If you're going to San Francisco - Day 4

I got up and went for a run on the Bay Area trail which was a few blocks from my hotel. This is a walking/running/biking trail that goes all the way up and down the San Francisco Bay. I went my customary distance and even got to see the sun rise.

I then went ahead into San Francisco on the BART. I had decided I wanted to ride a cable car. Per what I've read, they are one of only two moving National Monuments in the world. There are three lines in San Francisco, so I took the one that would deposit me closest to the place where my training was.

I struck out for the end of the line to maximize the time I rode. I walked up hills for what seemed like forever. I finally gave up and got on. It turned out I had been walking up Nob Hill.

I paid my 5.00 (for a one way ride) and was told I could sit inside or ride on the running board on the outside and hang on. I opted for the latter. It was a somewhat neat ride but I am not sure it was worth 5.00. You are very close to cars and you really have to make sure you don't fall off.

I went to class and we finished up the last day. I took the BART to Market Street. I went into the Ghiradelli chocolate shop (they give free samples). I also went into the Virgin Records store. I hopped back on and went to my car and the hotel.

I drove up to eat at Houlihan's then filled up the car. I went back to the room to watch the season debut of The Office. I packed up and went to bed.

If you're going to San Francisco - Day 3

I managed to sleep a bit later. I headed on in to the city. I ate at McDonalds (my old standby) and attended a full day of class. We ran late and I didn't get back to my hotel til after 6. I hustled out so I could get to Wednesday night services at the Airport church of Christ. After I finally located it, I went to grab what I thought would be a quick meal at KFC. It took FOREVER to get my food. I wolfed it down and headed down the block to services.

Everyone was great. There were several visitors there that had Kentucky ties (two were from Paintsville ). Then I saw Jennifer Davis. She is living there now and is the daughter of my friend Larry Davis (he's the one who told me about this congregation) whose mother Elizabeth attends Central with us. It was really good to see her. I'd taught her in Bible class and she had taught my sons when they were little. She said it made her feel really old to find out they were now a freshman in college and a senior in high school. One of the ministers there had been baptized by my friend Ronnie Whittemore (who preached at Heath when we were there).

It's always cheers me up to find a congregation of loving and friendly people when I am out of town. I'm usually pretty homesick by this point and it is a big help. It's also good to know there are always fellow Christians wherever you are. I know if I had an issue that I could have called people there and they would have been glad to help. I am not very good at being hospitable and welcoming and this helps encourage me to do a better job of that.

I stayed for quite a while then went back to my room and went to bed for the night.

If you're going to San Francisco - Day 2

I got up at 4:30am and couldn't go back to sleep. It was 6:30am back home so I would presume that's the reason. I discovered my ancient laptop would no longer recognize the pcmcia card I had for wireless Internet access so I had to use the hotel business center. I worked a bit and read and then headed to the San Bruno BART station.

BART is the Bay Area Rapid Transit. I had ridden the Metra in Chicago and this is similar. A big difference is how you are ticketed. In Chicago, you buy a ticket and a conductor checks it when you are on the train. On BART, you buy a ticket which you load up with the amount you want. The ticket has a magnetized strip (you are warned to keep it away from cell phones and magnets). You insert your ticket into a slot and it pops out the top and you are admitted to the station. You actually get charged when you leave. If you don't have enough on your ticket to cover it, there are "Add-a-fare" machines to add more to your ticket so you can exit.

The ride was fine. No one bothers you. Most everyone sleeps, reads, or listens to some sort of MP3 device. I got out at the Embarcadero station and located the building where my class was. One thing I discovered was there were coffee shops all over the place. There were TEN Starbucks within a quarter mile of where my training would be. I ended up going to a place called Specialities where I got juice and a large chocolate roll (I never eat quite as healthily as I should on these trips :-)).

I went to class. There was a gentleman from London there. He was quite knowledgable and interesting to chat with. The teacher was good as well. We went right up to 5 (started at 9). I walked to a local Office Depot to get a USB based Wireless network connector then got on the BART at the closet station (Montgomery) and headed back. There were actually BART police on this train just keeping an eye on things. I grabbed the car and went back to the hotel. I was tired of course so I got Chili's to go. I got Baby Back ribs and noticed they hadn't put the Awesome Blossom back on the menu. I rested in the room for the rest of the night. I was so tired I didn't even stay up to watch the season premiere of Law & Order SVU.

If you're going to San Francisco - Day 1

I flew out of Paducah early Monday morning. I got to Memphis and then San Francisco without a hitch. Given that I've had delays in the past several trips that was a blessing.

Once I got there, I got my rental car and headed for downtown San Francisco. Amazingly, I made it just fine. I headed for the Golden Gate Bridge. You can walk across the bridge so I thought I'd give it a try..




It's longer than it looks. It is a 3.4 mile round trip. I made it no problem. You can see Alcatraz Island and the San Francisco skyline.




Then I headed for Pier 39 to see the sea lions. I never dreamed how many were there.


I never dreamed about the smell though... It was to say "pungent".

There was a guy doing magic tricks there. He did a good job juggling fiery sticks. Unfortunately, he managed to throw one on top of his stage and he had to go fetch it.

Finally, I went to see Monster Park (home of the San Francisco 49ers). I couldn't get close pictures though. The security guard wouldn't let me in to take a single picture. When was in San Diego, the guard very graciously let me in to take photos. Not so here...

That was a full day. I checked into my hotel (the Hilton Garden Inn). I went to Benihanas for dinner (good as usual) and came back and went to bed.