The California Trip begins.. Today, Jax to DFW to SFO

What a day! 

Our pal Dan promptly picked us up at 0730, and we headed up the 95 to Jacksonville airport-  Traffic was generous, and we got there in good time-  thanks as always to Dan's taxi service. 

We pretty much breezed through checkin and security, my first experience with the new total body scanners, but then I ran afoul of the bag checkers.  It seems I had forgotten I had a miniture multi-purpose tool in my backpack.  The agent seemed to know exactly what he was looking for, and advised me that it was not allowed.  I had the option to mail it to myself, go back out to the car, put it in my checked bag, which was already on its way to SFO, or pitch it. 

Good by, little tool.  I think it was a give-away from the bank. 

Got on board and actually left early by 15 minutes...  in all my travels, this is the first time I ever left early-  The plane was pretty full, and the flight was totally uneventful. 

We flew pretty much along the gulf coast panhandle of Florida, in beautiful weather, and landed at Dallas ahead of schedule.

We arrived on the A concourse, and our next flight was in D concourse, so we hustled up to the skytrain.  I stopped by a shop that was selling Super Bowl stuff, all at full price-  Got a pin. 

We got to the gate in plenty of time, and settled in for another totally full plane, and almost 4 hours over to SFO.  It was overcast most of the trip, and we had some occasional chop- Had some very nice views of the Colorado mountains, and the Sierra Nevadas, with a thick blanket of snow. 

Eased into SFO, and were totally wowed when the bag actually beat us to the carosel!!  We were blown away.  Then we trekked up to the 4th floor to the Enterprise desk, then to the 2nd floor to pick up the car, and were rewarded with a free upgrade to two more levels of car, so we have a very nice little Toyota Corolla.  Gas is $3.45 a gallon out here. 

We decided to stop by Pier 39 and the Embacadero in downtown SFO.  What a good choice!  It was an easy drive, and we had the GPS.  We were able to find a good public parking space, and on top of that, we were able to validate our ticket, so parking was free, rather than $10.00. 

 We got to Pier 39 around a few minutes after 5, and Bette was hungry.  We checked out a couple of stores, and got a Hard Rock Pin, and then we decided we would treat ourselves to Bubba Gumps for dinner.   We split a hamburger, and I got a pin there also. 

We had a perfect table, waterside, with a wonderful view of Alcatraz Island, and to our left was a perfect view of the Golden Gate bridge at sunset.  Way cool. 

On the way out, I discovered of all things, a National Park store!  I was able to get 15 pins, all from sites in the bay area.  Most of which we will visit, and if we don't, they won't go on the big board, to follow the rules. 

Bette found some fudge, and also got a cup of ice cream on the way out. 

We drove over the Bay Bridge to our home for the next two days, the very beautiful Marriot Courtyard Emeryville.

This is a beautiful hotel, close in to everything on the East Bay.  Perfect choice, thanks to Tom Green back in Coquina for his suggestion of the area. 

Its now 8:30, so its been a long day, 1130 our time.  Be crashing next. 

Tomorrow, we will do East Bay area things. 

On the list are:  Rosie the Riveter NHP, John Muir NHP, possibly Eugene O'Neil NP, then we are thinking of dashing back into town and hitting Chinatown, so Bette can find the ultimate mah jong set, and this would be pretty much a once in a lifetime chance to do that.  There is also a Cable Car Museum in the area, and then, if the day isn't shot, we could squeeze in the SF Maritime NP. 

Be a busy day.   Stay tuned!