San Francisco, Part I

Ellen and I embarked on a cross-country trip to San Francisco on Friday, combining sight-seeing and in-law visiting with Ellen's attendance and poster presentation at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting. The trip got off to a less than auspicious start when one of our traveling party (hint: It wasn't Ellen) missed the bus to Boston. We overcame this temporary setback by continuing on to Logan Airport by car, and we made the flight with plenty of time to spare.

It was not quite all smooth sailing from there, though. Upon our arrival in San Francisco, we discovered that Ellen's luggage never left Minneapolis. We filed a claim with the Delta lost-luggage agent (is it a bad sign that Delta employs full-time staff for this purpose?) and continued on to our hotel, which is the only place I've ever stayed where the hotel office closes overnight. And fortunately the luggage was waiting for us when we woke up the next day.

In another first, our electronic keys stopped working mid-stay. We would insert them into the lock but nothing would happen. The front desk issued us two new keys, but these didn't work either. Finally the hotel troubleshooter determined that the electronic lock itself had run out of batteries. After replacing the necessary parts, everything was as good as new. It makes sense that they would be battery-powered, but I admit I never thought about how those locks worked. I just took for granted that they would. It's a good thing we made this discovery during the afternoon and not after the front desk closed!

Saturday morning was spent sightseeing along the marina; we visited Crissy Field, Fort Mason and the Exploratorium and laid eyes on Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge and two yacht clubs. In the afternoon we met up with Ellen's father and stepmother--both of whom grew up in the Bay Area--and took a driving tour of the city, including a trip down Lombard Street, which makes the highly credible claim that it's the most crooked street in the world. We also walked out halfway across the Golden Gate Bridge, whose shroud of fog lifted just in time for us to enjoy a marvelous view of the bay. The evening was capped off sourdough bread and seafood for dinner. Mmmmmm.

In the next installment, our trip to Alcatraz, wild sea lions and a San Francisco chocolate factory.

And the answer to last week's brainteaser: The wise man told the brothers to switch camels.