Kenny and I had done this activity before. And while getting up some of the hills was challenging, it was also super cool. I was really excited for the boys to be able to do it too. I was a little worried about Riley, but he did just fine, with the exception of one meltdown right before we got to the bridge. He said he couldn't do it, but I knew he could. Especially because he was on a tandem with Kenny and really didn't have to do much. Neither did Rory, who was on an attachment behind Steve. I borrowed Debbie's bike since she, Zac, Grandma, and Grandpa elected to take the ferry instead of biking, and Paul, Nick, and James each rode their own bikes. We had a great ride!
We set out from the Maritime National Park, rode right in front of Ghirardelli Square (no time to go in for chocolate, unfortunately), looped around right by the bay (Riley contributed his own little rock tower to a collection by the water), and then took the San Francisco Bay Trail on Marina Boulevard and Mason Street. Then we looped up Long Avenue (mega hill!) until it met up with the Battery East Trail, which we followed all the way to the bridge itself.
Biking across the bridge was a bit of a challenge. There were lots of people, both on bikes and walking, so we had to be really careful not to run into anyone. For the most part, everyone followed the rules: pedestrians on the outside and bikes on the inside. But there were some times when navigating was hard.
There are a few cutouts on the bridge, so we pulled over, got off our bikes, and took some photos. We also got to see just how high we were and were rewarded great views of the city and of Alcatraz.
Once we hit the halfway point of the bridge, it was all downhill from there. We regrouped at the Golden Gate Bridge View Vista Point (super crowded with tourists) and then made our way down into Sausalito. Flying down those hills was so exhilarating after battling the steep sections!
We arrived at our lunch spot, The Spinnaker, about half an hour before our reservation. The boys played on the rocks while we waited for the rest of our group to get there. Oh, and they also pretended to be statues in the restaurant's front windows. Too funny.
We had a nice lunch in the all glass restaurant (great views all around) and still had time to walk around Sausalito before we caught the ferry back across the bay. I just love that town.
We returned the rented bikes, walked back to the garage where we left the cars, and sat in major rush hour traffic before we finally got back to the house. We grazed on leftovers for dinner and enjoyed not moving for awhile. It was even cool enough to light the fire!
The next day was supposed to be somewhat of a rest day, but we ended up walking A. LOT. After spotting a deer outside our AirBnB, Kenny, Grandpa, and I went over to the house to meet up with everyone else. (Paul and Nick unfortunately couldn't join us this day; one had work and the other had school.) The boys were hanging in their fort, but we gathered everyone up and walked a mile down to the Rockridge BART station to catch a train into the city.
We got off at the Embarcadero station and walked over to the nearby cable car, which we rode up to Grace Cathedral. We also checked out the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel, and the boys got to play on a playground in Huntington Park across the street from the church.
We walked back downhill all the way to the Ferry Building, where we ate lunch. Then we walked some more, down to Pier 15 and the Exploratorium museum. When we checked in and bought our admission, they told us, "Welcome to the Exploratorium. Please touch EVERYTHING!" It was such a cool place.
There was so much to look at and discover and learn. We saw things like a giant moving mechanical clock, physics displays, a gigantic moon, a huge curved mirror, illusions, simulated geyser eruptions, animal embryos, blood cells, fish, plants, trees, and much more. My favorite thing by far was the model of popular San Francisco sights made entirely out of toothpicks and glue. It took one guy 44 years to build it. So impressive.
We stayed until the museum closed and then split up: James, Steve, Zac, and Grandpa went on the last Alcatraz tour of the day while the rest of us took the BART back to Rockridge. We let the boys have ice cream for dinner from Smitten, and the adults picked up Middle Eastern food from La Mediterranee. I was secretly glad we had chosen NOT to do the Alcatraz tour because we were all pretty wiped. But James did get some beautiful sunset shots on the ferry ride back.
Last recap coming up next!
1 comments:
I've said this before: You guys sure know how to pack a day with fun. Such great photos, PC. I love following you to live all your adventures through your blog.
Post a Comment