-- Em-BARK-adero, No-park-adero (Day 9)

My morning began with a full-on brushing!  That's like an all-over body scratch. 

Yippee-kai-ay.

We headed out bright and early for the Golden Gate Bridge.  I figured this might be the place to find squirrels.  I mean, they can't swim across the bay to get to Marin County, right? 

Which way did they go?

 

 

Dad suggested we walk all the way across and back.  Wow, that will get Mom's Fitbit in gear.  I was up for the task, but wouldn't you know it, no pets are allowed on the bridge.  I guess I'll have to look ferocious and guard the Supervan against anyone with a 'smash-n-grab' inkling in this sketchy parking lot.  Beware of Supertank, buddy. 

 

So I assigned Mom the task of picture-taking... and she delivered.

 

My dad's a fast walker



Mom trying to be artsy-fartsy

Epic fail on the selfie, Mom: 




Hair-do Alert

 

So here’s how the Golden Gate bridge sidewalk works.  There are pedestrians and there are cyclists.  Oh yeah, and there are idiots.  The pedestrians have to stay toward the outer railing of the bridge and the cyclists stay toward the street railing. 

 

Seems simple enough, right?

 

My dad follows da rules...

 



As you would expect, sometimes there are "incidents."  This could range from morons who refuse to stay on their side of the line, or people who just aren't paying attention. 

When the sidewalk gets crowded, this is where danger lurks.  Mom was such a victim.

With a crowd approaching, she had to step around them, crossing “the line.” Right then, an oncoming cyclist, who clearly didn’t want to slow down, yelled to Mom, “STAY ON YOUR OWN SIDE,” and proceeded to bash into Mom. 

The good news: his handlebar hit Mom’s purse instead of her gut.  As the cyclist pedaled on without so much as a “sorry" or “oops,” Mom refrained from calling the dude a moron out loud. 



Here’s the bad news:

Of course Mom will most likely turn this situation into a positive.  Now she has an excuse to go buy a new purse.  There you have it, Dad -- a legitimate reason for Mom to go shopping.

There are lots of different kinds of people on this bridge.  And some think the bridge isn't high enough above the water.  Check out those pants.
This guy was ready for a flood...

 

 

 

My mom takes random photos just to feel good about herself.  (Don't judge, now people -- my mom was just having a little fun with the photo-editing feature)

 

 

 

By the time my mom and dad returned to the Supervan, we were all hungry.  Dad drove around the Embarcadero area for a parking space, but it wasn’t meant to be.  The Supervan can’t fit in any underground parking lots, and good luck trying to squeeze into a space on the street.

After 45 minutes of sheer frustration, Dad gave up and decided to take us to the California Academy of Sciences instead.  Same impossible feat there too. 

We ended up eating at a shopping mall food-park outside of town at 3pm.  How festive.  


On our way back to the RV park, I knew we had limited time for a nap before meeting up with Rob.  And since I do it so well, I got a head start -- even though I was hanging off the seat.  (Sometimes, my dad has to hold me up):

 

A little while later, Dad said it was time to head for Rob’s apartment.  That made me smile.

Gonna see my bro, yo

Rob's apartment was awesome.  I had to wait in the Supervan, but I could see his building from across the street.

 

I waited patiently while Mom and Dad checked out the inside of Rob’s apartment.

Then suddenly I saw him.  Oh dude, I was so excited, I almost peed.

 

Rob took us to dinner at a cool place in the Marina district. 

He loves me so much, he scratched my head the whole time while Dad drove.  I have that kind of effect on people, y’know?

Too soon, it was time to say so long to my bro.  He’s the one who named me Tank -- betcha didn’t know that.  

Mom did her usual sniff-sniff, boo-hoo routine as we drove away, and then it was back to the RV park for the night.

 

Tomorrow, we head home.