San Fran...Day 8

Our last day here in San Fran. We decided to try the California Academy of Sciences. Marie, Martin and Dylan came out with us. The place has an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum and a four-story rain forest all in one.

We went through the rain forest first which slowly spiraled up the four stories. We got to see a bunch of frogs, chameleons, birds and butterflies. A lot of butterflies were flying around. One of them even landed on Joshua's head while we were waiting for the elevator to go back down. I tried to get a picture of it but was too late but somewhere out there, there's a pic of Joshua and the butterfly since I saw someone taking a picture of him.

When we got out of the elevator, we were immediately underneath a glass enclosure with fish and other creatures swimming above our heads. That was pretty interesting.

Joshua and the sharks above

The tunnel led to the Aquarium part of the building. We got to see sharks, many different kids of fish, jellyfish and stingrays. The typical creatures in an Aquarium.

Joshua checking out the jellyfish

Jellyfish in the dark

Finally, it was time to head to the Planetarium where we had gotten reserved tickets when we first got into the place. They were showing Life: A Cosmic Story. Basically how life on Earth came to be. Can't really tell you more because even though I was interested in seeing this, the darkness and the motion sickness and the tiredness led me to fall asleep for a few minutes. It was still good, what I did see.

We walked around a little bit more to check out the Natural History part but it wasn't that great compared to the rest of the building. There was even a cafe where there was fake snow blowing around. No thanks for me, I've had enough of that in WI but I guess the San Fran peeps need their White Christmas. 

After the Academy of Sciences, we headed towards the Cliff House. We walked down to the beach to check out the old swimming pool area called Sutro Baths. We explored a bit then walked back up to the actually Cliff House to see the view. We finally headed back to the car when we saw an old poster of what Sutro Baths used to look like.

In a cove down by the beach

In a cove down by the beach

In a cove down by the beach

Walking through the muddy tunnel

By the old Sutro Baths

Exploring around

The Cliff House and the old Sutro Baths

The old Sutro Baths

What it used to look like

We then headed over to dinner. What's for dinner tonight? 7 course beef meal at a Vietnamese place. But it looked like the place we went to was not open. But never fear, my cousins found another place that did the 7 course beef meal. It was absolutely delicious. We used rice paper to wrap the beef and veggies in. The first course was like a salad. The second course was like a fondue where you put slices of beef into a broth to cook. The third, fourth and fifth were shaped like sausages to wrap in rice paper. The sixth course was like a meatball and finally the seventh and last course was a porridge. By the end, I was so full but we managed to eat it all between the 7 of us. I would love to do that again sometime!

After dinner, we went back to Marie and Jon's place to pack up and rest up. We played a little bit of Mah Jongg before we left and some darts. But the fun had to end sometime. Back to cold Wisconsin we go.

Thanks so much to Marie and Jon for letting us stay at their place during their wedding week and the shuttling around and food. Thanks to Alanna and my Aunts for the delicious food we had all week. Thanks Martin for all the laughter. And thanks Dylan for keeping us company our last two days. WE HAD A LOT OF FUN THIS WEEK!