Teague Family: So Many Cars, So Little Space

Today was our final day of vacation on the Left Coast before we push back toward Chicago on the train tomorrow. So - in addition to taking Miles to a Giants game (something we had planned months ago) - we tried to squeeze in a few more tourist stops in the city. It was for that reason that we elected to forego the ferry that had worked so beautifully for us yesterday, and instead drive our rental car toward SF. (This was a decision that by 1:00 I was seriously regretting and the consequences were creating a nervous break down. But more on that later ...)

First stop: lookout over the Golden Gate. It wasn't crystal clear, but we were happy to see the bridge at all because it was totally fogged in last night, which had been our other window to drive here. A very nice family of four from Italy offered to take our photo ... and of course we reciprocated by taking their picture.

Next up: Lombard Street. I had done this touristy drive before, but had forgotten just how steep that hill is. No picture can capture this ... but I took a few shots of the gorgeous flowers.

Our next destination was Union Square, or 'shopping central', where Kristen and Emery planned to spend their afternoon. On the way there we drove through Chinatown.

These are a few pictures Kristen captured while she and Emery explored the Union Square shopping district.

We dropped off the girls at 11:30. That should have given us a full hour and 15 minutes to go just ten blocks, park at the stadium, and get to our seats for the game. Ninety minutes later, at 1:00 PM,
my son sat in the back seat of the rental car trying desperately to hold back tears. I, feeling idiotic for passing on the ferry and powerless to find ANY open parking place in the entire city, sat stuck in ridiculous traffic jams with a full orchestra of car and truck horns blaring. All I could say to Miles was, "I'm really sorry son. I'm trying. I'm really trying."

By 1:15 we had passed more "full" lots than I could count, and I had - at a turtles pace - navigated the car back into the financial district and very close to where we had dropped off the girls nearly two hours earlier.

Finally, I came upon an open garage door, with no cone or "full" sign blocking the entrance. At that point I didn't care that I was a 20 min. walk to the ball park. I didn't care what it cost ... I just needed a place to unload the car. So I swooped down into the garage, looked to my left, and saw this ...

Just how does a parking attendant get cars that close together?! I didn't care. The guy said he could take one more ... and that's all I needed to hear. We tossed him the keys and made a run for it.

Fortunately for us, the Giants had a terrible first inning, which included giving up three runs and a pause for a pitching change. So after all that ... and walking into the stadium almost an hour after the first pitch ... we had only missed ONE inning. Really? We couldn't believe it.

The poor start by the Giants continued all afternoon, but Miles and I were just happy to be there for eight innings of baseball ... on a clear day ... in a beautiful setting on the bay ... and soaking in our twelfth stadium together.