F is for Fantastic Feat of Engineering

OK, admittedly this one is a bit of a stretch. . .. . but how else do I incorporate the fantastic Golden Gate Bridge (and don't tell me I could use it for G, I've got another for that!)??

We flew into San Francisco for the trip to Sonoma. Jake has a very kind friend from school who happens to live in San Francisco who let us stay at her place so no paying for a hotel or the ridiculous parking rates (and subsequent parking tax) hotels charge. We got in around 6 on Thursday night, and we were both pretty beat. We didn't end up doing much of anything that was 'San Francisco'. . . Unless you count driving through the city.. . . because let me tell you, I was glad the car wasn't a standard!!! Thursday night we just went out for Thai and a cocktail and called it a night.

Friday, I met up with some MalGals from Ravelry - trumom, darlingfloy, firegirlpj and sleep2dreamher. I'd link to blogs, but they aren't active, so you can check them out on Rav if you want ;) And we had SUCH a great time! How fun to meet a bunch of great knitters from the innernets in real life! And where did we go? Imagiknit, of course!!

Isn't Jake a trooper?

TOTAL.YARN.WONDERLAND!! Definitely one of the best yarn shops I've been to, though I may be biased due to the HUGE amount of Malabrigo in EVERY weight. I left with 8 skeins of Dos in two complimentary colors for a yet to be determined colorwork project, and 2 skeins of Chunky. Overall, my spending was quite tame :) The ladies also took us out to lunch, which was beyond sweet of them, no?! Friday night we met up with the family in town and had an early dinner at Fisherman's Wharf. (that's Jake's parents, my mom, Jakes brother & SIL, and sister hiding in the back)
I would have liked to do the more touristy things, but my mind was kind of elsewhere. Next trip, though, we'll do the cable car and all that jazz :)

The one thing I wouldn't NOT do is check out the Golden Gate. I'm a nerd for stuff like that. Of course, we had to drive over it to go to Sonoma, but I wanted to stop and see it, so after Muir Woods Saturday morning, we drove back down to check out the Vista Point. We made a slight detour thinking we could go to Golden Gate National Recreation area to see the bridge.. . . . but you can't (you can, however, sit at a very long light to go through a one lane tunnel!).

Instead, we checked out the old battery there and admired the view of the Pacific.

Then we realized to get to the viewing area, we'd have to cross the bridge, pay the toll and turn back Northbound. So we did!
Thankfully it wasn't crazy crowded or anything, so we had no trouble parking and getting up to the wall to take some photos & watch the ferry to Alcatraz, and get an obligatory photo to prove we were there :)