San Francisco cont.

We took the Ferry back across to San Francisco to the Ferry Building under the Oakland Bay Bridge, sans luggage this time, so that we could ride a historic (ca. 1930's) streetcar,



















as opposed to the more expensive cable car (1873), down Marketstreet. At the southern end we saw where the people of a particular lifestyle hang out. Then on our way back up to Embarcadero by the piers I and the older 5 kids got out by the Levi complex with beautiful grounds to make our
ascent up to Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. George, Rebecca and the camera hung out at Pier 39 with the Sea Lions while we ascended the 530ish (there are conflicting, and I mean confrontationally conflicting, counts among my eldests, well it's 4 against 1, Jared, who's supposed to be the math genius, but in this case he's just plain wrong) stairs up the steep, tropically be-gardened and wild parrot-ed hill up to the tower, where the view of the city and the Bay is absolutely magnificent. We got videos instead.

Then we walked down the famous Lombard street, met up with George, had hot dogs and garlic pizza on Fisherman's Wharf and finally got in line for our excursion to Alcatraz Island that needs to be, and thankfully was, reserved a month in advance.

Last Day in San Francisco, Friday, Aug. 10, Day 17

While waiting for the morning Ferry to take us back across the Bay, we came across The Relief, a lighthouse boat operated by the Coast Guard, that used to be used until automated buoys took over.




As we were reading the sign a man came out and offered us a free tour. Turns out he used to be a lighthouse boat crewman and now he maintains the boat as a museum. These boats would anchor at the entrance to the bay and emit a radio, as well as a light beacon.









It was a pretty dangerous job as they had to remain tethered during storms and hurricanes. The safest thing to do was to give the anchor some slack and let the wind and waves have their way. The worst job, which is why the rookies had to do it, was to coil the giant anchor chain that had become sludgy from seaweed and mud, in the hold of the boat.









I love the mechanical age as the machines were so honest and forthright and oftentimes elegant. All the hidden workings of electricity, computer chips, and impersonal robots take all the relationship out of our tools. Some would probably disagree. It took 14 people at a time to man this boat in shifts. Someone may want to correct or fill in more details.

The Darkest Hour is just before Dawn - Day 6, Monday, July 30th

I was still wound a little tight as we completed the most logistical part of our trip with tagging our luggage, checking out of the hotel, dropping the kids and luggage by the pier as George, Rebecca and I returned the van and took a taxi back, being processed by security and getting our room/charge keys before boarding, and then trying to get oriented to the large cruise ship. We had just found the buffet and loaded our plates for our very late lunch when we heard the announcement to muster for the mandatory safety drill. We quickly stuffed our faces, found our rooms on Deck 5 where the life vests were, and then ran to Deck 7, the deck with the orange transport boats you see in the picture. Then after all that, we were finally able to slow down while everyone assembled on the upper decks, 11, 12 and 14, there was no 13, for the "Sail Away" party. I'm not really a loud party person, so I was wondering how much I was going to enjoy this cruise with all these snazzy, middle aged people sporting their $5 tropical drinks. We ended up settling on the more secluded part of  Deck 11 in the back of the boat for our delayed departure from the dock. I found an empty deck chair and tried to chill out while the rest of the family hung out at the rail.

The rest of Day 4 and Day 5 - San Francisco, Sunday. After all the day starts the previous sunset

We didn't have time to go to Yosemite as we had hoped. Instead we decided to take our time in Sequoia as it would have been too stressful to rush through both parks in one day. So we headed down the beloved mountains into California's fertile valley Saturday afternoon and with the aid of gps guidance found a chinese buffet in hot, dry Fresno. Just before sunset, we stopped at a fruit stand on our westerly route on hwy 152 and ate deliciously fresh cherries, grapes and nectarines for dessert. This road became dramatically gorgeous around Gilroy where the golden hills rose again to divide the valley from the ocean. Then the coastal redwoods guarded the best twisty turney, up and down road I've ever driven on. The difference was that the curves were banked so that you didn't feel like you were going to fall over the edges. It was like a nice smooth roller coaster. I strongly recommend this route to California coastal hwy 1. But it would be funner in a low profile sports car. Sadly it was almost dark when we got to the coast, but I could see and hear enough of the moonlit white-tipped waves crashing into the rocky coast, and smell and feel the salty, moist wind on that hilly highway to feel exaltation. The Texas coast is marshy or sandy, but flat. This was quite different.

We made our way to our hotel in southern San Francisco which we
approached along it's southern peninsula. Sunday morning we drove into the beautiful
but crowded city. It was a little nerve-racking navigating on the
one-way, steep, crowded streets and finding a place to park to attend
Liturgy.

Holy Virgin Cathedral was finished by St. John the Wonder-worker, who died a few days before I was born. We missed the English service, but the Church Slavonic was beautiful, and the choir heavenly (click here to another tab to get more of the Russian choral atmosphere). Understanding "Ghospodi pomilui"- "Lord have mercy" and "Slava"- "Glory" helped a lot. Also the Russian attendants were wonderful examples of humble, loving, devoted veneration of the Saints through their icons. Americans are much more timid and self-conscious about it. Some of the parishoners remember St. John in person and their love for him was very evident as they venerated his relics on the right side of the church and in the generous manner of the couple who gave us a tour of his original resting place below the Church. They had both been students in the Russian school surrounding the Church while he was serving there. Not that he still isn't.