San Francisco, day 4

On our final day in San Francisco we decided to be adventurous and seek out what everyone told us was “the best breakfast in San Francisco.” It was a small coffee shop called Dottie’s True Blue Café about seven blocks away from our hotel.

We walked with the kids in the brisk morning air for what seemed like 30 minutes. When we got there we found a long line of people waiting to get in (or course, it was a Sunday morning). Since we were committed to having a real San Francisco experience, we stuck it out, for about an hour (what were we thinking?). Vickey had to run to the corner grocery store to purchase a box of Frosted Flakes and some yogurt drinks for the kids, and I had to go on a couple walks with Dominic to keep him occupied. They weren’t really willing participants in the waiting-to-eat-breakfast line (and can you blame them?).

Nevertheless, we endured and enjoyed a very fine breakfast. I don’t know that I was overly impressed, but it was certainly good. At least we can say we’ve eaten there. Kind of like I can say I’ve gone up the Statue of Liberty. It’s worth the experience, once.

We managed to get a late check-out out of the hotel which gave us a little more time for our breakfast outing. Once we were back at the hotel we packed up and headed to the car at the nearby public parking garage (by the way, parking in the city was mucho expensivo). Here we are going across the crosswalk to the parking garage, each of us with our luggage in tow.


On our way out of town . . . well, it was really across town but we wanted to make one more stop there . . . we stopped at Boudin’s Bakery to purchase several bag-fulls of sourdough bread to bring back to Vegas. Here’s Eliana the next morning in the Bakersfield hotel room with her sourdough teddy bear, affectionately named Brittney.


When we were at Boudin’s we were so impressed with all the shapes and sizes of bread, so Vickey had to get a fun shaped loaf for Eliana.



We stopped in Livermore to spend a few hours with my old college roommate, John, and his family. It was great seeing him, Samantha, and their three girls. I remember when Caitlin, their oldest, was born. It’s strange to think that she’s 14 now, and nearly as tall as me.

Here are some photos of Eliana with the Theler girls, Abby, who shares Ellie’s same birth year, and Alisa, who’s a few years younger than Caitlin.



Thanks for treating us to lunch, Sam. It was great being in your home and catching up with you guys. (And sorry if I misspelled your girl’s names.)

We returned to Vegas late on Monday after making a few stops along the way. In fact, we stopped at our favorite Primm shop — the Williams-Sonoma | Pottery Barn | Hold Everything outlet — only to have Dominic pick up a ceramic platter and throw it across the store. Yes, we reluctantly had to pay for it. Then I took it out of his hide (just kidding).

We had a great family vacation in the City by the Bay. It seems like we crammed a lot of stuff into a few days. We’re sure glad the I-580 bridge was still in tact when we were traveling. It collapsed just one week after we drove over it.

Thanks to Vickey, our Pampered Chef superstar, for earning the trip!