Day 8 San Fransisco

Tuesday Jan. 11 2011
Day 8: San Fransisco

We stayed the night at Marin R.V. park.

What a fun day! I love San Fransisco! We are all so exhausted. We walked and walked and walked. A nice change from the driving. I was so proud of the boys they didn't complain at all.(Except Codey, he wanted to go to In & Out burgers instead of the Ghirardeli factory). I obviously have not trained him very well. They were troopers especially little Caleb boy. We started the day with showers, breakfast and a quick pick up and then we headed out for the day. Our first walk of the day was from our R.V. park to the ferry that was exactly a mile. I thought I would jog a little, because I really wanted to get some exercise in for the day(actually we were trying to make the Ferry on time). Little did I know that I would get plenty of exercise in and than some. We got on the Ferry in a hurry. We took some pics. Waved at the prisoners at the prison . They waved and waved at us. I couldn't help but think about them being someones child. I guess it's the mother in me. then I headed inside for some warmth with Addy. I sat down and took a few pictures. Some ladies next to me started to talk to me. They asked where we were from. I shared with them what our family was doing and why. They only had the kindest of things to say. When I told them about Corey quitting his job. The one gal said "I know everything will be just fine, I can tell". She then shared about her own experience with following a dream that required a huge leap of faith. She wanted a farm, she left the City of San Fransisco and went to the Valley and started growing grapes and sheep.( If your out there and you do actually read this blog. Can you please give me your info again. It got lost when my husband was looking for our ferry tickets.) These women were so lovely, kind and funny. They gave us 5 aquarium tickets. THANK YOU, THANK YOU so much it can get spendy with a family of our size. So we so appreciate it so much . When I asked the boys about there favorite part of the day they said the aquarium. So thanks again! And bless you for your kind words.
We made it to San Fran and I was so excited. We started the walking. We first went to the aquarium at fisherman's wharf. The boys just loved it. It was so relaxing and calming to be in there. I then got suckered into buying a picture of me and Caleb from the gift shop. After I judged the guy ahead of me for falling into the trap. After the aquarium we found a covered spot to eat our lunch because of the rain. We then did some window shopping while we continued down the wharf towards Pier 39. It was pure entertainment just walking around. We saw all kinds of people and places. The boys watched this gentlemen shape dough into a cute little boy and girl bear from a bakery that I cant remember the name of. Next we walked and walked to Ghirardeli square, because it is a priority to teach my children about what makes life worth while. We shared a family ice cream sundae and the people all around us stared the whole time. I think they thought we were crazy or there mom was such a great mom for teaching them about chocolate. It was so fun to share. I think that is the only way we will eat ice cream from here on out. It was a blast! After we got our sugar strength back, Carston entertained us with some good laughs in front of the nice fountain of the nude nursing mermaids. We headed back out to do some more sight seeing, walking and to head home. On the way back Caleb gave a crippled man a quarter then watched him walk away. Of course It brought me to tears when I shared it with Corey. Caleb later told me he had stolen the quarter from Carston. We also saw a gentlemen who does a robotic statue to earn money. Caleb was intrigued by him. And asked if he could get the same silver make up. He also did a little practicing on the way home. We saw lots of homeless again. One lady was licking the wrapper of some trash. One gentlemen who was not homeless was carrying a parrot on his shoulder. I pointed out the parrot to the boys. The man came right over and put the parrot on Carston's shoulder. Then he started talking ,I really couldn't understand him very well. He talked to us until he realized I didn't have any money and then he walked away disgusted with me. I then told the boys about what manipulation means. I did have a homeless guy, who was holding the why lie I need Booze sign tell me I was a cutie. So that made my day. I can still turn a homeless boozers head. A great victory for a mother overweight and middle aged. I won't be overweight after walking in San Fransisco. These have to be the most healthy people ever because of all the exersizing they do. We finally got to the ferry to get back home. We missed it by 3 minutes because I was looking at the wrong time on the Ferry pamphlet. We headed over to the shops by the ferry to wait until the next one. We bought some bread to take home for dinner and the boys looked at books at the book store. We started back over to the ferry entrance and Corey couldn't find our tickets. So we watched as all the 5 o'clock rush walked by us. He did end up finding it just in time to make it and sit on the cold deck because all the warm seats were taken. We got on the ferry and said goodbye to beautiful San Fransisco. It was so much prettier leaving in the night lights then coming in the day. We made it back from the ferry ,then headed to do our last mile until home sweet home. We finally made it. The boys headed to the warm showers I warmed up the soup and Chili I had gotten from Costco. Then cut up our yummy fresh bread from our days journey. Had dinner watched a little t.v. Now we're going to sleep like we've never slept before. When I told Caleb he was going to sleep so good tonight. He said "why"? I said, "well because you walked and walked today. I really think I might just leave my heart in San Fransisco. I loved it!