About a Trip (Part One)

Finally finished with the San Francisco pics.  Take that off the list!  Yay!  Keith is still working on his, so there will be a part two when he is done.  Those will be the good pics.

My hubby hard at work!

Mine are the odd ones.  I've never been good at typical travelogues.  I'm too weird for that.

This was about the tenth or twelfth trip to SF for us.  It used to be our regular vacation spot.  We'd go there just about every Christmas for a couple of weeks up until we bought the house, when we started saying home for the holidays.  Because we've been there so much, we've already long since done the typical tourist stuff, which means there's not a lot of that kind of thing here.  We go there primarily to hang out, do a little shopping, and eat good food.  You will find a lot of that kind of thing here.

Let's start with the hotel  This was our room.  Right next to the street.  The wifi sucked and the free breakfast was a bit skimpy (but it worked), but the location was good and the rates were right.  We'd stay there again, so all in all, it wasn't bad.

San Francisco is a city of many wonderful murals.  I think I could have taken hundreds of pics of them.  Here are a few of my favorites.

This one was on the back of an adult theater (!) across from our hotel.

Chinatown is one of the places we like to go to because the shopping is fun and the food is great.  We had some wonderful hand-rolled egg rolls there.  Yummy!  I also got to meet Confucius.  He was friendly and even told my fortune.  (Which I cannot find at the moment.)

I also go just a bit nuts over all the fun details on the buildings.

Giant tooth on a restaurant sign

Close up

I love the windows on the second floor of this building!

Bear on a column

Back when we would go every year, we would stay at this place.  It was several blocks up the street from our current hotel, but we had to go see it.  We loved The Leland!  About ten or so years ago, there was a terrible fire there, and it was closed for several years for reconstruction.  Now it's senior living apartments.

I didn't get many pics in stores, because so many of them explicitly ban photography and selfies and such.  I did sneak this one in a thrift because it was so cute. I think the one on the right thinks the guy on the other end took his saucer.

Surely he doesn't think the gal in the middle did it!

Sadly, some of the places we used to love are gone, including several stores.  A couple of our long time favorites were still there, however.

Ephemera and more!

Super awesome music store!

Did you know that Hello Kitty has a bus?  Really!

I met a couple of odd women while we were out and about.

Some pretty strange dudes, too.

Say "Aaaaahhhh!"

We were lucky enough to find two excellent restaurants right across the street from our hotel.  We ate at both of them several times.

I kept intending to take pics of the food, but then forgetting about it until we were finished.  Put a plate of food in front of a fat dude, and all he will think about is eating it.

Signs in a store window in Haight-Ashbury.

One of the odd things that I do when traveling is visiting Catholic churches and taking pictures of the statues and stuff.  It's kind of an extension of my religion collection.

These are from Our Lady of Victory.

St Therese of Lisiuex

Our Lady of Victory

Again.

St Pierre Chanel (no relation to Coco)

St Joan of Arc

Can you tell it was originally a French-language church?  I've never seen an image of Joan of Arc in person before.

These are from the Basilica of Mission Dolores, the mission around which the city was founded.

First altar I've seen for them since they were canonized.

The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of my favorites!

The original altar for the mission

I have to be honest and admit that I took a pic of this information post about building the Golden Gate Bridge because it had the term "pile butt" in it.

Yes, I am 12.

One of the more "touristy" things we did was visiting the sea lions at Pier 39 on Fisherman's Wharf.  Sea lions are cool.

The little dude in the foreground of this first pic was being quite the diva.  He just sat there, all by himself, posing.

STRIKE A POSE!

They are so funny to watch.  They just pile up on each other and crash out.  Every so often, one pile will start wiggling and carrying on when the guy on the bottom gets tired of being on the bottom and makes his way noisily out.  "ORT!  ORT!  ORT!"  (That's sea lion for "Get your fat ass off my nose!")

We joked about bringing one home for Chiquito, but we were afraid it would sleep on him and smash him.  Chiquito would so not be well for that.

While I was watching this one particular pile, something, uhm, interesting happened.

The one on the left with the flipper sticking out?  See him?  Well, he rolled over...and popped this huge erection!  I am not kidding.  Everyone on the dock saw it and cracked up.  By the time I got the phone up for a pic, it had subsided somewhat, but it's still a little bulgy.

Sea lion chubby!

And...we've descended into sea mammal porn!  You only thought this blog was all about yard sales and comic books.  DON'T LOOK ETHEL!

We also managed to enjoy some special treats.  We went to the Ghiradelli chocolate shops in Ghiradelli Square for an ice cream creation.  Once again, the spoon was faster than the camera.

BURP!

And it's not a trip to San Francisco without an It's It!  They are sooooooo good!

Well, that's the trip through my eyes.  I'll have Keith's view as soon as it's ready.  I'm pretty sure it doesn't have any walrus woody in it.  That kind of stuff only happens to me.  I also still have to talk about the thrifts.

That was such a fun trip, every bit as awesome as it used to be, except for one thing.

It's an awfully hard place to get change for a buck.

And....We're Home!

We got in late last night early this morning.  Good to be back home.  Flight went smoothly, if long.  We were afraid at one point that we might miss our connection, but it all worked out.

The wifi at our hotel was so spotty that I gave up on the idea of the photo dump I was planning for yesterday.  Complicating things even more, the laptop seems to not want to install Dropbox, which I do not understand at all.  I was even going to try it from the airport while we waited for the plane, but I could not get on their wifi.  Sometimes, technology is frustrating.

Give me a couple of days to get everything sorted out and edited, unpacked and photographed and washed and put away and I'll have a travelogue and some pics for you all.  Today, I've got to go see how bad the booth looks.  Another damn shelf sold yesterday.  It's occurred to me that every shelf I've put in that exact spot has sold lately.  I need to ponder that.

We had a vociferous welcoming committee last night.

This was the longest we've ever been away from him, and he had a lot to say about it.  He even woke us up every so often to say it again.  Poor little guy,

That pic, by the way, is your Chiquito of the Month for June.  Welcome to the Eddie-torial Comments age of multi-purposing!  Woo hoo!

Monday Rambles

Well, it's so far, so good here in San Fran Land!  We had a good flight out and the hotel is really nice, except that the free breakfast is a little lacking.  Oh well, it is free, so that's something.  I guess.

We've been kind of kicking it back and taking it easy so far.  We have a loose list of what we want to see/do, but are not going to tie ourselves down to the dictates of a schedule. If we wanna stop and have coffee, then we're gonna stop and have coffee!

I did hit two Goodwills yesterday, including one that just might be the best GW I have ever visited.  Tons of great stuff, and for the most part the prices are good.   They have half off color tags and,at one store, everything I picked up was half price, making for some super deals.  I am limiting myself to what will fit in my carry on suitcase.  It was practically empty when we flew in, and what was in it will go into my checked bag or backpack with no issues, I think.  That leaves me a lot of leeway on smalls, if I'm careful.  If I'm not,I'll just UPS my dirty undies home.

We spent yesterday hanging out in the infamous Haight-Ashbury district and having fun.  I am saving all the pics (including the finds) for next Monday's Ramble, since we'll be flying back on that day.

Today, we're off to I don't know where, but I bet it will be fun. Last night, we had the best Thai food I've ever eaten in my life at a place near our hotel.  Keith predicted that we'll eat there a couple more times before we go.

Enjoy your Memorial Day, everyone! Travel safely, if you're going somewhere.   Be sure to wear your floppy hats and lots of sunscreen if you're having a cookout or going to the beach.  Have fun.  I know we will be.

More later.

What's This?

Well, it was supposed to be a Mazda shot,but we were in such a hurry yesterday that I had everything out of the van before I realized that I hadn't taken a pic.  Will you settle for a "(Part of) What was in Mazda?" picture?

Here's a hint:  Say "Yes."  It's all you're gonna get, and it's kinda cool.

If one's plane doesn't leave until 4 and one has to go to the post office to get one's mail held, then it is expected that one will stop at the yard sales along the way.  Isn't it?

Here's a hint:  Say "Hell, yes!"

There was this sale on a little out of the way, hard to get to back street in our 'hood that was loaded with goodness.  How out of the way?  We were the first ones there and stayed almost 45 minutes and no one else came up.

How much goodness?  Filled Mazda quick, simple and cheap. Lots of vintages. Lots of kid's playsets.  Lots of Melissa and Doug toys.  Lots of lots. That lava lamp is vintage.

The crowning jewel was this table.

I've never seen a metal top table with that color top before.  I'm kind of in love with it!

And you all thought you wouldn't have a Mazda (sort of) pic.  Who loves you baby?

Here's a hint:  Say "Eddie does!"  because I sure do.

Well, I'm still kinda lagged from the three hour time difference, but we've gotta hit the streets of San Francisco and wear some flowers in our hair. Or something.

I seriously could not wait a week to show you all that table.  Have fun.I know we will!