Do you know the way to San Jose? (Day 2)

Day two found us in San Francisco for most of the day as well. When morning rolled around we checked out of our hotel, but when they offered to hold our car and luggage for us until 6 p.m. we took them up on the offer and hit the town. I treated Mom to a Mother's Day dinner at Johnny Rockets where the waiter flirted shamelessly with me (*insert eye flutter here*), but to no avail. I left him the 15% tip but nothing more. Last thing I need is a California boy hanging on my arm. :-P

Regardless we decided to check things out a bit. We talked to the Conceirge at the hotel to ask about directions to places and bus schedules and all that. Ten minutes later and with a map in our hands with all kinds of squiggly marks I did not understand, I looked at Mom and said, "Ummm...we are getting a tour." I was not attempting that wild mess! So that is exactly what we did. A motorized trolley tour. Not a real trolley which is sad, but it did the job all the same.

We went all over San Francisco and saw the sights from the safety of a vehicle driven by someone other than myself. This someone being a man from Russia named Igor. That was fun. Imagine this...sitting at the back of the trolley, listening to Igor tell us about the city in his thick Russian accent while simultaneously listening to the French couple beside you, the British family in front of you, and the Alabama couple behind you. I really only understood the Alabama folks. I mean, I understood the others (except when the one couple spoke only French), but I can just understand that Southern dialect a lot better than the others.

We saw the Golden Gate bridge, the "Painted Ladies", and all that jazz. I took pictures. I'll post them in another blog because I don't have them with me at the moment.

After the tour was finished, Mom and I packed up and headed South. A couple of hours later and we were in San Jose taking a tour of the Sarah Winchester Mystery House. No photos of the inside because that was against the rules, but I took some in the garden out back. One photo may or may not contain the image of a "ghost". Now, I don't know what ya'll believe or don't believe, but I'm gonna just go with it being a ghost. Even if its not, its just more fun to think it is. So I will forever tell people that I took a picture of a ghost at the Winchester mansion. :-)

The house itself was beautiful. It was a little weird, but not creepy. It was quirky is all. I loved it there. I wish I had more time to explore and the tour was worth the money so if you ever have the chance, then you should take it. It was really neat.

From San Jose we went South and then East. Passing by the garlic fields of Gilroy, California (you can imagine the smell of that) and the oil fields of Bakersfield. I didn't have time to stop at the Buck Owens place while there, but there was a lot I didn't get to do on the trip. I'll just save all those things for another time. We spent Saturday night in some random California town near the Nevada border anticipating a Sunday spend in Las Vegas! :-)