Back in LA

We concluded our road trip, returning to Yosemite (which we weren't that impressed with, probably because of the hordes of tourists), then straight to San Francisco. By the time we reached the wind turbines at Altamont Pass, we decided we were ready for the city again. This trip through Mother Nature didn't pan out, but we figured our last trip (to Monument Valley, Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyons) was pretty much unbeatable. Our track record with San Fran wasn't good, but this time we were determined to have a better time. This plan was nearly derailed when we arrived in town and tried to find a hotel. We didn't want to stay in SF proper, but rather in Oakland, but we couldn't find any hotels (the Marriott doesn't count). Berkeley yielded the same result, as did Richmond (and it's huge bridge!) or San Rafael, so we decided to try driving all the way around the north of the bay (through the marshes at night along a single road with the sun setting, which was beautiful) and on to Vallejo. We FINALLY found a hotel by "Discovery Kingdom", a Six Flags roller coaster amusement park. At this point, we didn't really care where we slept, as long as it had beds and a roof, so, with these low expectations, we had a good night's rest.

The next day we drove back the same way and saw San Quentin (where Charlie Manson sleeps, oh how creepy!) and over the Golden Gate Bridge into sunny San Francisco. We drove through, over the Oakland Bay Bridge and checked into the Hilton Garden Inn (which we highly recommend) and then explored Oakland. In some respects, Oakland is similar to Downtown Los Angeles, with some first steps taken toward revitalizing the neighborhood, but I'm partial to our Downtown :) When we headed over to San Francisco again, we had a wonderful few days, walking around the Wharf, Chinatown, downtown, Haight Street, and we took a night trip to Alcatraz. All the photos of our trip are online here, and they tell a far better story than I can.

On our way back home, we stopped off in Big Sur for a night, because it's Jona's favorite place (possibly in the world!), sleeping in a cabin amongst the redwoods, making log fires and relaxing. Altogether the trip was good, but it could have been better. It's always nice to get out of the city to get some perspective, but I think we're explored California quite a lot. Next time, we'll head out of state again.

Since we got back, we've gone to a night at the new Grammy Museum Downtown Los Angeles, for an evening with Gloria Gaynor (who did sing "I will survive" that night). We went to the library with our friend Jim to listen to Tracy Kidder (whose "Mountains Beyond Mountains" you must read if you haven't already). We went to "Where the Wild Things Are" (good) and "Coco Before Chanel" (good). Last night, JM went to the library to listen to Irene Khan, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, and Jona made a Jello brain for Halloween, which looks very cool.