My brother had been wanting to come up to the Bay Area for some time and I thought this would be the perfect time for him. I would be able to spend more time with him and show him around. I also had extra credits left on my Virgin America account and was able to transfer that over to him to use. So I invited my brother and his girlfriend to stay with me for the week. In addition, my mom won a 3 night hotel stay in Vallejo and scheduled her trip during this week as well.

Arthur also helped plan some trips and spent time showing them around too. I was a little nervous because this was my first time being the tour guide without Arthur. Also my first time driving around in San Francisco. Thank goodness for my handy Garmin; otherwise, I would have been one lost girl in the city. This did force me to learn my way around the city better. :)

My plan was to show everyone around the Bay Area but keep it on a low budget. So here was our week's agenda:

• Saturday 8/22 - Santana Row
• Sunday 8/23 - San Francisco (Civic Center, Union Square, Yerba Buena Gardens/Metreon, Cable Cars, Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf, Embarcadero Center/Ferry Building.
• Monday 8/24 - Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton
• Tuesday 8/25 - Dim Sum, San Francisco Chinatown, Asian Art Museum (Samurai exhibit), Yardbarker HQ, North Beach/Little Italy, Japantown
• Wednesday 8/26 - Berkeley, UCB campus
• Thursday 8/27 - Half Moon Bay, Moss Beach
• Friday 8/28 - Golden Gate Park (Japanese Tea Garden, California Academy of Sciences, Botanical Garden, Stow Lake), Berkeley Marina
• Saturday 8/29 - Napa