April 28

The limo was scheduled to pick us up at 5:30am, he was 5 minutes late and Len was getting antsy. I was just calling him when he arrived. The trip to the airport was smooth. Security was quick and easy. We grabbed breakfasr in the airport. The first leg of our trip, Southwest airlines flight 612 to Denver left on time and mostly empty. Southwest is great. No charge for 2 checked bags, snacks and drinks. Arrived in Denver on time. Lunch in the airport, then off to San Francisco. We picked up our SUV and drove to the Orchard Garden hotel (www.theorchardhotel.com) I choose it because it is a green hotel, as in eco-conscious. Our room is on the 10th floor, very nice, king bed, enormous bathroom with two sinks, shower and tub. The room key has to sit in a slot to turn the electricity on in the room. The guy at the front desk told us that the system paid for itself in about 6 months. There is a rooftop garden a small exercise room, a business center, and a restaurant that uses organic/local ingredients. After a brief rest, we head out to see a little of the city. A two block walk, up hill of course,to the trolley stop where we waited with a lady sporting grey dredlocks adorned with pink ribbons and her companions, all three of them carrying cameras and tri-pods. I overheard her tell another tourist on that they were in SF to learn to do photography. She is now on my list of idols, even thought I don't know her name, because she is doing and learning and wearing dreadlocks and she is definitely over 50. We squeezed on to the crowded trolley and headed up the hill. The first thing we saw was a group of college kids? Girls had their shirts off and the guy mooned us, and I am talking about a full moon! Len says he didn't notice the guy. We walked along the water and through Ghiradelli Square and had dinner at Loris diner and dessert at a Ghiradeli sweet shop, then walked down to the other end of the touristy area neat the Cannery and Pier 39. Lots of people, street musicians, and energy. We got a little lost trying to find the street car stop, I finally asked a limo/taxi? driver waiting by the curb. We rode a streetcar back to the hotel. Very cool. The street cars were "rescued" from cities all over the world and now operate in SF. It was a nice opening evening.