San Francisco Weekend- Day 3

The end of the Road, and the “must-see” of Frisco.
First off, early in the morning I awoke. We didn’t have early tickets to anything on Sunday morning, but I just couldn’t sleep. It could have everything to do with the fact that our rooms were not very large and not well ventilated. AKA- the ceiling fan that’s supposed to cool the room down- doesn’t actually work. I mean, at least it gets a breeze going, but it’s still really warm in there. Don’t get me wrong, though- we paid $65/night for this hotel that is right in downtown San Francisco. And on the weekend of the Chinese New Year parade.

I took an absolutely frigid shower at the hotel. The hot water was somehow off for our floor when we got to showering. It reminded me very much of my Ukraine experiences when there was no hot water and I showered for weeks in cold water. Ice cold water. Apparently, I was the only one brave enough to actually step into a cold stream of water. Everyone else did “bucket” style showers.

We left the hotel at a good time, giving us time to do a couple things without needing to feel rushed. Those couple things may be obvious now, as you’re asking yourself where was our Golden Gate Bridge trip. And on the way out there, we decided it was time to DRIVE down Lombard St. It was a fun experience, and not as hard as one might think. It’s fun to drive down, but Rachel hopped out to take pictures of us going down.

We next followed our noses out to the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s really cool- and fun to drive across. But, to be honest, the Bay Bridge is much longer, though certainly not as cool. Because it’s a suspension bridge, and due to the need to withstand heavy winds off the ocean, it has the ability to horizontally shift up to 27 feet to keep it from collapsing. That’s totally cool. And the huge wires that hold up the supports and all- 36 ½ inches around, I think. Majorly huge.

So, after going across, and going back across for the fun of it, we decided that it was time for us to head home. So we head back into San Fran, only following our logical sense thoughts to get back to I-80 to head toward Sacramento. Reminder here- we haven’t had breakfast yet, or coffee, or anything. So, as we get out of San Fran and pass Oakland, we stopped in Berkley to go to Denny’s.

Continuing on after breakfast, it’s a rather uneventful drive back. We saw the Del Taco/KFC again. And one of the coolest things was seeing this sign that we were not able to get a picture of. It is a miles-to sign- telling us that Ocean City, MD is 3073 miles away. Ocean City is where Rachel and I have gone to the beach before when we lived in PA. Check our pictures here and here.

Our conversation on the drive back ranged from so many different topics. At one point, it was discussed that urine can smell like coffee if nothing else is in the bladder. Funny part- hours later, Rachel is sharing about a social worker friend of hers who has one client family that doesn’t brush their teeth because they believe it to be a conspiracy. When asked about it, Rachel said, “oh, well, this is also the family that drinks their own pee.” And me, the comedian I am, answer the obvious question of “why” with, “because it smells like coffee!”

Overall, the weekend was excellent! We had a wonderful time, and got to spend some really good time with friends that we will be all too soon leaving. Anyone with the chance, find your way to Frisco. It’s a great place, with lots of fun things to see- and of course, way too much to do in just one weekend.

And as I close out this series of blogs, I really want to do this: here’s a list of what I can think of in television shows and movies that take place in San Francisco. I would love to entertain comments of other things missing from the list, or corrections on things, too.

- Big Trouble in Little China- great Kurt Russell movie. And, as I watched it again for the first time since I was young, I discovered that this movie had “Matrix” style moves way before “The Matrix” ever came out. I guess one less thing they’re original on…

- Full House- “what ever happened to predictability? The milk man, the paper-boy, and evening TV…”

- The Rock- of course. Connery, Cage- what more do you need to make a movie work?

- (Rachel, Dave and Kassie all seem to agree that this one is in SF) Who Framed Roger Rabbit- I remember something about the RedCar (trolley) being dismantled…

- So I Married an Axe Murder- “woman, wo- man. Wooooah- MAN”

- Mrs. Doubtfire- “see that Nattie- that’s called liposuction.” The classic “Dad dressed like a woman just to be a part of his kid’s lives but then his older kids find out and can’t tell the younger one and it all blows up in a restaurant when he’s supposed to be himself and the woman at the same time, but gets a little drunk and forgets himself and ultimately ends up all coming back in his face type” of story

- The Parent Trap- is primarily based in the California Wine Country- which is the Frisco area.

- Just Like Heaven- one of Rachel’s new favorite movies.

I’m sure there are more. Help me out, people!!! Also, bonus points for anyone going back to see how many different terms I use to refer to San Francisco. And super-bonus points if anyone knows of any variations that I have NOT used.

Thanks for reading my running commentary. I’ll get back to some of my ranting and hopefully get some thoughts relating to spirituality or something out soon.