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Day 15 – Last day

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:35 +0000

We are sitting in the lounge at SFO waiting for our flight which is due to board in about 10 minutes. I have managed to crash the app on my phone so this post will have to be with no photos and we will add them once back in NZ.Our last day in SFO has been pretty easy going. After packing our bags we headed to a local mall to have a look around the then boarded a train and just rode the line until it was time to head back to the hotel and head for the airport.

The mall was only a little one, but it did have my new favorite store so I picked up a couple of dresses and another top. Chris went to Best Buys and I left him there while I wondered the mall. I also found a dress shop, with wedding dresses and other fancy dresses but refrained from trying anything on.

Now we are waiting for our flight back home. Both excited to be heading home, but also sad that our trip in over.

See you all back in summer (we can’t wait for summer!!)

Thanks for reading our blog!

Chris and Dan

Day 13 – San Francisco

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:34 +0000

Today we flew down the country to our final stop, San Francisco.
Luckily we were able to check in at midday when we arrived, so we decided to take the train into the centre.

San Francisco is an interesting city, very different to anywhere we have been in this trip. We got off the train and walked about 10 blocks towards downtown. There are many homeless people here, see the one pulling his cart of about 6 trollies. As we walked down the Main Street towards the ferry terminal we saw a real mix of people from homeless and those yelling out to passers by, to those everyday people going about their daily business. San Fran has held a lot of its history though, see the old trams and rail cars and beautiful buildings. We walked around Pier 1 and had a look at the Bay Bridge, which is huge! Tomorrow we plan to have a better look around the piers.

Once back at the hotel and after a swim and spa we headed out to a real live diner for dinner, which made us feel really american!

Day 14 – Golden Gate Bridge and Bart transport system

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:34 +0000

Our second day in San Fran was also all about exploring the area and seeing the more touristy parts of the city

Today we decided to take the shuttle to the airport and catch the train from there. There are a number of public transport options, the train we were on today is called Bart. Once in town we caught an old street car down to the piers closest to the bridge and walked from there. We couldn’t see much due to the smog so the photos might be a bit unclear, but it’s there! We also saw the Island of Alcatraz, but you need to book weeks in advance to actually go there, so we only saw the island from the mainland.

We were going to take a ferry over to Sausalito, but instead we caught the Bart again under the water to Oakland. The tunnel, Chris tells me was built and then sunk so it sits on the bay’s bottom. Pretty cool and the trains go through there so fast. Oakland had a really different feel to the rest of SFO (you wouldn’t want to be there on your own) but we went into the main centre which didn’t seem so bad.

We headed back to the airport on the Bart and caught the shuttle back. We have been having hors d’oeuvres in the lounge for dinner and a swim and spa downstairs and are now relaxing with a glass of Bayleys to finish the evening. Heading home tomorrow and both Chris and I agree, we are about ready to head home.

Day 12 – Seattle

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:33 +0000

Happy New Years everybody
today as chris has already mentioned we had very little planned in case our trip up the space needle lasted all night.

One thing we did do was visit the Museum of Flight. Both Chris and I found the museum really really interesting! Chris got to have his photo taken in front of a Concord, the fastest commercial airliner in the world. Also we saw one of the first Boeing Planes, Airforce 1 and the Dreamliner. There was also a space area full of interesting facts about being up in space and separate areas to see the planes used in WW1 and WW2. Both of these were really interesting and we ended up spending a few hours here.

We checked into our hotel, said goodbye (and thank goodness) to our rental car and ordered Pizza Hut, does anybody want any leftovers?

Our last stop on the trip tomorrow, down to the sunny (and hopefully warm) San Fran

Day 14 – Good Morning SFO

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:33 +0000

Continuing our run of amazing luck with the weather we have had.
We have woken to another amazing day. This is the view from our Hotel out our window:

We don’t have any set plans today other than heading back into the city and to find the Golden Gate Bridge.

Day 11 – Happy New Year!

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:32 +0000

From the top of the Space Needle!

Day 12 – The Hangover

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:32 +0000

Ok so it is New Year’s Day, we made it back to our hotel alive and in the right number of pieces.
It’s fair to say that we both feel a bit average today. Me perhaps more so than Dan. Our hotel room looks like a bomb has hit it!

Fortunately we don’t have much to do today and checkout is at 12 which is in 2 hours.

Happy new year everyone!

Day 11 – NYE Dinner

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:31 +0000

A real foodie post. All of our meal!

Breads:

TEN – Crisp lacinato kale:

NINE – Dungeness Crab:

Dan to supply the pic!

EIGHT – Chanterelle mushroom risotto:

SEVEN – Bresaola and buratta:

SIX – Hokkaido scallop:

FIVE – Muscovy duck:

FOUR – beef short rib:

THREE – sea bass:

TWO – Meyer ranch tenderloin:

Amuse bouche – pink peppercorn-butterscotch creme brûlée

ONE – Belgian chocolate pudding cake:

We are so full!

Day 11 – Seattle – NYE

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:30 +0000

We have arrived in Seattle. Driving around the city was not much fun as some of the intersections are strange.
We have checked into our hotel, parked the car and had a nap!

Here is the ‘view’ from our hotel window:

Not a great view, but we are very close to the space needle

Day 11 – last day of 2014

chris021 — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 04:30:30 +0000

Hello from Seattle on New Year’s Eve! We are currently enjoying a few drinks in our hotel room before we head off to an evening of a lifetime

Today began in Burlington where we had spent the night. After breakfast, before we headed south down to Seattle, we went to the nearby lake and Chris had fun walking on the frozen puddles and sometimes falling though. It was so cold that there was ice on our car and we had to wait to defrost it first. Heading south we stopped off at a mall about 20 mins north of Seattle to do some more shopping. We had lunch at a place called Red Robin, and interesting little restaurant full of character. It has become our go to place during our trip, as well as A & W.

After the mall we checked into our hotel and have done very little since. It is currently 6.45 and we can begin to arrive at the space needle at 7.45, so I guess we will think about getting ready soon.

Hope everyone had a good New Years!