Really Gone!

Not without the requisite number of last minute itinerary curveballs, a cornucopia of loose ends to tie up and a small dash of international travel angst, we finally pulled the trigger and blasted off on our world tour. We left in such a rush we didn't even hear the (literal) roar of mother nature lashing the west coast and our first destination ... a major storm hit San Francisco on the a.m. of our departure date. We felt the after shocks bumping through the air, zooming toward the landing runway. Too much yaw and not nearly enough yawn for my taste!



We were greeted in "sunny California" with a down pour. We ended up forgoing Alcatraz (not dressed for a monsoon on the Bay trip out to the island) for a day of driving around (mostly lost but not minding) downtown. Every where in SF is Buena Vista. Not that I could enjoy these views while trying to drive the world's crookedest street and lanes that launched us up what looked to be 45 degree grades.


We eventually landed at pier 39, Fisherman's wharf and Ghirardelli Square ... all very soggy ... except for the chocolate at the Square. Mikaela seemed pumped to ride the first spiral escalators in the U.S. at Westfield San Francisco Centre. We managed to find good deals (I'm told by the shoppers in the family) on sandals, caps, another backpack and a smart car sized parking spot (no can opener supplied with in the sky. Gotta love cruisin the malls of America!

On a more serious and considerably more freaky note, we confronted a situation new to us all about half way across on the pedestrian walk on Golden Gate bridge. A young woman appeared to be having an animated conversation with the steel cross members of the bridge and again with the icy looking sea below. When she heaved one leg up over the edge I told her to "stop right now, get your leg down before you get hurt" or some similar befuddled blather.



She said "No, I'm cool, this is all positive for me." Karen approaches her too and got equally rebuffed. I'm thinking she's going to jump right in front of the kids, including Mitchell who has refocussed the camcorder from being pointed out towards Alcatraz to record something horrible.





We did not make any heroic move. Thank God we didn't have to ... cars whipping by had started to hit the binders and someone must have called 911 ... in no time there were 4 cruisers and about 6 officers jumping the rail onto the sidewalk. They basically snuck up on her and yanked her off. They didn't say "please" like we did. They got the job done, thank God. The last pics are stills taken from videographer Mitchell ... including her getting arrested and taken away. Apparently it is illegal to perch on the edge of the Golden Gate bridge scare Canadian tourists in search of only goodness in the land of Rice a Roni. We're not in Kansas any more Toto, hang on to your helmet ... tomorrow has us driving down and back to Big Sir and then over the big big pond ... Sydney departure tommorow at 22:10.





BOSgone