Where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars . . .

We took a very scenic route to San Francisco on Saturday. We drove on the bay side of Marin Co. until we got to Tiburon. The North Bay truly is a splendid place. As we were driving along, we spotted two chubby faced kids sitting on a corner with a big, homemade sign that read "Lemonade, 50 cents." It’s been years since I’ve seen a lemonade stand. The kids were so adorable - we had to stop. The little boy scooped the ice and filled the cups while the little girl counted the coins. Kev said that his lemonade tasted like sunscreen. (Heh, heh.)

According to Kevin, there’s a famous property law case out of Tiburon. As we walked on the boardwalk, he pointed out the various signs that cited code sections enacted because of this case. (Ahhhh, the wonderful contributions lawyers have made to the world.) We found a really cool café that sells gelato in Tiburon. I was happy about this.  Gelato is hard to find, you know?

We met Colin and Shannon in Sausilito and found a nice restaurant, perched over the water, with a full view of the downtown skyline. As the sun set beyond the Golden Gate, the skyline shone vibrantly with different shades of yellow, orange, and purple. That evening we explored the Palace of Fine arts and then drove up to Coit Tower and through China Town. The next day we spent pretty much the whole morning and early afternoon in the Exploratorium. We were only planning on staying for two hours. But, as Shannon said, "that’s what you get when you bring along two science nerds." Seriously, though, it was a blast. Everything was a hands-on experience. (And it was the type of place where you wanted to take a shower with hot water and bleach afterwards to kill all the germs!) We learned something fascinating about Kevin while at one exhibit. He sees colors in different tones than the rest of us. ( No wonder we disagree about the color of something now and then!) The cones in Kev’s eyes see more greenish tones and the cones in Colin’s, Shannon’s, and my eyes see more reddish tones. It was hysterical. The rest of the morning we kept asking him, "Hey, Kev, what color is this?" Poor guy. We love him anyway.

We also went to the largest tourist trap in the whole city - Fisherman’s Wharf. But, hey, you’ve gotta go at least once. Kevin is the only one among us who likes seafood. So, he got some while there. It was fun to see the famous S.F. street performers. I was very happy that we were all successfully frightened by the notorious "bush man" in S.F. There’s this guy that sits down on the sidewalk between Pier 39 and Ghirardelli’s behind some branches (so he looks like a bush) and then, when people least expect it, he reaches out and scares them. It’s great fun to be scared by him - and then watch him scare other people. We drove through Nob Hill, drove by the Victorian Painted Ladies, drove through Golden Gate park, etc., etc. San Francisco is truly the most beautiful, most colorful, most interesting city in the world. Every time I go back there, I’m reminded of it. As we left the city, the signature fog started rolling in. What a wonderful day.