May 25 (part 2)

After saying goodbye to everyone at the brunch, we headed towards San Francisco. We had to turn around a few times because John seems to have trouble following my directions - he kept putting us on the freeway going the opposite way. It took us about an hour and a half to get to SF, but once we got there, it took us another hour and a half to get to Golden Gate Park. Apparently, everyone decided to spend their Memorial Day Sunday in that area. We finally got into the park and found a bathroom for John (which he reported to be disgusting). We drove around a little bit and then attempted to find our way to the beach next to the bridge.

Once we got there, I had the misfortune of needing to use the port-o-potty. Not only was it absolutely rancid in there, the door didn't close (or lock) properly, so I had to use every bit of coordination I had to hold the door closed while hovering over the toilet (there were no seat covers either). We put Nathan in the stroller and headed down to the beach, but the sand was very deep, so the stroller wasn't faring very well. John sent me back up to the car to grab the Snugli. Here's where my day went downhill: I was gone to the car maybe two minutes. By the time I came back, a dense fog had socked in the entire beach, completely covering any view we had of the Golden Gate Bridge. The only thing I wanted the entire trip was to get a photo of Nathan and I with the bridge behind us. I was so unbelievably mad! So, below is my picture of Nathan and I in front of the bridge. Yes, it really is there.

The wind had picked up and was a little stinging, so Nathan had started to cry. I had him in the Snugli and tried to cover him as best as I could, but he really needed to get out of the wind. I began to head back to the car as quickly as possible, but the sand was so thick and deep, I was having trouble. By the time I got back to the car, I was having a full-blown asthma attack. I leaned myself up against the car so John could take Nathan out of the Snugli for me and then I nearly collapsed inside in the car. Now, I haven't had an actual full attack in a few years and hadn't needed my inhaler in a little over a year. My inhaler had expired a few months ago and I never renewed it. Perfect. So, without any albuterol and really wanting to avoid completely passing out and John having to call 911, I had to alternate taking slow breaths and little sips of water. Attacks really stink. I turn grey, go all clammy, and generally feel like I'm about to suffocate. Luckily, I was able to get my breathing regulated on my own and we headed out to find some food.

We didn't have any particular place in mind, but passed by a 50's diner that looked pretty good, so we stopped there. The food was great - I had onion rings, a huge cheeseburger with ham (!), fries, coke, and pumpkin pie. Yes, I really can put all of that away. The restaurant was very cute and had the little jukeboxes at the tables. I had a ton of change on me, so we picked a couple of songs (Love Potion Number 9, Beyond The Sea, and one of Elvis' hits....I can't remember which one). The booth we were in was a little crowded, so we went back out to the car so I could feed Nathan. Then we decided to find Lombard Street (that really twisty street where one of the Herbie movies was filmed) for some sightseeing.

Nathan looking very pleased after his feeding!

Mommy and Nathan in front of Lombard Street.

The traffic waiting to drive down Lombard was horrendous, so we drove around, parked, and just walked up. Once we got to the top, the view was fantastic....even with the dense fog that was socking the place in. We also saw a trolley while at the top of Lombard! That was the only other thing I wanted to see while in SF, besides the bridge. I made John take a picture and then this group of guys on the trolley wanted to pose for us, so the trolley operator actually waited so that John could take a posed photo!

We then decided to head back to Sunnyvale, but drove around by the wharf and the Bay Bridge on our way. We could see the TransAmerica Pyramid while waiting at a traffic light, so I got a picture of it shrouded in fog (below). It was unbelievable how quickly this fog moved in and took over the whole city. It went from perfectly clear and sunny to that in about 20 minutes.

We got back to our hotel around 9pm or so and tried to get as much stuff together as possible. We had to be up at 5am to return the rental car and for our flight back to Portland and I wanted everything to go as smoothly as it could.