San Fran Day 3: Jen kills the laptop and a boat ride

Yesterday morning I killed the laptop. So badly that no amount of Dan's tinkering did anything. Completely frozen. I've gotten so used to traveling with a computer that not having a laptop for the next couple days wasn't an option. People live here, right? They need to get their machines fixed when they bust, right?

So we loaded up the laptop and headed out like locals to the Fillmore Street area. (And yes, the locals do indeed ride the cable cars.) A nice lady at Starbucks (first things first, after all) directed us to Staples where we dropped off our little guy for a full system recovery, along with recovery/back-up of photos. Goodness gracious. $200 later, we were out the door awaiting the "come pick up your little guy" phone call.

Apparently, I may have caused this little issue by shutting down the little guy improperly in the midst of a system update. I blame Vista. Piece of crap Vista.

In any event, no photos on the blog because the system was restored to factory settings, meaning we have no Photoshop until we get home and reload it. I'll update these posts with photos once we get home. Piece of crap Vista.

Soooooooo...after that ordeal, we stopped for the most delicious brunch at Crepevine. I had this awesome carmelized onion and cheddar crepe. (There are crepe places all over in SF...I wonder why?) Afterward we roamed Fillmore, Union and Chestnut Streets and took note of the crazy amount of high-fashion boutiques full of high-fashion people with, apparently, high-dollar wallets. Very cool, very hip, very out of my price range--especially following the 'piece of crap Vista' drama.

We took a loooooong walk through the city, around the Marina area all the way back to--you guessed it--the Wisconsin Dells of San Francisco (Fisherman's Wharf) for tickets aboard the Bay Adventure--a boat tour from Pier 39, out under the Golden Gate Bridge (Gold-en Gate Bij! Orrrrrr-nge! Mama, yook!), and then around Alcatraz Island. Nedy thought this boat ride rocked. The waters got rough out by the bridge and the boat began bouncing around quite a bit. At first she looked alarmed, but her sense of adventure (and the often related gut giggle) won out. She was fascinated by Alcatraz for some reason...she said she would live there when she gets older...Dear God.

We hopped the cable car back to the hotel and then over to Staples to pick up our little guy. Hooray, he works again. (Nedy, of course, took the opportunity at Staples to remind us that, "Mama...broke computer. Ohhhhhh, Mamaaaaaa. Cauful!" Nice.

Back at the hotel, we ordered Thai delivery and watched Big Bird in China until someone finally clonked out around 8:00. And I clonked out, too. Hence this 'day after' post. :)

Ned woke up this morning at 6:00! (We slept in!) Right when she woke up she announced, "Boat ride!" When I told he we were going to the park today and I didn't think we'd be going on any boats, she scrunched up her nose and said, "ummmm, okay...cabe-oh car?" Yes, baby, you get to go on a cable car...again. :) Seriously, the cable car factor alone makes this a great place for vacationing with a kid.

Today is a full day at Golden Gate Park. I'd post pictures of it tonight, but, well, you know... :)
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updated with photos!