We’re back in Minnesota now but I still have stories and pictures to share from our trip. I’ve got another gallery
of pictures from our San Francisco excursion
here.
I also have a gallery of our spring
in Minnesota
here.
With our time in San Francisco running out. we decided to get a few last minute things done, which included seeing
a lot of the city’s great museums. We went to the MOMA where I got to see some incredible Fauvist pieces from
Matisse (one of my favorite artists and one of my favorite movements) and a beautiful Diego Rivera among other
great modernist and contemporary works in their collection. We also visited the California Academy of Sciences.
This is a really neat science museum. They have an indoor rainforest biome with a lot of unique flora and fauna.
They also had an incredible ocean life aquarium with a massive reef. Elena was particularly captivated by the
human evolution exhibit that featured an extensive assortment of pre-human apes with tons of info on their lives,
habitats, and maps of migration.
One day we decided to visit Treasure Island, the island in the San Francisco bay from whence my grandfather first
set sail in the Navy. We had brunch at a lovely place and drove around the island, but the whole thing is under
crazy development. As a result, we accidentally got stuck going the wrong way on the Oakland Bay Bridge, and Amelia
made the executive decision to make a day trip out of our detour. Elena was learning the state capitals at the
time, so when we mentioned Sacramento as an option, she wouldn’t accept any alternative. It’s amazing how it can
be a dark, cold and foggy day in San Francisco, and the moment you cross the bay, you’re greeted by a warm day and
clear blue sky. We visited Fairytale Town in Sacramento which is a lovely little theme park. We went to a really
nice park with a big rose garden and then went out for German food and beer. Prost! We ended our day trip by
visiting old Sacramento and buying the world’s smallest Monopoly game.
We did a few other last things during the home stretch. Maya went to her first baseball game, a Giants game against
the Rockies—the Giants won 12-0! Oracle Park is a really cool stadium; the bay is just beyond the outfield, and at
the end of the game the seagulls descend on the park to pick through whatever’s left in the stands. Amelia and
Elena went on an African safari in Sonoma of all places. The last two museums we visited were the Walt Disney
Family Museum (a great museum about the life and creations of Walt Disney) and the Aquarium of the Bay. A bit of
information for future travelers: the Aquarium of the Bay is very underwhelming in comparison to the Academy of
Sciences Aquarium.
The last week we were in San Francisco, Amelia’s oldest sister and their mother came to visit us. While they were
staying with us, we spent a little time in the east bay with Amelia’s cousin, a resident of Oakland. We also got
a couple really good days in at Golden Gate Park. Those last days of relaxation in the park were a bittersweet
end to a great trip. It was hard to fathom, while leisurely strolling and picnicking in one of my favorite places
in the world, that I might never be back again. We're definitely going to miss the ocean, the museums, the parks,
the people, and most especially the donuts.
When we got home from our last excursion at that thousand acre park, I put a few finishing touches on packing up
and cleaning the apartment. We would be leaving the next morning, but Amelia had to work that night and Amelia’s
mom would be flying out in the early morning. Our car wouldn’t fit in the garage with the car topper on, so I
packed the car in the driveway at 6am, immediately before picking up Amelia. We somehow got everything packed
into the Prius, including the four of us. Amelia’s sister stayed a bit longer in San Francisco and so saw us off
on our trip back home.
We managed to leave the city by 11am and drove straight through to a bed and breakfast a couple hours from
Yellowstone National Park. We arrived at the B&B at about 3am, got five surprisingly restful hours of sleep,
got breakfast and set off for Yellowstone. A lot of Yellowstone was still closed for the season or closed due to
construction, but we still managed to see a hell of a lot. As we were returning to the car after watching an
eruption of Old Faithful, Amelia noticed that one of our tires was pretty low. Luckily there was a service station
right there, and the technician found the culprit: a screw we had picked up on the road. He told us it would take
him an hour to patch so we decided it was lunch time. After a satisfying meal and the settling of a small bill
from the technician, we were back on track to take in more of what that incredible park had to offer. We saw so
many bison, a few elk, and some awe inspiring canyons, waterfalls, and geothermal features. We drove out of the
park towards Billings, MT, where we got a real night of sleep.
The next day we set out for Rapid City, SD. We spent a lot of time at Crazy Horse and about ten minutes at Mount
Rushmore. Mount Rushmore is honestly pretty lame. Our hotel had a great restaurant and huge comfy beds. The next
day it was time for the last leg of our trip. We stopped by the World’s Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota,
which was our last stop before making our way to Albert Lea where Amelia’s parents live. We dropped Elena off to
stay there for a few days because she hadn’t gotten to spend any time with her best friend Evalyn for three whole
months! Amelia and I drove a uniquely long hour and a half back into the city. As we realized we were coming home
to an empty fridge, we hatched a plan to go out for sushi. Surprisingly we didn’t find affordable good sushi in
San Francisco and are convinced that sushi might just be better in Minnesota. After dinner we drove the few blocks
back home and it felt strangely like we had never left. As the garage greeted our car, it noted the new patch in
the tire and the extra 10,530 miles on the odometer. It was 8:30 on May 8th when we finally walked back into our
house after three months away. Phew!
It was hard to do, but we knew we had to hit the ground running when we got home because summer was only a month
away. After two days of unpacking and running errands, Maya and I set about getting the garden ready for planting.
The next day we went to the Saints home opener, where the Saints suffered an unspeakable defeat. I got my COVID-19
vaccination at the ballpark, and Maya and I ended up on the front page of the Saint Paul paper the next day.
Elena finally came home after five days in Albert Lea and went straight outside to hug her dog. We’ve gotten
chances to see a few friends and family members since being back. We’ve made it out to the parks, the zoo, the
movies, concerts, Valley Fair, and the lake in the month and a half that we’ve been back. It’s been pretty
non-stop. On top of all that, Evalyn spent two weeks with us to go to a day camp with Elena. It’s crazy to
think the summer just started even though we’ve already had a whole summer’s worth of activity. San Francisco
already feels like it was in another life.
To all my friends and family: feel free to come visit us whenever you’re free. We love seeing our loved ones and
we’ve got a cool baby and house to show off. Hope everyone’s summer is a blast and a half!
