Northwest Vacation: Part III

Following wedding festivities, Bryan, Jonah, and I headed back toward the coast for the last leg of our journey.

In Sacramento, we said goodbye to Grandpa and Grammy, but we also said a long-overdue hello to some old friends from waaaay back in our China days. Aijun and Bryan worked closely together back at the university there, and they've remained close friends and colleagues through the many years since. These days, Aijun is working at a university in Sacramento, and, very recently, his family (wife and son) made the big move from China to join him here. We don't get to see them very often (a six-hour flight is shorter than a fourteen-hour one, for sure, but it's still not close), so on those rare occasions when we do happen to be in the same neck of the woods, we try to take advantage.

You'd think that, after living in China as long as we did, we wouldn't quickly forget Chinese custom, but it turns out that when we arranged this get-together with our old friends, we didn't quite properly anticipate what we were in for.  Aijun and his wife Ye had prepared a spectacular all-day feast to celebrate our arrival.  Consequently, we spent the large part of Sunday afternoon eating.  More Dungeness crab, whole lobster, plus a variety of classic Chinese dishes like fried egg and tomato, steamed dumplings, Peking duck, and watermelon piled high.  Between meals, we spent time getting to know Aijun's son, whom we last met when he was only two months old.  He's now four--and not lacking for energy!

Monday morning, while Bryan and Aijun went off to discuss work-related matters, Ye and I took our little ones to the Sacramento Zoo.  It wasn't Jonah's best zoo trip.  He was getting over a little cold and, I think, finally beginning to feel worn out from all our traveling.  But we did manage to have a little fun.  Here we are on Jonah's very first carousel ride.  He did not not enjoy it, at least.

Andy, me, and Jonah at the Sacramento Zoo.

After the zoo, it was past time to meet our train for San Francisco.  We rushed to and through the Amtrak station and found some seats with, literally, about five minutes to spare.  Then we were on a two-hour train/bus ride to SF.  It was Jonah's first train ride--and, come to think of it, probably my first train ride Stateside.

On the Amtrak.

San Francisco was another short stop.  We only had about 24 hours total before our flight back to the Burgh.  All of us by now feeling a little bit weary from our two weeks away from home, we decided to take things slowly--just enjoy a couple bits of this last city at our own relaxed pace.  Along those lines, first stop: our hotel, just a couple short blocks from Pier 39 for walkability's sake.

Jonah tries out our bed before we nap at the hotel.

We rested up, sated our appetites with some traveler-friendly (if not artery-friendly) fast food, and then...eventually...headed out to the aquarium at Pier 39.  I love aquaria, and Jonah seems partial to them, too:

Anchovies!

Jellyfish!

Turtle!

Jonah fell asleep pretty much as soon as we left the aquarium, so, with him in my arms, Bryan and I took just a short walk around Fisherman's Wharf, then headed back to our hotel for room service and a good night's sleep.

Next day--last of our trip--we started by strolling up Columbus Avenue to find ourselves a cafe breakfast.  Here we are at Brioche French Bakery & Cafe, where Jonah enjoyed some of our breakfast sandwich and crepes.  He really eats like a a champ.

I love that, if you consider the image in
the mirror, this is a true "family" photo.

Bellies filled, we walked back north a few blocks to take in the view from Telegraph Hill.  Check us out about halfway through our climb.  You can barely make out the Gold Gate Bridge in the upper right.  Winding Lombard Street is between those two tall buildings in the skyline but not really visible at this resolution, unfortunately.  In any case, it was a lovely view of the city.

We took more pictures from up by Coit,
Tower but none with us in them,
so I like this one best.

With our last couple of hours, we then headed back up to Fisherman's Wharf to show Jonah its famous sea lion population.  He was fascinated, as, I admit, I always am.

This picture does not capture the multitude
of sea lions very well, but it does
have a cute baby in it.

Finally, we made a quick stop at a sushi bar for some lunch before our flight.  Jonah couldn't manage it, though.  He fell asleep before we even got to the restaurant (which was nothing special but not bad either--we'd picked it only for its proximity to our hotel and its child-friendliness).  He slept straight through our meal, even as I dripped soy sauce and wasabi on his poor, tired, little head.  My angel.

Time to get this guy home.

As I said, family, food, and magnificent views.  We had a really spectacular trip.  And, although we're glad now to be back home--working in our own garden, playing under the trees in our yard, cooking up  delicious meals (with the farm-fresh produce that just started to arrive for the summer)--we're already looking forward to our next out-of-town adventure.  And I'm sure it won't be long from now.