Leaving Home
Posted on 23. Jun, 2010 by Cansler Photography.
I have reordered all these vacation posts from their original posting order because it makes it easier to view. Now you can just scroll down.
Once again it is time for our annual personal trek to somewhere. My daughter, Sydney, loves to go to our property that we own all over the country. Of course, I am talking about our heritage, the National Parks. This year we had planned on going to see
Yellowstone, Tetons and Glacier National Park. We kept looking at the weather and two days before leaving we decided to switch locations. It has been raining a lot in Yellowstone and the park has seen some flooding; after checking the weather and seeing that it showed at least a 40% chance of rain every day except one, we decided to switch. The tickets we had with American Airlines allowed us to change at the last minute with no penalty.
It has been over six years since we last went to San Francisco. Sydney was only 3 1/2 at the time and dosen’t remember much of that trip, so we decided to go back and take her to several National Parks around there. Sydney loves the Junior Ranger programs and collects National Park cancellation stamps.
I decided a couple of weeks ago that Sydney was old enough to have a new camera. She loves to take photographs and has been asking for a better camera. Actually, Helen and I were both tired of her stealing our cameras when we traveled. So the three of us will be competing to see who can take the best photographs. 
Our flight took us thru Dallas/Ft Worth; while there we had a two hour layover so we took the time to eat. A friend of mine had told me about a texmex restaurant in the airport that he said was very good. Considering it was “airport food” we were slightly skeptical but we were hungry so decided to try it. It was a large step up from most airport fare and I would recommend it to anyone that likes Mexican food.
All of these photos were taken by Sydney except two. It helped to keep her occupied and make the time go faster. We arrived around 9:00 pm Pacific time which was 12:00 am for our bodies; Sydney was very tired but stayed awake long enough to reached our hotel before crashing.
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Day 1 – The Cansler Luck
Posted on 23. Jun, 2010 by Cansler Photography.
I have reordered all these vacation posts from their original posting order because it makes it easier to view. Now you can just scroll down.
We were able to get a great rate at the last minute at the W Hotel just up the block from SFMOMA. We didn’t get up too early but dragged ourselves out of bed to go eat breakfast at a diner we have eaten at every time we have been in San Francisco over the last 10 years. Dottie’s True Blue Cafe. We discovered this backstreet cafe about 10 years ago and have taken friends there and recommended it to more. Well on a Saturday morning the wait was at least an hour long. Sydney didn’t remember eating there when she was 3 1/2 yrs old so was not too keen on waiting that long since she was “starving and about to perish” (her words). We convinced her that it was worth the wait.
One of the cool things about traveling is the wonderful people you meet. While we were waiting in line we struck up a conversion with a nice couple, Evan and Michelle from Orange County, CA. It was very interesting hearing about what he does and some of his travel stories. She also told great stories about their families and before we knew it the hour was gone. If you ask Sydney now, she will tell you that the wait was worth it! I had a frittata to die for, Helen had pumpkin french toast and Sydney had a huge fresh warm muffin that was killer. We all shared so we got to try everything.
We caught the cable car and rode down to Fisherman’s Wharf to take Sydney to see the sea lions and to watch some of the street performers at Pier 39. She got a big kick out of the ride since she didn’t remember this at all from her first trip. On the way to the pier we came upon a street vendor that was painting with cans of spray paint. We watched him for about twenty minutes and then had to get in line for one of his paintings. It is amazing how people everywhere have so many unique talents. Our artist was Paco and he painted space images. While we stood there, every image he created was totally different from the others. After each one, I would think, I hope ours looks like that one. When it was Sydney’s turn he asked if it was for her and she said “yes sir.” He preceded to spray a swath of pink paint across his paper which in the end became the foundation for a universe in space. It’s not the kind of painting that is worth $500 or $10,000 but it was a very entertaining hour and will bring us great memories. Sydney can’t wait for her dad to frame it and has the spot picked out for it to hang. (Post Script: We had to take care that the painting was a top priority the rest of the trip to make sure it wasn’t damaged. Yes, it made it home in one piece.)
After eating such a huge late breakfast we just ate a snack of an apple and a protein bar so by the time we got back to the hotel that night we were tired and hungry. While I took care of getting my camera equipment from security (they had stored it all day as I didn’t want to cary it around) Helen spoke with the concierge about possible eating locations. Sydney wanted Chinese, which was great with Helen and I so he recommended a couple of locations. One place was a block away and being somewhat tired that sounded even better. We call it the Cansler luck (a seemly unrelated series of events that when taken together create something special); when we sat down to eat, this distinguished older gentleman came to our table to take our order. We started to tell him what we wanted and then he stopped us and said “you are vegetarians right?” and we said yes. He then proceeded to take our menus from us and said “Oh you don’t need these I am the chef/owner and I will take care of you.” Well it was a pleasure to meet Peter Fang and to say that our meal was amazing is an understatement. A series of dishes began to arrive at our table with each one being very different from the last. All I can say is if you are in San Francisco and if you are staying around SFMOMA or Yuerba Buena Gardens, you owe it to yourself to go to Fang Restaurant on Howard Street (in the financial district).
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Day 2 – Biking the Golden Gate
Posted on 23. Jun, 2010 by Cansler Photography.
The morning broke cool and breezy. Yesterday we saw something that wasn’t here last time we visited, bike rentals. At least if it was, it wasn’t so prevalent. We had decided that we were going to rent bikes and “Bike the Bridge” so we caught the cable car and headed back to the wharf. We stopped at Bike & Roll, picked up our bikes and we were off. We didn’t get far before we had to stop and get a National Park stamp at the Maritime Museum. Then along the wharf and up to Ft. Mason. This was not a speedy trip since with three photographers in the family, we had to keep stopping to take photographs. It was fun and we didn’t have an agenda so no one minded.
We stopped at this community garden on the property at Ft. Mason; we had found it by accident the last time we were here. It was fun walking through and then we ran into a guy who was head of the community garden association. He told us history of the garden which was fun to hear (there is a seven year waiting list to get a small plot). By this time it was early afternoon and when he told us about the farmers market that was down the hill, well you know us and food, we had to check it out. Bread, cheese and thee is all I need. (I think you are supposed to have some wine in there somewhere but we were fine without it.) Well, throw in some fresh strawberries, fresh cherries, fresh picked baby romaine lettuce and you have a feast! What a great lunch and fun too.
Back on the road (or bike path) we saw kite surfers, a sea lion swimming right next to the sea wall, and enjoyed the breeze in our hair. Stopped to get a Golden Gate cancellation stamp and take more pictures. Finally, we were on the bridge. What a great view and fun ride. On the weekends the bikes ride on one side and people walk on the other so we didn’t have to worry about foot traffic. Once you are over the bridge you have to carry your bikes down steps, go under and then carry your bikes back up steps on the other side. Down wasn’t so bad, up was a little challenging. Then you get to ride down hill all the way to Sausalito. You may be thinking, what about the up-hill all the way back. They’ve got that covered. Once you get there, you take the ferry back to the wharf. We caught the ferry at 6:00 pm. so by the time we got back, turned in our bikes and caught the cable car, it was late again. We had made a full day of our bike ride.
You may notice the switching from short sleeves to jackets and then back again. For anyone who has been to San Francisco you will understand. The temperature can vary 15 to 20 degrees in the space of a couple of blocks. On the bridge it was actually cold but when we got to Sausalito it was warm (mid seventies). The ferry ride back was quite chilly because of the wind off the water.
(Oh yes, I almost forgot, and one little stop at Ghirardelli Square where we all split a brownie ice cream sundae. We couldn’t leave San Francisco without making this stop.) 
