Fog City Getaway

My first images of California are of this bridge. Is there anything like it in the world?




The photo above was taken at Baker Beach, just West of the Presidio.

We checked out Alcatraz. There was even a former inmate, Darwin Coon, there that day plugging his book, Alcatraz; The True End of the Line.

We stayed in this GREAT little place, Hotel Del Sol in the Marina District.It is the BEST place for kids. There were cookies and milk every night, videos for loan, games, *BRIGHT* colors (see photo below) and it was remarkably quiet for being in the middle of the City.



Our favorite babysitter attends SFSU. We got to drag her to the Exploratorium. I don't think she liked it much. (I'm being sarcastic.)




We wandered around Fisherman's Wharf, ate clam chowder from a bread bowl, had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and even found the USS Pampanito.

As I have done my time with the military, I choose to stay topside. Submarines are way too close quarters for me.




















It was windy (not on the submarine) alot and we throughly enjoyed ourselves for the rest of our trip. I remembered what I originally loved about California. Things you can only find up north; Eucalyptus on the Bay breeze and fresh green vistas. But in the end, we returned home to SoCal safe and sound after having left a teeny bit of our hearts in San Francisco.









~~Mama

A Spring-y Celebration!

We celebrated the arrival of Spring on "Irish Day" (you'll see the date on the photos, so you'll be familiar with it) with some very good friends. (Translation: we ate corned beef and drank to everything Irish we could think of.)

The kids had a spectacular time as did the adults and we all went home happy and full of good cheer, I mean...Cheers...





We would normally do a celebration of Spring, but....alas, we all forgot. Too stout with Stout, I guess.

Cheers!
~~Mama

Nicolas is 7!!!

Boy turned 7 and it was a racous time. We have a standing NASCAR date with our dear friends, Lady and Smuffy and their kids and there just happened to be a race on Boy's birthday. Yes, his hair is quite long. He's been working on a padawan braid (like the Jedis) and so the rest of his hair was growing. But then it got too long and I had to give him some bangs. MORAL; never let Mama near your hair with a pair of scissors!!!! (It's since been fixed.)

~Mama

Fun at the Races

It has been too long since this reporter has graced the web with his witty dialogue, engaging writing style and his humble outlook on life...
So since that reporter is not available, I want to talk about racing.
It's only been a couple years since I started watching NASCAR and becoming a fan. In that time, I have to say that NASCAR is the best at educating it's viewers on the terms, rules, and strategies that make up racing.
In the times that I've become a fan of racing, I've picked a driver at random and started watching races now and again becoming more and more educated. What's funny is that I am a die-hard Steeler fan in football and they are dressed in black and gold. My driver is Matt Kenseth. What color is his car? Black and Gold. Coincidence? hmmmmm......
What I had not done is actually gone to a NASCAR race.

Last Sunday at the California Speedway, I did just that.

My good friend Ed and I got up really early and headed over to Fontana, CA. The race was set for noon, but we also got pre-race pit passes and wanted to make sure we got full use of that priviledge. We parked in general parking which is free, but a decent walk to the Speedway. This may sound like a pain, but it was totally worth the walking as leaving was not the ordeal it was for the other 90,000 people trying to worm their way out of the parking lot.

So we wandered about the trailers full of merchandise and "outfitted" our families, with shirts and hats then made our way to the pits.

What I didn't realize was that the pit pass allows you to actually go out onto the track itself, into the infield grass, and through all the pits themselves. The only thing you can't do is go up to the cars themselves. The pits have all the gear from high-tech screens to precision repair devices like aluminum bats.. :-)

After walking around for about 3 hours (one wouldn't think that there would be that much to do before a race...), we grabbed some grub and headed to our seats.

Oh yeah, we also go these headphones and track scanners that allow you to hear the driver-pit chatter throughout the race.

Now logically, I cannot explain how it would be fun at all to sit down with 90,000 other people and watch cars turn left for 250 laps. I have to tell you though.. I LOVED IT!! It was such a blast! The track scanners were awesome and I spent most of the time listening in to my driver.
At the end of the day, it was an exciting race and my driver won the first NASCAR race that I've ever been to. (By the way, Thanks honey for getting the awesome seats!!!)

So in conclusion: Racing= good, Live at the track= fun, Marc = silly.

Coming soon: We're going to be taking a family vacation up to San Francisco! So stay tuned for pics and stories from that adventure.

Signing off......
Marc