On Tuesday the adventure begins for me a little earlier than planned

For many years my sister Betty & I talked about doing a long road trip together. Our plans started out as a cross country trip, but evolved into a 5 week road trip covering the western part of the United States. There were just too many National Parks and Monuments in the west that we wanted to see. The center piece of our trip will be Yellowstone & Grand Tetons National Parks. We have rented a cabin for the week after Labor Day just outside the west entrance to Yellowstone. We are taking two weeks to get to the cabin, and another two weeks to return to the San Francisco airport for Betty's return flight.

On Tuesday this week, Betty's plane was schedule to arrive just before 1 pm. I was busy getting the car all packed with my things and a significant number of things I had purchased for Betty so she didn't have to bring them on the plane. As usual, I had a hard time getting to sleep as my brain kept thinking of things I needed to be sure to pack or do for the trip. I probably fell asleep between 2 and 3 am. At 6 am I wake up to what I thought is my iPod alarm which I had set for 6:50 am. It turns out it was not my iPod but my cell phone. Betty was calling me from the Atlanta airport to let me know she had left her iPod back on her bed at home. She wanted to alert me to this and to ask if she could use my computer to check her email during the trip. I was a bit groggy from lack of sleep, but assured her it would be OK. In the end, she found her iPod which had fallen down in one of her bags.

All went smoothly at the SFO airport except Betty's new luggage has TERRIBLE wheels. It weights about 40 lbs, so it is going to be a pain to move around. I don't think she will be using this bag again.

Our first stop was Treasure Island. This is a man-made island in San Francisco bay that the Bay Bridge passes through on its way to Oakland. The island was built for the 1939 Worlds Fair. I have driven past it numerous times and always thought it would be nice to see. Since Betty would arrive hungry for some lunch, I thought this would be a good place to have a picnic since it is less than a half hour away from the airport. There is not much on the island now, but it has great views of San Francisco, Alcatraz Island, and the Bay Bridge. We found a field with a single picnic bench and started to set up lunch. The bench on one side didn't look too sturdy, we both sat on the the other side. This was the side that faced the water and San Francisco anyway. When we both took our seats, the whole picnic bench flipped up in the air. Betty and I both landed on our backs with the picnic bench teetering above us. Fortunately neither one of us was hurt. Below is a photo of Betty standing with her sandwich in hand as we finished our meal standing up.

Betty eating Pavel's Backerei sandwich on Treasure Island with San Francisco in the background

Does Betty look cold? I was in shorts and a short sleeve shirt, but it was very windy so even I had on a light jacket.

It was not a particularly clear day, and the lighting was not the best for taking pictures of San Francisco and Alcatraz Island. The better time is either early in the morning or toward sunset. There are some spectacular photos of San Francisco at night taken from this location.

Alcatraz Island as seen from Treasure Island on a hazy, windy day

Shooting the other direction, here is a photo of the second half of the Bay Bridge as it leaves Treasure Island and goes into Oakland. This half of the bridge was replaced after the original collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

San Francisco's Bay Bridge as it leaves Treasure Island and heads into Oakland