California - Monday

Monday, January 30th
Monday morning we took the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods to see the famous redwood trees. It was a little chilly in the forrest, but neat to see these large trees so close to the big city.

After that we headed back to the city and took a (1 hr) side-trip to grab In-N-Out burger. By the time we got it and made it back to the Golden Gate Park, it was time for our Segway tour at 1:30pm. So, we ended up saving our burgers for afterwards and they were still quite tasty. The Segway tour was a lot of fun - I just wish it had been a little warmer! As you can see, we have many, many layers on for this 2 hr tour of the park. Its a great way to see a large area and not as hard as I would have thought. My parents did really great on the segways - I was the only one who managed to take a tiny spill and bang up my knee with a good bruise. We were the only ones on our tour, so unfortunately we had to laugh at every joke our tour guide provided... No really, it was interesting and we learned a lot about the park and city.

Our tour guide told us of a great place for golden gate bridge viewing - Baker's Beach - so we made our way there after the segway tour. It was beautiful and somehow 10 degrees warmer than in the park! After a few pictures, we headed over to the bridge itself, so that we could actually walk out on it. Dad usually skips this part due his distaste for heights, but he mustered up the courage and went to the half-way part with us only pausing momentarily for a picture. It was sunset and a great time to see the sights.

Dinner Monday night was at a place one of my dad's patients recommended - The Stinking Rose. It was a garlic restaurant in the North Beach/Broadway area. Once we sat down, our waitress said she hoped we enjoyed our stinkin' experience! Everything on the menu had garlic, garlic, and more garlic on it. I got the pork chop w/ caramelized apples, garlic potatoes and it was delicious. After dinner we had to take dad to the airport so he could catch his red-eye flight. Sad for his part of the trip to end, but I think we managed to do and see alot in the 4 days we were all together!!