It started out like a lovely day . . .

Thursday, 16 June, 2015

California

Today started out like a lovely day--walk around some parks, maybe go to some interesting neighborhoods, then drive out of town over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Well, we parked at Golden Gate Park in the morning.  Walked around, looked at rose gardens, formal gardens, the observation deck of the deYoung museum, and the Music Concourse.  We smelled the beautiful cedars most places we walked.  Much of California that we've seen has had signs saying that Brown is the new Green and many flower beds unplanted cue to the drought.  I think the Golden Gate Park must have received special permission or something--sprinklers were on everywhere.  (Even on the freeways, I've noticed that many fields are a beautiful golden yellow in the sun instead of green).  At the park, we decided not to go into any of the buildings--it would have been around $30 for each one.   Then we decided to get back in the car and go to the Presidio.

Cedars

roses (even though I'm not a rose fan)

rose garden

rose garden

rose

flower bed

Rose petals that Joshua collected

These lamps reflect light down, but I think they also look like a
Jack in the Pulpit (minus Jack though)

Shelby at a fountain in the Music Concourse (designed for the Columbian Exposition of 1894).  

Two siblings that love each other!

Japanese Tea Garden

deYoung Museum

deYoung Museum

Music Concourse with California Academy of Sciences in the background

Joshua with a lion sculpture

Digitalis and others by the Conservatory of Flowers

Huge, old cedar

When we arrived at our car, the back passenger side window was smashed and the children's "in the car" bags were missing.  Inside were their electronics, chargers, books, notebooks, and one of Shelby's prescriptions.  Only two of the electronics would be of any use--Joshua's smart phone and Shelby's 2DS with 3 new games.  The others (iPods, camera, laptop) were dated and worn and those plus the books (one of them a thousand page hardcover) and everything else (headphones, etc.) would probably be dumped in a dumpster.  One of Shelby's books and Bear were on the seat, not in her backpack, and those were not touched.  Joshua just cried, Randy and I were in shock, and Shelby was just very quiet, trying to deal with it.  I called 911 and they transferred me to 311 where they did the entire police report over the phone.  One man stopped and apologized for whoever did it and said that he saw several other cars down the road that had the same thing.  It makes me mad that what we had was not of any value to whoever took it, but it was of value to us.  It belonged to our children and it is what they chose to bring on our vacation.  I feel kind of guilty, but Randy and I were glad our things were in the very full trunk or on our person at the time.  Randy found a glass company that had our window glass in stock.  We only had to wait an hour for them to replace it.  He even vacummed out the passenger side of the car and cleaned the glass about 20 times!   When we receive our case number and copy of the report, we'll pass that on to our insurance agent--we have to call him tomorrow and see if it is worth submitting to them.  It is probably not much over  our deductible.  (Sigh)

Well, then we decided to drive through the Castro and Haight-Ashbury neighborhoods on our way to the Presidio.  The crosswalks on the main intersection in the Castro were rainbow-striped and rainbow flags were everywhere!  Most of the people looked like they lived there.  Then we drove to Haight-Ashbury and parked to walk around.  Like much of San Francisco, the store buildings were painted, just more lavishly than elsewhere.  More tourists, and when we stopped in a burger shop, the burgers were $12 each, not including fries and a skirt that I loved in another shop--$60.  On the expensive side, probably because of the tourists.

The Castro

Houses in Haight-Ashbury

Beautifully painted shops

Went on the to the Presidio, drove around there, taking a few photos, then drove over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way out of town.  Totally jammed, extremely stop and go starting a few miles before reaching the bridge and for the next hour after crossing the bridge.  Yuck.

California Palace of the Legion of Honor in the Presidio

Golden Gate Bridge

As we're driving over (you can see the reflection of the atlas in
car window on the right and the GPS holder for the phone on the left).  

But we reached out hotel in Ukiah and will see the redwoods tomorrow! Trying to keep positive and deal with the aftermath of the break-in (getting a refill of Shelby's prescription, calling the insurance, letting the children use our iPods and phones while we're in the car) without getting too down about it.  We all feel anger and sadness as we deal with it.  But we're ready to enjoy the rest of our trip.