TJ And Nichole

We had a nice meal on a pier last night. Once again my food was okay and TJs was great. I guess that is what I get for being a non fish person in a fish town. I wanted him to wear the bib the whole time but he didn’t.

Alcatraz was expensive, but very cool. We were probably the only people not doing the audio tour so we could say whatever we wanted and no one knew. There was a nasty rain coming in on our ferry ride over and luckily we arrived in the prison just in time. By time we were done the rain was almost over. Yeah us!

Fulfilled TJs requirement for dim sum and it was really fun. We were the only Caucasians in the place. It was so loud which was wired because out on the street it was really quiet.

We had breakfast at Mama’s again. If you are ever in San Francisco you have to go. The breakfast is incredible! If I had to choose between Mama’s and Baja Fresh… It would be Mama’s. A few tips to note. 1. Cash only 2. You stand in line, then order, then you are seated ( when one comes available ). 3. If the line is too long, you may be directed outside… Brings to mind “no soup for you!”. So worth it.

We brought the Midwest with us in the form of hail. The weather has been a lot like Portland… Cool, rainy, and cloudy. Good thing we haven’t let the weather spoil our trip.

Back from wine country. We saw Old Faithfull do it’s thing and checked out the petrified forest. Nichole called these once in a lifetime experiences. I say because you’ll never want to do them again. Actually both were cool just overpriced.

Napa and Sonoma however were great. We hit up a few wineries and bakeries. The tastings are cheap when you’re only paying for one. Yes I felt guilty but… worth it.

Traffic on the Bay Bridge was bumper to bumper on the way back and it costs $4.

We are off to Albona Ristorante tonight. Urbanspoon won’t lead us astray. Free valet parking but two blocks away. Just when I thought nothing in this city was free.

So it is official… Fodor’s is terrible at suggesting restaurants and what is even worse is TJ trusting them. The new policy in this Oldani household is that we will no longer support Fodor guides for travel and I will pick all eating establishments. In addition to these policies, TJ will now be supreme map navigator since there is concern that I may be map illiterate even though my internal sense of direction is way better than his… But not with maps.

We are off to wine country on the Redwood Highway to put these policies to test.

Well, he actually has crab, not crabs. It is dungeonous crab time in San Francisco and he just had to have one. We opted for the $9.95 a pound outside instead of the $27.95 inside. I hope he likes it!

We walked through part of Muir Forest and were amazed at all of those trees! It was really cool to learn about how they grow. There was a tree that had fallen in the 30’s that they believe began its life around 990. A lot of history has happened since then and we have done our share of damage. Glad to know we haven’t cut it all down yet.. But they would make beautiful tables.

It has been rainy most of the day today. Reminds me of Portland. Snapped these shots by the Cliff House.

Hey Nichole. Just a little further back.