San Francisco…

Hello from San Francisco. This photo was taken from Top of the Mark at the Mark Hopkins San Francisco. I’ll share more detail from our time here when we get back home. Uploading photos takes soooo long at the hotel!

We put in lots of steps today to walk up to Nob Hill from our hotel. The weather was good today for us. Dear will be busy at a conference the next couple of days and I’ll be checking out the city with a friend and on my own. Hope all is well in your part of the world.

Quaint Langley on the Island…

On Black Friday we hopped on a ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton on Whidbey Island for a visit to the quaint and picturesque town of Langley on Saratoga Pass.

While waiting in the ferry line I took a photo of this sign. I guess the people in ferry line-ups can get a little feisty.

Once off the ferry we found a parking spot in Langley and headed to Prima Bistro for lunch.

My brother Tim with his wife Letty.

Whales have been spotted in the Saratoga Passage. Saratoga Passage lies in Puget Sound between Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Saratoga Passage extends about 18 miles in a northwesterly direction from its entrance between Sandy Point on the Whidbey Island side and Camano Head on the other. I liked this sign that says, “Spy a Whale, Ring the Bell.” We didn’t hear the bell during the few hours we were here.

Overlooking the passage from First Street in Langley.

Dear and me. Dear’s facial hair is gone as of today.

Some quirky things that we saw along 1st Street.

After our delicious lunch we walked along the streets of Langley shopping in the Star Store and our favorite thrift store in Langley. Oops, I ended up buying some dishes at the thrift store. Letty bought some nice leather gloves at the Star Store.

I’ll also be linking up to Signs, signs by Lesley later on Wednesday of this week.

Our long Thanksgiving weekend was filled with lots of great fellowship and great food. We are so thankful for all the gatherings and fun times we had and are having. Our Thanksgiving company leave on Tuesday. Today we enjoyed a small Thanksgiving feast at our house and now the table games are happening while I watch Soccer with some Jalapeno chips. I’ll share more from our Saturday and Sunday Thanksgiving happenings later in the week.

Signs from Huntington Beach…

While I was in Huntington Beach last week I saw some interesting signs at places we ate and walked.

My sister and I ate here one of the nights we were together.

This was my favorite sign that we saw as we walked down Main street. Very clever on the part of the Huntington Beach Police Department.

Dear and I lived in Huntington Beach from 1975 until 1984. Our two sons were born while we lived here. Our daughter was born in Ventura. So all of our children were born in beach cities in California. Here’s a Huntington Beach Pier photo, too, that I took just this past Monday.

I’m linking up with signs, signs hosted by Lesley.

Flying Home Today…

…but not on the Goodyear Blimp!

Lots to share when I’m home and rested up. Can you believe it’s the last week of October!?

Thank you for your prayers for my BIL. Things are still as serious as they were. It was so good to see so many loved ones while I was in town. I am not fond of driving the L.A. freeways but happy that I could get around even if it took way longer than it should have.

Hope to catch up with some of you soon!

My Pop!

On thursday I was able to travel from Huntington Beach to La Habra, California to see my 92 and half year old Pop. It’s been 10 months since I’ve seen him face to face. We had lunch at The Habit close to Cal-State Fullerton. My pop said he wasn’t hungry for lunch but my niece and I were so he said, “Okay let’s go. I’m going to pay because what else am I going to do with my money?” So when we got to the habit we all ordered the #1 and he ate the hamburger and every last fry! I get to see him again on Sunday before I head home on Monday night. He has aches and pains and still would rather be in heaven than here on this earth but doesn’t he look great!?

Another great Moisism (my dad’s name is Moisi in English) that we heard again today was…”he sold the house in Thirty Nine Palms instead of Twenty Nine Palms.” He will not be corrected on that and we don’t care…we love Thirty Nine Palms!

Hope you are all doing well. I fly back home on Monday night and hope to be able to visit you all later next week.

The Last Two Days…

Thank you for your prayers for my BIL. Things remain pretty much the same. My first day here was 20 hours filled with lots of back and forth, in and out, ups and downs and freeway driving. My BIL was airlifted to a renowned hospital in the Los Angeles area the evening I arrived. A long drive from my sister’s home. There are some impressive views from the critical care waiting room. I’m having quality time with my sisters and today I’m going to go visit my 92 year old pop. I hope to see more of my family on the weekend.

Headed South…

…to rally around my sister and her family.

Don’t know when I’ll be back online.

“All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.” 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 (The Message)

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Travel