The Crowders Go West 2017: Part 3

Thursday dawned as the sunniest and warmest day yet. It was our last full day in city and the kids and I had a couple of stops left to check out. We started at the Exploratorium, a hands-on science museum. It was impressive. But also a little overwhelming both with the number and complexity of the exhibits and the number of school kids that were there on field trips. We stayed for awhile but eventually decided to move on. We took a tram back to the Ferry building and explored the food halls and shops. Ben and Julia tried steamed pork buns for the first time (thumbs down meant more for me!).

From there we headed back to Pier 39, we walked a good distance before hopping on another tram. We had ice cream to round out our lunch of crackers and granola bars (not as much luck with food as the day before), watched a magic show, and rode the two-story carousel. The three of us were all a little tired and needed a break from the hustle and bustle so we found a table at the bakery and snacked on sourdough and lemonade while playing a few rounds of Pokemon.

Andrew met up with us and the kids showed him the sea lions and proudly showed the way to Wipe Out so he could experience the "best restaurant ever" too!

Friday morning Julia and Andrew went and picked up our rental car and then we loaded up, headed over the Golden Date bridge and wound ourselves towards Muir Woods. We spent the morning in the forest with Andrew's cousin, Annie, and her daughter, Chloe. The kids made fast friends when they realized they all spoke the common language of legos and Minecraft!

And after catching-up some more over lunch at their place we got back in the car and headed north.