San Francisco with a local (aka Jen)

Addison and Jen had a blast together while we were at the wedding. Jen took her for a long walk, played with her, and even let her terrorize her dog, June. Addison loves dogs, but she hasn’t mastered the art of gently petting, rather than pulling, their fur. We all woke early today, and Jen made us a lovely breakfast of fruit, cinnamon rolls and biscuits.

After a quick stop at Starbucks, we headed to San Francisco for the day. Our first stop was the one thing I really wanted to see – the world’s largest camera obscura. (Yes, I do realize I am a dork.) It was awesome! Using two lenses, it projects a live moving image onto a concave white disc.

Though at first skeptical, both Kendra and Jen seemed impressed once they saw the camera obscura in action. We stayed in the area and checked out the ruins of an old swimming pavilion next to the Cliff House restaurant. We walked through a cave, and watched the water flow into the rocks below us – it felt very Harry Potter book 7. We also dipped our toes in the Pacific! Our trip is now officially coast to coast.

All of our exploring made us hungry, so we ventured into San Francisco where we found a European market. After stocking up on cheese, salami, bread, fruit and pastries, we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge to the Golden Gate Recreation Area. After driving a bit, we settled on Rodeo Beach and had a picnic. I couldn’t believe how few people were there! It was peaceful and quiet, unlike many New England beaches.

Eventually, we decided it was time to head back to Jen’s. I fell asleep on the way home, just after snapping a few pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge from the car. Once we were back in Redwood City, we put Addie to bed, made dinner, and played Wii Monopoly. It was a relaxing way to finish a fun day!