SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Jules’ Journal:

By: Julianne Lillie

3/30/23 – Golden Gate Sightseeing:

We traveled into San Francisco today and it was a short travel day, only 1.5 hours. Kids started their schoolwork in the camper and then finished it up on the road. We pulled into San Francisco RV Resort at 12:30pm and literally squeezed into our site – inches to spare on either side. Jason had to pull and move these concrete pillars so we could get our big slide out all the way!

But we weren’t complaining as our site was right on the Pacific Ocean! What a beautiful view from our front window!

Once we got all set up and laundry moved over, we drove to the Golden Gate Park Visitor Center. It was crowded and crazy and we learned they didn’t have any Jr Ranger booklets, but the volunteer told us to go to the Presidio Visitor Center just a few miles away, so we did! It was an awesome visitor center with a beautiful park in front of and behind it. It was way nicer and hardly anyone there! The kids were able to earn 2 Jr Ranger badges apiece (#93 – Golden Gate National Recreation Area & #94 Beach Buddies).

We enjoyed the exhibits and took in the beautiful views of the bridge as well as the fun Park & Greenspace behind the Visitor Center.

We then drove across the Golden Gate Bridge! Even though I’ve done it a dozen times or more in my life, it never gets old. It’s so majestic and grand! The kids both loved it and soaked it all up.

We drove up the hillside for some scenic views and then crossed back over the bridge.

We also drove by to see the beautiful “Painted Ladies” across from Alamo Park. Some have been repainted since their pastel days, but they are just as beautiful!

The residential areas here in San Francisco are so crazy as they’re built on rolling hills! Such steep and short driveways for some of them. I’m not sure I could live on top of my neighbors like this. But they are cool to drive by and look at!

We drove back to the RV and started making dinner but had to pause to run outside and watch the gorgeous sunset over the Pacific Ocean. It was breathtaking to watch.

And then a Coast Guard helicopter did a fly-by for us! My helicopter-loving husband thought it was super awesome!

Once the sun had set, it was back to dinner which was salads & mac’n’cheese. After dinner we watched Cedarpoint Students service from last night since we missed it. Then we mapped out our day tomorrow and decided to Uber there and back. It looks like we’ll have sunny days with highs in the 50’s… we’ll take it after all the rain & snow we’ve had!

4/1/23 – Muir Woods & Highway 1:

Muir Woods is a very tiny National Monument just miles from the hustle & bustle of San Francisco. But because it’s so tiny, they require timed entry parking reservations because it fills up so quickly! Our timed entry was between 9:00am – 9:30am and we arrived timely at 9:20am.

We walked to the Visitor’s Center to get a map, stamp passports & pick up Jr Ranger booklets. It was a bit chilly, so we decided to get warmed up by sipping on some hot beverages while the kids started on their books. Once we were warmed up and the kids had done everything they could before the walk, we set out on a 2-mile round trip hike.

The first mile we walked through the Muir Woods on the lower level under the Redwood canopy. It was magnificent! Such broad and tall giant redwoods majestically pointing straight up into the sky with the bright green ferns and shamrock clovers covering the ground. Colorful lichen and lime green moss covered the dead fallen trees giving them new purpose and beauty. I really felt like I was walking in the movie Fern Gully! What a peaceful and serene place…God has created a natural sanctuary for us to enjoy and breathe in His beauty.

One the last mile back we were walking on an elevated narrow trail on the hillside without railings. We could see the ravine below but were still under the forest’s cover. It was beautiful, too! It was a much less crowded trail which was nice. And we could see more mushrooms!

Once we returned from our hike it was 12:30pm and the kids earned their Jr Ranger badge!

We decided to eat our picnic in the car and drive Highway 1 a bit.

As we were driving, we saw a random coyote trotting along the road as well as seals beached on the sandbar.

We also saw White Egrets, a Blue Heron, and millions of Black Ibis. It was such a beautiful and scenic drive!

We stopped at Stinson Beach on our way home and surprisingly saw some crazies swimming! It was COLD & SUPER WINDY! No thank you!

We headed back to the RV for dinner & sunset views again. This night was rough as we were in a heavy wind advisory and gusts got up to 50-60 mph. We were right on the Pacific Coast (without a neighbor) so our trailer was getting hammered! We were rocking all night long. We all decided it was worse than our Windstorm in Page, AZ and even worse than Hurricane Nicole in Orlando, FL last year! No one got a lick of sleep, but we managed to rally for the next day’s activities!

4/2/23 –San Fran Sightseeing:

Since we had such a rough night last night from the wind, we decided to sleep in until 8am. We then got up and around, ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast and watched Cedarpoint church online. Around noon our Uber picked us up and dropped us off at the Chinatown gate.

We started at the gate and slowly shopped our way through Chinatown to Powell Street. It was so neat to see the many different shops with beautiful Chinese décor and art.

There were also some souvenir shops with silly stuff, too!

Jaycie bought a super cute SF sweatshirt in one of the shops.

When we made it to Powell Street we hopped on the Cable Car, but there were no seats for us. So, they told us to stand on the running board and hold on… so we did! For like a total of 8 blocks! Our hands hurt from gripping so hard, but it was certainly an adventurous experience!

We hopped off at Lombard Street and walked down the “crookedest street in the world.” We counted 8 switchbacks!

We walked down it (253 steps) and then back up again (249 steps). Then we walked 11 minutes down the hill to Hyde Street Pier where we explored the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park & Fisherman’s Wharf.

We stamped passports and then headed out to board 2 vessels for 2 different Ranger led talks. The first one was on an old lumbering schooner.

The second one was on the Hercules Tugboat. We ended up having a private tour of the Engine Room and learned all about how the engine worked, how they would communicate to the captain, and how the crew would keep everything oiled. It was very interesting, and I could tell Jett’s engineering mind was just soaking it all up!

After that, the kids had finished their books and they earned their 95th Jr Ranger badge!

We then decided we were hungry and headed across the street for an early dinner at Capurro’s. The kids shared a cheese pizza and Jaycie also ordered a warm loaf of Sourdough bread while Jett also ordered a grilled cheese. They ate it ALL and both said it was the BEST meal they’ve had on this entire trip! (They begged to eat here again tomorrow, which we ended up doing!)

After that, we split up and while the girls shopped the boys wanted to ride the cable car DOWN the big hill we walked down earlier.

After that we met back up and headed over to Ghiradelli’s Square where we unfortunately stood in line for one hour to order 3 ice creams & a coffee.

Then we waited another 45 minutes to get our food.

This place was completely packed with very little workers. They need Chick-fil-A to come in and overall, their service line and experience!!! Even though it wasn’t a great experience, we can say we did it!

We ubered back to the RV to unpack our goodies and do laundry. Winds picked up again and were just as bad as the night before. It was another rough night in the camper as we rocked and swayed all night.

Jaycie’s Bunny Hoppin’ News:

By: Jaycie Lillie

3/31/23 – Garden Day:

We started off our day at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. We walked around and had fun looking at all the blooms. We saw blue jays, hawks, and so many other birds!

On our way out we checked out the library (get it? Checked out!?) We really didn’t check out any books, but I read a lot and wanted to! I took pictures and looked them up online to add to my Wishlist. It was a very big library for every book to be about gardening and plants! I LOVED IT!

Then we walked to a coffee shop and took a little break trying to warm up. We then walked to the Flower Conservatory.

They had cool flowers. Lots of Orchids!

On our way out we bought some air plants. Air plants are plants that don’t need soil and get their nutrients from the air!

At this point we were hungry, so we went to a place called Tate Buds to eat lunch. It was very good!

After lunch we burned the energy we had left on a walk around Lily Pond on our way to the Japanese Tea Garden. When we got there the line was FOREVER!

Some non-rule-follower people went in the exit and skipped the line! (Rude!) When we finally got in, it was so pretty!

It was a beautiful garden! I just love gardens!

4/5/23 – Point Reyes National Seashore:

We drove out to Point Reyes National Seashore. There was a cool Visitor Center where we earned our 96th Jr Ranger badge!

After we checked out the cool exhibits and watched the park video, we went on a scenic drive to a lighthouse.

Unfortunately, the lighthouse was closed today so we couldn’t walk down to it.

But we looked for whales (didn’t see any) and saw some Elephant Seals.

We also saw several herds of Tule Elk and 2 coyotes!

It was a pretty area to visit.

Jett’s Wild Flight:

By: Jett Lillie

4/3/23 – Alcatraz:

We ubered to the ferry dock at Pier 39 and had some time before we departed, so we went to Starbucks and used up our last gift cards. We waited in line to get on our ferry to Alcatraz Island!

We arrived to the Park Ranger shouting out the history to everyone about the sign that says Indian Land. I would hate that job, yelling as loud as you can every 30 minutes!

Anyway, let’s get back to the tour. We got our Jr Ranger booklets and worked on them as we went through the different buildings on the island.

We toured the Main Cell building and learned about how the prisoners lived and about the prison escape.

Visitor Center:

We saw where they had recess and played baseball, too. We also saw lots of birds as it was a nest ground for Seagulls, Cormorants, & Herons.

We earned our Jr Ranger badge on the island!

It was really windy out on the island but it was a cool experience.

4/4/23 – Bay Cruise & Exploratorium:

We ubered to Pier 39 and barely made it for the 11:00am Bay Cruise. We cruised under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz and saw 1 whale and lots of dolphins.