First week..........

What a great first week, we can't believe it's already over!

Summary......

Monday
We arrived in San Francisco, 2 hours late because of security delays. First thing we did was rent a car - a red Dodge Stratus (supposed to be a Geo Metro but we got a free upgrade). We met up with Andy and George for dinner and then just chilled for the night.

Tuesday
We drove out to Muir Woods. It's a big forest of huge red wood trees. We got to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to get there and then we drove up a really windy road through the mountains. Just the drive there was awesome. We did a tour through the woods and almost got lost. But we made it back before dark. When we got back to Andy's, they took us out to a little bar named Boswells for some Karoake.

Wednesday
We spent the day in "the City". We drove to downtaown and parked the car. We got to take the historic trolly down to the wharf where we did a tour of Alcatraz. It was really neat. We got to cross the Bay on a ferry over to the island. The tour through the prison was quite interesting. We learned about the history of the island and the prison and who was held there. We then just toured around Peir 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. They are the touristy areas. Peir 39 is like a miniature fair, there was even a Merry-go-round. We had the staple Clam Chowder in a bread bowl, Alison even liked it. We walked back to the car and walked through China town.

Thursday
We got up early and went for a 12 hour drive. We drove down Highway 1. It's the highway that runs along the Pacific coast. We stopped in the little town of Santa Cruz and ate our lunch on the Pier. We continued driving down the coast for the rest of the afternoon. We took some really nice pictures. We didn't get back until late, so we just stayed in while Andy and George went out.

Friday
We wanted to go to Napa for some wine tours, but we decided that was a little out of our budget, since most of the tours were done by limousine. So, instead we went to San Jose to the Winchester Mystery House. This crazy lady thought spirits were trying to get her and her psychic told her that to keep ther spirits away, she needed to continue building and never be done until she dies. So, she bought some property and started the building. The thing is, she lived for another 38 years, and had to keep building. So she would just build around what was already there, thus blocking windows, making doors open to walls. There was a door that opened to nowhere and a flight of stairs that led the ceiling. It was an impressive house which cost her $5.5 million to build.

For dinner, Andy wanted to take us out for sushi. So, we tried it. Trev ate raw fish!! Alison just tried the vegetarian stuff.

Saturday
We took it easy during the day, because we were going to party that night for George's birthday. George wanted to drink 25 drinks for his 25th birthday, but he passed out at 24 drinks, so close!

Sunday
Another easy day recovering from the night before. We just got our stuff together and ready for leaving tomorrow.
WOW!! I can't believe it. This is where the real excitement begins, we are crossing an ocean tomorrow!! (but it is a 15 hour flight)