Lovely San Francisco

As many of you know, I ended my Space-A travels in San Francisco. That worked out quite well, because on my route back home, I stopped back there to visit two Pi Phi friends from college. I absolutely LOVE the atmosphere of the city. It's eclectic and fun, and we had a blast touring around for the week!

One of our first stops was the De Young Museum in the Golden Gate Park. All of the exhibits were brought over from the Picasso Museum in Europe while they remodel. This is the first time that they have been in the US and it will be the only time. All of the pieces were a part of Picasso's personal collection. I was surprised at the variety of styles of the artwork. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside the exhibit, so I can't share the exquisite pieces with you.

An attempt at my creative photography in a different section of the De Young Museum. Can you see me?

This is a common "teacher" look. I am practicing it for when school starts back up. Obviously, he won...but I might return for a rematch!

This was taken from a tower at the De Young Museum. What a gorgeous view of San Francisco in the background!

Me and the Painted Ladies at Alamo Square.

Finally, I got to see the famous California Redwoods at John Muir National Park. This is at the entrance.

Wow! Look at how humungous this tree is compared to my arm span!

Sheila had never ridden the cable cars, so we waited in line for almost 2 hours in the freezing cold for our experience. It is always a great time, but I definitely didn't plan for cold weather this summer. It was a huge shock to come from 90 degree Illinois to 55 degree California!

We took a tour of the Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park...it was like an appetizer for my return to Japan.

After Sheila left, Sarah and I decided to take a trip down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz. We saw this lighthouse from the road and decided to take a short detour. This is Pigeon Point Light House, a State Historic Site.

The scenery was spectacular!

We finally arrived at Santa Cruz and walked along the Boardwalk. It was definitely a lot like an experience at the Illinois State Fair, which was good since I was disappointed to miss it this year. We walked along the boardwalk and down the pier to get the full experience. This is California's oldest surviving amusement park, founded in 1907.

My view from the Skyride...just like the fair! These boys were really excited to get in my picture...what cuties!

Sarah and I getting ready for our ride on the Giant Dipper. It's the 5th oldest roller coaster in the United States. It was quite a fun ride!

Here I am leaving the Boardwalk. I was sad to leave, but ready. It had been a really long day already, and we had to drive all the way back to San Francisco.

Here I am on my final day in California with the Bay Bridge in the distance. We made some time to shop at the markets near Pier 39 where I frantically searched for more unique jewelry made from flatware. Success! It was from here that I caught my flight north to Seattle...the adventure continues.