grandad's visit, part 2.

When I was little, our family took a huge road trip to the West Coast. We drove from San Antonio to San Francisco, and hit everything along the way. It was our biggest family trip, and even though I was only eight or so, I have some vivid memories of The Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Disneyland, and the Bay Area. 

Chinatown was one of my favorite places we saw in San Francisco. I just remember it was really colorful, and we ate some really good food. So, I took my Dad into the city to spend the afternoon in Chinatown. We did some shopping, and he bought the grandbabies cute souvenirs- Eliza went home with a little purse and one of those solar-powered cats that waves at you, that you can't help but smile at. We spent some time in The Wok Shop where my dad picked out some beautiful bowls with delicately painted designs in blue. And, we even ate lunch at the same restaurant that we ate at as a family two decades ago. 

I took him to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, too. My dad always bring a fortune cookie to Lucy or Eliza when they see him. It's his thing, and they love it. The Factory is a hole-in-the-wall place down a random alley in Chinatown, where you can pay 50 cents to take a picture of these old women sitting in front of machines that spit out batter, flatten and bake them in disks, before they are folded by hand and filled with a fortune while they are still warm. They sell fresh fortune cookies, or you can make them on the spot. My dad got to write his own fortunes for the girls, and have them filled and sealed. 

On another day we drove out to Tiburon to take the ferry out to Angel Island. I have been wanting to go here for a long time. Angel Island is a State Park, that used to be about a million other things- military forts, US Quarantine facilities, and Immigration Detentions. The ferry ride was beautiful, and we took a bumpy tram around the island with an audio tour. It was a great way to see the whole island in a short period of time, and to learn a lot of great history. And, you get some amazing views of the Bay in every direction. There's also a really good cafe to eat at, hiking and biking trails, and a pretty, little beach. 

Is it just me, or does Eliza look really old in these pictures? It's because she is. She warmed up to my dad within a day, and was so patient during all of our excursions. She had a blast! It was one of the first visits where I felt like we weren't just dragging her along, she was really enjoying everything and asking so many questions. She is such a curious thing, and really loves seeing new things.