A Little Adventure

There were still a few things that we wanted to see in San Francisco, so we decided to make yet another trip. We started out the day in Golden Gate Park. On the way in we stopped at the windmill. It was very fun. Scott didn’t take any pictures because he really hates plain white skies. Plain blue skies aren’t much better, but they are at least tolerable.

We went to the Conservatory of Flowers first with the hope we could beat some of the crowds and find parking near the conservatory. That plan seemed to work well as we easily parked within a 5 minute walk of the conservatory and were able to see what we wanted to see without elbowing too many innocent bystanders.

We went to the “Butterfly Zone” exhibit first. Scott and I were a bit excited to see this exhibit as they remembered something similar at the Boise Zoo. It was an excellent exhibit with many butterflies…so many in fact that a number landed on us during our visit. The exhibit at the Conservatory of Flowers was disappointing in comparison. They did have a few butterflies, but none of them were particularly exotic. Milo loved the exhibit and spent a lot of time there. According to Scott, the best part of the exhibit was the cocoon/chrysalis house where you could watch butterflies being “born.”

We then walked through the potted plants and the lowland and highland tropics. Milo didn’t seem too interested in these. I did like the potted plants as there were some pretty flowers. The exhibits here were nice, but not spectacular. Scott expected to find more flowers at the Conservatory of Flowers…

Scott and Milo enjoyed the aquatic plants exhibit. Milo walked around and around admiring the water in this exhibit. Scott enjoyed the amazingly beautiful lilies in the exhibit. They were a bit hard to shoot without a tripod, but he did get a few nice images.

We walked around all the exhibits a few more times before Milo got tired and was ready to leave. It was quite enjoyable. We all had a great time.

After the Conservatory of Flowers, we left the car parked and started off in the general direction of the botanical gardens. We weren’t sure if we would make it to the gardens or just have an interesting walk. We found these really cool houses nestled in the nice San Francisco fog and wanted to take a picture.

After taking the picture of the houses, we were considering heading back to the car when we saw the botanical garden. It is quite large and surprisingly cool. It has trees and plants from all over the world. Scott kept the camera in his backpack, so we don’t have proof of the coolness this time. You will just have to believe us…

We decided to go back to the windmill so Scott could take some pictures. After looking at the pictures I had taken with my cell phone, he decided he could do some different things with it. On the short drive over there, Milo fell asleep. I stayed in the car with him while Scott went to take the pictures.

When Scott came back from taking pictures of the windmill, Milo woke up. We ate lunch on a nice little grassy area near the windmill.

From that point we headed into the Presidio in an attempt to explore that area a bit more. The hope was to find some different vantage points and eventually end up at Crissy Field. We visited Crissy Field with Scott’s grandparents and wanted to drop by again. We stopped at Baker Beach for a really great shot of the bridge. It is a beach on the southwest side of the bridge.

After we went to Baker Beach, we stopped at another vista point. We saw some great views of the bridge. Scott followed a trail and was able to walk on the bridge for a bit.

As we continued down the road, we stopped to see the bridge near Fort Point. This turned out to be exciting. We parked within a few feet of the ocean. The waves were so big, that several times they got the car and us wet. Milo had a fun time there. He was yelling “big splash!” whenever the smallest wave would hit the rocks. Good times!

In between waves, we were able to get a fun family picture with Milo showing his great love for his parents. I guess he must not hate the travelling too badly

We ended the bridge watching by going to the grass lawns at Crissy Field. Scott got some great pictures. We were able to watch some huge boats go under the bridge (the lettering on the boat in the photo says “China Shipping Line” and was the biggest boat we have seen go under the bridge). It was amazing to see them. We had a great time! Milo had called Aunt Jill to tell her about the big waves and Scott snapped a photo while he was on the phone.

Scott also took a great photo of the skyline.

To end the day, we went to Ghirardelli Square for sundaes. They were good. You can tell that Milo enjoyed the one he had very much. He was trying to get every last little bit. The people at the table next to us were even laughing at Milo “licking” the sundae glass…now that is a shocker…other people laughing at Milo and frowning at his irresponsible parents.

We had a great time in San Francisco. We have always seen something new along with some of our favorites. We have grown to really enjoy seeing the sights in San Francisco. The weather is great and there is plenty to do.