San Fran Cisco

 There's no city that's like San Francisco!

 And maybe no better view while eating your lunch! Unless you're watching cars battle for parking spots in the view turnouts.

 Our timing might have been a bit off for a visit to the city, it being Black Friday and all. I thought it would be less crowded with all the city workers at home, but I didn't think about those city workers bringing their out-of-town guests in to see the sights. It was crowded.

 We almost had to tear Ben away from the sidewalk vendors who were selling fresh steamed crabs. He would have gladly stood there on the street and eaten his fill.

 We were valiant and waited in line to ride an overcrowded cable car.

We skirted the edge of Chinatown too. This is such an interesting ad on the side of a building. Is that figure a wraith or a piece of ginger?

 This picture makes me laugh. What could Lindsey be talking about, there on the other side of the street? Whatever it is, it's dramatic.

 After the cable car, we hiked up and down Nob Hill, ending up at Lombard Street.

 Then we hoofed it back to the wharf, with it's old buildings, and it's chocolate!

 Dinner was here, at the famous Boudin Sourdough Restaurant. Did you know that they are still using the same "Mother Dough" that's been used since 1849? And Mother Boudin saved the Mother Dough after the great earthquake by scooping it into a bucket and taking it to a safer part of town? Pretty cool. And delicious. Our seats were "observation seats" by the kitchen where we watched the chefs at work. Brian changed his mind 3 times as he saw food coming out.

 As the sun set, the fog came in, making a wave over the bridge. Love it.

We'll be coming back here often, I think.

Muir Woods

 On Black Friday, needing an adventure, we drove to the coast. Our first stop was the Muir Woods National Monument, just north of San Fransisco. Redwoods galore!

Unbelievably tall trees. We spend most of our time there looking up!

 

What do you know about John Muir? I looked him up. An immigrant from Scotland, he was one of  America's first conservationist. He was instrumental in creating our first national parks and he founded The Sierra Club.

 Look at this happy couple. See my puffy vest? My kids made fun of my puffy vest. "If you fall into the bay you will have a floatation device!", they said. Back To The Future theme songs were played on their phones. I like my vest.

 It was damp under the redwoods. We saw 'shrooms.

 Sorry, one more sun flare. This one had shafts of light too and I couldn't resist.

 What a beautiful place! Next: the Big City.

Our Feasting

After hiking and finding a gold stash, we were ready to eat our Thanksgiving feast. I had made most of the meal ahead of time, so it just needed re-heating. Brian and Lindsey made Pioneer Woman mashed potatoes. Yum! Shannon made a chocolate pie. Even more yum.

The meal was presided over by Sir Francis.

After our feasting, we fell into a food coma. Appropriate for Thanksgiving Day.

Eureka!

After seeing the gold discovery site at Sutter's Mill from above, we went right down to the river to see if we could find some of the shiney stuff for ourselves. And we did!

Here's the American River, looking nothing like it did before gold was discovered.

 We had to leave our mechanical gold mining equipment in the van this time around.

 Hands and pans only, please. And we didn't even have pans.

 Many millions of dollars worth of gold was found here at Sutter's Mill. We found several flakes in the 1/2 hour we worked the river. I'm sure if Bruce and I put all of our kids to work panning for gold, we'd make a tidy profit!

 On the way back to Brian and Lindsey's place we stopped at the Placer Co. Courthouse, built in 1898. This place has seen a lot of history.

 It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving morning!