Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Our Trip

PHEW!  I finally finished our album from our trip to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe.  I thought you would like to see it

The trip started off a little rocky.  Our first actual day in San Francisco was a little over whelming for Clint.  He is not a big city boy.  So, he had to get use to the idea of walking, being in big crowds, and waiting to see the great sites.  To cheer him up, I, dragged, took him on a ferry ride to Sausalito, CA.  BEAUTIFUL city!  If I was to pick my dream city to live in, this would be it!  We had also hit Lombard St., Fisherman's Wharf, and Union Square that day.  

The next couple days were a dream!  We went to Golden Gate Park and visited the California Academy of Science and the Botanical Gardens.  Both very interesting and worth it!  (Tip! If you visit the Academy of Science, eat at the Moss Restaurant on the lower level.  Wonderful food.)  We also saw the Golden Gate bridge and Ghirardelli Square.

Another fun activity we did was cheering on the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.  Even if you hate baseball, I would go!  The ballpark is amazing and the garlic fries rocked my world!

Our last day in San Francisco was a sad one.  Neither of us wanted to leave, but were very excited to see what Lake Tahoe had to offer!

Our next adventure was hopping on an Amtrak Train to Truckee, CA.  Ok.  Clint and I had never ridden a train before.  Both of us were expecting a fun experience.  Instead, we were greeted by rude staff, on and off the train, and a very dirty environment.  I wont go into detail, but the restrooms were disgusting!  All in all, it was sort of a fun experience.

First off let me explain why we had to arrive in Truckee, CA.  (Tip!  Spend some time in this cute town!)  This was the closest train station to Lake Tahoe.  At least that was what I was told by our hotel.  Also, no cabs or shuttle can get you from this town.  So, we had to ride like big shots in a town sedan to our hotel.  Our driver (I feel so rich when I say that) took us to some great picture taking areas before we arrived to our hotel.  I must say, this drive took our breath away!  Fantastic views!  

Here is where the trip started to go down hill.  We have never been to Lake Tahoe before and had no idea what to expect.  Both of us were very disappointed in South Lake Tahoe.  We are not gamblers or huge water sports people.  Plus it was a bit chili.  But, we made the best of it visiting a beach and going on a dinner cruise to Emerald Bay.  (Tip!  Even though we were the youngest people by 20 years on the dinner cruise, it was very worth it!)  Our last night there was a blast!  I never laughed so much with Clint on the cruise.

Our last day was a little bit of a nightmare.  We had to wake up at 4:30am to take a shuttle to the airport on our last day.  After checking us out, I kindly ask the front desk person where exactly we meet the shuttle.  Unfortunately, he told us the wrong spot to wait and we missed our shuttle by 4 minutes.  The shuttle would not even turn around to come get us.  This was a HUGE stress on us!  Why?  The hotel cost us not only $50 for the shuttle we missed, but also $220 for a cab ride to the airport.  Plus, it takes about 1 1/2 hours (almost 2 hours with a very slow cab driver) to get to the airport and we had a flight to catch!  I was tired, hungry, and very cranky after this. Even though the gentleman that told us where to go was friendly and very nice, he still made a big mistake that cost us quite a bit of money.  I cannot seem to make the hotel manager realize that when out of town guests stay at your hotel and their misinformation ends up costing the guest, it is not the guests fault.    

For the most part, we had a great time!  San Francisco never disappoints!!  I do not think we will visit Lake Tahoe again, but are glad we can say we saw it.  It was nice to get away and finally celebrate our honeymoon. 

13 comments:

elizabeth said...

sounds like a fun trip despite all the mishaps - but atleast you finally got to celebrate a honeymoon!!! Loved the tahoe pictures it looks stunning

jen @ homeinthecountry said...

Looks like you guys had a great time! (and can I mention how impressed I am that you already have your pictures in a book!)

Very pretty pics - esp of the bridge & Tahoe!

Unknown said...

Going to check out the pictures in a min. I so agree with you the Garlic fries at At&t park are a amazing!! Glad you had a good time in SF - such a pretty city!

Sorry you didn't have the best time in Tahoe - Its fun in the winter and early summer when its hot, the beach is fun to swim at.

I'm glad you to got the chance take your honeymoon and getaway and have fun! Next time your back in CA - you have got to go Wine Tasting in Santa Rosa (not Napa! its boring! lol)

Unknown said...

ps - you take some great pics!!! frame them :)

Jenny @ Anything Pretty said...

Sounds like you guys had a great time even with some frustrations. And I love that book...and so impressed that you already got it done. I have been meaning to a blurb book with Italy pics and have not gotten to it. Go you!

Scientific Housewife said...

I want to go to San Fran so bad! Sorry to hear about the last part of the trip but the rest sounded fun!

the cape on the corner said...

i gave you an award! if i knew how to link my blog to this comment, i would, but here's my link.

http://thecapeonthecorner.blogspot.com/2010/09/shes-extremely-versatile-you-know.html

yay!

Decor I Adore said...

Sounds like a great trip. We went to San Fran for our babymoon (the big trip before the baby) and I loved San Francisco.. although it was a little hard to walk it with a 7 month belly. We didn't visit Lake Tahoe but we did go to Yosemite National Park while there. We rented a car the whole time we were there. It was a blast!

I'm gonna go look at those pics now... oh and thanks for stopping by my blog... makes me feel a little better to know others out there can share those feelings of regret with me :)

Melanie said...

I am so sorry that you didn't like Lake Tahoe. You should have stayed in North Tahoe. We stayed out toward Truckee and loved it. SF is my favorite place in the world. Glad that you love it there. Did you walk the bridge?

Anonymous said...

I adore San Francisco!! It is such a beautiful city. Glad you ended up enjoying it. Sorry about your bad experience in Tahoe. That sounds horrible!

Lynett said...

I LOVE SAN FRAN!!! Great pics!

Shannon said...

Love the pics! And I love San Fran too...although we only spent one day there years ago on our honeymoon. But I totally wanna go back now after seeing your pics.

That totally sucks bout the end of your trip, something like that always happens to us too. But you seem like you handled it well!

Oona Johnson said...

Ugh. Frustrating. Between your issues and Sara's issues, I'm not sure we will ever go on another trip. (Not that we've ever done anything "trippy" besides camping anyway.)