San Francisco - Nick

10/27/17

Yesterday we got a rental car in the morning because something on the truck was broken but I’ve lost track of what’s broken and what’s not. Then we started driving to San Francisco. We drove all day and then stopped at a hotel for the night because we couldn’t pull the RV with our rental.

10/30/17

On Friday we finished driving to San Francisco in the morning and checked into our hotel, which was nice. Then we started walking to a place called Aquarium of the Bay. They had a ton of cool sea animals. They had light-up jellyfish, giant fish, some small sharks and all kinds of different things. They had a really long glass tunnel with water all around it so there were animals all around you. We saw starfish, sharks, rays, and fish. Once we were through the tunnel we went to the touch tanks and touched sting rays and sea anemones. When we were done with the aquarium we walked to Chinatown and in Chinatown we saw the fortune cookie factory. They handmade all of them. Then we ate out for dinner, came back to the hotel, and went to bed.

My birthday donut (a bit early)

10/31/17

On Saturday we went to a place called Bob’s Donuts in the morning. Donuts are my favorite thing in the world, so my Mom let me get the Challenge Donut, which is a giant donut that was bigger than my head. If you finished in under 3 minutes you got a free t-shirt and your name on the hall of fame. I did not even get close to finishing but I still got to eat the donut and it was good. After that we walked around Golden Gate Park for a while. We walked to a playground that was supposed to be really cool. When we got there it was under construction because some jerk had burned it.


Next we went to the California Academy of Science. The first thing we saw was the aquarium. They had jelly fish and fish. We didn’t spend that log at the aquarium part because we had just seen an aquarium. Next we went to the rainforest area. It was a big enclosed dome inside the main building that had tons of tropical plants, fish, and butterflies. We spend a while there. Next we went to the lobby of a hotel called Zephyr Hotel because it was supposed to be really cool.

Hanging off the trolley with Uncle Ryan
and Mr. Jacob

While we were there we got a surprise visit from Uncle Ryan, Chelsea, Mrs. Shelly, and Mr. Jacob. Mrs. Shelly and Mr. Jacob are Uncle Ryan’s friends. They were going to stay with us for 3 days. Then with everyone we went and got lunch at In-and-Out Burgers. It was really good. Next we rode the trolley to a place for dinner. On the trolley you got to hang off the edge while it was moving. When we were done with dinner we all went back to our hotels and went to bed.

Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at Boudin's

On Sunday we went to Alcatraz in the morning. Alcatraz is a prison where the worst of the worst criminals were sent. We got to go in some of the cells. They were five feet wide, about 10 feet long, and 7 feet high. They all had a table, chair, and bed. The walls were concrete and the bars on one wall were metal. Each cell also had a sink and a toilet. We also got to see the cafeteria and the space outside where the prisoners who behaved got to go once a day. We also learned about 2 escape attempts. The first one 5 prisoners tried to fight their way out. All of them but one died. In the second one, three prisoners escaped through the ventilation shafts. When they got out they built a raft out of wood. (Alcatraz is on an island). They were never seen again. When we were done with Alcatraz we ate lunch at a place called Boudin. Next we walked over the Golden Gate Bridge and back with Uncle Ryan and Chelsea. Then we ate dinner at a restaurant.

Golden Gate Bridge

On Monday we did a cruise that went around the San Francisco Bay. We did it with Uncle Ryan because everyone else was busy. The cruise circled Alcatraz and went under the Golden Gate Bridge. After the cruise we looked at a ton of sea lions that were on a pier lounging in the sun. They were huge. We watched them for a while and then rode the trolley to the trolley museum that explained how the trolley worked. They grabbed on to an underground cable that was always moving, that then pulled it along. Next we ate lunch and went back to the lobby of Uncle Ryan’s hotel. We said good bye to everyone and drove home. It was nice seeing them and I will miss them. We drove until midnight to get to our camper and went to bed.

Today we slept in until almost 11:00. Then we drove to a beach and spent most of the day on the beach because it was such a nice day. Then we came home. We are going to have pizza and watch a movie.

11/2/17

Yesterday we stayed at the camper most of the day. Mom and I ran 3 miles in the morning. It was really fun. After that we ate breakfast. Then we all struggled to find things to do at the camper. We have done everything there is to do in the area and we can’t move the camper because the truck still is not fixed. Next we had lunch and then went shopping. When we got back we started making dinner. We had salmon burgers. Finally we played a couple of rounds of Dominion.

11/3/17

Yesterday we lazed around at the camper until lunch. After lunch we went to a fish hatchery. We took a tour. It was really small but kind of cool. We saw the trap in the river and saw some of the fish they had caught. They kept them in big tanks. When we were done with the fish hatchery we came home and made dinner. Dinner took a really long time to make. After dinner we played a few rounds of Dominion.

11/4/17 

Yesterday we did laundry in the morning. We came back and had lunch. Then Andi and I played outside for a while. Next we drove into town to get the truck. They took out the dents and fixed all the internal problems. Next we came home and had homemade pesto cavatappi for dinner. Then we played some dice game before bed.