Tuesday 27 September 2011

Transportation!

Ok so the title is not that exciting, but really for me the different types of transportation that I got to take while in San Francisco were really exciting!

Cable Cars

Powell and Mason Cable Car Stop
Did you know that San Francisco is the only city in North America to have real cable cars? Cable Cars have been running in San Francisco since September 1, 1873. They were originally designed to save horses from trying to scale the hilly cobblestone streets in San Francisco.

My Grandmother lives half a block away from the Cable Car stop at Union and Mason. You can hear the cables running under the street from her house! I never knew what the noise was until last week when I visited the Cable Car Museum.
Wheel House - these pull the cable cars through the streets
Roll of Steel Cables

Mom rings the Cable Car Bell

Cable Cars are drawn by actual steel cables that are under the ground. The grip on the cable car does literally that - grips the cable and pulls the car up the hill! Amazing when you think about it!
Powell and Hyde Cable Car

Street Cars
Castro Street Car


Operating in San Francisco since 1835 the streetcars that go along F-Market and Wharves lines are more than just a form of unique transportation. The streetcars in San Francisco are moving museums of sorts. Each car originated from different places in the US. I would skip the museum, even though it is free. The museum is basically just a store - it is far more fun to stand in front of the Ferry Building and watch the different streetcars go by. They are sooo cool!


Ferry
We took the ferry to Sausalito to have lunch. There was a finger of fog just reaching over the bay but for the most part the view was clear and beautiful!! We ate lunch at a small little Italian deli, walked the main strip and then headed back to the city. On the way back the driver slowed down right behind Alcatraz so that the tourists could take pictures.

I would highly recommend that you use this as an option to see the Bay instead of taking one of those Bay cruises that cost $40.00. It is only $9.00 if you get a Clipper card which you can get at any Walgreens.

Bus
On Friday we took the bus to AT&T Park. I found it very interesting that the majority of buses that we took were electric. Although this caused a delay when one broke down it seems like a greener option for such a busy city!
A MUNI Bus zooms by our table 

I-280
 
We took the car to get to the city and mostly took the I280. It was a beautiful scenic route with only about 3 times the cars as we have in Vancouver. It only took us an hour an a half to get back from San Fran with traffic - but the 40 mins without traffic blew by. I love American Infrastructure!

Walking
We walked a lot this trip! One of the first days in the city we walked from Mason and Union to the Opera house! It was about a 40 min walk primarily up hill. I think I almost killed my mom on this walk - I have never seen her face as red as it was when we finished. One thing for certain was that we made sure to stay in shape while we were away!






Tuesday 20 September 2011

San Fran Day 2

What better way to start a Saturday then with a great breakfast? After a brief hatred of all things "breakfasty" other than hashbrowns, I now consider myself something of a breakfast connoisseur!

On Saturday morning we went out for breakfast with Mike and Ursula and their friends Lori and John. The breakfast was big ( my first real exposure to American portions on this trip) and quiet good. The hashbrowns were shredded and perfectly toasted. I had a Belgian waffle which, although, not as good as Uncle John's was very delicious! It came with blueberries and whipped cream -yum!

After breakfast we ventured into the city. We went with Auntie Elaine and Uncle Steven to the de Young museum.

We were lucky that uncle Steven and Auntie Elaine came with us because we were able to get tickets to the Picasso exhibit. This was a collection of Picasso's works on loan from the Musee National Picasso in Paris.

Day 3 - Food!

Day three we decided to head to the Mountainview Farmers' Market. The market was amazing!! Peaches, nectarines and plums are all in season here and are extremely delicious!! Our favourites included Arctic White white nectarines, flavor king pluot plums, Autumn Flame yellow peaches and Autumn Royal seedless grapes. Other great finds we had at the Farmers' market were the elephant garlic - real elephant garlic not like the elephant garlic at home, some gorgeous sunflowers and apricots. Zucchini flowers were also plentiful and super cheap! 25 cents a flower!

For dinner Mike made an amazing Russian feast! Siberian dumplings, sausages, caprese salad, potatoes and stroganoff. Yum!

Monday 19 September 2011

San Francisco - We Have Arrived!

(We actually arrived on Friday, but this will be my first of a few posts today.)

I love the Canada line! After a 20 min trip from home to YVR we eagerly started to go through customs!

Ha who eagerly goes through customs? We were lucky! We got to see the female customs agent!! She gave me flack about being a US citizen who would have the tenacity to not have a US passport! Why wouldn't you want a US passport? It is the best country in the world and everybody would be US citizens if they could! Don't get me wrong, I love having dual citizenship, but after seeing my mom, who was traveling with my dad and myself - 2 Canadians, almost be refused entry into China I think I will continue to be a proud Canadian passport holder. The last time I checked the only ones who love me because I am an American are the Americans! Everyone else loves me because I am Canadian!

To further this point while sitting eating our nutritious lunch of a massive cinnabon, we got to listen to some ugly Americans from Florida talk about some very non pc topics in very loud voices…sheesh!


Before you start thinking I am US bashing, at home, in Canada, I will be the first to tell you that I am American and proud of it!

Let's get back on track here.

The flight was smooth and uneventful! Ursula and Mike picked us up from the extremely chaotic SFO and immediately we noticed - we are not in Kansas anymore!

The phenomena of the American interstates - wow now that's transportation! Cam always mentions this when we come down here, but I really noticed it this time! I would definitely not want to be on a motorcycle on one of these massive freeways! I do love the amount of room you have, and how much traffic there is!

For dinner we had this amazing pizza that I would have to say was closer to a Canadian style pizza then an American one. Fresh veggies and not too much grease. It wasn't the Friday night number 8 with garlic but it was mmm mmm good!

Monday 12 September 2011

Being a Vancitizen Makes Me Smile!

Ok - so I work at this totally amazing place called Vancity Credit Union!  One thing that we stand for is helping our community.  Over the weekend I got to help both my home community - the North Shore and the Employee Community at Vancity.

My Community - The North Shore


A couple of us at work - Erin Robinson and myself - organized a clothing collection for the North Shore Neighbourhood House.  The collection is going towards their Fall Girly Bling and Fashion Fling.  This looks like it is going to be a great event so if you're looking for something to do on Saturday, September 17 why not check it out?  Anyways after filling my car completely full with clothes that Vancity HR had donated, (and there are seriously some fashionista's in HR that I wish I could make the sale to get some of their great clothes), my mom and I dropped to clothes off to the North Shore Neighbourhood house.  My Car was full!

Wow!  Look at all of the contributions from Vancity HR for the North Shore Neighbourhood House
We filled the organizers office with clothes at the North Shore Neighbourhood House
Vancitizens Helping Vancitizens
Today I was lucky enough to help with the greening of the Vancity Centre roof.  I have been working on this project team for approximately a year and a half now and today we began to plant!  As pictures speak louder than words here are a few samples.

The Roof Prior to Greening
Another shot of the roof before Greening


Empty Planter boxes and Removed |Pavers


First task - fill the planter boxes!

This Planter Box is Full!

Kristina Brings us Plants

Wow - Look at all of those Plants!
Even the Garden Gnome is Getting in on the Shoveling

Tara and Sue fill the planter box - look at that HR teamwork!


HR Break Time!

HR Break Time Continued...

Plants and a Full Planter Box
Uh-oh - What is this Gnome Doing with a Jigsaw?!

Don't worry - Kristina and Drew rescued the Jigsaw from the Gnome
and are cutting the Plants with Great Precision
  
Vince lifts in Panels of the Greenroof

Drain Feature

The Gnome has a Place to Play on the Greenroof - finally!
 
The Remaining Plants Guarded by our Gnome
Jennifer Tan and Vince Lift in The Last Panel at Last!
The Somewhat Finished Product