After travelling to this area for more than I year I cannot think of a better title than 'fruit and nut country.' It's a different world of politics and attitudes than you'd ever be exposed to in most of the Midwest. But they do have moderate weather and pretty things to look at. Bad place to work (commute, wages). Bad place to live (congestion, commute, housing). Good place to visit (recreation, culture, weather). 

Vacation wise there is sooo much to see and do. You can easily kill a week in San Fran alone. It has an ambience that no city I've been to can match. Mass transit is good and the city is small (7 miles by 7 miles) so getting around without a car is not a problem. World class museums. Amazing parks. One-of-a-kind shopping experiences (Chinatown, North Beach, Haight Ashbury, Market, to name a few), great places to hang out, wonderful people watching opportunities, and relatively little crime.

Then you can rent a car and check out the stuff to do outside of town. There is Half-moon bay, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino/wine country, Muir woods, Marin County, the list goes on and on. Whether you want to have an active vacation, get back to nature and hug a tree, shop, see the sites, whatever...this is the place to be. Might want to hold off until they get their power thing resolved so you don't get left in the dark or have to pay the $2.50 to $7.50 per night energy surcharge.

Southwest (WN) flies into Oakland, a major station for them. San Fran airport is a mess. Delay-plagued and as expensive to get downtown from than Oakland if not more. Avoid it if possible. San Jose airport is a mess and it's 40 miles away.

San Francisco as seen from Alcatraz island.	Alamo Square and the 'pretty victorians.'
Palace of Fine Arts. A fun place to hang out.	With the dog you can make new friends easily in San Fran.
Rutherford Hill Winery. Bad pix so you can't see me.	The Golden Gate Bridge. DUH
Seal Rocks near Sutro Heights Park	Sutro Bath Ruins. Used to be a lush resort and spa circa 1900.

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