CHINATOWN AND MUIR BEACH

PHOTOS: 1. Gates of Chinatown; 2. Chinatown; 3. "Daaaad...get this stupid hat off of me!"; 4-7. Muir Beach; 8. Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup.

Today was our last free day in San Fran so we made the best of it. This morning we went to Chinatown. Our goal was to find some chopsticks since the ones we bought in China broke in several pieces before we even got to use them. Driving through San Fran is major stress. The streets look simple on a map but once you're in the city, the maps don't tell all. Market St. on the map looked like a main thoroughfare....for the electric buses and cable cars that is. Right above us was a spider web of cables and the street had the cable car tracks. You didn't know which lane you were supposed to stay in and could not turn left on any street (which was the direction we needed to go), plus there were people crowded on the sidewalks and crosswalks. Finally, we managed to get off that crazy street. Parking is another nightmare. Good luck finding an available parking meter on the street, not to mention having to parallel park on steep hills. I think the parking garages cater to exasperated tourists because the fees are outrageous. We're talking $4 for 1/2 an hour!!

We walked into Chinatown and immediately felt deja vú...it really looked like areas of China that we visited. In fact, driving into San Fran looked very much like driving into Chongqing. Nate loves strolling through touristy areas. He likes people watching and all the interesting sights. We had lunch at a little hole in the wall Thai restaurant called "Banana House". It was the best Thai we've had since China.

After lunch we headed across the Golden Gate bridge to Muir Beach. The bridge is awesome to see. It's mind boggling how large it is and really gives new meaning to the word "grand". On the other side, the terrain becomes very green and wooded. Muir Beach is not the most exciting beach but almost like a cove. It was really cold out and my hands were frozen by the time we left. Nate had a lot of fun. He loved throwing rocks into the surf.

For dinner we had some yummy Vietnamese beef noodle soup and spring rolls. Nate has had his fill of Filipino, Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese food and he loves all of it. It's nice that he's not a picky eater. I was going to go to the Filipino grocery store tonight but I got totally lost and headed several miles in the opposite direction. It was dark and I was starting to get panicky because I could not get my bearings and didn't recognize any streets. Somehow I managed to get back after an hour of wandering. I still have no idea how I managed to find the hotel. Scary!

Tomorrow is the funeral and we'll meet up with more relatives coming into town. Then we will start the long drive home. Last night Nate didn't have any nightmares, but Don and I did. I nearly jumped out of bed during mine...scared the living daylights out of me. Is there some weird vibe in our room that's causing this? I'd really like at least one decent nights sleep before going home!