get yer fresh, hot fortunes right here

after two days in san francisco, it was time to say goodbye and hit the road.  it was kind of a bummer to have to leave so soon, with so much still to see and do and eat.  although on lilcee's recommendation, we did manage to squeeze in a quick stop in chinatown for something fun and unique.  it was crazy busy out there, so the hub decided to just let us out in front of ross alley and drive in circles while we went in for a treat.

this is what we came for:

luckily, we somehow managed to avoid a big crowd and had a great view of the staffers who were busy folding the fortune cookies fresh from the press.

and yes, we sure did pay our $.50 for the privilege of taking photos inside the bakery.  it smelled delicious in there, and we watched in awe as the lady in front of us calmly plucked the flat cookies from the machine in front of her, quickly place a little slip of paper in the middle, fold it in half and then bend it in half again over the little rod in front of her.  it was strangely mesmerizing and i couldn't stop watching her.

we were all happy to accept free samples, too.  they were warm and fresh and tasty.

MIL and i ended up each walking out with a bag of fortune cookies and another of fresh almond cookies.  she told us that they were nowhere to be found in china, because they'd been invented right here in san francisco.

while we waited for the hub to pick us up, we ducked into this shop to pick up some snacks for the road - a bag of steaming hot baked BBQ pork buns.  yum.

after we'd piled back into the car, the hub turned on the GPS to get directions for our next destination.  as we drove through chinatown, a sign caught my eye and we spotted lilcee and mr. lilcee in line here, waiting to pick up some delicious grub of their own.

on our way out of the city, we caught a glimpse of the transamerica building.

and because she'd fallen asleep when we drove by the day before, we stopped in alamo square a second time:

then we got to drive over the bay bridge again, only this time we were on the lower level.

it was a little eerie to see a portion of the old bridge off to the side, still in the process of being completely dismantled.

while we knew we wouldn't be able to get any further than the front entrance, this was our last stop before heading out towards the next phase of our trip:

one day, we'll get through those gates.  and hopefully another day in the future, we'll be visiting the bean there as she works on the latest disney/pixar creation.  that little girl has some big dreams, and i know she's going to achieve them some day.

in the meantime, if you know any animators to introduce us to...well, hey.  you know where to find me.  heh.