Recap: SF trip, part II, continued

Part I at the bottom, if you're viewing this before I wrote the next post. Scroll down please.
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Near the path to Stowe Lake was a statue of a woman with two children. At one point when we're passing by, someone asked, "But who's the nurturing lady?" to which a boy (elementary school age) who happened to pass by grinned and answered, airly, "Oh, that's my mother."

We cracked up, to say the least. The guy was very much confused until we explained that we were refering to the statue. But I-- yes. It's the statue of a 'pioneering woman' or something of that sort (as dictated by the inscription below the statue) with two naked children. The boy looked to be one of those nice Asian boys, passing by on a bike, which made his statement all the funnier.

That's my mother, indeed.

Stowe Lake had an island on the center, which we went on and yes, Lusine, Kate climbed things. Kate has a tendency to climb things. We saw ducks and seagulls and turtles and of course, people. Later on we wandered past again, looking for the shuttle, wondering if there even is one. Much to our surprise, there exists the free Golden Gate Park shuttle. It is not a myth. However, it was going the other way and so we waited for one that was going the direction that we were aiming for. We saw horses (with riders, of course), and cars, and people in rollerblades and on bikes. We saw no other shuttle aside from the one whose driver indicated we should wait for the one that's going our direction. Eventually we gave up and just decided to wander some more, passing by many blackberry brambles on our way, which Malvina and Kate exploited ("come and taste the sun-sweet berries of the earth", Kate?)even though SF is not exactly the ideal site for berries. Not enough sun and relatively high salinity.

We went up Kennedy Road, we went down Kennedy road and I lost my directions once, causing others to walk even more (sorry, guys). Eventually we wandered down on Irving, where Malvina lead us into Starbucks and bought us things to drink (thanks Malvina!). There was still some time left before our ride got there, so we continued wandering. We went into a Russian grocery store-like place, where Kate bought a chocolate egg-- one of the ones that, apparently, had a toy inside (it was a mountain goat. It was a mountain goat?). They also had pickled apples. I've never seen pickled apples before which reminds me-- has ANYONE ever seen canned spinach before? Just curious.

Continued wandering, eventually entering a VERY random store which included but is not limited to things such as penguin-shaped bath salts, toy guitars, furry stuffed-animal crabs, and very opinionated fridge magnets ("Like a rock, only dumber," said one, with reference to Mr. President; "Reversing progress one day at a time," said another, same subject matter ).

We left Victoria as the N-line stop and went on an earlier transit than our ever-so-helpful cal-train trip-planner suggested (that's a lot of dashes. Isn't that a lot of dashes?) so we ended up getting to the Cal train station early. Finished the rice crackers (which apallingly healthy for a snack and unexpectedly popular). Sat around on the ground. Talked. Called our parents. Got called by our parents. You know how that usually goes. Got on the train, very uneventful and zippety-do-da we're back.

Despite of what my mother may have thought, I did not encounter any terrorists during the trip. There was one lady who asked us how to get to Stern Grove or some place that sounded like it while we're waiting for the shuttle, to which we replied that we don't know (or in Kate's case, "We're not natives."). After which Victoria used a particularly terrifying kind of voice to tell us that she thought the place was "REALLY far from here." (Note to self for the future, do not ask Victoria for directions, especially when feeling paranoid.) That was, however, my extent of terror for the day. And as Anna put it, "We should do it again sometimes, guys."

Satisfactory for a recap?

[13:23 ETA]
Kate, I have your newspaper and your Advil.

Yes, Lucy, I let her climb things while she was on drugs. Shameful, isn't it?

Also, if anyone want a fullsize copy of any of the photos, email me.