Hello San Francisco!

Last weekend Mom found a new travel buddy – Turner! Turner can’t type yet, so he told me what to write.

Friday night we went to Taco Cabana for a sendoff dinner, then drove Mom and Turner to the airport, where they got on a plane bound for San Francisco.

When they got to the airport, a nice man who had no luggage of his own helped them through the security line. Mom thought she used up all their good karma when they got on the plane and were seated next to a snarly looking guy, but then the flight attendant told them they were on the wrong side of the plane and had to move to a seat where no one was next to them. They slept almost the whole way there.

When they got to San Francisco, our friends Rachel and Tony picked them up. Before Mom and Turner left for the trip, Mom told me they are funny people and they make everyone laugh a lot. One day, I said something funny and Mom asked who would make her laugh while she was gone. I told her, “Tony.” Sure enough, Mom laughed more than she could remember the very first night she and Turner were there.

The next day, they all headed up to Hawk Hill for a view of the city, including the Golden Gate Bridge. It was beautiful, and a bunch of airplanes that were all together flew by.

Mom said anywhere you look in San Francisco, you can see something interesting, and that drive was no exception. The road was very curvy and on the side of a huge hill. There were many people cycling up too, which was really amazing.

After that, they headed to Sausalito for lunch at the Winship, followed by ice cream. Then they went to Muir Woods http://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm to look at the redwoods, the biggest trees Mom and Turner have ever seen. There were many people there, but it was still very peaceful and relaxing.

Turner was tired after a long night of traveling and at the end of the long day, so they headed home for some Thai takeout and an earlier night. One of the many things Mom liked there was all the nice food. She really liked the pumpkin curry from the Thai place.

Sunday everybody set out for a trip on BART, San Francisco’s subway, and lots of walking. They took the train to Westfield Centre, where they loaded up on lunch (including a soup bowl and the best crepe Mom’s ever had) before setting out for Chinatown and North Beach. There were people everywhere in Chinatown and lots of fun shops. Mom picked up some gifts for all of us and they saw a fortune cookie factory, which consisted of about four people packed into a tiny little space. North Beach is the city’s Italian section and there was awesome food everywhere. They ended up in Washington Square Park, where an old guy took a picture of Turner because he said Turner is the youngest person he’s seen in a long time.

After walking through all that, Mom and Rachel were tired and sore, so they took a bus back to BART. The bus was packed and people kept smiling at Turner. When they went back to Tony and Rachel’s house, Rachel made nice lamb meatballs and pizza for dinner. Everyone was exhausted so we had another early night.

Monday Mom set out with Rachel for some grocery shopping. But this was no trip to HEB. First they headed to a huge Asian grocery, where they had every type of fish and sea creature imaginable. They also had great candy and produce. Mom brought back some candy from the store that combined two of her favorite things – chocolate and mushrooms. They must have been delicious because they are gone and only Mom and Dad had some.

Next they stopped at an El Salvadorian bakery for some banana bread pudding. Mom liked it because no one there spoke English so Rachel had to order by pointing and holding up her hands. Everything there looked delicious.

They headed to a Mexican grocery with loads of great fruits and veggies and amazing looking tortillas before stopping off at a Chinese restaurant to pick up some lunch. Mom liked all the walking and that one neighborhood had so much diversity within walking distance.

After the delicious lunch, Tony, Mom and Turner gave Rachel a break and headed to Alcatraz. Mom thought the boat ride to and from the island was nice, but it made Turner cry both ways. He slept the whole time on the island, while Mom listened to an audio tour.

On the way back, Tony drove through lots of interesting neighborhoods, where Mom spotted lots of things she thinks she’ll never see anywhere else, including a medical cannabis collective and shops with names too interesting to mention on this blog in the Castro http://www.sfgate.com/neighborhoods/sf/castro/. They picked up Indian takeout for dinner before their last night of lots of talking and laughs.

Early Tuesday morning, Rachel and Tony drove Mom and Turner back to the airport. Mom and Turner were very sad to say goodbye. They didn’t get very lucky with their seat partner on the flight back and Turner slept only about halfway home, so Mom was anxious to finish that leg of the trip.

When Mom opened the door to get in the car when we picked her up at the curb at the airport, Hazel and I were inside giggling and wiggling around maniacally. We were really happy to see her and Turner.  The first thing I said to her was, “Did Tony make you laugh?”

Turner is making the most of his two teeth – he is eating like crazy and bit Mom for the first time on this trip – and he was happy to be an only child for the long weekend. He had lots of time to snuggle Mom, especially since he rode in his carrier instead of a stroller. But we’re all glad to be back together again.

While Mom and Turner were gone, we had our own adventure with Dad. Tune in tomorrow to read about the fun we had.