Last weekend I enjoyed a fabulous trip to San Fran. My friend Sarah has been out there with her husband for a couple of years and I was finally able to get out there. Two friends from the Twin Cities also flew out and we had a great girls' weekend!

After meeting Rachel (left) and Tina (middle) at the airport on Friday, we met Sarah(right) in the Mission district and had a picnic in a park.  We couldn't figure out what all of the other people in the park do to allow them to be able to spend a Friday afternoon in the park.

This is the view from Sarah and Zack's apartment window.  It's a little fogy, but in the distance is the bay and beyond that, Marin county.

On Saturday, we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin county and went hiking on some great hilly trails...

as well as in John Muir Woods, which is a beautiful redwood forest.

On Sunday, Sarah got up early in order to procure tickets to a new exhibition at the de Young Museum.  Outside the museum, the Crucible (Department of Fire Works) their "fire truck" parked in order to provide fire for the glass and metal workers working there.
The Dale Chihuly exhibition showed off some of the amazing pieces that he and his studio have created over the years.  These are a couple of bowls.

Unfortunately, I didn't get sense of scale in this picture.  The green globe on the floor to the right is between 3 and 4 feet in diameter.

Once again, no scale.  The tall pieces are 8 to 10 feet tall.
It was great to see the city with someone who really knows it.  We walked a lot around Sarah's part of the city and she also drove us around some of the neat neighborhoods that are super hilly. We ate a ton of great food and got to experience a very unique (read scary) cab driver.  I can't wait to go back!