Did you guess our first stop even after seeing the picture? I wouldn't have either but its M5 Industries, where Myth Busters TV Show is filmed....

Heading into town then to do the typical tourist thing - a sightseeing bus tour. On the way we got our first view of downtown and drove along the piers which brought back very clear memories of 1968 and boarding the Lurline to sail to Hawaii with my family.



Once we got parked, everyone was hungry and what caught the eye of the two who have lived in California was In-n-Out Burger so we had to go. It was VERY crowded and actually very good, even considering we had to eat standing up or sitting on a chair with no table...



Actually we've found that bus tours can be very good and we had a great driver and saw far more than we would have on our own with Bill driving and me trying to navigate in a city of traffic and hills....

Getting to San Francisco

Weather and holidays - what a mixture for travel....We headed out on December 21st never thinking it would be such a horrible day to travel....but with snowstorms on the east and west coasts and in Chicago, it was a very busy day at the airports. Luckily we had no real trouble getting to San Francisco although there were many people stranded both in Mpls/St Paul and in San Francisco trying to get home to Portland or Seattle for Christmas. Katie had more trouble - after her car wouldn't start (and had to be off the street or be towed while she was gone), huge accident on the LA freeways, got to the airport where there were LONG lines for security and they would only let people go ahead of the line if their flight was 10 minutes from departure. (dumb because by then all seats had been given away to people trying to get north to Portland and Seattle) so when she got to her gate before the time the flight would leave, they would not let her on..... told her to get in the customer service line which did not move for 1/2 hour. So she called and booked a new flight rather than try to be reassigned with her old ticket and then that flight was 2 hours late but finally did get to San Francisco.... We had to just be patient and be very thankful we all arrived when so many did not get where they were going by Christmas.

After that things went better.... and we were very lucky to have better weather than predicted....

We stayed on the bay at the Embassy Suites Burlingame where we could watch the airplanes come in over the water.

Backing up a little.... when we decided to go to San Francisco, Colleen told us she had never been there and we reminded her of a trip when she was about 2..... but as we talked about where we were staying (on the Bay), she said "wait, is San Francisco the 'Bay Area'?"..... turns out she had been there and stayed "somewhere on the bay" when the USC band was up at the USC-Cal Berkeley football games. Then we pulled up to the hotel, and she said "hey, this is where we stayed". Then we walked across the street to a restaurant for lunch and heard "I've eaten here before!"..... Later, downtown, she recognized that they had indeed gone into San Francisco and gone to Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli square, etc... but more about those later... and I'll bet you would not have guessed what was the first famous sight we went to in San Francisco....unless you see my posts on facebook....

I wanted to do an entry tonight but I've been sitting here looking at this empty spot with nothing to say.... I could comment on how it feels to have my husband gone for 2 weeks - and how so many things came up that made me wish he was here! Christina locking herself out of her car, and the key he hid for it not opening the door, or how she left one of the tapes for her movie for film class in the motel where she filmed and had to have it driven down to her (by Colleen leaving me to do all Colleen's work that day) or how it snowed and there was no gas for the snowblower and on and on. Then there was the week of no sleep while trying to keep Christina going on her final week of school with everything due and nothing done....

But the week is over and Bill comes home Sunday. Christina finished everything and even got her application to grad school done. Her movie turned out to be a hit in film class. So now I would sleep all weekend except I have 4 families who want to be on our wait list for a kitten coming to "allergy test" with our Siberian cats.

I don't have much for you - not even any good pictures. Although I did enter some pictures from my iPhone in a contest for iPhone photography! I'll include one of those here.

Opryland

A little out of order here - on our trip to Nashville, Jeanne and I visited The Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson. And Opryland Hotel and Convention Center where Bill's meeting was held.


It would be hard to imagine what was inside based on looking at the first view of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. The inside of this huge facility has four large halls, slightly different natural settings, all beautiful. I'm just going to tell it in pictures...but this is a place you could visit and be transported to a tropical paradise of waterfalls, flowers, paths to walk, as well as restaurants in every conservatory room and many shops.



Rick Steves, wonderful writer of travel books, had a quote in a recent newsletter talking about a place he had visited.
" I didn't realize until later that I'd experienced one of the highlights of my trip. The impression needed — like a good red wine — to breathe awhile. That was a lesson for me. "
I was so glad that Bill was late and Jeanne and I had hours to walk around these gardens, stopping to eat, to sit near orchids or waterfalls and just watch and relax and talk. Just lots of slow, deep breaths, this place was so relaxing and beautiful. It was the defining hours of the trip.

Mozart - my all-time favorite....

So after Leo Kottke, I have to share my all time favorite....Mozart. This one is also known as sleigh ride and is one my favorites by Mozart and perfect for the Christmas season....