the San Francisco family rollercoaster
We found a gorgeous county park on the hillside above Oakland as our home base for an assault on San Francisco. Our plan was to spend only 2 nights here and head north. Big cities are awesome in their own right, but with the camper and kids and a dog, let's be honest... Kristin and I weren't going to spend the afternoon barhopping or experience any fine restaurants.
Our original plan had us arriving in Oakland on a Thursday afternoon. We'd set up shop and plan out our agenda for Friday. Our thoughts were to get in after rush hour in the morning, get out early afternoon before traffic hits again. Hey, might even have time for a trolley ride. BUT a quick check of the weather revealed a 100% chance of disgusting weather for Friday. So, after a long drive from Aptos we refilled our coffee cups, and headed into San Fran on Thursday afternoon. We knew it was going to be a wild ride but this was our only window to see the golden gate as we are all excited to head north into the redwoods and Oregon (AND the park was booked up for Saturday night, we only had 2 days). So, back to Thursday. Its 3:30pm as we headed out from our campsite. Google Maps says it'll take an hour to get there. Its hard to describe the feeling of sheer awe as we drove our suburban over the bay bridge and saw San Francisco on our right, and the golden gate. The size of this bay is unreal, nearly overpowered by the massive cliffs and steep hills that surround the whole thing. Like nothing either Kristin or I had ever seen before. We were actually giddy as we headed in. (could have been the massive caffeine high but probably not.) I don't really remember the last time I felt giddy while driving. The closest thing this trip might have been the mountain switchback passes, but even that was mostly terror. So in our giddy state we navigated the congestion over the bay bridge, onto the peninsula, through downtown(ish?) San Fran and straight to the visitors center. It's now about 5pm.
Walking the bridge with a 3 and 5 year old went something like this:
4:50pm. Child Potty emergency. Wife and son tuck and roll out of burb while Soph and I park.
5:05pm. All depart to visitors center and start walking to bridge!
5:15pm. Realize son has brought his walking stick along and doesn't want to wear his jacket but is freezing and does not wish to continue. Progess: 1/8th of the way across the bridge. Not even water below us. Still land, although it's a very, very long ways down. The view is mind bogglingly beautiful.
5:16pm. Wife and daughter continue on bridge alone while son and I sit on side to wait. He is now crying because he is cold, but still won't put on his jacket. He is also attempting to shove his walking stick through the fence and off the bridge, which is highly ILLEGALl and carries a large fine, according to the many posted signs along the way.
5:25pm. Wife and daughter appear in the distance, headed back our way. Crying has continued, jacket is not on, but stick situation has been neutralized.
5:30pm. Reunited with family. Wife works the magic and gets son into jacket. Crying ceases.
5:40pm. Back in the burb.
Watching bridges come and go...
View of the Bay, San Francisco and Alcatraz from the bridge!
And that was our 50 minute experience of the golden gate bridge.
Post-bridge we found a locals beach on the ocean side thanks to my sisters recommendation. Gorgeous view of the coast line and bridge with a little park off to the side. We'd packed some burgers to grill while walking the beach and taking it all in. It was cold, windy and overcast that afternoon but the burgers and scenery were fantastic. We stayed at the beach until a little after 6:30pm hoping the traffic would be dissipating as we made our way back over to Oakland. Nope. I feel kinda dumb writing this because I'm no stranger to traffic or rush hours, but most of the people who work in San Fran don't live there (something I should have logically deduced.) They take the bay bridge home. A bazillion small side streets funnel into half a billion medium sized streets which funnel into 4 main roads which condense into 5 lanes, and then 2 lanes because of construction. And then you're on the bay bridge. It took over 2 hours to get home. Most of that traveling the mile from the beach to the freeway. We're not mad, in all honesty we should have been more prepared for it. The kids rocked it out with hardly a complaint. Practically a miracle for a 3 and 5 year old who were in the car close to 2 hours past their bed times. We have ZERO regrets with our short trip into San Francisco. None. It will be one of the most memorable experiences of our trip.
View from Baker beach where we grilled, had a picnic and *thought* we waited out traffic...
And that's how we did the mighty San Francisco. Our swath cuts an inch deep and a mile wide.
Running trail views from Anthony Chabot Regional Park!
REFLECTIONS: Sometimes when Kristin and I have time to ourselves at the end of the night we attempt to reflect on how we're traveling. We discuss all the things we missed along our way. "We really should have done Sea World. Geez, we missed little Italy and Alcatraz.. The kids would have loved Carlsbad.. " And on and on. All that is true. We miss a lot along this journey. Some of the reason for this is financial. We can't justify 200 bucks for 4 hours at sea world, or even more for a ferry tour of Alcatraz. It's just not in the cards for this trip. The distinction for us right now is that we're LIVING, not vacationing. Doing everything all the time would cost a fortune. Not to mention it reeks havoc on family balance. Down time is more important to us than party time. Our kids couldn't keep pace even if we had the finances to do all these things. So, we're incredibly selective on the things we choose to pay for and have been so pleased with what we have done on this trip. And, most of our favorite experiences have been FREE. Seeing Sophia find and pick up a starfish at low tide to examine? Truly priceless. Watching Austin build towers from driftwood along the Pacific Ocean? Yep. Free. Awesome.
FINAL THOUGHTS: On very short notice we extended our stay in Oakland for a day (found out if we walked up to the park station at 9:01am we could snag the one drop-in spot for Saturday night) so we could visit my cousin and her family in Vacaville just north of where we were staying. It had been years since I'd seen her and it was such a great experience. So, if you are reading this Natalie, we had such a fantastic time with you guys. It was too short. Jeremy, the tri-tip rocked man. Ava, a special thanks to you for being so generous and loving with our kids. Nolan, Austin looked up to you as the big man outside. Budish Family, thank you so much. Love you guys.
Until the next time.. BG.
addition from Kristin: thanks to the surprise extra night at our county campground, I was able to sneak in 2 other reunions with a friend from high school and a friend from childhood. catching up with people and finding out they've turned into amazing adults is the best. so grateful for all of the really good people in my life... and now their cute kids. ;)
Colin's kids loved a ride in the bunk beds to our new spot for the night! And my kids loved the company xoxo
20 years later we both have kids and we're both in California!! love to you my Olivia xo
