#worldtraveler day one

after d1: family vacation? not yet

So far - 3 cable car trips; one Muni tram ride; one bus ride; ice creams; beach; museums = 1; Trader Joes = two visits

Not too late a start this morning - total surprise!
We caught a bus out to Haight Ashbury to pick up our bike rentals from San Francisco Bike Rentals (one comfort bike; one tandem!). I think this is the first holiday I've ever used the GPS on my phone to navigate on public transit. Before we flew out, I moved providers to Wind then picked up their Unlimited US Roaming package - so far (and I haven't seen any extra billing), it's working well. Seeing where we were going in real time, following the blue dot on Google Maps, is an interesting and less stressful way to travel.

By bike through Golden Gate Park for lunch by the beach - it's a fun and not too taxing ride along flattish trails and bike routes. Apart from a hissy spat from the Wee Guy about riding tandem, we sailed plainly. Comfort bike? - er no; my sit bones...

racing towards his prize: you cannot believe how excited this chap was to get into the museum

waxy monkey tree frogs relaxing

After lunch, we pedaled back through the park to check out the newly-remodeled-to-me California Academy of Science. Apart from missing the Larson exhibition, all was good. We did our Pacific NorthWest due diligence by experiencing an earthquake; we waved at the fish in the aquarium and ascended among the butterflies in the rainforest canopy; we topped out on the Living Roof, making notes on the drought resistant plants thriving in situ.

soda and ice cream bar
(returning for the grown ups sodas on sale soon, i hope)

After returning the bikes, we managed a traditional upside down dinner by having ice cream sandwiches at The Ice Cream Bar on Cole Street, before catching a street tram back to the Powell Street cable car turntable to catch a ride up the hill to go home.

Outside riders off the edge #worldtraveler

A video posted by pomomama (@ebbandflo) on Aug 26, 2015 at 7:44pm PDT

And this turned out to be an unexpected highlight of the day. Not only did we managed to grab the outward facing seats on cable car one, but we stood on the running boards on car number two. The Wee Guy's face was a picture as we clanged down the gradients, with him safely confined in mr ebb's arms.
Stopped by Trader Joes for a pizza for dinner and then back to the chardonnay for the evening.
Day one - done.