San Francisco Part Deaux 04/20/2016 - 04/22/2016
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San Francisco Part Deaux
topgun92000- April 27th, 2016
My Check - ins
Wedgewood Wedding & Banquet Center.
Muir Woods Redwood National Park.
dim sum at House of Dim Sum.
shrimp at No.9 Fishermen's Grotto.
Alcatraz Island.
04/20/2016 - Wednesday
I was invited to Regina's and Monty's wedding in San Ramon. The idea was to go back to San Francisco for the wedding and to get my Russian Visa finally. Unfortunately I still didn't have the papers finalized, I gave it to my family in Russia and it's taking longer than I thought. Oh well, I'll go to San Francisco and hopefully do the things that I wasn't able to do last time and cross it off the list before the Wedding on Friday. This time I took my dads truck because my car doesn't have an air conditioner and what seems to be a small oil leak. Even though I took it to Nissan and they said that "they fixed the air conditioner" yet it still doesn't blow cold air. Yes I have Freon in there. Either way, it only took me 4.5 hours this time to get to my Uncle Eugene's house who still conveniently lives in San Ramon. I enter the house, get greeted and my uncle tells me that I already know where to go as a guest. He asks me why I had a raspy voice? I've been singing in the car the whole way and didn't notice my voice was going. I love driving alone because I don't bother anyone and no one is sleeping next to me making me sleepy. Went to my room and back down for dinner. His wife Alla made tons of food. I told them that I had tried to book the Alcatraz tickets a month prior to coming yet they were still sold out! I called the ticket office, and they told me that if I get there at 5:30 am, I'll have a good chance in getting in. After dinner, I go to bed.
04/21/2016
I wake up and as I'm walking out I see this amazingness in the kitchen.
I made myself 2 sandwiches to go and left. It was 520 am and the traffic was pretty good until the San Francisco Bridge. I completely forgot about the toll. Last time I took the bus or I was given a ride with fast track. I check my wallet and I have $4 in it. I have no idea how much it costs to cross this bridge! Google you have failed me! I remember when I used to go into the navigation it would tell me when there are toll roads and how much it would cost. Where did that feature go? I look into my backpack and find 50 more cents. 6:00am I get to the window and ask the woman if they accept credit cards? Of course they do not and she tells me it costs $6 to cross. I tell her I only have four fitty. She tells me to go ahead and cross and I will get a ticket in the mail for $25. Awesome :(. I cross and get to my destination. Since it was early I got the nearest metered parking spot. Meter doesn't open till 7am but you can prepay and it accepts credit cards. As I'm looking around to where I need to be a night guard approaches and kindly shows me where to stand in order to get a ticket. He tells me that they open at 7:30 am and that there was no doubt that I will get the ticket. Relieved I go back to the meter and pay for 2 hours and stand in my own line until they open. It was cold, at that moment I remembered that I didn't bring a sweater to this trip at all. The guard tells me that the souvenir shop opens at the same time and I can buy one from there. He ended his shift at 7 am and at that moment an Australian couple comes to stand behind me. We spark up a conversation and they tell me they are visiting and are also trying to see the sights of San Francisco. They told me that the day before, they were in a place called Muir Woods. It sounded intriguing so I promised that I would go check it out. The ticket office opened and I easily got a ticket for 8:30am entrance. I bought a black and white Alcatraz sweatshirt from the shop and fed the meter for 4 more hours. Stood in another line to go onto the boat that takes you to the Alcatraz Island.
I got on and off we went. This place was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. We had to go to a mandatory orientation. Where a guy explains the rules. He asks, "What do you think the number one question we get?" Someone shouts, "Are there any bathrooms?" To which he responds, "Yes, and you'll be happy to know we have about 450 restrooms here!... But you can only use the 2 outside of the jail" I thought that was funny. I went straight to jail and got headphones for a self guided tour. It was very interesting. The jail cells were tiny, way smaller than how they look in the movies.
The man on tour guided player was one of the guards in the Jail. He explained how the guards weren't allowed to carry keys with them so they don't get overpowered and stolen. They had to have the key lowered to them from the second floor when they needed it.
Even with all the precautions there were a few attempted escapes that were almost successful. Two people were actually never found after their escape. Legend has it that they are in South America still.
He also says that the island was home to all of the guards and their families. It was a like little village where kids played pretty much outside of the jail. They had to take the boat everyday to go to school in the mainland which was 1.5 miles away.
It was also home to many birds. A lot of seagulls were there. I was told that I had actually came at the best time because this is when the snowy egrets were in town. They are white birds that look like they have broad shoulders. They look like the mafia.
They were almost extinct because they were hunted to be made into hats. After they shut down the jail, there were Native Americans who tried to claim the land. It became a landmark for all Native Americans to come to so they can be free and start anew.
Unfortunately they didn't succeed and were kicked out. However, they did start a following and their voices were definitely heard because shortly after that, Native Americans were given reservations. At some point during my tour a man looks at my sweatshirt and says, oh man that's funny. I look down and didn't notice before but my sweatshirt said Property of Alcatraz Swim Team. I giggled at my own sweatshirt and made my way back. At the exit/entrance they were showing a movie, but it didn't say anything different than the tour. The boat picked up passengers to go back to the mainland every half hour. I went on and said goodbye to Alcatraz.
I checked the meter and it was expired. Thankfully I didn't get ticketed. I put 1 more hour in and decided to walk to Fishermans Wharf to eat a shrimp sandwich.
Went back to my car and finally left that parking spot. I paid $9 to that meter. I drove to China Town to get some Dim Sum. Afraid to park close, I parked at the nearest parking spot I can find, again at a meter. I paid the meter for 2 hours and walked the rest of the way. I got to a place called House of Dim Sum and of course they only accepted cash. I asked if there is an ATM nearby, she told me that there was a Citi Bank down the block. I head down and sure enough I am starting to see the bank. I stop to think for a moment and recall that the last time I was in San Francisco there were Chase banks everywhere! I continue on and there it was! Right next to Citi Bank the all reliable Chase. I take out cash and go back to get some Dim Sum.
I must have tried every meaty thing that was on the menu. It was good. I went back to my car and keeping my promise to my Australian friends I head over to Muir Woods. The drive is gorgeous with windy roads going up a canyon. I just noticed that I'm running out of gas. Going uphill was making my anxiety worse and of course I didn't see any gas stations like last time. I make it to Muir Woods and even though there was parking in the lot, I decide to park on the side so I didn't have to pay since I kept feeding the meters earlier. As I exit the vehicle someone quickly tells me that I can park in the parking lot, all National Parks today are free because of Earth Day. What an amazing coincidence. I go for a 4 mile hike and it is beautiful.
I fell in love with the Forest all over again since my Sequoia adventure. I figured, of all the biosphere's I like the forest best.
Pictures really don't do this place justice
For something that was free, this place was really empty. After I made my loops, I head back home. Still with little gas I figure I'm going downhill the whole way, hopefully I can make it. I did, right at the end of going down, there was finally a gas station. I filled up and went home. I put my sandwiches that I had saved in the morning in the fridge and went to sleep.
04/22/2016 Friday
I decided to sleep in because I had to drive back home late night after the wedding for a memorial. So I slept, watched a movie, "Meet the Patels," ate my sandwiches, and went back to sleep. Drove just 10 minutes away to San Ramon Golf Club for the wedding. The company was Wedgewood. This is my 3rd wedding in 2016 and all of them have been by Wedgewood. I guess this is my year to attend everyone's wedding. The ceremony was a cool Agnostic one.
I made friends with Regina's co-workers and had a great time. We were dancing eating and hanging out with the very beautiful bride.
The wedding ended at midnight and I drove home losing my voice again.
See all of the pictures here
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Wedgewood Wedding & Banquet Center.
Muir Woods Redwood National Park.
dim sum at House of Dim Sum.
shrimp at No.9 Fishermen's Grotto.
Alcatraz Island.
04/20/2016 - Wednesday
I was invited to Regina's and Monty's wedding in San Ramon. The idea was to go back to San Francisco for the wedding and to get my Russian Visa finally. Unfortunately I still didn't have the papers finalized, I gave it to my family in Russia and it's taking longer than I thought. Oh well, I'll go to San Francisco and hopefully do the things that I wasn't able to do last time and cross it off the list before the Wedding on Friday. This time I took my dads truck because my car doesn't have an air conditioner and what seems to be a small oil leak. Even though I took it to Nissan and they said that "they fixed the air conditioner" yet it still doesn't blow cold air. Yes I have Freon in there. Either way, it only took me 4.5 hours this time to get to my Uncle Eugene's house who still conveniently lives in San Ramon. I enter the house, get greeted and my uncle tells me that I already know where to go as a guest. He asks me why I had a raspy voice? I've been singing in the car the whole way and didn't notice my voice was going. I love driving alone because I don't bother anyone and no one is sleeping next to me making me sleepy. Went to my room and back down for dinner. His wife Alla made tons of food. I told them that I had tried to book the Alcatraz tickets a month prior to coming yet they were still sold out! I called the ticket office, and they told me that if I get there at 5:30 am, I'll have a good chance in getting in. After dinner, I go to bed.
04/21/2016
I wake up and as I'm walking out I see this amazingness in the kitchen.
I made myself 2 sandwiches to go and left. It was 520 am and the traffic was pretty good until the San Francisco Bridge. I completely forgot about the toll. Last time I took the bus or I was given a ride with fast track. I check my wallet and I have $4 in it. I have no idea how much it costs to cross this bridge! Google you have failed me! I remember when I used to go into the navigation it would tell me when there are toll roads and how much it would cost. Where did that feature go? I look into my backpack and find 50 more cents. 6:00am I get to the window and ask the woman if they accept credit cards? Of course they do not and she tells me it costs $6 to cross. I tell her I only have four fitty. She tells me to go ahead and cross and I will get a ticket in the mail for $25. Awesome :(. I cross and get to my destination. Since it was early I got the nearest metered parking spot. Meter doesn't open till 7am but you can prepay and it accepts credit cards. As I'm looking around to where I need to be a night guard approaches and kindly shows me where to stand in order to get a ticket. He tells me that they open at 7:30 am and that there was no doubt that I will get the ticket. Relieved I go back to the meter and pay for 2 hours and stand in my own line until they open. It was cold, at that moment I remembered that I didn't bring a sweater to this trip at all. The guard tells me that the souvenir shop opens at the same time and I can buy one from there. He ended his shift at 7 am and at that moment an Australian couple comes to stand behind me. We spark up a conversation and they tell me they are visiting and are also trying to see the sights of San Francisco. They told me that the day before, they were in a place called Muir Woods. It sounded intriguing so I promised that I would go check it out. The ticket office opened and I easily got a ticket for 8:30am entrance. I bought a black and white Alcatraz sweatshirt from the shop and fed the meter for 4 more hours. Stood in another line to go onto the boat that takes you to the Alcatraz Island.
I got on and off we went. This place was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. We had to go to a mandatory orientation. Where a guy explains the rules. He asks, "What do you think the number one question we get?" Someone shouts, "Are there any bathrooms?" To which he responds, "Yes, and you'll be happy to know we have about 450 restrooms here!... But you can only use the 2 outside of the jail" I thought that was funny. I went straight to jail and got headphones for a self guided tour. It was very interesting. The jail cells were tiny, way smaller than how they look in the movies.
The man on tour guided player was one of the guards in the Jail. He explained how the guards weren't allowed to carry keys with them so they don't get overpowered and stolen. They had to have the key lowered to them from the second floor when they needed it.
Even with all the precautions there were a few attempted escapes that were almost successful. Two people were actually never found after their escape. Legend has it that they are in South America still.
He also says that the island was home to all of the guards and their families. It was a like little village where kids played pretty much outside of the jail. They had to take the boat everyday to go to school in the mainland which was 1.5 miles away.
It was also home to many birds. A lot of seagulls were there. I was told that I had actually came at the best time because this is when the snowy egrets were in town. They are white birds that look like they have broad shoulders. They look like the mafia.
They were almost extinct because they were hunted to be made into hats. After they shut down the jail, there were Native Americans who tried to claim the land. It became a landmark for all Native Americans to come to so they can be free and start anew.
Unfortunately they didn't succeed and were kicked out. However, they did start a following and their voices were definitely heard because shortly after that, Native Americans were given reservations. At some point during my tour a man looks at my sweatshirt and says, oh man that's funny. I look down and didn't notice before but my sweatshirt said Property of Alcatraz Swim Team. I giggled at my own sweatshirt and made my way back. At the exit/entrance they were showing a movie, but it didn't say anything different than the tour. The boat picked up passengers to go back to the mainland every half hour. I went on and said goodbye to Alcatraz.
I checked the meter and it was expired. Thankfully I didn't get ticketed. I put 1 more hour in and decided to walk to Fishermans Wharf to eat a shrimp sandwich.
Went back to my car and finally left that parking spot. I paid $9 to that meter. I drove to China Town to get some Dim Sum. Afraid to park close, I parked at the nearest parking spot I can find, again at a meter. I paid the meter for 2 hours and walked the rest of the way. I got to a place called House of Dim Sum and of course they only accepted cash. I asked if there is an ATM nearby, she told me that there was a Citi Bank down the block. I head down and sure enough I am starting to see the bank. I stop to think for a moment and recall that the last time I was in San Francisco there were Chase banks everywhere! I continue on and there it was! Right next to Citi Bank the all reliable Chase. I take out cash and go back to get some Dim Sum.
I must have tried every meaty thing that was on the menu. It was good. I went back to my car and keeping my promise to my Australian friends I head over to Muir Woods. The drive is gorgeous with windy roads going up a canyon. I just noticed that I'm running out of gas. Going uphill was making my anxiety worse and of course I didn't see any gas stations like last time. I make it to Muir Woods and even though there was parking in the lot, I decide to park on the side so I didn't have to pay since I kept feeding the meters earlier. As I exit the vehicle someone quickly tells me that I can park in the parking lot, all National Parks today are free because of Earth Day. What an amazing coincidence. I go for a 4 mile hike and it is beautiful.
I fell in love with the Forest all over again since my Sequoia adventure. I figured, of all the biosphere's I like the forest best.
Pictures really don't do this place justice
For something that was free, this place was really empty. After I made my loops, I head back home. Still with little gas I figure I'm going downhill the whole way, hopefully I can make it. I did, right at the end of going down, there was finally a gas station. I filled up and went home. I put my sandwiches that I had saved in the morning in the fridge and went to sleep.
04/22/2016 Friday
I decided to sleep in because I had to drive back home late night after the wedding for a memorial. So I slept, watched a movie, "Meet the Patels," ate my sandwiches, and went back to sleep. Drove just 10 minutes away to San Ramon Golf Club for the wedding. The company was Wedgewood. This is my 3rd wedding in 2016 and all of them have been by Wedgewood. I guess this is my year to attend everyone's wedding. The ceremony was a cool Agnostic one.
I made friends with Regina's co-workers and had a great time. We were dancing eating and hanging out with the very beautiful bride.
The wedding ended at midnight and I drove home losing my voice again.
See all of the pictures here
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